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Administrative divison structure of Myanmar/Burma

I know that Myanmar/Burma is subdivided into the following:

  • Division or State (14)
  • District (64)
  • Township (325)

My doubt is which subdivision goes after the Township, the city or town, the ward, the village-tract/group, or the village? jlog3000 (talk) 17:20, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

It's ward/village tract after the township.Hybernator (talk) 17:59, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Coordinators' working group

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Charles Evans Hughes House

I just tagged the article with your project. It's the ambassador's residence in Washington, D.C. The actual embassy (looks like someone found my flickr pix) is located at 2300 S Street, NW (one block north). If someone writes an article about the embassy, be sure to include the fact it was once the home of Herbert Hoover, among others. APK thinks he's ready for his closeup 03:17, 28 March 2009 (UTC)

Proposal for a 200-WikiProject contest

A proposal has been posted for a contest between all 200 country WikiProjects. We're looking for judges, coordinators, ideas, and feedback.

The Transhumanist 00:39, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Anti-British sentiment

Hi, would anyone knowledgeable on Burmese history be able to add anything on Anti-British sentiment? Casliber (talk · contribs) 02:02, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Anti-British sentiment was strong particularly among the Burmans throughout the British colonial period for political, cultural and economic reasons. (In some quarters, especially amongst the upper echelons of Burmese military, the country's ills are still conveniently assigned to the evils of colonialism.)
For the minority ethnic groups, it's less clear cut. Some of the ethnic groups like the hill Karens, Kachins or Chins certainly fared better under the British tried-and-true divide-and-conquer policy, having gained a degree of prominence hitherto unavailable to them. But others--especially the majority Buddhist groups like the Arakanese, Mons, Shans and lowland Karens--were turned off by the British disrespect and disregard for the (collective) Burmese culture. (E.g., the British and foreigners wearing shoes on Buddhist temples and pagodas.) It's no accident that YMBA (the Buddhist version of YMCA)--the first quasi-political organization in the colonial era--was founded by an Arakanese (Rakhine). Many noted anti-colonialists were ethnics, including so-called foreigners, the Indians and the Chinese. The Burmese were inspired by the Indian independence movement, and Indian intellectuals were instrumental in bringing leftist ideas to Burmese students who would later lead the independence movement. Many of ethnic Chinese descent joined the army to fight the British, and of course some rose to the very highest levels of the Burmese military and politics.
As far as pure anti-British sentiment, as opposed to anti-colonialism, I don't believe it was ever an ethnic/racial strain against the British. If anything, it was the Indians, who immigrated en masse in search of economic opportunity, that came to be viewed in a very negative light in Burmese eyes. Indians were looked up to and a source of intellectual inspiration until the British colonial era. Genius of British divide-and-conquer policy!
Certainly, anti-British sentiment doesn't exist amongst most Burmese today. Of course, many Burmese, including myself, still view the British colonial period as an unqualified disaster. But most Burmese can and do understand the difference between the British people and colonialism. (Watching English Premier League Football is very much part of Burmese culture nowadays.) The same is true of the Japanese. The 3-year Japanese rule is remembered with horror but the Japanese people are very much loved and respected.Hybernator (talk) 16:03, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Naming convention for Burmese geographical names

A discussion has started about the lack of a clear guideline on Burmese geographical names here. Any input is welcome. Pim Rijkee (talk) 20:43, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Chan Htoon

I started a stub, please have a look and fill in where you can. Thanks! Chris (クリス • フィッチュ) (talk) 04:43, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Kokang incident

I started an article on the unfolding Kokang incident and listed it (for now, at least) on In the news on the main page. If there is anyone here who is familiar with Myanmar issues and willing to monitor the article and help ensure accuracy and NPOV, it would be much appreciated. (When I put July 2009 Urumqi riots on the main page a month and a half ago, I was pretty much up around the clock trying to maintain the article... unfortunately, I know very little about Myanmar so I won't be able to contribute to this article in the same way.) rʨanaɢ talk/contribs 18:48, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

NOTICE. Request For Comment: Changes to Naming policies which may affect WikiProject naming conventions.

Following recent changes by some editors to the Wikipedia:Naming conventions policy page, a Request For Comment, (RFC) is now being held to debate the removal of the passage specifying that individual WikiProject and other naming conventions are able to make exceptions to the standard policy of using Common Names as the titles of Wikipedia articles.

This WikiProject is being notified since it operates such a specific naming convention. Editors are invited to comment on the proposed change at this location. Xandar 01:01, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

The above "notification" is a grossly biased misrepresentation of the changes under discussion. The old version of the naming conventions policy tried to lay down binding rules; we don't work that way, so it was necessary also to make explicit exceptions. The new version articulates principles, and allows for consensus to establish how they should be applied. Thus there is no longer any need for exceptions. In fact, making exceptions is nonsense, since there are no rules to make exceptions to. These changes are good for specific conventions. Xandar is trying to induce moral panic in those who stand to gain the most from this. Xandar is only opposed to the new version because he thinks the wording, not the general thrust, weakens his position in a dispute unrelated to this RfC. Don't be fooled. Hesperian 02:40, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Check

Could somebody from here please fact-check this section for me? Thanks Night w (talk) 05:40, 2 November 2009 (UTC)

WP 1.0 bot announcement

This message is being sent to each WikiProject that participates in the WP 1.0 assessment system. On Saturday, January 23, 2010, the WP 1.0 bot will be upgraded. Your project does not need to take any action, but the appearance of your project's summary table will change. The upgrade will make many new, optional features available to all WikiProjects. Additional information is available at the WP 1.0 project homepage. — Carl (CBM · talk) 03:40, 22 January 2010 (UTC)

Unreferenced living people articles bot

User:DASHBot/Wikiprojects provides a list, updated daily, of unreferenced living people articles (BLPs) related to your project. There has been a lot of discussion recently about deleting these unreferenced articles, so it is important that these articles are referenced.

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If you have any questions or concerns, visit User talk:DASHBot/Wikiprojects. Okip 00:29, 28 March 2010 (UTC)

Myanmar Radio and Television and related articles

Hello. Can someone with more expertise in with Myanmar/Burma and Thailand television take a look at Myanmar Radio and Television, Midnight Radio and Television, MRTV, and related articles, along with the contributions of User:Tw3435 and User:125.25.76.202? I believe a lot of it is vandalism, but there may be some corret stuff in there as well, and it could be a really big misunderstanding... thanks! -- ArglebargleIV (talk) 12:12, 30 March 2010 (UTC)

New template for Burmese pronunciation

Hello, I'm not part of this WikiProject, but I wanted to announce to you the creation of WP:IPA for Burmese, a guide for the transcription of Burmese words into IPA. When adding the pronunciation of Burmese words at English Wikipedia, please use {{IPA-my}} (click through to see its optional parameters) and follow the system outlined at WP:IPA for Burmese. Thanks! +Angr 17:59, 14 May 2010 (UTC)

rename project 2010

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: page moved, unopposed.  Ronhjones  (Talk) 22:56, 27 June 2010 (UTC)


Wikipedia:WikiProject Myanmar (Burma)Wikipedia:WikiProject Burma (Myanmar) — Original name of the WikiProject four years ago, reflects name of topic article in en:wp. --Chris (クリス • フィッチュ) (talk) 18:26, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Region vs. Division

I notice that changes have been made in a number of articles from Division to Region for the Burman provinces of Burma/Myanmar. They cite a 20 August 2010 edict in Burmese. Has anyone seen an English language source? I noticed that editors changed the Template:Sagaing Division heading to Sagaing Region and then back again to Sagaing Division. What is the status of the alleged change from Division to Region? Is there a discussion somewhere? --Bejnar (talk) 21:33, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

It's not alleged. The latest constitution promulgates the name change, as well as adding a few sub-divisions of self-administered zones for some ethnic peoples. Chinese Xinhua News Agency has already begun using the new term. Not sure if other media outlets have caught up to it yet. Hybernator (talk) 22:02, 3 October 2010 (UTC)
Yes, I'm certain that the English names have changed as well. A cursory Google search [1] on the English language state media (New Light of Myanmar for instance) shows that any news articles written after August 20 no longer use "division." I know that most other English language media in Burma (Weekly News, Myanmar Times [2]) have also adopted these name changes.--Hintha(t) 22:07, 3 October 2010 (UTC)

Sagaing/Mandalay boundary - Ngazun Township

The official township map here has Ngazun Township in Mandalay Region, which is also what we currently have in the English Wikipedia. However older British sources such as the Imperial gazetteer of India here have it in Sagaing, as currently does Maplandia here. The 1983 population census, Volumes 13-16‎ - Page 3, listed it as Sagaing. In 1999 the Institut für Asienkunde (Hamburg, Germany) listed it as being in Sagaing. However, by 2000, the BBC here is listing it as in Mandalay Division. Other recent maps, such as "Map of Sagaing Division", show it as part of Mandalay Division. Can anyone find, or does anyone know, when exactly the change in boundary between Sagaing and Mandalay took place, and by what edict? --Bejnar (talk) 21:53, 4 October 2010 (UTC)

Rangoon Gymkhana cricket team

Hi there, just visiting from WP:CRIC! Now, I've created the article for Rangoon Gymkhana cricket team, which played a single first-class cricket match against the Marylebone Cricket Club in the 1926/27 season. I'm having trouble expanding information on the Rangoon Gymkhana, so guessed that maybe someone over at this project might have knowledge on the subject. AssociateAffiliate (talk) 21:10, 18 October 2010 (UTC)

Karen Human Rights Group

Hi, I am a student at Georgetown University. I'm partnering with the Wikipedia Public Policy Institute. I'm currently working on a project about the Karen Human Rights Group. I will need some assistance for the entry. Is this a good place to start? Thank you. This is a link to my entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Jysg23/KHRG —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jysg23 (talkcontribs) 18:46, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Indeed it is, I will try to help.--Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 09:51, 24 October 2010 (UTC)

Myanmar articles have been selected for the Wikipedia 0.8 release

Version 0.8 is a collection of Wikipedia articles selected by the Wikipedia 1.0 team for offline release on USB key, DVD and mobile phone. Articles were selected based on their assessed importance and quality, then article versions (revisionIDs) were chosen for trustworthiness (freedom from vandalism) using an adaptation of the WikiTrust algorithm.

