The Global Economy in Turbulent Times

CHAPTER 129 Myanmar: Not the Burma I Used to Know¹

A century ago, Rangoon (now Yangon) was one of Asia’s great trading centers and home to a diverse ethnic mix. Its nineteenth-century population of 100,000 has since swelled to about 6 million in greater Yangon, which now suffers from cracking infrastructure, electricity brownouts, traffic congestion, and growing pollution. I first visited the city in the mid-1960s as a young central banker (and have been back often up until the 1990s), working alongside prominent bankers and economists at the then–Union Bank of Burma (the central bank). Its colorful history is reflected in the city’s heart, where ancient Buddhist pagodas sit next to churches and cathedrals, Sunni and Shia mosques, Hindu and Parsee temples, and a Jewish synagogue. I well recall at its very center stands the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda sitting serenely in gold glittering amid the city skyline. Then, Yangon was the home to hundreds of Victorian and Edwardian-era buildings, including the edifices of Lloyds and HSBC bank, and the all-teak Pegu Club where Rudyard Kipling stayed.

I am told many have since been demolished to make way for development. What a pity. But even then, I was glad the Victorian-era Strand Hotel (that once welcomed George Orwell) has been transformed from a run-down budget hotel into an elegant five-star. Before the makeover, I recall being seated at lunch in the sparsely furnished hotel café and being told that its original eight-page menu ...