Before Obama’s visit to Myanmar

I visited Myanmar when it was still formally “closed” to the world. It was about six years ago. I knew little about it except that it was not in the list of countries one could get to by simply hopping on a scheduled flight.

Like most Myanmarese (that by the way is a word I have coined for myself) Burmese for Burma, Myanmarese for Myanmar but friends from Myanmar told me to call them the people of Myanmar. That will sound very odd in a world of names and terms. But I wanted to use the name the people of Myanmar wanted to call their country and not what Western colonizers insisted on calling them. Indeed this was a bone of contention that President Obama resolved in his recent trip — to finally call Burma as Myanmar.

Myanmar continued to function even with American sanctions. Out of the eye of international media, tourists and businessmen of every hue and color came to Myanmar, especially the Chinese despite the inconveniences of not being able to use credit cards or banks. We stayed at the Nikko Hotel where we had to pay in dollars. Every bill was scrutinized if it had a scratch, a tear and a thorough check if it was fake.

Bottom line: Myanmar remained very much in business despite the sanctions. Because of the sanctions the situation favored those who found ways to evade the inconveniences and used bank accounts in Thailand and Singapore.

The country was rich with natural resources like gas, oil, hardwood and gemstones (I bought rubies and lapis lazuli from a vendor next to a butcher in the market). It was a darling for feisty entrepreneurs. Top of list was China that became its largest investment and trading partner, making inroads as the builder of its infrastructure.

Thailand and China invested some $850 million of the $980 million total that was invested in the country. A crucial project for China was a port-pipeline facility to link Myanmar to western China.

“Chinese investment is imperative for Myanmar amid the US and European Union sanctions,” wrote Arpitha Bykere, Asia Analyst at the Roubini Global Economy (RGE) Monitor, a US-based research center in 2008. “Economic ties with Asia help Myanmar show to the world that despite sanctions, it can attract trade and investment from several countries. This boosts Myanmar’s political leverage to resist global calls for political reform.”

With the euphoria of Obama’s visit too few are aware that it was during the Bush administration that the process of removing sanctions began. He sent a seasoned diplomat to find out exactly what was happening. He came back with the report — it was working against the US and its allies. That report was soon followed by other moves until finally an American ambassador presented his credentials in Yangon.

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In the debate whether Western countries should maintain their sanctions or engage with Myanmar’s military regime, I relied on Thant Myint-U’s book “River of the Lost Footsteps.” He took the side of those who urged the US and the West to remove the sanctions because it was punishing the people more than it was harming the military junta.

In the book he explains the historical background why and how Myanmar developed its military government and how it has since been unable to develop democratic institutions.

The author begins with the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885 and the fall of the Kingdom of Mandalay to the British. That past, he writes, is necessary to understand Myanmar today.

There are chapters on the evolution of plural society, foreign invasions, the Second World War, the rise of nationalism, the role of the Kuomintang and the Chinese communists. He does not shirk from admitting the failure of early independence and its attempts to mold a parliamentary democracy only to succumb to a long spell of military rule.

The author has the credentials to write a book on Myanmar. He is the grandson of U Thant (the former Secretary-General of the United Nations). He specialized in Burmese history, studied in Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Cambridge, and worked for the United Nations in Phnom Penh and Sarajevo. But he kept in touch with developments in Burma. His book on Myanmar is partly autobiographical, partly history, partly politics.

The junta’s foreign minister, Nyan Win, in his speech at the UN General Assembly in 2008 called the sanctions “immoral and counter-productive depriving countries of their right to development.” Prime Minister Thein Sein said the same thing to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari when he visited Myanmar.  

Although Aung Suu Kyi became a symbol of resistance against the military regime, some intellectuals of Myanmar did not think it was about one woman’s struggle. During my visit, my guide pointed to me her mansion on the most elegant boulevard in Yangon. They wanted a more expansive review of US policy for the sake of the country and its people. It may have been slow in coming but after a parade of US officials had visited Myanmar there came a new policy to review the sanctions.

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We were treated to a sentimental journey with the relaunch of The Aristocrat on Roxas Boulevard. It was a dual celebration marking the 100th wedding anniversary celebration of its founders, Justice Alexander “Alex” Reyes and Engracia “Asiang” Cruz Reyes.

For a long while this was the country’s most popular restaurant when Roxas Boulevard was the place to be. With the background of 50s and 60s music and Filipino love songs, my friends and I were in memory lane remembering our first dates and the curb drive dining with flying saucer sandwiches. After graduation the family treat was to dine in Aristocrat with its signature dish of chicken barbecue and Java rice.

 Although the food for the relaunch did not have the dishes we loved (someone said there was chicken barbecue being passed around but we did not taste it.) Still the food was good. I liked especially the lumpiang sariwa, pancit guisado, bagnet and bibingkang galapong.

It is open to all, rich or poor so you may wonder why it should be called The Aristocrat. The story has become a legend and re-told that evening. It all began when Asiang decided to put up a mobile canteen in Luneta in the 1930s, when it was a popular place for picnics and family outings on Sundays.

She wanted to name it Andy’s, after her eldest son. But Andy, who was then studying Ateneo did not like the idea. Asiang read his mind and scolded him: “Bakit, nahihiya ka ba sa mga aristokrata mong kaklase sa Ateneo?” Hmm. That’s it. I will call it The Aristocrat. What chutzpah.