We would like to ask you to review the Myanmar articles and revisionIDs we have chosen. Selected articles are marked with a diamond symbol (♦) to the right of each article, and this symbol links to the selected version of each article. If you believe we have included or excluded articles inappropriately, please contact us at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.8 with the details. You may wish to look at your WikiProject's articles with cleanup tags and try to improve any that need work; if you do, please give us the new revisionID at Wikipedia talk:Version 0.8. We would like to complete this consultation period by midnight UTC on Sunday, November 14th.

We have greatly streamlined the process since the Version 0.7 release, so we aim to have the collection ready for distribution by the end of October, 2010. As a result, we are planning to distribute the collection much more widely, while continuing to work with groups such as One Laptop per Child and Wikipedia for Schools to extend the reach of Wikipedia worldwide. Please help us, with your WikiProject's feedback!

If you have already provided feedback, we deeply appreciate it. For the Wikipedia 1.0 editorial team, SelectionBot 16:35, 6 November 2010 (UTC)

WikiProject cleanup listing

I have created together with Smallman12q a toolserver tool that shows a weekly-updated list of cleanup categories for WikiProjects, that can be used as a replacement for WolterBot and this WikiProject is among those that are already included (because it is a member of Category:WolterBot cleanup listing subscriptions). See the tool's wiki page, this project's listing in one big table or by categories and the index of WikiProjects. Svick (talk) 20:17, 7 November 2010 (UTC)

Place name disambiguation

When it is necessary to disambiguate Burmese place names at the township level, which of two forms should be preferred: "Kontha, Ayadaw Township" or "Kontha, Ayadaw"? The shorter form might be preferred because it is short, but the longer one might be preferred because it avoids confusion with similarly named districts, and district disambiguation. For example with "Kontha" there are eight occurrences in Sagaing Region:

  • Kontha, Katha Township, Katha District, 24° 17' N 096° 32' E
  • Kontha, Mawlaik Township, Mawlaik District, 23° 35' N 094° 30' E
  • Kontha, Kale Township, Kale District, 23° 29' N 094° 06' E
  • Kontha, Ye-U Township, Shwebo District, 22° 48' N 095° 12' E
  • Kôntha, Kani Township, Monywa District, 22° 47' N 094° 43' E
  • Kontha, Tabayin Township, Monywa District, 22° 31' N 095° 29' E
  • Kontha, Ayadaw Township, Monywa District, 22° 22' N 095° 25' E
  • Kontha, Budalin Township, Monywa District, 22° 19' N 095° 12' E

The first first four can be distinguished at the district level. However, in Monywa District there are four instances of "Kontha" so they need to be distinguished at the township level. Are there other pro and cons? --Bejnar (talk) 22:28, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

Article နတ္နဂါးမင္းသားေလး has been nominated for deletion

The article နတ္နဂါးမင္းသားေလး has been nominated for deletion at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/နတ္နဂါးမင္းသားေလး. Appreciate comments from participants in your WikiProject, as the rest of us can't even read the title (the article content itself is mostly in English, though). Thanks, cab (call) 07:36, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Chinese people in Burma

Chinese people in Burma has been requested to be renamed, see talk:Chinese people in Burma. 65.95.14.96 (talk) 00:44, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Requested move 2011

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

No consensus to move. Vegaswikian (talk) 19:42, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

WikiProject_Burma_(Myanmar)WikiProject Myanmar (Burma) — Reflect the correct name of the country. Burma was popular but former name, however, Myanmar is official name of the country, thus WikiProject should reflect accordingly. 78.33.164.25 (talk) 21:51, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

See also /* rename project */ above. --Bejnar (talk) 23:21, 8 March 2011 (UTC)
  • Oppose The name Burma has been discussed and mediated for a long while and the determination was to leave it at Burma. This page should be left at Burma (Myanmar). I also feel this move request should also have been discussed first before opening where we could have pointed these things out to 78.33.164.25. Fyunck(click) (talk) 23:58, 8 March 2011 (UTC)
  • Oppose. Burma is still the name overwhelmingly used in the international media and by most people. -- Necrothesp (talk) 00:27, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Yuzana

Yuzana (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

This article about a pop singer (living person) was previously tagged for wikification - I did what I could but, because the only reference seems to be a 'dead link' and because I was unable to find reliable sources in English, I'm not sure about notability - but I suspect there are sources in Burmese (from searching the name). So please, could some people take a look. If it is not a 'notable' person (per WP:NMUSIC, WP:BIO, etc) then of course it should be proposed or listed for deletion. Best,  Chzz  ►  22:02, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

Burma article move

It has been proposed that Burma be renamed and moved to Myanmar. Interested parties can comment at its talk page. SWHtalk 16:46, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

This WikiProject is defunct

It is really defunct. Nobody bother discussing here. Perhaps, I should place {{WikiProject status|inactive}} template soon. SWHtalk 18:38, 16 October 2011 (UTC)

Based on what? That nobody responded less than two hours before you put the previous post up? Are you that important that we should jump?--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 13:29, 21 November 2011 (UTC)
What do you mean? The inactive template clearly says we should put it when there have been no discussions on its talk page for four months. Based on that, there has been no discussion since the proposed project rename on March (Others are just notices). And I am not saying I am important. Did I? And I also didn't say I want to put it because nobody responded my post. And your edit summary says that was you What does it mean? SWHtalk 14:22, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

Zogam

Hi! This article has been in bad shape for a quite a while. For some reason, it has also had a good amount of copyrighted text added by anonymous edits. It's in some sort of sweet spot where it's not important enough to have experienced editors improve it but important enough where readers feel that more information needs to be added. I think if the article's quality improves, less copyrighted text will be added to it. If any of you have time, I think it would be worthwhile to make some improvements. Thanks for your time. OlYeller21Talktome 17:29, 5 November 2011 (UTC)

Sunset Boulevard

The article on Sunset Boulevard tells its readers that The film was later remade in Burma, titled A Lin Pyawt Chain (Sunset), starring Mo Mo Myint Aung in Gloria Swanson's role. Can anyone source that claim? -- Hoary (talk) 13:07, 21 November 2011 (UTC)

Yangon/Rangoon move request

Article Yangon has been requested to move to Rangoon. Please join the discussion at Talk:Yangon. Thanks. SWH talk 16:31, 14 January 2012 (UTC)

WikiWomen's History Month

Hi everyone. March is Women's History Month and I'm hoping a few folks here at WP:Burma will have interest in putting on events (on and off wiki) related to women's roles in Burma's history, society and culture. We've created an event page on English Wikipedia (please translate!) and I hope you'll find the inspiration to participate. These events can take place off wiki, like edit-a-thons, or on wiki, such as themes and translations. Please visit the page here: WikiWomen's History Month. Thanks for your consideration and I look forward to seeing events take place! SarahStierch (talk) 21:36, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Burmese general election, 1925

Some help on this article would be appreciated, particulary with regards to the names of the parties - the Irrawaddy references seem to use different names to the Times articles of the day. I believe the Nationalist Party (Times) and the People's Party (Irrawaddy) may be the same, as may the Independent Party (Times) and Golden Valley Party (Irrawaddy). However, I have another source that claims the People's Party was the Golden Valley Party, even though the Irrawaddy specifically notes them as two separate ones! All very confusing! Thanks, Number 57 11:58, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

I've added a stub for Legislative Council of Burma, which wasn't there. Dsp13 (talk) 15:28, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

A correct spelling of a town name called Thantlang in Chin State

Names of places in Burma fall in many cases subjects of incorrect spelling during the process of transliteration from native languages into Burmese language. Thantlang is my birth place and I was brought up there till I left for abroad. I have noticed that Burmese government had incorrectly transliterated local names of Chin State and it is very annoying to read those misspelling in media and in internet as well. Such wrong spellings in our blunt eyes are very much intolerable, and thus they need to be corrected. For example, in British colonial time, Thantlang was spelled as Klangklang. It is so hard for local peoples like me to read this kind of estranged words and even how they sound when spelling.

