By Anonymous

Ignorance
In 1988, when students and monks were massacred in Myanmar, Universities were closed and the education system completed its deterioration. A whole generation of young people were left without a means of education. Many students found ways to teach themselves, but in general the lack of higher education along with the system of memorization used in elementary through secondary levels resulted in a huge loss of the potential human resources of the country. In this way the younger generations were handicapped, taught to accept and internalize the twisted histories and other lies fed to them in state run schools instead of being taught how to use their brains, how to think, and how to question. They were taught fear instead. The news and media surrounding them was always manipulated and controlled by the Junta. Myanmar is a country in which rumors fly as no where else. When the US invaded Iraq this last time, many respectable Burmese sincerely believed that the US had tanks lined up on the border of Myanmar and Thailand, finally coming to free them. In reality, the US government marked Myanmar down on their black-list as a dangerous country harboring evil terrorists out to destroy the American people.

When I look at what the education system in the United States of America has become it doesn’t seem very different from that in Myanmar. We are not being taught how to think but only to accept what we are given. Even at our University levels we are rewarded for parroting back what we are fed. It is now common knowledge that our media is controlled by a few groups whose purpose is to keep us in fear of the outer world. It has just been over the last couple years that the majority of Americans have realized this. Still today, many of us believe everything we see on the news. We are constantly surrounded by commercialism and fed mind-dulling nonsense about what is healthy for our bodies, and then told the opposite the next day. This keeps us all confused and in fear of cancer, terrorists, bad-credit, other religions, fires, tornadoes, you name it, that we dare not think for ourselves any more.   more »

By Anonymous

While exploring the markets and tea-shops of various cities in Myanmar I have had some interesting discussions with people from all over the country. As we all know, Aung San Su Kyi, Myanmar’s elected President who has been under house arrest for more than a decade, requested that tourists not come to Myanmar in order to boycott the military regime. I have done a lot of low-budget traveling around Myanmar, and I have worked in the tourist industry for extended periods of time. In light of the recent events in Myanmar I am compelled to put forth my perspective, and to pass on what many Burmese citizens from all over Myanmar have discussed with me.

The first time I visited Myanmar was in 1996, the last time I was there was the end of 2006. Please excuse me if the writing is sometimes disjointed as the images I have seen on YouTube of the thousands of Monks marching in the street, brings up strong emotions in me of terror, amazement and vast respect for what they are doing.

Tourism in Myanmar
What I have seen in regards to the tourist industry in Myanmar is that there are basically two categories. The major one being package tour groups. These are generally older people, and they mostly come from Europe—from Italy and Germany. These package tours visit Myanmar for ten days. They go from Inle Lake to Bagan to Ngapali, they stay at the same hotels, eat at the same restaurants and shop at the same tourist shops. They are guided around by the same tour guides and their money does indeed support the military and their cronies. As a result I have seen some incredibly decadent hotels built in these areas of the country in the last five years. This type of tourist never sees the real Myanmar or interacts on the local level with Burmese people. I wouldn’t be surprised if these tour groups had never heard of Aung San Su Kyi or her request not to support the military regime.   more »