mind_wander
10-16-2007, 08:19 PM
Hi all,
This is about a country in South East Asia currently called Myanmar, formerly known as Burma and once a British Colony.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Recently in Burma, hundreds of buddhist monks and quite a number of civilians have been arrested for protesting the rising prices in their economy.
My parents were once posted in this country as diplomats and I lived their for a few years, I have a basic grasp of their language and some customs, and now my parents are there again as diplomats.
Burma was once known as the Jewel of South East Asia when students from other nearby countries flocked to attend the University of Rangoon and Rangoon Institute of Technology. Burma was also the birth place of the Third Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), who was a famous figure in modern world history though now he has been mostly forgotten.
However starting from the 1960s, the government began to decline, its treasury depleted by corrupt officials and in 1988 after the elections was won by the pro-democratic party, the military which did not recognize the victory took over the government. Now the country is ruled by a Military Junta.
The currency in Burma is called the Kyat, where the government officially claims that 1USD = 6 or 7 Kyats, however because the currency is not backed by any form of treasure, people go by the black market rate of 1USD = 1400 Kyats and 2GBP = ~3000 Kyats. The average burmese citizen earns between 10,000 to 50,000 Kyats a month. Recently in Burma, due to the rise of fuel and other commodities, even a local bus far has a minimum price of 100kyats.
The religion in Burma is dominantly Theravada Buddhism ( To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ) though the country does allow somewhat freedom of religion.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
The Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma is actually layered with several inches thickness of pure gold laminations which have been built up over the centuries. Underneath and inside the Pagoda in sacred catacombs are various treasures, jewels, relics, etc which have been donated throughout the centuries by various kings and warlords.
Because of such problems, recently many hundreds of Buddhist Monks have started a protest march and the government has resorted to using military force to stop and detain the protesters.
The last major protests and crackdowns like this happened back around 1988-89 when students marched to protest the military government.
Burma is also a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and it has a deadline by 2008 to open up telecommunications and Internet Access to the public with low censorship or be kicked out. Now it seems they will be kicked out of the ASEAN.
Right now due to the protests all Internet Access in Burma has been cut off and telecommunications are being strictly controlled (which is no surprise since the price of a land line in Burma is equivilant to about 2000-5000USD of their money and mobile phones are even worse as it costs around 5000-10000USD of their money just for a sim card, you buy the handset yourself).
In neighbouring countries (especially Thailand) there exists large populations of Burmese refugees and revolutionaries who are trying to fight against the government. Some revolutionaries are fighting for the country, others are just fighting for their own ethnic groups.
[Source: To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. posted by Mysterious X]
I would like to freely share this, as a fellow INTJ to another INTJ. So glad for you all to see this. If one day, Mysterious X joins into here; then throw in your thoughts. He does got alot to say, so don't be shy.
This is about a country in South East Asia currently called Myanmar, formerly known as Burma and once a British Colony.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Recently in Burma, hundreds of buddhist monks and quite a number of civilians have been arrested for protesting the rising prices in their economy.
My parents were once posted in this country as diplomats and I lived their for a few years, I have a basic grasp of their language and some customs, and now my parents are there again as diplomats.
Burma was once known as the Jewel of South East Asia when students from other nearby countries flocked to attend the University of Rangoon and Rangoon Institute of Technology. Burma was also the birth place of the Third Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.), who was a famous figure in modern world history though now he has been mostly forgotten.
However starting from the 1960s, the government began to decline, its treasury depleted by corrupt officials and in 1988 after the elections was won by the pro-democratic party, the military which did not recognize the victory took over the government. Now the country is ruled by a Military Junta.
The currency in Burma is called the Kyat, where the government officially claims that 1USD = 6 or 7 Kyats, however because the currency is not backed by any form of treasure, people go by the black market rate of 1USD = 1400 Kyats and 2GBP = ~3000 Kyats. The average burmese citizen earns between 10,000 to 50,000 Kyats a month. Recently in Burma, due to the rise of fuel and other commodities, even a local bus far has a minimum price of 100kyats.
The religion in Burma is dominantly Theravada Buddhism ( To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ) though the country does allow somewhat freedom of religion.
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
The Shwedagon Pagoda in Burma is actually layered with several inches thickness of pure gold laminations which have been built up over the centuries. Underneath and inside the Pagoda in sacred catacombs are various treasures, jewels, relics, etc which have been donated throughout the centuries by various kings and warlords.
Because of such problems, recently many hundreds of Buddhist Monks have started a protest march and the government has resorted to using military force to stop and detain the protesters.
The last major protests and crackdowns like this happened back around 1988-89 when students marched to protest the military government.
Burma is also a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and it has a deadline by 2008 to open up telecommunications and Internet Access to the public with low censorship or be kicked out. Now it seems they will be kicked out of the ASEAN.
Right now due to the protests all Internet Access in Burma has been cut off and telecommunications are being strictly controlled (which is no surprise since the price of a land line in Burma is equivilant to about 2000-5000USD of their money and mobile phones are even worse as it costs around 5000-10000USD of their money just for a sim card, you buy the handset yourself).
In neighbouring countries (especially Thailand) there exists large populations of Burmese refugees and revolutionaries who are trying to fight against the government. Some revolutionaries are fighting for the country, others are just fighting for their own ethnic groups.
[Source: To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. posted by Mysterious X]
I would like to freely share this, as a fellow INTJ to another INTJ. So glad for you all to see this. If one day, Mysterious X joins into here; then throw in your thoughts. He does got alot to say, so don't be shy.