Another cause of this problem is that Burmese language does not end with final consonants using Roman characters as in where Western languages do. In linguistic point of view it is just a literature deficiency. However, Chin languages are very rich in final consonants. For example, the name 'Thantlang' itself, 'Lungler', 'Tedim' and 'Tonzang' etc. Spelling 'Thantlang' into 'Htantalan', also 'Htantlang', also 'Thangtlang', also 'Thantalan' and 'Klangklang' are just explicitly wrong. Those wordings are the results of poor study in Chin names and languages. Thus, they should not be deemed fit for placing in websites like Wikipedia. Results of similar Burmese transliterating also show many literature struggles in ethnic states. The old name of Thantlang was Thlantlang. 'Thlan' means cemetery and 'Tlang' means hill. The combination of two words gives one syllabic word which is 'cemetery hill'. --Ralliantu (talk) 05:03, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Myanmar national football team

I'm strongly inclined to initiate an WP:RM of Myanmar national football team, as I hate to see parent and child articles out of sync. There's surprisingly no discussion on its talk page, but this seems like a major oversight if it's just accidental. Is there a compelling reason for this article to have a different title than Burma, or should it be moved? --BDD (talk) 18:10, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

I've proceeded with that RM, which you can view here. --BDD (talk) 15:18, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

Burma → Myanmar requested-move notification

A requested move survey has been started (by Marcus Qwertyus (talk)) at Talk:Burma, which proposes to move:

Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. — P.T. Aufrette (talk) 22:43, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

Visiting Myanmar

Hello, Jon Davies CE of Wikimedia UK here. I am visiting your country between September 27th and November 3rd. Dn;t know where you live but perhaps we could meet up? Jon Davies. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jon Davies (WMUK) (talkcontribs) 08:39, 10 October 2012 (UTC)

Myanmar Language Commission

Redirect to dictionary seems a little odd. I added Romanization of Burmese. In ictu oculi (talk) 02:40, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

I'm going to be bold and WP:FORK, the MLC has at least 2 major projects both with articles. (1) Myanmar English Dictionary (2) MLC transcription system, hence it makes sense for it to be a standalone stub. In ictu oculi (talk) 02:23, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

Belin/Bilin

Stub-sorting Belin, Myanmar and wondering whether to move it to a different title I found Bilin, Mon State and wondered whether they are the same place. Over to you lot. PamD 08:25, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

military images up for deletion

-- has been nominated for deletion -- 65.94.79.6 (talk) 11:38, 3 July 2013 (UTC)

Requested move at Talk:Va people.

A requested move is ongoing at Va people, which aims to move the page to the more conventional spelling, "Wa people". Please comment there. RGloucester (talk) 16:24, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

Yinduu Daa and Daai Chin

I started looking at Yinduu Daa and cleaning it up and was almost immediately confused as to who these are as I can't source them under that name. I found Daai Chin which discussed the Yinduu Daa saying they are separate groups but is confusing and in at least two places has Wikipedia stating baldly that researchers were wrong. It does however say that the Yinduu Daa are the "Yindu Chin" (one 'u') and I can find a couple of brief mentions of the Yindu Chin or the Yindu Dai. I found one of the references for Yinduu Daa at [3]. Another source, "Roger Mana Naing", can't be found by me at least. The Myanmar encyclopedia is at [4] but I can't read it. Dougweller (talk) 09:26, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

Discussion on category name for schools existing during British Rule

Since Myanmar (Burma) was a part of the British Raj until 1937, would editors here like to bring to bear your fine judgment and considerable experience, in other words, weigh in, at Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2013_September_17#Category:Colonial_schools_in_India? I have already warned editors there I'll be soliciting. Fowler&fowler«Talk» 18:59, 20 September 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Shwebomin (2nd nomination)

I have nominated Shwebomin for deletion. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.SWH® talk 06:21, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

  • The result was to delete. --Bejnar (talk) 07:21, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

Reference desk question on a Burmese given name

If there are any WikiProject Burma members familiar with Burmese given names, I would be grateful for their participation in my Reference Desk question at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language#Is there a Burmese given name "U"?. —Psychonaut (talk) 10:13, 15 January 2014 (UTC)

Zou, Zo, Zomi Kuki

We have Zomi people, which I've and other editors have made a redirect to Zou people (and is a terrible mess when not a redirect, we have a source that says "all of which are called [[Kuki people]].<ref name="bareh">{{cite book|last=Bareh|first=Hamlet|title=Encyclopaedia of North-East India: Manipu|year=2001|publisher=Mittal|isbn=978-81-7099-790-0|pages=260ff.|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=XScmdGvMf7IC&pg=PA260|accessdate=22 November 2010|chapter=Zou}}</ref> which gets removed. Various editors have tried to straighten this out and keep the articles stable with no success. Dougweller (talk) 15:48, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

These have been a mess for a long, long time. Differences in terminology, limited perspectives, and ethnic identity concepts have all played into the creation of the mess. --Bejnar (talk) 07:18, 24 January 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for responding. There's a discussion on my talk page where I've added some sources that illustrate the mess, I'll copy my post over and the post I've responded to:
I couldn't spare much time on Wikipedia so I would have to accept whatever you did. But you must know, "people" means "mi" in our (Zomi) language. No confusion on "Zomi" and "Zo people." You said you already have an "article on the Zo" under the title Zou. There, in the Zou article, it says "According to the 2001 Census, the Zou population in Manipur is around 20,000, less than 3% of the population. The community is concentrated in Churachandpur and Chandel districts of Manipur in North-East India." Do you really think our population would be only 20,000? This article is not an "article of the Zo", it is about a "community" under the nomenclature "Zomi" or "Zo people." The "Zomi" or "Zo people" are found in the Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and Chin State in Myanmar as well as parts of Bangladesh. The entire "Zomi" or "Zo people" population crosses 3 million.
There are different communities under the nomenclature Zomi. Zou is just one community. Others include Paite, Vaiphei, Simte, Tedim, Kom, etc. For one, according to the 2001 Census, the population of Paite is over 60,000. Again Zou is only 20,000.
I beg you to please, please stop redirecting the article Zomi to Zou people. It hurts the sentiments of the 3 million Zo people spreading across the entire globe. Thank you so much. Vaphualization (talk) 11:04, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
I really would like to get this right. But there does seem a lot of confusion and disagreement about nomenclature here. Can you explain the Zomi Human Rights article which uses the word Zo? I found the International Encyclopedia of Linguistics published by Oxford University, and that says: "Zome:also called Zorni, Zomi, Zu, Kuki Chin. 46.400 speakers in Myanmar and India. In Myannur: 30,()00 speakers in Chin statee, Tiddim. Chin hills. In India: 17.000 speakers in Manipur. Chandel and southern districts; Assam. Roman script. Related to Simte.
All of these articles seem to show confusion, see for instance Chin. And can you see page 201 here? And page 86 here which says "The movements for unification were not successful because many of the smaller tribes had already developed a feeling of dislike for the term Kuki. Following the attempted failure to be united under the term Kuki, a political organization called Zomi National Congress (ZNC) was formed in 1971 at Daizang, Manipur. The seven cognate tribes from Manipur state—Gangte, Hmar, Paite, Simte, Tedim-Chin, Vaiphei and Zou adopted the name "Zomi" at Pearsonmun, Churachandpur on June 26, 1993. This alternative movement for unification under the term "Zomi", though successful for quite some time, faced a similar rejection first from the Gangte who later came back to the Kuki fold. Other tribes such as Vaiphei and Zou are divided among themselves into those who are in favour of the term Zomi and those who are not." So this is a real mess, not easily sorted out to make sense on Wikipedia. I'd like to get all this reflected according to our WP:NPOV policy, but it's tricky. Please stick with me and help. Dougweller (talk) 11:29, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
It would be nice to get this sorted, but all I know I've learned through searches - I'm no expert at all on this. Dougweller (talk) 11:33, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
Looking at the recent meeting of the 3rd World Zomi Convention, one story[5] says "Zomi is not a tribe but a collection of people (Zo+Mi means Zo+People). Zo people which have around 45 clans and many sub-tribes are said to be known as Kuki tribe in Indian context while Chin in Myanmar, according to Zomi leaders" So this is calling the Zomi the Zo people and also referring to the Chin people (another schizophrenic article) and of course the Kuki people, calling them Zo (not Zomi, note). The Zo Reunification Organization boycotted their meeting. [6] Zogam.com, reporting on the first day of the convention, writes about the "Zo people".[7] Commenting on the boycott[8] I find "The Zomi Council,(ZC) General Headquarters, today said although both the Zomi Council and Zo Reunification Oraganisation (ZZRO) have similar view on the concept of Zo people, the approach could be poles apart. They have focus on political unification of the Zo people whereas ZC’s immediate concern is on promoting the socio-cultural and economic ties of the people by adopting the principle of peaceful-co-existence." It's pretty clear that both these groups regard the words Zomo and Zo as meaning the same thing, and I see that in an interview[9] with the conventions convenor he's quoted as saying "Such noises are unnecessary, totally uncalled for because there is no ambiguity between Zomi and Zo people. Literally, Zo + Mi are Zo + People, so is with Mi + Zo, meaning Zo-fate, Zo-suante, Zo-hnahthlak. All the three names emerged from the concept of the people being descendants of “Zo”. There are numerous historical records, cultural and traditional practices in support of this proposition. It is undeniable fact that, the people whom others called as Chin, Kuki or Lushai are one community. Any person who truly understands this fact would never create noises or pursue divisive policy. Yet, we should also understand that, (i) most of the divisions within the Zo people today are not their own creation, but a British legacy carried forward by different states (nation-state); (ii) there exist unequal level of political consciousness among the Zo people - some are engrossed with clan or tribe-level politics whereas some have pursued national politics, some might have enjoyed statehood status whereas some of them are struggling for survival, some may find it more convenience to use the “given names” in politics whereas some are advocating the use of “indigenous names”".
Then there's the population issue. I've seen figures as high as six million. Ethnologue says "61,000 [Zo speakers] in Myanmar (2012 T. Philipzo). Population total all countries: 81,9002[10] I presume the six million figure might be achieved if you add all the other groups, eg the Mizo people which our articles claims with no source numbers 1.5 million, and add in the rest of the Mizo languages. Dougweller (talk) 13:30, 25 January 2014 (UTC)

Dear Dougweller:

This is what you wrote in your talk page: "We have an article on the Zo already under the article title Zou people. If you think there should be a separate article (on Zomi), use the talk page there to discuss it."

