Is light finally coming to Myanmar?

There is a government publication called New Light of Myanmar founded in 1914 .It is a far cry from the free wheeling, irrepressible Philippine press. New Light is actually run by the Ministry of Information, and as such is considered a government propaganda tool.

For all its pejorative Orwellian connotation, the publication is a great source of information if one is visiting to do business in this country of 59 million. New Light chronicles all government activities and other events of national consequence. One can also search for online information on this Southeast Asian country, but it would not be as current as getting the news from the New Light of Myanmar, albeit government fed.

If you are businessman looking for opportunities, the New Light of Myanmar will give you a wealth of information on present and future government infrastructure projects that you can bid and invest in.

Hard commute, harder to pronounce

I first read a copy of New Light during a visit in the early 1990’s to the country formerly called Burma by the British. Its capital was known then as Rangoon but renamed Yangon by the ruling military junta in 1989. As a further step at decolonization, the regime on July 12, 2006 changed the capital to Napyidaw and moved it to a remote area in the mountains. Aside from being hard to pronounce, Napyidaw is a 240 - kilometer drive north of the former capital of Yangon.

Many of the embassies moved to the new seat of government as it was difficult to do official business with the regime if they were not near the power center. Some of the foreign missions, however, still maintain a presence in the old capital of Yangon

Three Philippine ambassadors posted in Myanmar—Alfredo Almendrala , Norberto Basilio both career diplomats, and Noel Cabrera, a former newsman—represented the country well in Burma. Almendrala is retired from the foreign service but is teaching diplomacy at the Lyceum of the Philippines. Basilio and Cabrera have died.

Myanmar is a country rich in natural resources. Its abundance in minerals, timber, precious metals and stones like ruby, emeralds and other gems kept it afloat during the long years of trade sanctions by the West because of the junta’s detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the democracy icon and Nobel Peace Prize winner. 

San Suu Kyi was released recently by the Myanmar government. Myanmar did so on its own terms and pace as it had pledged it would do once the country has achieved normalcy and political stability. 

There is a new civilian government after 23 years of military rule . Many of the generals in the former junta, however, occupy seats in the newly elected legislative assembly. But the good news is that the new government seems serious in implementing far reaching reforms and slowly easing its iron grip on the country. 

 

“Myanmar has entered a new era, “declared Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin during a recent international conference in Geneva. Human Rights Day, an event never marked before in Myanmar, was recently observed nationwide.

A more conciliatory Aung San Suu Kyi, emerging from a meeting with the country’s high officials, has been quoted as saying: “Change must be gentle, peaceful and dignified and must not violate civilians or the former government.”

Former government is in reference to the ruling junta that gave way to a civilian government in accordance with the country’s 2008 Constitution. Political supporters of the democracy icon who had been held under house arrest for 15 years, foresee a key government role for their leader. 

Aside from the major step of freeing Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar has recently unblocked banned Web sites and allowed access to prohibited news, including those run by exiled dissidents. 

This latest step gave indication that the country’s new leaders wanted to convey to the general populace, its Southeast Asian neighbors and the West, that change is coming to Myanmar. Its critics are sanguine that the transformation is not just cosmetic.

Government censors in a surprise move, pulled out the barriers on the Web sites of media outlets including the British Broadcasting Corp., Voice of America , as well as the Democratic Voice of Burma, Radio Free Asia and the video file sharing site YouTube.

The Burmese government under the State Law and Order Restoration Council or SLORC previously had monitored these Web sites and jailed journalists it deemed subversives as part of its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators after the Uprising of 1988.

Hopeful signs on the horizon

There is another bright side on the horizon. Myanmar has created a 15-member National Human Rights Commission to investigate reported abuses . Composed of retired civil servants, the commission is tasked to safeguard fundamental rights of citizens as inscribed in the country’s 2008 Constitution. 

Cognizant of the value of tourism, government and the private sector are building new luxury hotels to accommodate the influx of visitors. Like Thailand, Myanmar has many historic and beautiful Buddhist temples, foremost of which is the Shwedagon Pagoda. Mandalay, the ancient and imperial capital, is a popular tourist destination. 

The majority of the Burmese are Buddhists. The rest are a mix of Malays, Indians and Chinese who migrated from the neighboring countries. Myanmar is bound by Thailand to the south, China to the northeast, Laos to the east. and India to the west. 

Things are beginning to look bright in Myanmar. If the signs on the horizon are any indication, the government publication New Light of Myanmar could yet live up to its name and be a harbinger of peace and prosperity, not only for the country but for the rest of the region. 

Looking at the larger picture, it would seem that the policy of “constructive engagement” adopted by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) of which Myanmar is a member, is beginning to bear fruit.

Credit: Manilla Standard Today