MYANMAR CROWD CLAPPED WHEN SUN SET

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                  MYANMAR CROWD CLAPPED WHEN SUN SET

(The Sunday Times, January 11,1998)
(By Tommy Koh) 

	I MADE my first visit to Myanmar during the past Christmas holidays. I had a
wonderful time. Let me share with you some of the happy memories of my visit.

	Weather

	THE weather in Myanmar is ideal in December. During my visit the sky was blue
every day, the humidity was comfortably low, the day- time temperature were
pleasantly cool. You need only a sweater or light jacket for the evenings.

	People

	THE people are honest, gentle, kind and cheerful. You see smiling faces
every- where. One of my tour guides in Yangon told me that she had conducted a
group of Myanmar tourists to visit Singapore last year.

	I asked her whether she liked Singapore. She was reluctant to answer at first
but, when pressed, said Singaporeans behaved like robots rushing about their
business with unsmiling faces.
	Food

	SINGAPOREANS love good food. I should there- fore address the question: What
was the food like?

	Myanmar produces very fresh ingredients, especially fish, prawns, vegetables
and fruits. Myanmar food is a milder version of Thai food. Curry is popular
throughout the country.

	I had several memorable meals there. In Yangon, the Myanmar food at the
beautifully- renovated Strand Hotel and the Green Elephant Restaurant was
excellent. The Sedona Hotel has an outstanding Italian restaurant called Orzo.

	In Pagan there are two restaurants situated on a cliff overlooking the
Irrawaddy River, the River View Restaurant and the Sunset Garden Restaurant.
The latter is owned by artistic U Aung Nyunt, who has created a little
paradise. In Mandalay, the Chinese food at the Eterna Restaurant, and the
Western food at the Novotel were very good.

	The most memorable meal I had was of Shan food, eaten in a hotel built on
stilts, in the Inle Lake. The hotel is called Golden Island Cottages and is
located at the Nampan Village.

	Shopping

	NEXT to food the Singaporean tourist?s priority is shopping. Myanmar has much
to offer him. Those interested in gems and jewellery will find Myanmar a
wonderland. Yangon has a gem museum. Below the museum are several floors of
shops which issue certificates of authenticity.

	I was more fascinated by the fabrics produced by Myanmar, from the humble
cotton to the exalted sill. I was impressed particularly by the tribal
patterns. The beautiful cottons and silk produced by Mandalay, Amarapura and
the Inle Lake. Mandalay also produces beautiful tapestries made of sequins.

	Pagan produces world class lacquerware made in the old- fashioned way. I
spent many happy hours at the Scott Markets in Pagan and Mandalay.

	Shwedagon pagoda

	THE most fascinating place in Yangon is the legendary Shwedagon Pagoda. Built
on a small hill, the Pagada is said to contain eight hairs of the last Buddha.
	Its bell- shaped stupa rises 100m into the sky. The stupa is plated with
8,688 slabs of solid gold, and decorated with 5,448 diamonds, 2, 317 rubies
and other precious stones. The Shwedagon pagoda dominates Yangon?s skyline,
and glitters by day and by night.

	There are four long marble stairways leading up to the Pagoda. They are like
broad covered streets, with shops on both sides. The at mosphere at the Pagoda
is joyful and not solemn . I visited it twice, once by day and once by night.
On each occasion, there were hundreds of men, women and children, worshipping
and partying. It seems like it is the favourite meeting place for Yangon?s
citizens. Many families brought along food in tiffin carriers to picnic at the
pagoda.

	When I visited Estonia in 1993, I was entertained to lunch by its pres
ident, Mr Meri, who had been a writer by profession. He told me a wonderful
story about his own visit to Myanmar.

	Estonia was part of the Soviet Union. He had to join the Soviet Writers?
Union in order to make a living. When the Soviet Union was sending a good will
delegation to visit Myanmar, it wanted to include a writer and invited the
Soviet Writers? Union to select a representative. As there was no volunteer,
Mr Meri agreed to join the delegation.

	It arrived in Rangoon and was greeted by the Burmese chief of protocol and
other officials. When it was Mr Meri?s turn to shake his hand, he whispered
some thing in the latter?s ear.

