Burma RJ Handbook

A BU R M A R I V E R J O U R N E Y
not just to profit, but perhaps to prod the Burmese into
getting their miracle right.
By the mid-nineties the holocaust of 1988 was, if not
forgiven, at least forgotten. Ordinary Burmese were prospering
and with the prospect of improvement recent evils
seemed to fade from memory. Passports were available
and Burmese could come and go returning with ideas and
ideals from the outside world. Long term exiles returned
to start businesses and bring home rare expertise.
Rangoon’s foreign expatriate community had grown from
a tiny diplomatic corps to the point where house re n t s
w e re higher than in London. The fear that one found in
1989 or 1990 seemed to have dissipated as people were
busy ‘doing business’.
With a relaxation of trade restrictions previously unavailable
imported goods appeared in the markets and
t h e re is no doubt that the quality of life improved for
many Burmese. The decrepit infrastructure was upgraded:
new buses carried people and goods to markets along new
roads; electric pumps saved women hours of carrying
water; improved rolling stock brought cities closer; new
aircraft landed on new airports; piped water and sewage
systems were installed in Rangoon and Mandalay; a telephone
network with IDD lines introduced — there were
even cell phones for the new ‘yuppy’ class — and Burma
was at last wired to the world. These were not just cosmetic
changes but fundamental improvements and managed
without a cent of aid. Improved infrastru c t u re and
communications will greatly assist the Burmese people in
the eventual transition to democracy.
Perhaps the greatest success story was the pacification
of Burma in most cases by non violent means. Between
Independence in 1947 and the late 80s Rangoon had
fought several campaigns on several fronts which rapidly
depleted the country’s re s o u rces. Firstly the communist
rank and file mutinied, and the predominantly Wa hillmen
went over to the Slorc. The Kachin Independence Army
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