Buddhism is the dominant religion in Myanmar and monasteries serve as important community centers. Village life revolves around farming the rice crop and participating in festivals, with monks going on daily alms rounds. Cultural traditions include folk operas telling stories from history and mythology. The main diet consists of rice and fish or meat with vegetables, while weak green tea is commonly consumed. Poverty and inflation are ongoing social problems in Myanmar.

1. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
Reported by:
Zyndi Hapdus
(Crim. 2-C, Group 6)

2. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
Way of Life
Myanmar civilization is largely
an outgrowth of Indian
influences. For the majority of
Myanmar’s population,
Buddhism is the center of
individual life and the monastery

3. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
(pongyi kyaung) is the center of
the community. This is especially
true in the villages, where most
of the population lives. Wisdom
is believed to reside at the
pongyi kyaung and refuge may
be sought there. A rite of

4. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
passage for every adolescent
boy is the shinphyu, in which the
boy briefly relives the princely
life of Gautama, who became
the Buddha, and enters into the
life of the monastery as a novice
monk. At any later time in life he

5. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
may return to the monastic life
for a longer or shorter period of
time. If married, he should ask
his wife’s permission to do this.

6. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
The daily life of the village
begins with the pongyis (monks)
making their rounds in the
morning with their begging
bowls. By donating that day’s
food, the villagers earn merit,
and the monks, who are

7. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
forbidden to work, are
nourished. The annual cycle of
life follows the seasons, with all
hands put to work for rice
planting when the summer
monsoon brings the first rains.
The time during the three

8. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
months of the most intensive
rain is the Buddhist lent, when
such activities as marriage and
hunting are put off, but nat
festivals can be enjoyed. Harvest
in the fall is again a busy time,
followed by the cooler season

9. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
when the traditional form of
entertainment is the pwe, a type
of folk opera. In the evenings
during this season, a crowd
gathers on the grounds of a
temple to watch the pwe in
which dancers retell tales of

10. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
royal times in Myanmar or
present such Indian epics as the
Ramayana. Dramatic music and
dance alternate with bawdy skits
by clowns, who often include
political satire in their acts. In

11. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
the towns, movies, particularly
foreign feature films, are
popular.

12. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
The Myanmar orchestra that
accompanies the theatrical
performances in a pwe consists
of a bamboo xylophone, tall
bamboo clappers, many kinds of
tuned gongs, a small pair of
cymbals to keep time, and the

13. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
hne, a six-reeded oboe that
carries the theme. The hne
mimics the sound of the human
voice speaking in the tonal
Burmese language. In cities and
towns music is piped into the
streets for the public’s benefit

14. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
through loudspeakers located in
tea shops, and video cassette
recorders bring cosmopolitan
musical culture to even the
smallest settlements.

15. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
The core of the Myanmar diet is
boiled rice, combined with a
little spicy meat or fish and some
vegetables. Also popular for
breakfast is a hot noodle soup
flavored with coconut. A favorite
sauce is ngapi, which is made

16. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
from fermented fish or prawns
and gives off a pungent odor.
Several varieties of bananas
along with coconut are the main
fruits, while a wide variety of
more exotic fruits are also
enjoyed, such as the

17. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
mangosteen, the custard apple,
and the durian. The common
drink is weak green tea, which is
taken tepid throughout the day
in small cups.

18. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
A typical gesture of hospitality in
Myanmar is to offer guests the
materials and equipment for
making a chew of betel. This
chemical combination of a
chopped areca nut with lime and
spices, all wrapped in a betel

19. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
leaf, cleans the mouth, sweetens
the breath, and settles the
stomach. Locally rolled cigars,
called cheroots, are smoked by
young and old, male and female.

20. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
A popular form of recreation is
traveling by bus or oxcart to visit
a notable pagoda or attend a
festival. Soccer is a prominent
sport, even during heavy rains;
kites are flown in season; and a
frequent occurrence on any day

21. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
is a local game of chinlon, in
which a small circle of men
keeps a ball of woven cane up in
the air with gentle blows from
the foot, knee, shoulder, or
head. Golf is particularly favored
among military leaders.

22. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
Social Problems
Myanmar is poor by Asian
standards, and consequently
suffers from a number of social
problems. Inflation in the prices
of consumer goods has been a
continuing problem, particularly

23. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
for poorer people in the cities.
Since a large number of young
women in the border areas have
been drawn into prostitution in
Thailand, acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome
(AIDS) has become a large-scale

24. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
problem. For much of the period
since World War II (1939-1945),
poverty along with the
conditions of political unrest
have kept the population growth
rate quite low, lower even than
in neighboring Thailand, which

25. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
boasts a successful family-
planning program.

26. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
Culture
The major population groups in
Myanmar migrated into the
Irrawaddy River Valley from the
north, bringing their spoken
languages, their gender roles,
and several varieties of food and

27. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
medicine. From India on the
west came the institutions of
religion and government, but
without the Indian caste system
of social hierarchy. India was also
the source of Pali, the sacred
language, and of the devanagari

28. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
script in which the popular
language is written, along with
astrology and some kinds of
food. The firm grounding of
Buddhism in Myanmar culture
contributed over the years to the
building of many pagodas

29. Political Setting:
Myanmar
(towering temples) throughout
Myanmar.

30. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
Source:
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. ©
1993-2008 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.

31. Socio-Cultural Setting:
Myanmar
Jeesuutin Baadae!!!

32. Socio-Cultural Setting
as we
Understanding

33. Socio-Cultural
Community
for
establish a

36. Republic of the Philippines
CAPIZ STATE UNIVERSITY
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Theme: “Understanding Better the Political, Economic &
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