The Zomi article was created in 2004 and I don't think we need to discuss whether this article should be there or not after ten long years.

The issue is about "copyrighted material" and not about political intricacies inherent to the ethnic name. If you find "copyrighted material" used in the article, remove them by all means. But redirecting this article to another is not what is expected of an admin who claimed to have absolutely no off-Wiki involvement in any of the Zo politics. So please stay on course, edit/remove what you have to and give an accurate reflection of all the mess you've dug up from your little Google research. Let us help each other. Vaphualization (talk) 19:40, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

You might also want to refer to this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zomia_(geography) Vaphualization (talk) 19:47, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
Thanks for responding here. No, the issue is not about copyrighted material. That's an issue but not the major one since it could be fixed as you say you wrote it on your blog. We have a lot of articles that have been around for years that have very serious problems. The lack of reliable sources was a major one, but that still isn't the issue. I've explained the issues above and I really would like to see you respond to them. And I note that another editor also agrees that this is a mess. Dougweller (talk) 19:10, 27 January 2014 (UTC)
I will also note that the article as it was before I redirected it was basically a copy of Vaphualization's website Zogam.org. Besides the independent sources I've listed above I've also shown that organisations with either Zomi or Zo in their title both say they are promoting the cause of the Zo. Dougweller (talk) 11:19, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
  • Comment. This isn't my area, but I've found that our articles on the peoples of this area are especially bad; even when they're pasted from some published source they often sound ridiculous because the sources we use are often of very poor quality. (This is true for articles on South Asia in general, but this area seems particularly neglected.) Obviously these should be one article, and since 'Zomi' was the most poorly developed, it should probably be the one rd'd into 'Zou people', even if it's a bit older, since the old page histories aren't worth much. As for whether the article should ultimately be under "Zou people" or the redundant "Zomi people" depends on COMMONNAME; it doesn't matter if "mi" means people: Both "Zomi people" and "Zomi language" are acceptable because that's what many sources use, though we should try to use the same name for both articles. The attempts at unification should probably be covered primarily at Kuki people, with a hatnote here. (BTW, shouldn't Kuki people and Chin people be merged as well, since they both cover both the "Kuki" of India and the "Chin" of Burma? I've added merge tags, choosing Kuki as the target because it's better developed and the more familiar term in English.) We should be careful that either (1) the details of this article are about the Zou people (Zomi) proper, and not about related peoples that have been lumped under the name Zou/Zomi, or (b) that it is explicitly about the Teddim, Vaiphei, Paite, and any other peoples that are lumped together by our sources. There's no reason we should expect a one-to-one correspondence between ethnicity and ISO language codes. — kwami (talk) 19:32, 28 January 2014 (UTC)
Ethnologue isn't the best source, but it's better than many we're using here. Under Zo/Zou (formely Zome), they say:
Ethnic autonym: Zomi or Zome, also a collective name by Tedim Chin [ctd] of Myanmar, Paite [pck], and Vaiphei [vap] of Manipur.
Zomi is a collective name by which Tedim Chins [ctd] of Myanmar, Paite [pck] and Vaiphei [vap] of Manipur generally identify themselves. People are known as Zome or Zomi.
Under Vaiphei they say,
Ethnic Autonym: Zomi is a collective name by which Tedim Chins of Myanmar, Paite and Vaiphei of Manipur generally identify themselves.
Under Paite Chine they say,
Zomi is a collective ethnic autonym generally used by Tedim Chin of Myanmar, Paite, and Vaiphei of Manipur.
And under Tedim Chin they say,
Zomi may refer to Tedim [ctd] or to all Chin groups.
kwami (talk) 19:44, 28 January 2014 (UTC)

It came to my notice that there has been some “debate” and discussion going on regarding the matter content in Wikipedia about / on “Zomi”

My comment comes as a person who happens to be born and brought up in that part of the geographical world that is being analyzed and debated here. I am not an anthropologist, not a Historian nor a Political scientist.

I put “Zomi” under quote and unquote as it is in itself an evolving entity to be nurtured and strengthened by the people who subscribe to and believe in it. There is no hard and fast rule to say that it is the “gospel truth” and the truth alone that shall set the people free from Imperialism. No doubt it is a Contemporary phenomenon.

The history of the people of Northeast India, the said people of “Zomi” in particular were not nay never written by themselves, but by Anthropologists from “outside”, mostly by the Europeans. The history of Manipur or Northeast India for that matter is never written in the history text books in India, but the northeast people were studied under “anthropology subject”. The new generations, the academia and social thinkers are struggling to “write” their own history! This will take time and will be expensive. I say expensive as the people themselves have for century been educated under the “colonial masters” and have been nurtured by western “anthropological education”. The ethnic assertion and fall out in terms of conflicts and violence witnessed in the region at large is a classic case of this transition and process of identity formation, struggling for indigenous identity and not based on western education or anthropological research.

On the word and terminology, the “tribal” people were categorized by anthropological researchers, where people were categorized under Chin, Kuki, Naga, according to “anthropological conveniences and measurements or parameters” that fits into it. Some of this categories were fully capitalized, such as the Nagas, Naga people by the people, while some feels the need to find their own identity. This is where Zomi and its evolution comes in.

Many of these anthropological tribes were recognized under the Indian Constitution ( handed down by the British Colonials). Zou is one such tribes. There are more than 30 tribes in Manipur alone!!!! The Indian Constitution itself underwent a series of amendments. Burma (now Myanmar) itself is undergoing a pressure to change the constitution (also handed down by the British Colonials)

We can go on and on...and to cut the story short...

I understand some Wiki editors here are clearly confused. But I do not understand why the "Zomi" article is being redirected to "Zou people" without the consent of the people. Or is this another face of “colonialism” in its new avatar?

—Ninglun Hanghal — Preceding unsigned comment added by 164.100.24.182 (talk) 10:21, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

No, absolutely nothing to do with colonialism or neo-colonialism. Also, the consent of the people is not an issue, what they call themselves may well be. --Bejnar (talk) 22:46, 31 January 2014 (UTC)


Dear Dougweller & Kwami:
Why am I not surprised by the fact that you haven't heard the word Zomia? See this Zomia_(geography) page. "ZOMIA" was coined in 2002 by the Dutch social scientist Willem van Schendel in an article published in the geography journal Environment and Planning D: Society and Space (pp. 647–68). It is a geographical term, derived from the word "Zomi" which in the local language means ‘people that live in the mountains’. See here [11]. This "Zomia" term was further popularized by James Scott in his book "The Art of Not Being Governed" 2009 [12].
Will Kymlicka has extensively used the term "Zomi" in his books.
Go to page 238 here to find mention of Zomi [13]
And, please go through this before you further comment: "Journal of Tribal Intellectual Collective India" Vol.1, Issue 2, No.4 pp. 51 to 65, December 2013, by P.Thangsuanhau & V.Jamkhanpau [14]
There are a number of books written on "ZOMI" (not "Zou"), here's some of them.
1. The Discovery of Zoland by T Gougin, 1980 [15]
2. Zo Chronicles by Khup Za Go, 2008 [16]
3. Zomi in Diaspora for World Evangelism by J.M. Ngul Khan Pau, 2011 [17]
4. The Cultural Meaning of the Racial Name "Zomi" by Tualchin Zomi, 1984 [18]
5. Zo History by Vumson, 1986 [19]
6. Prism of the ZO people, 2008, Pages 398, Rs.250.00 (INR)
7. "Rethinking 'tribe' identities: The politics of recognition among the Zo in north-east India" by H Kham Khan Suan [20]
You might not be able to find the whole content of these books (and journals) online. I can mail them to you by courier if you are still holding your position that there are no ZOMI in this world. —Vaphualization (talk) 12:57, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
Zomi is a confederation of several tribes that inhabit the North Eastern states of India, north-western Burma and parts of Bangladesh.
Zou is one such tribe under Zomi.
According to the 2001 Indian census, the population of some tribes of Manipur are listed below [21]:
1 All Scheduled Tribes - 741,141 - 100%
2 Thadou - 182,594 - 24.6%
3 Tangkhul - 146,075 - 19.7%
4 Kabui - 82,386 - 11.1%
5 Paite - 49,271 - 6.6%
6 Hmar - 42,933 - 5.8%
7 Kacha Naga - 42,013 - 5.7%
8 Vaiphui - 38,267 - 5.2%
9 Maring - 23,238 - 3.1%
10 Anal - 21,242 - 2.9%
11 Zou - 20,567 - 2.8%
12 Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes - 15,164 - 2.0%
13 Kom - 14,602 - 2.0%
14 Simte - 11,065 - 1.5%
Thadou (number 2) is a Kuki tribe
Tangkhul (number 3) [22]is a Naga tribe [23]
Kabui (number 4) is a Naga tribe
Paite (number 5) is a Zomi tribe
Vaiphei (number 8) is a Zomi tribe
Maring (number 9) is a Naga tribe
Anal (number 10) is a Naga tribe
Zou (number 11) [24] is a Zomi tribe
Simte (number 14) is a Zomi tribe
Paite, Vaiphei, Zou, Simte are Zomi tribes. Kabui, Maring, Anal are Naga tribes.
I sincerely hope this simple explanation clears your understandable confusion.
When people search for ZOMI, they are taken to a way different, much smaller in scope, page - ZOU PEOPLE. Let me reiterate for the umpteenth time, the Zou people page is about a tribe, whose population is around 20,000, less than 3% of the entire Manipur's population, that belong to Zomi. What about other tribes like Paite (numbering 49,271 - 6.6% of the population of Manipur), Vaiphui (38,267 - 5.2%), Simte (11,065 - 1.5%) which find no mention in the Zou people article?
There are nine tribes that belong to Zomi: Paite, Vaiphei, Zou, Simte, Tedim Chin, Mate, Thangkhal, Gangte, Kom. The welfare of these communities/tribes are looked after by different social organisations, the apex body of which is called Zomi Council [not 'Zou Council'].
At present the following nine tribe-based organisations are the constituent members of Zomi Council:
1. Paite Tribe Council
2. Vaiphei Peoples Council
3. United Zou Organisation
4. Simte Tribe Council
5. Tedim Chin Union
6. Mate Tribe Council
7. Thangkhal Peoples Organisation
8. Gangte Tribe Council and
9. Kom Union of Manipur::::
Please revive the Zomi page. Stop redirecting it to Zou people. Remove all copyvio materials. We will try our best to explore and reflect all the difficulties and intricacies of the Zomi/Zo identity vis-a-vis Kuki, Chin and Mizo. —Vaphualization (talk) 16:30, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

