By N.C. Bipindra, IANS,
Yangon : After nearly 40 years of military rule, Myanmar is changing, with clear signs that the transformation is for the better.
The country’s most popular pro-democracy face, Aung San Suu Kyi, is free from house arrest and has resumed her active political life.
When India’s External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna was in Myanmar last week to engage the three-month-old civilian government that shares a northeastern border with India and old historical ties, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao met with Suu Kyi for an hour at the Nobel laureate’s lakeside residence in Yangon, the country’s former capital.
But the new Thein Sein government, with several erstwhile military men as functionaries, had no qualms over the meeting.
The erstwhile military junta under Senior General Than Shwe that ruled since 1988 has moved to the background, though it still holds a remote control over governance.
A 659-member parliament with two houses of elected representatives of the country’s 60-million citizens is up and functional in Myanmar’s new administrative capital, Nay Pyi Taw.
“Hastening slowly”, as an Indian diplomat put it, Myanmar is on its way to joining the rest of the democratic world.
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The warm-hearted Myanmarese
Myanmarese have in recent months found themselves clamouring for a spot in cyberspace. With access made possible, internet cafes are sprouting in Yangon. A mobile phone connection too is available, though at a steep price of $1,500.
Jeans and T-shirts are popular wear among the youth and night life in the cities vibrant, with pubs, night clubs and discos as hotspots.
A majority of the Myanmarese are rural poor, dependent on agriculture. But they are warm-hearted, breaking into a smile every time they have something to say.
“The ability of the Myanmarese to smile is amazing. It disarms you completely,” says an Indian embassy official.
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Strong Chinese presence
What strikes the most about present-day Myanmar is the all-pervading Chinese influence.
China has presence in most of Myanmar’s infrastructure projects including the construction of Nay Pyi Taw’s palace-sized government buildings, parliament house and the international airport. More constructions in the new capital, that has come up within five years, is progressing at a rapid pace, mostly by Chinese firms.
Chinese goods — clothing, electronic gadgets, electrical appliances, toys and food items — are flooding the Myanmarese consumer market, including the shopping malls in both Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw.
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The all-pervading US dollar
Nature has blessed the country with splendour in large measure and tourism potential is very high. But economic sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union restricts Myanmar’s ability to tap it.
But that’s not what Myanmar is concerned about. It deals with American dollars as though it is the country’s own currency. Carry American dollars while visiting Myanmar, and there will never be a need to convert them into kyats while spending at a local store.
(N.C. Bipindra can be contacted at [email protected])