Yangon in Flux

By GuSTAAF HOuTMAn

After navigating chaotic lines for a visa at Myanmar’s embassy in Bangkok, I finally caught my AirAsia flight to Yangon. I’m an anthropologist who has observed the former pariah state for more than three decades but hadn’t been back to its biggest city since 2005, and when I landed at the airport recently I was struck by certain novelties: I saw ATMs, a central organization of taxis from a private company, and mobile phones renting for US $4 per day. On the short ride to my hotel, I spotted new supermarkets, building projects and condominiums.

Still, there was something disconcerting about returning to Yangon after all these years. Many of my acquaintances had long ago left the country, some had died, and at least one who went abroad as child had told me he had no desire to ever go back.

Walking around the city, I noticed my favorite restaurants had been forced to move because of increased rents. Pavement was frequently broken up, ostensibly to improve infrastructure. Youngsters with dyed hair huddled together around their ubiquitous mobile phones, and at night everyone watched football matches in restaurants and bars.

Beauty shops encouraged a model of femininity like what you would see in Bangkok or London. Puppies were for sale, which caught me by surprise because I had never seen anyone taking a dog for a walk in Myanmar until this visit. Large cinema displays were visible on public streets, broadcasting advertising and the latest news, which was mostly in the old style. Other TV programs featured music, dancing and competitions at local malls or studios. Nobody played the Myanmar game of chinlone, or cane ball, on the streets anymore.

On many evenings, sessions of monastic preaching took place all over the city, including some that were televised on giant screens with audiences of several thousand. In the wake of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, the monastic order has clearly kept close to the hearts of Yangon residents.

What struck me most was the lack of fear. Photos of pro-democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her father, Bogyoke Aung San, were everywhere, from book covers to calendars and posters. And now that pre-censorship has been lifted, formerly exiled media agencies have set up offices in Yangon and are printing issues inside the country. Barely six months ago, these journalists would have been arrested.

Almost everyone I met seemed happy that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was engaging with President U Thein Sein, though they expressed concern that the relationship might not last and reforms could be scuppered by the military at any time.

Most households have struggled to cope with Myanmar’s inflationary environment over the past decade. Driven by poverty, prostitution has grown proportionately. I witnessed police raids along Anawrahta Street on small-scale vendors whose livelihoods have been criminalized while shopping malls have been built with ill-gained profits. Hopefully, reforms will mean more well-paying jobs for ordinary people and a more equitable distribution of wealth.

Many formerly exiled Myanmars have made their way back to the country recently, including some friends who contacted me through Facebook to say they had arrived shortly before me. A highlight of my trip was the reception held for former exile Ko Min Zin and the donation of a library in his honor.

I met university academics who seemed completely left behind by Myanmar’s reforms. Long underpaid and lacking resources, they do not have access to the journals and books necessary for cutting-edge research and teaching. It was disappointing, although I also discovered a group of philosophers, artists and writers who had gathered to talk at a tea shop on 37th Street, hungry for intellectual conversation. If universities aren’t yet a natural home for academic visitors, at least there are tea shop alternatives.

It’s too early to say if the relaxation I saw during my visit will be permanent. There will surely be ups and downs, and local media will have to work hard to keep politicians, soldiers and businesspeople on the straight and narrow. All I know is this: In my 35 years of observing the country, I have seen no time quite like this.

Gustaaf Houtman is an anthropologist who was in Myanmar for three-month periods in 1978 and 1979, for a year in 1982-83 and for short visits in 1997, 1998 and 2005.