The
country achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948, as the "Union of Burma." It became the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma"This is my story,
“In your country, you work two days and you have food for a week,” says
Maung Lwin, a welder taking a break for
tea after lunch. “Here, you work for
one day and you eat for one day.” Lwin supports his family on an average daily
wage of $2.30, the same salary the government pays a specialized doctor. Money
is so tight that even sitting down for a 15 cent cup of tea takes careful
consideration. “You are human, I am also human,” he tells me. “But my
luck is not the same
as your luck.”None of it makes any sense. Blessed with wealthy deposits of gemstones, teak
forests, agricultural land,
natural gas and oil, Burma
has the potential to be the wealthiest nation in Southeast
Asia. ...Burmese exports account for 30 percent of Thailand’s
natural gas.
But in an economy run by the whims of the generals and their select group of
friends, in a country ranked the world’s most corrupt by Transparency
International’s 2007 index, none of that money trickles down to the rest of the
population. Most of the profits are stored in
banks in Singapore, as no one trusts Burma’s banks,
20 of which closed overnight in 2003 when their money dried up. The disparity between
the rich and the poor, the connected and the rest, is vast.
Several days later I was sitting in a tea shop
watching buses that were built before WWII growl down the streets. I noticed a man at
the next table was watching me. I took a sip of tea and smiled at him. He
looked like he had something to say and was forming the words in his mind.
Finally, he got up and walked over to me.
“In Burma,
human rights, no,” he said quietly, crossing his arms at the wrists, as if they
were hand-cuffed. “All people like Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said of the democracy
leader who has been under house arrest for 12 of the last 18 years.
Then he put a finger to his lips.
“But talking... danger.”
And then he left.
More summaries about the Voices from Burma