Myanmar, where 'traitors soon meet their tragic ends'
...Now, I and others observe people arrested on the street and led into an alleyway or building where there are no cameras. What happens then is anyone's guess.
I catch glimpses of life from conversations with friends and co-workers describing a pattern of corruption and repression.
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Health care for the average person? It's practically nonexistent. Start a small business? Beware that a successful small restaurant can be taken away from you under the guise of an illegal permit and then taken over by someone who is connected.
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When a co-worker shows up late in the morning, we discover that the whole family was woken up at 1 a.m. and had to stand outside the house while the authorities searched for anyone living there without a permit.
People are very reserved in Yangon. A level of fear filters through every conversation.
Informants are insidious and keep a close watch on the local people. After living in Yangon for awhile, even someone new to the country can recognize the casual look from the guy on the corner with his cell phone to his ear -- just concerned about your protection, no doubt.
Seeing the routine repression in this country can only make you wonder what happens out of sight and outside normal conversation, especially during this elevated crisis.
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I know this government is very vindictive and obviously has no intention of doing anything but a better job at covering up its abuses.
A recent quote in the The New Light of Myanmar, a government publication, says it all: "National traitors will soon meet their tragic ends."