I have never said there are no Zomi. I have said that even organisations with the name Zomi talk about reunifying the Zo people, etc. and do not all say that the Zo are just one group of Zomi. I also know that there are various organisations representing people who identify as Zo, etc. The Zomi Council says[25] ""The convention is going to be the best opportune moment for the Zo descendants living in different parts of the world to come together and deliberate on their future social, political, and economist set up…" That actually contradicts what you've said above. The Zomi Council does not represent all the tribes and is regional. The Paite, for instance, variously identify themselves as Mizo, Chin or Kuki. "In 1956, under the list of tribes recognised and scheduled by the Government of India in Manipur, the tribes who were known asKukis' petitioned to be known according to their own distinct tribe name, which was granted to them, so in all 33 tribes, with their distinct tribe names came into existence, the Paite tribe was one of them. The Paites are the fifth largest tribe in Manipur." Your view is one among a number of views - it looks as though you are representing the Zomi Council view. Our articles need to represent all views. The Zomi article used to represent only your view. Dougweller (talk) 17:20, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

And although I don't think we can use this, see[26] on Zo reunification. Dougweller (talk) 17:24, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
Let us revive the Zomi page again, write some good stuff together (you and I) and reflect all the views regarding this ethnic name.— Vaphualization (talk) 17:34, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
"The Paite, for instance, variously identify themselves as Mizo, Chin or Kuki." This is just one view. I don't know where you get this information. The Paite never identified themselves as Mizo, Chin or Kuki. Maybe some outside writers club them together with Mizo/Chin/Kuki. I know this because I speak Paite. You don't. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vaphualization (talkcontribs) 17:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

I think the editor Dougweller is a lot confused between the term "ZOU" and "ZOMI". "Zou" or "Zou People" is just one among the many tribes under "Zomi". While all "Zou/Zou People" are "Zomi", but not all "Zomi" are "Zou/Zou people". So, "Zomi" page should not be redirected to "Zou people". Sihzou (talk) 18:38, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

I'm not the one who is confused, although I'm not clear why you chose the Zou spelling while others use Zo. You say "the population of Zou is about 80,000 while the population of the whole Zomi (including Zou people) is about 3 million." But [27] not only says "To better understand the relationship between various groups ofZo, the Zo people can be separated into six major groups (1) Asho (2) Laimi (3) Masho (4) Mizo (5) Sho, and (6) Zomi." and "There are currently about two and a half million Zo people.". That book is by this guy[28] and that page says taht Dr. Vumson "is also known as the Father of Re-Unification among Zomi/Chin/Kuki/Mizo." My point here is that you and Vaphualizastion are only presenting one point of view - have you both read WP:NPOV? We can't do that. The only content of the Zomi article when I redirected it was a bit about a holiday - the rest was copyvio even if written by the author, and completely unsourced and representing only his point of view. See WP:VERIFY and WP:RS. Neither of you seem to have even read what I wrote above or the links I added, which frankly is a bit annoying since you are not responding to that but just repeating your views. My quote about the Paite comes from [29] The Paite, a Transborder Tribe of India and Burma By H. Kamkhenthang who also speaks Paite as he is described as a member of the Paite community. See [30] - he is or was the Joint Director (TRI) of the Directorate for Development of Tribals and Scheduled Castes, Government of Manipur. In other words, his book counts as a reliable source according to our criteria - he is not an "outside writer". His point, which is illustrated here by Vaphualization, is that people who describe themselves as Paite disagree as to what that means. Dougweller (talk) 21:38, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
I am clearly confused now who is redirecting the Zomi page to Zou people? It wasn't me. It wasn't us. I always thought you are choosing the "Zou" spelling and so you redirected all Zo-related articles there. And now you said we chose "Zou"! This is unbelievable. I requested you not to comment further before going through the links that I provided. You need to go back and do your homework, sir. You seem to have chosen to miss these very important lines in the book you cited about Paite: "The Paite as a whole can either be Mizo or Chin or Kuki according to the group feeling and group interactions. Some of the Paite now in Mizoram are Mizo just as they are Chin in Chin State of Burma. The Paite of Burma think that they are neither Mizo nor Kuki. The Paite of Manipur do not like to be labelled as Kuki..." No wonder people call you "an internet disaster" >> http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Talk:Douglas_WellerVaphualization (talk) 22:18, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
I read those lines. That was my whole point. Some Paite call themselves one thing, others another. And you are really searching the Internet in order to make personal attacks? Really? If that guy praised me I'd know I was doing something wrong. Zou people is another example of the confusion in names on Wikipedia, as the lead starts by calling them Zo. Perhaps you can help explain this.
I think I need to repeat an earlier post I made above. Looking at the recent meeting of the 3rd World Zomi Convention, one story[31] says "Zomi is not a tribe but a collection of people (Zo+Mi means Zo+People). Zo people which have around 45 clans and many sub-tribes are said to be known as Kuki tribe in Indian context while Chin in Myanmar, according to Zomi leaders" So this is calling the Zomi the Zo people and also referring to the Chin people (another schizophrenic article) and of course the Kuki people, calling them Zo (not Zomi, note). The Zo Reunification Organization boycotted their meeting.[32] Zogam.com, reporting on the first day of the convention, writes about the "Zo people".[33] Commenting on the boycott[34] I find "The Zomi Council,(ZC) General Headquarters, today said although both the Zomi Council and Zo Reunification Oraganisation (ZZRO) have similar view on the concept of Zo people, the approach could be poles apart. They have focus on political unification of the Zo people whereas ZC’s immediate concern is on promoting the socio-cultural and economic ties of the people by adopting the principle of peaceful-co-existence." It's pretty clear that both these groups regard the words Zomo and Zo as meaning the same thing, and I see that in an interview[35] with the conventions convenor he's quoted as saying "Such noises are unnecessary, totally uncalled for because there is no ambiguity between Zomi and Zo people. Literally, Zo + Mi are Zo + People, so is with Mi + Zo, meaning Zo-fate, Zo-suante, Zo-hnahthlak. All the three names emerged from the concept of the people being descendants of “Zo”. There are numerous historical records, cultural and traditional practices in support of this proposition. It is undeniable fact that, the people whom others called as Chin, Kuki or Lushai are one community. Any person who truly understands this fact would never create noises or pursue divisive policy. Yet, we should also understand that, (i) most of the divisions within the Zo people today are not their own creation, but a British legacy carried forward by different states (nation-state); (ii) there exist unequal level of political consciousness among the Zo people - some are engrossed with clan or tribe-level politics whereas some have pursued national politics, some might have enjoyed statehood status whereas some of them are struggling for survival, some may find it more convenience to use the “given names” in politics whereas some are advocating the use of “indigenous names”". Some editors are saying that the Zo or Zou are just a part of the Zomi, but these organisations equate them. To repeat again what the convenor of the 3rd World Zomi National Convention said, "there is no ambiguity between Zomi and Zo people. Literally, Zo + Mi are Zo + People, so is with Mi + Zo,". Do you agree with this or not? Dougweller (talk) 07:34, 31 January 2014 (UTC)
Just realised that I need to remember that not everyone in this discussion understands how Wikipedia works. The Zomi National Convention would be considered a reliable source for its positions and statements, but not a reliable source for factual material. I'd still like an answer to my question. Dougweller (talk) 08:13, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Dear Dougweller, did you even read the contents of the page Zou People, where you redirected Zomi? 117.205.2.24 (talk) 18:31, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

The opening sentences of the Page I quote here, The Zo people (also spelled Zou) is an indigenous community living along the frontier of India and Burma. In India, they live with and are similar in language and habits to the Paite and the Simte peoples. They belong to the nomenclature Zomi.[1]

And yet you redirect the link Zomi to this very same page. Is this just some technical incompetency on your side, or some confusion? 117.205.2.24 (talk) 18:41, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

I really would love an answer to my questions above. Yes, that page needs a lot of work. I obviously didn't write it - if I had it would be much better. But to fix the page we need to answer my questions as starters. Dougweller (talk) 19:03, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Nature of a "Zomi" article

Based upon what Vaphualization has related, "Zomi" seems to be a highly charged "political" term rather than a neutral term. (See, just for example, the discussion of the pro and anti Kuki groups.) While an article could be written NPOV about the political movement, it does appear that the title "Zomi" would be inappropriate for a peoples article. --Bejnar (talk) 23:39, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

And that is it in a nutshell, thanks. This nomenclature issue is a highly charged one and most of the posts above reflect the views of one group presenting one of several conflicting viewpoints. Dougweller (talk) 05:31, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

See this article "Rethinking 'tribe'identities The politics of recognition among the Zo in north-east India"[36]

Contributions to Indian Sociology 45, 2 (2011): 157-187 176/11.