	The chief of protocol become very excited and shouted some orders in the
Myanmar officials escorted Mr Meri away under the protest of the chief of the
Soviet delegation, who thought that he had defected.

	What had actually happened was that Mr Meri had told the Myanmar official he
was from Estonia and that he wanted to be taken to the Shwedagon Pagoda to pay
his respects to two Estonians who had become Buddhist monks there. When I was
in Yangon, I enquired about the two Estonian monks, but was told that they had
died.

	Splendour  of  Pagan

	PAGAN is a living museum. It is as beautiful  and awe- in spiring as the
Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Unlike Angkor, however, Pagan is situated in the
middle of Myanmar, which receives very little rainfall.

	As a result, the pagodas have not been overgrown by jungle and are remarkably
well- preserved. In an area covering several square km, on a plain beside the
Irrawaddy River, there are thousands of pagodas and temples. The vidual impact
of this once great religious city is quite overwhelming.

	From the 11 th  to the 13 th centuries, pagan was the capital of a great
empire. It was alsl  an educational centre, attracting scholars from China,
India and Sri Lanka. It was a cosmopolitan city, and this is reflected in the
architectural and artistic styles of the temples, buddha, paintings and
carvings. According to history and legend, Pagan was destroyed by the army of
Kublai Khan in 1287. 

	The holiest of the pagodas at Pagan is the Shwezigon. It is said to contain
some inportant relics of the Buddha which King Anawrahta had obtained from
India, Ceylon and Yunnan.

	The pagoda also contains wood carvings of the 37 spirits which the Myanmar
people worshipped before they were converted to Buddhism as practised there is
combined with animism. The largest pagoda is the Dhammayangyi Temple, built
by King Narathu, to atone for his sin of killing his father and older brother
in order to usurp the throne.

	My favourite is the ananda Temple, which is the prettiest. It was regilded in
1990, on the occasion of its 900th anniversary.

	Intha people of Inle Lake

	THE second high point of my visit to Myanmar was the day I spent at the Inle
Lake in the Shan State.

	I flew from Mandalay to the airport at Heho. From Heho, the journey by car to
the jetty at Nyanug Shwe took about an hour. 

	The Inle Lake is inhabited by a tribe of people who had originally come from
the Tavoy region of Tenaserrim. They started emigrating to the Inle Lake
between the 14th and 18th centuries. They have adapted to their new
environment in the most remarkable way. 

	The Intha people live in house, mostly made of wood, standing on stilts. They
row their boats standing up, not sitting down and using their legs instead of
their arms to power the paddle.

	They fish by using a conical trap made of bamboo which they would lower into
the water when they recognise the bubbles released by the fish. They are
expert farmers and may have been the first inventors of hyd to ponics. They
grow their rice and vegetables on floating humus, which is made of silt and
weed.

	In addition to being skilful fishermen and farmers the Inthas are also master
weavers, silversmiths, boat builders and cheroot makers. I visited one silk
factory and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of design, colour and
texture.

	It is possible to stay on the Inle Lake. Some enter prising in dividuals of
another tribe who live in the Shan State the Pa- O have built a lovely hotel
called the Golden stand~ Cottages at the Nampan Village.

	That is where I will stay on my next visit. I also intend to visit the
capital of the Shan state, Taunggi, to see the cave paintings at Pindaya and
visit Kalaw town, which is reputed to be surrounded by pine trees.

	A wonderful world

	LIVIING and working in Singapore and being surrounded by high- rise
buileings, one seldom has the time or inclination to watch the sun set.

	During the seven days in Myanmar. I was privileged to watch  the sun set from
the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, from the top of two temples at Pagan, from
Mandalay Hill and sitting in a boat on the Inle Lake.

	Watching a setting sun is like watching a beautiful abstract painting of
constantly changing colours. One evening on  Mandalay Hill the spectators were
so moved by the experience that they broke into spontaneous applause. At that
moment, I could not help feeling that in spite of all our troubles we do live
in a wonderful world.

	Professor Tommy Koh is the Executive director of the Asia- Europe Foundation.
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