(...) Myanmar is not a new word coined only in 1989 by the military Government to replace the term 'Burma' as often contended by the 'international' media (and even some 'scholarly' works). On the contrary, its Old Burmese equivalent (Mranma) has been used for the state and country in much the same way since at least the early twelfth century if not earlier. Similarly, the country's place-names; 'Yangon' was only much later anglicized as 'Rangoon' by the British, 'Pyi' as 'Prome' and 'Muttama' as 'Martaban'. To Burmese speakers, who currently represent well over 87 per cent of the population, the Burmese versions have always been known and used as such.

Indeed, it is 'Burma' that is actually the new (and foreign) term, likely created only in the nineteenth century and the British period. It is certainly not an indiginous word and cannot be found as such in either the national language or any minority languages of the country prior to that era. Although the word 'Burma' may have been phonetically derived from the Burmese word Bama (the colloquial equivalent of Myanma), 'Burma' per se is still English, and still a colonial term imposed on the country's people without their knowledge and/or consent.