"Despite the prevalence of 'given* alien significrs such as 'Kuki*. 'Chin*, 'Lushai* and recent indigenous self-identifiers, namely 'Zomi' and 'Mizo', a common identity label still seems to be elusive in their socio- economic, cultural and political praxis. The inability to popularise labels" The formation of the Zomi National Congress (ZNC) under the leadership of T. Gougin, a Zou, at Daizang village in January 1972 was an- other epochal moment in redefining Zo pan-tribe identity for two reasons: («) it was an attempt to transcend the post-colonial state's 'tribe' category, namely 'Zou' and construct a 'national' identity which would encompass all the Zo 'tribes'; and (h) it represented a purported national organisation formed from what Vumson (n.d.: 309) calLs a 'clan perspective*. This was evident when Gougin, in explicating the idea of 'Zomi', unabashedly opposed it to 'Mizo'. Gougin asserted that 'Zomi' was the 'only correct name* and denied the validity of 'Mizo' as an authentic label that captured the national identity of the Zo on the ground that it made poor 'grammatical* sense (Gougin 1995: 164)."

There's more useful stuff there about the ZNC, eg "the ZNC played a commendable role in germinating the seed of pan-tribe identity among the Zo as it prepared them for one of the most significant affirmations of the unity, solidarity and nationality of the Zo". This clearly relates to my questions above and restates what my quotes say, that the ZNC's goal is Zo unity. It also discusses the 'Zo Re- unification Organisation’ (ZORO). Dougweller (talk) 06:18, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Hill people

What distinguishes one hill people tribe from another? Not just a name, but language (dialects), customs and traditions. Intellectually, tribes can be grouped for discussion by common features such as area where found, language groups, customs and traditions. See, for example, the article Puebloan peoples, or the six "tribes" that compose the Tewa people. What, non-political, title would encompass all of these hill people? One answer: "Hill people of northwestern Burma and Manipur". I put Burma first, because more of them seem to live in Myanmar territory than in Indian territory. Now a variety of older sources lump all of these hill people under the name "Zo" or "Zou", because that was the name of their locale in the language group that was first studied, whatever they may call their own tribe. Now, I don't know the linguistic details of this hill peoples group, but if it compares with other hill people groups based on a purely geographic (not political geography) basis, then several different linguistics groups are likely. Hill people generally being remnants of peoples who were successively pushed out of the plains. (See the Caucasus#Demographics for example.) Tribes may share general ways of making a living, because of the similar environment, but differ widely in language, customs and traditions. Ideally there should be a general article similar to the Puebloan peoples article, or the Lemkos article for the Carpathian tribes, and individual articles for specific notable tribes (or tribal groupings such as the Tewa people or, in this case the Gangte). So lets agree upon an NPOV name ("Zomi" and "Kuki" are not candidates for the reasons above stated), and craft a general article that covers the common characteristics of the larger group. Then individual articles can be created, keeping in mind that titles like "Zo" or "Zou" are ambiguous and need to be disambiguated. --Bejnar (talk) 23:39, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Nice idea but there is WP:COMMONNAME to consider. Dougweller (talk) 05:46, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

If you really had understood what you yourself read and wrote as above, atleast you could have NOT redirectd the "Zomi" page to a page that is meant for only one particular tribe(Zou) of the Zomi nomencalture. When we open the page for a Zomi or Zo People (note: not Zou People) it shows the page for Zou People (note: not Zo People) only. This is very misleading information, and if you had any credibility (which I highly doubt) as an editor, then you could see it with your eyes closed. Anyway, if you feel you are politically or otherwise motivated/highly charged (to use your language) to give misleading information or, to NOT show the Zomi page, then you can atleast give the Zomi page a dead link, instead of redirecting it to a page which is only about the Zou and not about the Zomi/Zo People. Sihzou (talk) 14:01, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Replied to this below as you wrote this twice. Dougweller (talk) 15:31, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
Question for Sihzou: Because "Zomi" is clearly politically charged, what name would you use for the entire group, including those that reject "Zomi"? --Bejnar (talk) 15:41, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Quote from Vumson's "Zo History"

This is a book recommended by Vaphualization. As our copyright policy limits how much we can use I've cut out some minor bits, but the whole book is at[37]. In chapter one, which is titled "Introduction to Zo People The Generic Name “ZO”", he wrote: "Languages change naturally and unavoidably as people separate from one another and come in contact with others. We can never be exactly sure of the original name for "Zo" people. Today the people call themselves Zo, Mizo, Cho, Sho, Khxou, Asho, Chaw, Yaw, and Masho; which are similar sounding and which are all equally uncorrupt in their respective Zo dialects.

"Zo people find it very difficult to accept a name other than the one they call themselves. The Lusei and related clans who were ab- sorbed under the Sailo chiefs accepted Mizo as their designation, and the name of the former Lushai Hills District was changed to Mizo District at India's independence. The Indian government did not like Mizoram, because they feared that ram (land) would mean ownership of the land. Only at the creation of the Union Territory did India accept the name Mizoram. The term Mizo covers all Zo people, as does Zomi and Laimi, according to their respective users. Zomi is a designation used by the Paite, a people whose men wore a hair knot at the back of their head. Laimi is used by the Lais in Haka areas, in Falam and in parts of Matupi. For the Lais to accept Zo as a name is especially difficult, because they call their southern neighbours Zo; a people they regard as uncultured and uncivilized. Zo students in Rangoon seem to accept Zomi as the common name, Zo people often call themselves Thlangmi. Khalangmi or Khangmi. meaning I Hillmen. The word Khlang or Khang should not he confused with Khyang. and they produce the "Zomi Students Magazine" for students who are Asho, Sho, Lai, Paite and Lusei. Mizo is accepted by all in Mizoram and other adjoining destricts, including the Lusei in the Kale-Kabaw valleys."

He also points out that Chin is also used by some Zo people (using the phrase "Zo people") while others strongly reject it. I'm still hoping for answers to my questions above. Dougweller (talk) 05:46, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

If you really had understood what you yourself read and wrote as above, atleast you could have NOT redirectd the "Zomi" page to a page that is meant for only one particular tribe(Zou) of the Zomi nomencalture. When we open the page for a Zomi or Zo People (note: not Zou People) it shows the page for Zou People (note: not Zo People) only. This is very misleading information, and if you had any credibility (which I highly doubt) as an editor, then you could see it with your eyes closed. Anyway, if you feel you are politically or otherwise motivated/highly charged (to use your language) to give misleading information or, to NOT show the Zomi page, then you can atleast give the Zomi page a dead link, instead of redirecting it to a page which is only about the Zou and not about the Zomi/Zo People.

Sihzou (talk) 14:07, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Um, you are only here at Wikipedia for one purpose, to promote the Zomi nomenclature. I have no horse in this race, only the desire to make sure our articles reflect what reliable sources say about the subject and that our articles meet our WP:NPOV policy. You still have not responded to my questions and so far as I can see haven't even read Zou people. Of course, one problem with any article where there are differing views being pushed by different ethnic groups (or groups within those ethnic groups) or different nationalities is that articles keep changing. The lead makes it clear that these are different spellings for the same name. I presume you haven't read the etymology section either. Or noticed that the source in the article about the language is [38] which refers to the language as Zo. The editor Vaphualization who has taken part a lot in this discussion owns the website zogam.org. He quotes[39] the Zomi National Congress “We proclaim that the racial name ‘Chin’ should be done away with and Zou (Zo) must be re-instated to its proper place and status of racial identity.” Argue with the ZNC if you don't think the Zo and the Zou are basically two different spellings, not with me. Dougweller (talk) 15:26, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Common name of "Zo" or "Zou"

If we were to use the historically, traditional English name for this larger group of "Hill people of the northwestern highlands of Burma and upland Manipur" for a title, how could such a title be disambiguated so that it would be clear that the general article is talking about the whole group (3 million ?) and not just the smaller group (20,000 ?) or the intermediate group (100,000 ?)? Also, what titles could be used for those smaller groups? Of course, the lead would clarify whatever we chose for a title, including the identification of the historically, traditional English name; however, because of the tendency for some proponents of ethnic identity to fail to read past a title, that alone would seem to be insufficient. I suspect that Zou people and Zo (people)) are destined to redirect to a disambiguation page. As WP:COMMONNAME says: Ambiguous or inaccurate names for the article subject, as determined in reliable sources, are often avoided even though they may be more frequently used by reliable sources. Neutrality is also considered; What options are viable for the title of the general topic article? --Bejnar (talk) 16:02, 1 February 2014 (UTC)


