When Burma shed British colonial rule and became an independent country in 1948 [which is when George Orwell was writing about Burma and Britain, switching the numbers to come up with 1984 as the title of his classic text on totalitarianism, Nineteen Eighty-Four], it was one of the wealthiest and best-educated in the region.
Now, after almost half a century of repressive military rule, the country -- now known as Myanmar [by decree of the military dictators] -- is one of the poorest. And education there suffered when the military closed campuses for long stretches of time so students wouldn’t protest.
The most famous Buddhist site in Burma, the massive golden Shwedagon Pagoda complex housing the Buddha's hair relics in Rangoon (ayudamyanmartravel.com).
But recent political reforms have started to open the country up again, and Burmese are flocking to English classes to prepare for new opportunities.
To get to Mya Kyaing’s popular all-day English class, you walk down a dusty side street, into a teashop, and through it to the other side. And there you are.
There are some 500 students crammed into this makeshift space, on low wooden benches. Their beefy, middle-aged teacher sits up front in a plaid shirt and a sort of male sarong, called a longyi. He reads from the book he’s selected to teach his students English: The Master Key to Riches -- a self-help book by Napoleon Hill, published in 1956.
One of the students is a [Theravada] Buddhist monk. “This book, it gives knowledge to me,” the monk said. “That’s why I study this book.”
But then he admitted he doesn’t really get what the book’s trying to say. I page through it. The front cover says, “The World Famous Philosophy of Personal Achievement based on the Andrew Carnegie Formula for Money Making.”
The book includes praise for “the art of salesmanship, the art of competition, the blessings of individual initiative, and the necessity of honest production to justify the art of advertising.”
I tell the monk I can see why this might be hard going for him, and he seems relieved. More
- Myanmar: A Time of Change
- (March 2, 2012) Burma is holding parliamentary elections in April, and there’s a feeling of palpable change in what was until recently among the most isolated countries on the planet. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad returned to Myanmar for the first time in 17 years to bring us these stories.
- What it takes to get a business off the ground in Myanmar
- (March 2, 2012) Burma is changing fast and that includes new opportunities for entrepreneurs. The World’s Mary Kay Magistad met up with a Burmese-American and his Burmese partner who are trying to get an import business off the ground there.
- Thought Experiment: Imagining the political changes in Myanmar taking place in China
- (March 1, 2012) It’s tempting as a China correspondent to look at the political changes sweeping Burma, and imagine their equivalent happening in China...
- SLIDESHOW: What it’s like to report in a changing Myanmar
- (March 1, 2012) Now that the government of Myanmar is starting to open things up and institute reforms, it’s an exciting time to for journalists there. But as The World’s Mary Kay Magistad reports from the capital Yangon, journalists say they still operate under some restrictions -- and some have still been imprisoned for what they write.
- Aung San Suu Kyi on campaign trail in Myanmar election
- (February 27, 2012) Myanmar (Burma) is holding parliamentary elections in April, and there’s a feeling of palpable change in what was until recently among the most isolated countries on the planet.
- A fresh look at Myanmar after 17 years
- (February 24, 2012) The World’s Mary Kay Magistad is in Myanmar and she speaks with anchor Lisa Mullins about the changes she’s seeing there. For one thing, you can buy Aung San Suu Kyi t-shirts at the airport.
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