Pastoral turns to progress in Myanmar

But it is more than just the prospect of profiting that makes Burma special to westerners. Its enduring romantic appeal can partly be explained by Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, Mandalay, which begins:

"By the old Moulmein Pagoda, lookin' eastward to the sea,

There's a Burma girl a-settin', and I know she thinks o' me;

For the wind is in the palm-trees, and the temple-bells they say:

Come you back, you British soldier; come you back to Mandalay!"

Another British writer, George Orwell, celebrated Burma, too, but in a much different way. A former colonial policeman and a prickly anti-imperialist, Orwell's first novel, Burmese Days, featured a dazzling description of a tiger hunt and chronicled the oppressive dyspepsia of life on the steamy margins of Britain's failing empire.

Burma tugs at western hearts because it is a vestigial remnant of an Orient that no longer exists elsewhere except in books and photographs. The exotic Singa-pores, Shanghais and Saigons of yore have been erased over the past few decades by skyscrapers and other glitzy trophies heralding Asia's growing economic might.

Myanmar, with its trove of dilapidated imperial buildings, bucolic landscapes of palm groves, forests of teak, monasteries and gold-domed pagodas and the inspiring piety of its Buddhist monks and nuns, remains mostly as it was a century ago.

While western dress has become de rigueur across much of Asia, another throwback here is that most Burmese still choose to wrap their limbs in a cloth known as a longyi. In keeping with tradition, large numbers of women and children and more than a few men also continue to daub their faces with thanakha, a distinctive pale yellow paste made from bark.

Not that everything is paradis-ical. The generals continue to have a disproportionate say in politics. While some reforms have been initiated, there are still political prisoners, albeit fewer than a few months ago. Because of enduring trade sanctions, international credit cards are still not accepted, so tourists and businessmen alike must carry with them large wads of pristine U.S. bank notes.

There are only a few reasonable hotels, dreadful telephone connections and not nearly enough English speakers to support the business and tourist explosion that is looming.

Still, until now, the pace of life in Burma remains unhurried. Visitors are warmly welcomed. Highly unusual for Asia, drivers and pedestrians are still mostly deferential.

As fond as westerners may be of the otherworldly Myanmar that exists today, few Burmese in this rundown living museum find life to be charming or pleasant. They hunger for change and want it now.

Catch the old Burma while you can. It is disappearing fast.

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2012/12/02/pastoral-turns-to-progress-in-myanmar/