That exactly is my point, and the issue regarding this. The smaller group we are talking about here known as Zou (described in the page) may be written as Zo or Zou. The spelling is not the issue here. This smaller group known as Zou calls themselves only as Zou or Zo and not as Zomi or Zoumi because the term Zomi or Zoumi refers to the larger group encompassing all. As such, I am saying that it is not appropriate to (re)direct the page for Zomi to the page for the smaller group Zou/Zo (note: not Zomi). Hope you got the point. Sihzou (talk) 16:20, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Regarding the question, what name would I use, or should be used for the entire group, including those that reject "Zomi", I would say that this will be figured out by the people (Kuki/Chin/Mizo/Zomi/Zo/Laimi et al) in due course. It should be noted that different regions have their own appeal and contending name for the entire group. While some group promote one and reject the others, so is the case with all these collective names Kuki or Zomi or Mizo or Chin. These promoting of one name and rejecting the others are due to the deep emotional, sentimental and psychological association and attachment the people have with these particular names, and also in order to have some political leverage, because these names have been given to them by outsiders and known as such. However one thing all these groups accepts and knows, whether they promote Kuki or Chin or Mizo or Zomi, is that they are all descendants/or they belong to ZO (spelling is not the issue here). As I said, the common name let's hope will eventually emerge, however meanwhile we don't have to (re)direct a page intended for encompassing the whole group to a page which is just for one constituent group of the larger group, as this does not do any justice either to the larger encompassing group, or the smaller group. Sihzou (talk) 16:40, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Regarding WP:COMMONNAME the Zou people described in the page, refers/calls themselves just as Zou/Zo when they mean their own smaller group, and not as Zomi/Zoumi. When they do call themselves as Zomi/Zoumi they mean the larger encompassing group including themselves. As a most commonly used name, others also calls them similarly. When the term Zomi/Zoumi is used either by others or the Zou/Zo themselves, it refers to the larger group. As the page is clearly describing only about this smaller group Zo/Zou, is it not inappropriate to (re)direct the Zomi page to the Zou/Zo page? Is not this in direct contrast to the Wikipedia:COMMONAME Sihzou (talk) 17:10, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

So, two steps are required, in no particular order: (a) create a stub page at Zomi that is about the political movement and disagreements with verifiable content, citation to reliable sources, and a link to the general name for the ZO sensu lato; (b) separate the article on the ZO sensu lato from the article on the Zo sensu stricto. These steps require titles for the ZO sensu lato and the Zo sensu stricto. What NPOV titles do you suggest? --Bejnar (talk) 17:22, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
Isn't Kuki people the sensu lato article? Also, I worry that much of Zou people is sensu lato though it reads as if it were sensu stricto. — kwami (talk) 17:54, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
Actually the name Kuki is rejected by about as many as reject Zomi and for what seem to be the same reasons. And yes the two articles on the Zo people have been conflated, hence the need to separate them. And the last sticking point is that Zo is the historically traditional name in English for the larger group and the smaller group. We need titles. --Bejnar (talk) 18:06, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
Even the Zomi National Council talks about "Zo reunification", not "Zomi reunification" or even "Zou reunification", a point that Sihzou is missing. Yes, from what I've read Zo is used historically for the larger group and also a smaller group (although the spelling varies). Dougweller (talk) 21:35, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

We have to understand that these names like Kuki/Chin/Mizo/Zomi have been developing over the years, and as we already said, they are contending names for the whole larger group. However at this point of time, there came to be some sort of acceptance or understanding of the terms among the people, notwithstanding the desire of the promoter of each particular name to encompass the whole group. Now as accepted among the people and as the most commonly used name COMMONNAME Mizo refers to the people of Mizoram and especially the Lushai/Duhlian elsewhere. Chin refers to the people of Southern Chin State, the Laimi,Haka,Falam. Kuki refers to the people of Thadou,Haokip and some others in Manipur, NE India, and Myanmar. Zomi refers to the people of Nothern Chin State, Southern Manipur and Sialkal Tlang in Mizoram like Tedim, Paite, Zou and others. These names Kuki/Chin/Mizo/Zomi could overlap anywhere to a certain degree in terms of geographical or political influence, but the generally accepted names today, is as above. However as already pointed out, all these groups or the whole group agrees on one thing, which is the historically traditional name ZO encompassing all.

Now as to an NPOV title refering to the whole group, "ZO" would be the most appropriate and would be the least resisted if not totally uncontested. As such, pages like Kuki, Chin, Mizo, Zomi could all be directed to one page with the title "ZO" with sub titles as Kuki/Chin/Mizo/Zomi or as deemed fit. In the page though, "ZO" as Sensu_lato and Kuki/Chin/Mizo/Zomi as more of a Sensu stricto have to be explained.

In this same sense, when the Zomi National Council talks about "Zo reunification" and not "Zomi reunification" it means the whole encompassing ZO Sensu lato and not only those subscribing to Zomi.

As to the Zou people page where Zomi (supposed to be the encompassing or larger group) is (re)directed, the page is actually a Sensu sticto about the Zou smaller group. So, this needs to be corrected. Sihzou (talk) 07:51, 2 February 2014 (UTC)

Thanks very much for this, I think we are getting somewhere. I was going to post something similar. Yes, what we need is a Zo people article (mentioning the alternate spelling 'Zou' which is used both for the whole people - sometimes as Zo/Zou, and the smaller group). Zou people needs to be cleaned up so it isn't referring both to the larger group and the smaller group. I'd actually suggest Zo people as an article and Zo as a disambiguation page. We could have Zomi people and perhaps Zomi as an article on the name controversy? ZNC needs an article of course. Then there is Kuki–Zomi Ethnic Clash 1997–98. It shouldn't have the whole peace accord in it and needs some clarification and more detail about the conflict, but I'd also like to rename it as reliable sources[40] call it Kuki-Paite. Shall we start a Zo page now? We could redirect Zomi to that temporarily. Dougweller (talk) 12:24, 2 February 2014 (UTC)
  • Zo is a disambiguation page, but needs to be monitored for political rhetoric. Although there may be disagreement about whether or which primary topic "Zo (people)" or "Zo people" should point, I agree that the best answer is to point it to a WP:Set index article that encapsulates the naming problem and points to a variety of Wikipedia articles from Zou language to Zomi (political) and to others. Either the second part of the set index page can be about the ZO sensu lato, or we can point to another page for an article about the ZO sensu lato. The problem with another page is one of nomenclature. As stated in 2010 So, the dream for unification under one nomenclature for the Chin-Kuki-Mizo groups looks unlikely to be realized in the foreseeable future. Shyamkishor, Ayangbam. "In Search of Common Identity: A Study of Chin-Kuki-Mizo Community in India" (PDF). International Journal of South Asian Studies: A Biannual Journal of South Asian Studies. 3 (1): 131–140. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 March 2012. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) I suspect that Kuki people and Chin people should both redirect to the Zo (people) set index article. I recommend the main ZO sensu lato description remain on the set index page. What about a name for the Zo sensu stricto? We could use the existing one, Zou people, with a dab hatnote pointing to the Zo (people) article. What do you think?--Bejnar (talk) 19:26, 3 February 2014 (UTC)
I boldly resurrected Zo (people) as the general article and cleaned up the first part of Zou people. I hope that Dougweller or another neutral editor will rewrite the /* Names */ section of Zo (people) in light of the above discussion, probably from scratch. Zomi now points to the sensu lato article. We think that we should probably move Zo (people) to Zo people per Dougweller's suggestion. I've learned a lot since my early comments in 2007. For a follow-on, we have the task with merging the [[Kuki peopel] and Mizo people articles into Zo people. --Bejnar (talk) 21:51, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

What Bejnar did is a good start. Although, the page needs to be edited more. I would like to make some points, so that you and the other editors will understand more of the situation past and present among the Zo people.

During the early 1900s the people were not much politically aware of their own names (or as known by others) and it's implicaitons. That was why, the names like "Chin" and "Kuki" have been unwittingly accepted, and since that became the official recognition, the people continue to use it. Both the government and writers/authors used those names to identify the people. As such, when we talk about these people, these given names have certain political leverage, since they were recorded as such.

The scene in India: From the beginning of the 1900s all the Zo people in Manipur accepted( or rather been known as) Kuki for quite a while, but slowly they began to realize their own identity as the descendant of ZO. Now as of today, all the ZO people except Thadou officially embrace Zomi as their correct name, through the apex body of their tribes. These apex bodies of the Paite, Vaiphei, Zou, Tedim, Simte, Kom, Mate, Gangte, Thangkhal all have officially embrace Zomi, and comes under the ZOMI COUNCIL. The main proponent of Kuki as of today is the Thadou (although some Thadou speakers rejected the very term Thadou, and maybe that is also part of the reason for their desire to remain Kuki). During the 1950s "Chin" became popular, and there was the movement for Chin Reunification. Paite being the prominent tribe was naturally at the forefront of the movement. That is the reason why the Paite have been associated with being the proponet of Chin during that time. However, they soon realize their true identity, and from the 1970s the movement for Zomi reunification gained momentum. The Zomi National Council was born during this time. During this whole time, the Kuki fold was dominated by the Thadou, and till today the Thadou speakers stick with Kuki. Partly this was because of the political leverage the name Kuki could afford in their fight for statehood, due to its historical affiliation. Even the president of the Kuki National Organisation, recently said that the (ZO) people in Manipur should fight together under the name Kuki because they (the ZO people) have been known by that name, and that gives them leverage, however upon achieving their goal (satehood), he would not hesitate to call it Zogam (Land of ZO).

