I’m too poor to get married!

I was playing golf the other day on THE golf course in Yangon and to make conversation I asked the caddy how many children she had. When I ask a Thai caddy the same question, I always get the answer, two or three, and they are always living with grandmother in Issan, a poor province in the north east of Thailand. This time, in Yangon, the answer stunned me when she said; “I’m too poor to be married” That got me to thinking about social organization in Canada. Would I ever hear the same words in Canada?

It occurs to me that everything about Asia is structured and class oriented. There are no rags to riches stories. In fact, there are no downtown Yangon to the Park Royal Hotel stories. Once you are born into a lower station in life you remain in that station for ever, due to the impossibility of schooling, social opportunities, and so on.

As the world knows, Myanmar is living under a military dictatorship but one can get used to anything. I was in the staff room the other day talking with an older colleague who told me how much he missed freedom. For example, to buy a radio, you have to register and fill out forms. A young guy on staff asked what was so weird about that? It reminds me of the story of the frog in hot water that is gradually brought up to a boil. The frog does not jump out…it simply adapts until it is too late and then dies. It seems that the young people of Myanmar, who have never known freedom, literally do not know what they are missing and simply accept the status quo. The reason they know no different, by the way, is that everything is censored. The only foreign paper you can possibly get is the Singapore Strait Times and anything deemed sensitive is literally cut out. Internet sites such as Yahoo and Hotmail are blocked and there may be one television station with Myanmar news (not sure about that).

Clearly questioning and inquiry is not encouraged at school. In fact, school is hardly encouraged at all. In Mandalay, I was speaking with the chef of the hotel and complimenting him on his work. I went on to ask him what his dreams were. He told me he wanted to be a teacher. I told him I could help him fulfill that dream and he said he was already there. He was a teacher years ago but could not afford to live on the 12.00 a month he was paid once he had his own children. Classes are large, teachers teach by rote and to make a living they “slow down” during the day so that if kids want to really learn to pay to pay for extra tuition after school which is how the teachers make enough money to live.

I guess living outside of Canada has helped me realize how important education is to the development of a nation. Without education, we are back to the caddy saying she could never get married because she was so poor!