In 2010/2011 when the current
government took power, no one could have imagined how much positive changes
they would have implemented in just one election term. I admit, I did not.
I grew up in Burma at a time when
no one really dared to even whisper the country leader General Nay Win’s name
(and various military rulers that followed since). If we ever wanted to discuss
about the military action or the government decisions, we usually had to
whisper only among very very close family members, with our living room
curtains closed.
We suspected every stranger that walked into our
neighborhood as potential government spies. Worse still, we distrust everyone
(except close family and friends) as potential betrayer/informant that might
potentially put us in jail. ‘Everyone’ included, for example, grocery shop
auntie, rickshaw driver, school friends, neighborhood council chief and his
kids, and pretty much everyone that we came to be in contact in every day’s
life. I was not being paranoid. It was the reality of those days.
We had all the leaders that we
feared, and we never once loved.
I have never expected that this one-sided ruler-subject relationship would ever change during my lifetime. Was
I wrong.
Current country President U Thein
Sein, a retired general himself, surprised me and all foreign observers and
diplomats (and possibly surprised his own military colleagues along the way) by
giving more ‘freedom’ and ‘openness’ to the country has ever witnessed since
1962 coup. And it happened so quickly during the
past five years since he took leadership of the country. His colleagues in the
government deserve similar credit of course for supporting him and making this happened.
During my younger days, Burma had
two daily newspapers and one radio and TV station. All were fully controlled with
a tightest of hands by the government censorship 'experts'. However, during the
past 5 years, censorship work has been kept minimum (as compared to previous
regime) and number of choices that the general public has now regarding print
and electronic media are almost unlimited. Besides, they are free to access
foreign media sites without any blockage.
Prior to 2010, any form of
organized protest or demonstration was unheard of and was duly crushed (or shot to kill). Understandably, no such activities truly took off in a long-lasting and a
life-changing ways (until 1988 protests of course, which lead to the rise of Aung
San Su Kyi and finally this week’s elections, after a long and winding
detours). But, past five years have witnessed various organized protests and
demonstrations, without much noticeable violent response from the ruling
military or police forces. Even better -- as a result of some of the protests, people’s
voices have been heard and lead to some positive policy changes and stoppage of
certain foreign projects.
The government has surprisingly taken
friendly foreign policy stands, and also has shown open door with welcoming
arms to foreign investors. This, no doubt, has led to a consistent economy
growth and noticeable job creation for the citizens during the recent calendar
years. (I have statistics to back this up)…
Therefore, I have decided to give
credit to where it is due and say my long overdue thank you…
THANK YOU, PRESIDENT U THEIN SEIN AND CURRENT GOVERNMENT FOR ALL THE
POSITIVE CHANGES MADE FOR THE COUNTRY DURING THE PAST FIVE YEARS!!!
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