The present Mizoram state was previously known as Lushai Hills, and the Mizo people were known as Lushai. However the Lushai also began to realize their true identity as ZO, and they embrace the name Mizo and change Lushai Hills into Mizo Hills which later became Mizoram (Land of ZO people). The dominant group in the Mizo is the Lushai/Duhlian speaking people, and that was why everything Lushai became Mizo, and all the other smaller tribes were in a way impelled to become Mizo.

The Scene in Burma(Myanmar): The term Chin was very strong during the early 1900s. All the ZO people in Burma were known as Chin in record, and they also accept the same. That was why the Panglong Agreement was signed in the name of Chin. However they also began to realize their true identity as ZO. That was why, in 1952 at a convention of the churches among all the Chin (ZO people), a proposal on whether to continue to use the name Chin, or to call themselves as Zomi as floated, and all except two or three delegates agreed on the name Zomi. As a result the Zomi Baptist Convention was form, comprising of all the churches in Chin State. (This Zomi Baptist Convention was recently changed into Chin Baptist Convention, because all the present day Zomi-acepting tribes left the convention due to various reasons, and those that remain in the convention are the present day Chin proponents). However due to various reasons, and also similarly with the name Kuki, the name Chin gives some advantage because it had been recorded as such, and even the state is known as Chin State, the Lai,Haka,Falam stick with the name Chin to this day.

For quite a while these name Kuki/Chin/Mizo/Zomi have all been contending to be the correct name by which all the ZO people should be known, however at present there seems to be some sort of acceptance of the futility of trying to impose these names upon each other. As such, though overlapping here and there, as I already described before, today they are under these four camps of Chin, Kuki, Mizo and Zomi. Though some hardliners on each group would still argue and assert the name they believed to be the only correct one, and would dismiss the others. There are also some who would argue that they are different people and that they should maintain their own names accordingly.

I hope this will give you a rough idea about these four camps of the ZO people.

Sihzou (talk) 15:11, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

What Sihzou talks about is the Paite version of Kuki-Chin or Zo people. After the failure of unifying the Kuki-Chin people under the nomenclature Mizo, probably after the Mizo National Front agreed for a Mizo Land out of the then Lushai Hills District of Assam to be formed as Mizoram state in India, the disappointed others try to search for an alternative. The Thadous started sticking to Kuki, and many tribes were in dilemma. In the late 1980s the Zou tribe started propagating the nomenclature Zomi. However, due to internal differences between some Zou and Paite leaders, the Paites who are just a handful in Churachandpur town and composed of several Thadou, Simte, Vaiphei and other clans, opposed it. However, when the Zou tribe started losing faith in Zomi nomenclature, the Paite leaders, especially after the Thadou-Paite Conflict in 1997, embrace the nomenclature and started mobilising sister tribes based on the nomenclature Zomi. The Zomi proponents are mainly internet warriors and in practice they live in and around Churachandpur town, a few localities. Sorry for the hard hitting truth but the admins should also consider this fact. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pupu Zou (talkcontribs) 19:47, 10 April 2014 (UTC)

Kondan

We have pages for three villages named Kondan, all quite close to each other, and distinguished only by their coordinates:

You can see the locations of all the three villages here: it looks like there's no more than 10km between each identically named village. All three articles were originally sourced to Bing and Google Maps, but neither of those resources (currently) identifies settlements near any of those locations, and there's no obvious evidence of settlements in the satellite imagery. I suspect that, at most, there is only one village with this name in the region. Can anyone with access to better resources verify these? Pburka (talk) 00:20, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

Win Tin nominated for 'recent deaths' section of Main Page

Hi,

Project members might be interested to know that I've nominated Win Tin for the 'recent deaths' section of the Main Page.

Discussion is here: Wikipedia:In_the_news/Candidates#.5BRD.5D_Win_Tin_.28Burmese_freedom_campaigner_.2F_political_prisoner.29 and your comments are welcome.

--Balaenoptera musculus (talk) 15:21, 2 May 2014 (UTC)

Need help on MRTV-4

I've been working on fixing links to disambiguation pages, and ran across the article MRTV-4, which has five different links to DAB pages. The sole reference for the article/list is mostly in Burmese, which I can't read. Would it be possible for someone from this project to fix the links? The DAB pages linked to are: Kix, Sundance Channel, BeTV, SCTV, and TV1. Thank you very much. - Gorthian (talk) 01:38, 20 May 2014 (UTC)

Wiki Loves Pride 2014

You are invited to participate in Wiki Loves Pride 2014, a campaign to create and improve LGBT-related content at Wikipedia and its sister projects. The campaign will take place throughout the month of June, culminating with a multinational edit-a-thon on June 21. Meetups are being held in some cities, or you can participate remotely. All constructive edits are welcome in order to contribute to Wikipedia's mission of providing quality, accurate information. Articles within Category:LGBT in Asia may be of particular interest. You can also upload LGBT-related images by participating in Wikimedia Commons' LGBT-related photo challenge. You are encouraged to share the results of your work here. Happy editing! --Another Believer (Talk) 21:14, 5 June 2014 (UTC)

Comment on the WikiProject X proposal

Hello there! As you may already know, most WikiProjects here on Wikipedia struggle to stay active after they've been founded. I believe there is a lot of potential for WikiProjects to facilitate collaboration across subject areas, so I have submitted a grant proposal with the Wikimedia Foundation for the "WikiProject X" project. WikiProject X will study what makes WikiProjects succeed in retaining editors and then design a prototype WikiProject system that will recruit contributors to WikiProjects and help them run effectively. Please review the proposal here and leave feedback. If you have any questions, you can ask on the proposal page or leave a message on my talk page. Thank you for your time! (Also, sorry about the posting mistake earlier. If someone already moved my message to the talk page, feel free to remove this posting.) Harej (talk) 22:47, 1 October 2014 (UTC)

Chinese hamburger chains in Myanmar?

I found a Blog entry which says that two Chinese burger chains, LEM (乐而美) and KDS (快乐星), are opening stores in Myanmar, South Africa, and other African countries: http://minimeinsights.blogspot.com/2014/04/chinese-chicken-burger-chains-taking-on.html

Of course this isn't an RS, but it would be an interesting thing to research. If we can find reliable sources we can start articles on LEM and KDS in English and Chinese. Perhaps also in African languages and/or Burmese too... WhisperToMe (talk) 16:45, 30 November 2014 (UTC)

WikiProject X is live!

 

Hello everyone!

You may have received a message from me earlier asking you to comment on my WikiProject X proposal. The good news is that WikiProject X is now live! In our first phase, we are focusing on research. At this time, we are looking for people to share their experiences with WikiProjects: good, bad, or neutral. We are also looking for WikiProjects that may be interested in trying out new tools and layouts that will make participating easier and projects easier to maintain. If you or your WikiProject are interested, check us out! Note that this is an opt-in program; no WikiProject will be required to change anything against its wishes. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you!

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Harej (talk) 16:56, 14 January 2015 (UTC)

Kalewa and/or Tahan

"Tahan" redirects to Kalewa. Yet the article has nothing to suggest that they are the same place (which has in any case been questioned on the talk page, without any clarifying response). The meteorological table has been mis-captioned (ie doesn't follow the source). Can someone sort this out please? Davidships (talk) 22:48, 21 January 2015 (UTC)

Htun Aung Gyaw, new stub

Someone just started a stub article on Htun Aung Gyaw. It could easily be expanded into a good biography of Kyaw using online sources. MicroPaLeo (talk) 04:22, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

Burmese parliamentary speakers

Hello everyone. For some time now, I want to create a list of Burmese parliamentary speakers since 1947 (both upper and lower houses), but I can't find sources online for doing that. That list would need to contain speakers of these legislatures:

Under the 1947 Constitution
Union Parliament (lasted from 1947 to 1962)
Lumyozu Hluttaw (the Chamber of Nationalities)
Pyithu Hluttaw (the Chamber of Deputies)
Under the 1974 Constitution
Pyithu Hluttaw (the unicameral People's Assembly, lasted from 1974 to 1988)

This part will not be a problem, as information is easily available:

Under the 2008 Constitution
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (the Assembly of the Union)
Amyotha Hluttaw (the House of Nationalities) - Chairman: Khin Aung Myint, since 31 January 2011
Pyithu Hluttaw (the House of Representatives) - Chairman: Shwe Mann, since 31 January 2011

I'd really appreciate if someone can help me with this. I think it would be of great benefit to have a comprehensive list of Burmese parliamentary speakers on Wikipedia. Cheers! --Sundostund (talk) 15:12, 6 March 2015 (UTC)

Project input required at Bamar people requested move

The article Bamar people is subject to a requested move. Project members are invited to participate.--Mike Cline (talk) 13:03, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

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