Obituary of Sao Kiaomurng (1920-2016) From prince to hat-maker
My
great-uncle Sao Kiaomurng passed away in Birmingham, United Kingdoms, on April
10 at the age of 95, the last surviving offspring of Sao Kawnkiao Inthaleng,
ruler of the Shan principality of Kengtung from 1874 to 1935.
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Sao Kiaomurng Mangrai and
Sao Sein Mya soon after their marriage
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The
18th of 19 children, he inherited little claim to wealth or power,
and his passing made no news. Yet he was a kind, principled man, who suffered unjust
persecution and exile after the 1962 coup, and his story deserves to be told –
not least as a timely reminder of a not-so-distant past era of Shan self-rule.
When
Sao Kiaomurng was born, in 1920, Kengtung was in its heyday. The largest of the
33 Shan States, covering most of the trans-Salween area, its main source of
wealth was opium – licit in those days. His father, the ruling prince or “Saopha”,
lived an ornate lifestyle, residing in a grand Maharaja-style palace with his six
wives. Like other Shan princes, he was left to administer his own state,
despite annexation by the British.
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Sao Kawnkiao Inthaleng and
his 8 princes
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Sao
Kiaomurng was born to the third wife, Nang Bothiplong. He attended the American
Baptist Missionary School in Kengtung, then ordained as a Buddhist novice for
two years, learning to read and write his native Tai Khuen (a language similar
to northern Thai). He completed his education at the School for Sons of Shan
State Chiefs in Taunggyi.
Sibling
rivalry among the extended princely family was to spawn tragedy. In 1937, soon
after acceding to the throne, his eldest brother, Sao Kawng Tai, was
assassinated by a cousin. The murdered ruler’s son, Sao Sai Long, nicknamed “Shorty,”
only 10 years old at the time, was to become the next and last princely ruler
of Kengtung.
During
World War Two, Sao Kiaomurng experienced the Japanese invasion and subsequent Thai
occupation of Kengtung, ceded to Thailand by Japan under an agreement in 1943.
I
remember him describing the heavy-handed Thai attempts to “modernize” the
Shans, on the orders of Field Marshal Phibulsongkram: “They made us wear shoes
in temples. My sisters were asked to cut and curl their hair, and wear skirts
(not sarongs). Betel vines were cut down to stop people from chewing betel.”
The
Shans simply returned to their old ways after the war, but antipathy to
Thailand remained. When asked by the British War Enquiry Commission, before the
Panglong Conference, whether they wanted to stay under Thailand, Kengtung
leaders declined this option – to the enduring chagrin of later generations.
Towards
the end of the war, Sao Kiaomurng had married Sao Sein Mya, of the Mawkmai
princely family, and worked for a Japanese paper-making company in Lawksawk.
When the Allies began bombing Lawksawk, he took his family to hide in the
jungle, and joined US Detachment 101 to fight the Japanese.
After
the war, he trained in law in Taunggyi, and became the Kengtung Magistrate, assisting
his nephew Sao Sai Long to administer the state. These were turbulent years for
Kengtung, where thousands of Kuomintang (KMT) forces had fled after the
communist takeover in China. For the first time, Burmese troops were deployed
into the state to drive out the KMT, and army chief General Ne Win himself came
to oversee operations. In 1958, Ne Win’s convoy was attacked by the KMT near
Tachileik. He was unhurt, but exploded in anger when reaching Kengtung, blaming
my uncles for not warning him of the danger.
Later
that year, when Ne Win headed the new caretaker government, Sao Kiaomurng was
given a taste of the military’s brand of justice. While in Lashio, his 13-year-old
son was knocked off his bicycle by a Burmese army jeep and suffered a serious
head injury. His father wanted to charge the sergeant driving the jeep, who had
no license, but was told by his brother-in-law – a police officer in Lashio –
not to waste his time, as the army had become untouchable.
Sao
Kiaomurng himself always tried to be fair. During his thirteen years as a
judge, he avoided applying the death sentence.
Ironically, this was held against him by the military authorities when,
together with most leading members of the Shan ruling families, he was arrested
during General Ne Win’s coup on March 2, 1962.
Three
of his brothers, and his nephew, Sao Sai Long, were jailed for six to seven
years in Insein. Sao Kiaomurng was held in a military lock-up while authorities
tried to find fault with his work as a judge, homing in on his failure to impose
the death sentence in two murder cases.
Fortunately
they could find no evidence of malfeasance, and he was released after a year in
detention. However, like other members of the ruling family, he was forbidden
from staying in Kengtung. He moved with his wife and five children to Taunggyi,
where he struggled to make ends meet. While his wife earned an income from
knitting, he learned to use a sewing machine, making hats for sale.
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Kengtung Palace was
demolished in 1991 by Burmese military
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He
was never to live again in his hometown. The military junta turned the Kengtung
palace into an office, then demolished it in 1991 -- in what many saw as a
deliberate act of cultural sabotage – erecting a hotel in its place. In 1996, with
the setting up of the Triangle Region Command, Kengtung was formally established
as the junta’s eastern military bastion; its first commander was future
president Thein Sein.
In
2004, Sao Kiaomurng and his wife went to the UK to stay with his youngest
daughter and son-in-law. He never returned to Burma.
A
merit-making ceremony for Sao Kiaomurng will be held in Kengtung on June 29-30,
at Wat Ho Khoang, the temple where he ordained 85 years ago.
By Pippa Curwen
Tags: Opinion
