Gym's Ramblings: British in Burma

Tuesday 12 April 2011

British in Burma

My last Myanmar installment is entitled, ‘British in Burma’, but I must tell you that the only physical evidence of British rule is in the style of buildings in downtown Yangon and the way the streets are laid out in that city which was the Capital in the British era. After independence the country made a concerted effort to distance itself from colonial Britain. Yangon replaced Rangoon as the name of the port city where we docked and other things British were erased. One of the more drastic changes which I think still looks like it is being felt in the country, is the change from left to right-hand drive. The weird thing about that change is that many of the vehicles still have the old steering set-up. There seems to be about an equal number of steering wheels that have right-sided and left-sided steering.

We had lunch at the Strand hotel in Yangon and it is grand old heritage building. Mick Jagger and the Stones stayed in this hotel only a few years ago. While my dear wife went to the lady’s room after lunch, I went into the hotel bar to experience the atmosphere of the place. I stood there and wondered how many gin and tonics had been consumed in that saloon.

So there wasn’t really much British left in Myanmar except the land tenure system, as I’ve indicated in a previous blog. I was taken aback though when we visited the Hyaukkyant War Cemetery. It is the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen. It was very moving to see the local caretakers pruning and watering the beautiful plantings which border each individual gravestone of these Christian Commonwealth soldiers that died during WW2. The mostly British soldiers are very well laid to rest in this breathtaking place.