CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Talia Meatoga, 11, doused Luana Bass, 11, yesterday at the Burmese in Hawaii celebration of Thingyan, the Burmese New Year, at Wilson Elementary School. Burmese douse one another with cool, clean water with a hint of perfume as a symbolic way of starting off the new year clean with new wishes. The festival also featured traditional song, dance and food. An estimated 300 Burmese form a small and intimate community on Oahu.

New beginning soaks in

Isle Burmese celebrate their New Year

As My Itzu moves on with her new life in Hawaii, she worries that her two daughters will grow up without the same love she has for her home country, Burma, formally known as Myanmar.

She talks to them in Burmese. They answer in English.

She considers herself lucky, though. Hawaii has the same weather and almost all the same food -- minus "da nyn thi," a stink bean she cannot find in local stores.

"I don't think I can survive in the mainland," said My Itzu, 40, who moved to Hawaii in 1999. "Here, we are the melting pot with Laotians, Filipinos, Vietnamese. We don't look like strangers."

My Itzu celebrated Thingyan, the Burmese New Year, yesterday at Wilson Elementary School with a cafeteria packed with other Burmese living in Hawaii.

An estimated 300 Burmese form a small and intimate community on Oahu.

They came for different reasons, some to escape the poverty and political distress of Myanmar, others to build a better life for their family in a place they say is similar to home.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Ma Khin Tint paid respect to her elders yesterday at the Burmese in Hawaii Myanmar Thingyan celebration held at Wilson Elementary School.

"The new generation, they don't know much about the homeland," said Than Htut Aye, who works for a local nonprofit organization, the Pacific Gateway Center. "They need to learn about their culture."

They eat "mohinga," considered their national dish, a pungent fish soup with rice noodles. They spritz -- and douse -- each other with cool, clean water with a hint of perfume as a symbol to start off the new year clean with new wishes.

They pay their respects to the elders, those older than 70, by offering water and shampoo. In Hawaii they celebrate all elders, regardless of their ethnicity.

They are a community rooted in religion, whether it is Buddhism or Christianity. They are grateful for their surroundings but do not ignore the political strife in Myanmar or the problems in their new community.

They chant unrestricted social commentary and political satire called "thangyat."

"Weather is good and balanced and all residents enjoy good health," they chant in Burmese.

"Immigrants and refugees are scared to come to Hawaii," said My Itzu. "It seems that Hawaii is paradise but is only for the rich and wealthy. If I have to give my honest opinion, there are many things that need improvement and changes."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM The festival featured traditional song, dance and food to celebrate the lunar new year. Miemie Winnbyrd was among the performers.