Burma Fair Celebrates Culture

Boylston Hall was a hub of gastronomic and cultural excitement Sunday, as the Burma Fair, organized by the Friends of Burma, drew fairgoers to refreshment booths.

Approximately 150 people attended the Burma Fair Sunday afternoon in Ticknor Lounge, according to A-Thi Myint-U '92, a member of the Friends of Burma at Harvard and a student at the Graduate School of Education.

Strains of Elvis' "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You," in Burmese translation, wafted through the air as participants dined and shopped.

"I came for the food," said Greg D. Palkon '92, who said his favorite dish was coconut noodles.

Min Phik, a member of the Friends of Burma who owns Yata Danapon, a Burmese restaurant in downtown Boston, said the most popular items at his concession booth were beef curry and noodles.

"I like the food," agreed six-year-old Adam Khaw, as he stood watching a group of traditional Burmese dancers in their sequin-and-net costumes.

His mother, Sharon M. Khaw, a member of Friends of Burma and an anthropology student at the Extension School, said Adam particularly enjoyed the sanhwey makin, a Burmese cake made with semolina and raisins.

In addition to browsing among the booths, visitors to the fair could watch several dance performances on the Boylston Hall steps.

Items for sale inside Boylston ranged from the traditional to the modern. Khaw said she bought five small lacquerwear plaques with gold embossing at one of the art booths.

Zaw Oo, who was working at the cassette booth, said most of his tapes were "classical" Burmese music. He said he had sold one recording of Burma's most popular artist, Saing Htee Saing.

Although the fair emphasized Burmese culture, organizers said it also had a political focus.

"We hope to raise awareness of the political situation as well as the culture of Burma," said Aye Aye Thant, the group's co-founder and mother of Myint-U. "We are trying to promote democracy."

Raising awareness of Burma's military dictatorship is one of the main goals of the Friends of Burma, Myint-U said.

The Friends of Burma, which Thant and her husband helped co-found three years ago, has about 200 members, only about 20 of which are students, Thant said. Only two or three of the student members are undergraduates, she said.