The Scrutable Man From Burma

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31221, 19 November 1966, Page 4

The Scrutable Man From Burma

U Thant of Burma. By June Bingham. 242 pp. Bibliography and Index. Filling the office of United Nations Secretary-General is probably the most demanding job in the world. So far three men have held it—two Scandinavians and an enigmatic Burmese who once said his chief qualifications for the post are that he comes from a small, non-aligned country

in a strategically important part of the world. It is therefore appropriate that this first biography of U Thant should say as much about his homeland as it does about the man himself. This is at U Thant’s personal request, for the author, the wife of a former American Ambassador to the United Nations, says he would only agree to the book being written if “every alternative chapter was about Burma.” I

The result is a book in which Burmese custom, Buddhist religion, and British colonial policy in Burma are the dominant themes, and it is unfortunate that Mrs Bingham says so little about U Thant’s activities in the United Nations where she appears to have been a specially favoured observer. Still, her account of how a talented young Burmese I nationalist, agitator, schoolteacher and journalist has beIcome the world’s top interI national civil servant and I peacemaker lias great inter'est, particularly at a time :when the possibility of U ; Thant’s retirement raised the awesome question of who (could replace him. The author has an eye for curious and often revealing I detail—-“U Thant is so honest himself that people find themselves being more honest ■with him than they might have intended”: his favourite journal for many years has been the “Observer;" he has translated into Burmese books as widely different as Edgar Snow’s “Red Star Over China” and Dale Carnegie’s !“How to Win Friends and Influence People” (which he thought could be useful in Burmese politics): he depends on contemplation both for relaxation and guidance in his work; and in his family life Burmese astrology is still important. The overriding characteristics of U Thant is his deep

commitment to his Buddhist faith. From it he draws his integrity, his humility and his imperturbable exterior in

the face of overwhelming and insoluble problems. In the United Nations secretariat he is known as “the Bronze Buddha.” yet his wife has has said that privately “he is so scrutable that he is easy to beat at poker.” IBs view of man is drawn from his religion—man is more evil than good, but because change is a universal law there is always the chance of improvement.

Inevitably, U Thant is compared with his predecessor who was killed in 1961. “Dag Hammarskjold generated electricity: one vibrated in his presence like a tight wire in a high wind; U Thant tends to defuse people when they are wound up.” Hammarskjold held all the strings of authority; U Thant likes to delegate it. Hammarskjold the bachelor flew all over the world “at the drop of a challenge”; U Thant the family man travels rarely. Hammarskjold was an intellectual and a diplomat, speaking always to the calculating ear of other diplomats; U Thant prefers to simplify issues and speak to world public opinion in which he believes strongly, and which in a sense he feels he represents. Mrs Bingham could have said much more about the changes wrought in the office of Secretary-General by tiie personality of its holder. She could also have attempted an assessment of U Thant’s success in his “impossible” job. But she has made a promising start with this portrayal of the origins, experience and personality of U Thant himself.