Pascal Khoo Thwe

Pascal Khoo Thwe grew up in rural Burma, part of the Padaung tribe. His grandfather was the tribal chief, and Pascal grew up secure in his place in the world. His family was Catholic, yet still adhered to many of the traditional animist beliefs. Ghosts were a presence, for both good and ill. Someone who was murdered or died in an accident might become a green ghost, hence the title.

Pascal decides to become a priest and goes to a seminary, but eventually decides to pursue his love of English literature instead, and enrolls in college in Mandalay. The late 80s are a time of turmoil in Burma, however, and his studies are interrupted by student unrest against the regime. Eventually he must flee to the jungle to escape being arrested. But a chance meeting with a Cambridge don years earlier will change his fate and perhaps save his life.

Told in an unsentimental, straightforward manner, Thwe's memoir is a fascinating account of rural Burmese life, the impact of British colonization and its marriage with traditional beliefs, the complexity of ethnic relationships within Burmese society, and the educational system during Ne Win's regime. The plight of the students after the uprisings and their life in the jungle with the rebels was harrowing, and a situation about which I knew nothing. Although Thwe's emotional reserve makes the book almost academic in tone, his honest and insightful self-reflection make it a compelling read. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Burma/Myanmar.… (more)

Transcendent Memoir of Universal Yearning

In a lifetime of reading, this memoir stands out as both strikingly unique and universal in its appeal. Pascal Khoo Thwe is the only Burmese hill tribesman to graduate from Cambridge (with honors!), and the events and “coincidences” that drove his life defy belief.

The book starts slowly, seeming to crawl, but the author takes such great pains to portray the world of his upbringing—where commerce between material and spiritual realms was taken for granted—that he gradually draws you out of your western, materialist worldview and into his: a world where his grandfather, just as he predicted, returns from the grave seven days after his death, clomps up the stairs, and listens to his wife’s entreaties that he leave the living in peace.

Any Cambridge graduate is entitled to a certain pride, but Khoo Thwe never succumbs to it, remaining humble and modest throughout: from his harrowing escape from murderous government soldiers, to being wracked by malaria, to his rescue by a Cambridge don, to his arrival in England, to graduating with honors.

While the author is the only person ever to ride this life trajectory, his story hums with universal resonance; for who can’t relate to a humble boy from the Padaung tribe, the scorn of majority Burmans, pursuing his love of literature all the way to the halls of Caius College? The yearning for a better life throbs in every human breast, and has rarely been so movingly rendered as here.… (more)

From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe is a stunning account of a man from the minority Padaung tribe who becomes a student activist, rebel soldier, and then exile and shines a light on the lives and experiences of many ethnic minorities living along the Thai – Myanmar border.

Pascal details his idyllic life of growing up near the jungle and developing a love of learning leading him to a mission school. Although he begins to have doubts about a life of religious service, he develops an interest in English literature eventually leading him to the University at Mandalay. Along the way he describes everyday life in rural Burma along with the everyday cruelties and corruption experienced by many. The account of demonetization and the lessons of “never argue with a person in a position of authority” especially stand out along with the brutal killing of his girlfriend while at university. Pascal’s account ranges from the poetic to the barbaric, and as the student uprising in 1988 occurs he finds himself becoming an outspoken leader in his community.

Pascal becomes hunted by Burmese authorities, and decides to flee with other students into the jungle and into the hands of an armed insurgent group. The perceptions of Burmese on ethnic minorities as well as the ineffectiveness of the students in that environment is noted upon while Pascal begins to make long journeys to Thailand highlighting the plight of cross – border migrants. A chance encounter years earlier with a professor from Cambridge becomes Pascal’s life line to the outer world. An eye witness to Burmese attacks and insurgent ambushes, the miracle of his survival leads to his rescue. Spirited away to England he his sponsored to study at Cambridge, where again he struggles, but ultimately succeeds in what is both a horrifying and uplifting account of one man’s life.

Review excerpt from my (old and suffering) blog:

http://poetsandpolicymakers.com/… (more)