Doctored
Perceptions of Rangoon
Jessica Von Wendel
A
global city
becomes global by catering to the desires of the global population. These cities cannot be completely inwardly
focused on the vernacular or else risk loosing the appeal that draws in
a
transnational flow. Currently, Burma
is beginning
to establish this image. Due to the
political unrest in the country, the general public’s voice is silenced
and
only the military dictatorship chooses how to make what was essentially
an isolated
country into a modern city. This results
in one version of Burma
that
is portrayed, thus giving the largest city in Burma, Rangoon,
an artificially
imposed atmosphere.
As
I walk
down the streets of Rangoon I pass by
an Indian
district and then a China
town. The presence of these
transnational migrants establishes a base for a global city to emerge,
but even
they fall under the restrictions of the dictatorship.
Other than the people themselves there is
little influence of their cultures on the city.
It
is
primarily Indian men who sell ‘traditional’ Burmese handicrafts and
work as
money exchangers at the former British Scott Market that is now
predominantly designed
for tourists. In Donald M. Seekins’
article, “The State and the City: 1988 and the Transformation of
Rangoon”, he
describes these populations as “economically active populations of
immigrant
Indians and Chinese.” The economically
active description of these populations indicates that these migrants
are here
specifically to raise the status of the city.
In
addition, the staged feeling of the city
is emphasized by spectacle buildings. The
construction of these facades attempts to deceive the foreign visitor. I walked into a little restaurant called AKK
near the Indian district of Rangoon. The
restaurant was pleasant, but when I used their restroom I peeked out
the back
door. I expected to see an alley, but
instead the area was completely closed off, like a courtyard, but with
mounds
of trash piled stories high. I asked if
it is ever collected. They just laughed
and said it has been piling up for years. No
one ever does anything about it.
The
real situation of Burma is
cleverly kept from the eyes of visitors. Even transnational
migrants must fit into the role that
the government decides
they must play. Any traveler walking through these streets can pick up
on this
surreal vibe issuing from both the architecture and people themselves.
Unfortunately, this atmosphere is the real, current situation in Burma.
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