Burma, Here’s to Hope.

Updated: January 2010
A suppressed country infamous for its lack of human rights and forced labour, Burma has drawn wider international attention in recent years. As the prices for oil peaked in 2007, many civilians went to protest on the streets of Rangoon, later to be joined by monks. The last sizable protest Burma has seen was in 1988. Like many of Burma’s incidents, the number of casualties is unknown. Since then, the number of political prisoners has doubled, reaching 2,200. Many of whom were jailed for involving in the peaceful demostration.
In the subsequent year, an estimate of 100,000 deaths from Cyclone Nargis in the Irrawaddy Delta. Shortly after the regime announced an election will be held in 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi, representing hope and democracy in Burma, was sentenced to a further 18 months under house arrest. She has already spent 14 of the past 20 years in confinement. It is no doubt to stop her from repeating her party’s, the National League for Democracy, landslide win in 1990. The upcoming election is widely regarded as to “merely perpetuate military rule under a civilian guise” (The Telegraph, January 2010). Evidence of such comes when Junta leader Senior Gen han Shwe began telling people to make  ‘correct choices” and to “remain vigilant at all times against dangers posed by ‘neo-colonialists’”.
After years of sanctions posed by the Bush administration and achieving little, the United States has altered its diplomatic policy towards Burma. A message was sent congratulating the people of Burma on its 62 years of independence from Britain. Barack Obama has also planned to visit the country this year, after other high ranking officials, including Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.

December 2005 —
The sun was beginning to set as I arrived in Rangoon. The glisten and shimmer of Sule Pagoda began to glow more intensely, taking the attention away from the surrounding crumbling buildings, much like the hidden suppression behind the lush dense forests where tourists aren’t allowed to cross.
I wandered through the streets and alleys of Rangoon, carefully dodging thousands of mopeds. I went into a restaurant and ordered a meal, costing 2000 kyat. It was my first night there and the smallest note I had was a 10,000. As they did not have any change, they told me to come back tomorrow morning and settle the bill. Such rare trust was surprisingly yet refreshing.
The supposedly 10-hour bus journey from Rangoon to Mandalay ended up taking 16 hours. The rain hadn’t stopped since I took the rickshaw to the bus station. It was impossible to sleep as the bus needed to be pushed out of the muddy road every 10 meters. As the rain dissipated, I finally fell asleep. As I opened my eyes, I found myself being stared at by every passenger. Perhaps it was to make sure I didn’t run away with the pigs in the back of the bus.
Having travelled for months in South East Asia, I unwillingly became cynical of anyone who chats me up on the street. I was met with guilt and shame when I realized that this time, the man was a teacher at a ‘school’ down the road in Nyung U. The school was actually his living room with 3 rows of wooden benches and a blackboard. The 20 or so kids studying there are from the families who cannot afford to send them to government-run school. The teacher teaches everything from English to Mathematics. I stayed and enjoyed the enthusiasm from the children during their English lesson.
As I was cycling to an orphanage along Inle Lake, a 10-year-old boy started to follow behind me. Because of the language barrier, we barely spoke to each other. But we enjoyed each other’s company as we cycled through the forest and crossing rivers, stopping to have lunch and to play with a villager’s dogs. We got to the orphanage and the kids there were eager to show me their home. Their beds were thin mattresses on the floor, their dining room a long wooden table with benches on each side within 4 gray walls. But they had the best view of the lake and all the space as their playground.
Burma is a rustically beautiful country. It was the smiles of the kids who came up to me, and also the stares that I got made it such a bitter sweet trip.