¡AMurica!

It is politically incorrect to call Myanmar ‘Burma’ because of its colonial connotations, but the new name ‘Myanmar’ is also politically incorrect, as it is the name of only one of its many ethnicities. While the United States supports the former name, as the country under its current name is ruled under a military dictatorship, we have certainly forgotten about the fact of self-determination the name ‘Myanmar’ implies.

Ironically, when I revealed to a friend of mine that I was going to Myanmar, he was very excited and told me to take pictures of its colonial architecture. Predictably, he turns out to be one of the many colonial fanatics in Hong Kong. I have to admit, given that I knew next to nothing about the country other than the fact that it’s where Aung San Suu Kyi came from and that it has reputation of being overwhelmingly pious (Buddhist), its colonial history naturally appealed to my interest.

Apparently, it is common practice for colonial architectures to assume the design features of a mixture of cultures. The former legislative council building of Hong Kong had its pitched roof assembled in double pan and roll Chinese tiles, which serves to prevent leakage during Hong Kong’s heavy rain seasons; the Governor’s House is built in a hybrid of Japanese neo-classical and colonial Renaissance style. Yangon has its own impressive repertoire of colonial architectures. Spread across a whole block, the red-bricked Yangon General hospital is one of the most impressive stretch of Victorian architecture I’ve seen outside of Britain. Built next to the Boyoke Market, the Holy Trinity Cathedral features elements of the Indo-Saracenic style, which was originally developed out of the colonizers’ appeal for Asian exotic aesthetics. One of the distinctive characteristics of colonial architecture in Burma was that all of the windows are very long and the ceilings very tall — perhaps to enhance ventilation and heat dissipation in this intensely tropical climate.

Since our trip was primarily medical in nature, we didn’t have time to visit these buildings in detail. However, we did visit one hospital specializing in neurological ailments, which was converted from a British built school. While its architecture inside was intact, the wooden structures and profuse courtyard was incompatible with standards of hygiene for yearly operations on over a thousand patients. Dimly lit and derelict, it existed in a different time-space continuum from our operation theaters. “These equipment can go to the museum,” one of the Burmese doctors who worked in Hong Kong joked. Indeed, the surgical equipment along with the building itself serves a far better purpose as a means of cultural preservation rather than the preservation of lives. I was surprised to encounter a flight of wooden, rickety stairs to the observation deck (which is also wooden) above the operating theater (presumably for medical students). Prone to corrosion and ineffective against the permeation of moisture, how is wood an appropriate material to ensure a germ-free environment for a sterile operation?

Apart from the few monuments I saw, it is a pity that many colonial architecture have fallen into disrepair, their facades becoming soiled and dilapidated with time. Known for its resistance to British colonial rule, it is perhaps because of politics that colonial architecture doesn’t seem to be of importance in Yangon’s heritage. Instead, the most immaculately preserved monuments were Buddhist. These include the famed Shwedagon pagodas, a thicket of gold-guilded conelike mounds occupying its own quiet spot amidst the thoughtless burgeon of evergreen canopies at the center of the city. The abundance of Japanese buses and cars also seems to be telling of Myanmar’s antagonism to colonial rule. Apparently Burma’s friendly relations with Japan began with the Japanese invasion of Burma in WWII. Feeling antagonistic against the British and feeling a greater affinity to Asians, many aligned with the Japanese.

Yangon, as a former British colony, is an interesting juxtaposition to Hong Kong. It is perhaps because of its deeply rooted sense of national identity that there was so much resistance to imperialism, while we generally welcomed British administration, as it catalyzed our rapid development and implemented efficient systems as opposed to communist rule. There were certainly more than a few governors who were welcomed and loved by our people. While Myanmar may have a more developed economy had the British wielded a greater influence in their country, it is undeniable that a country’s self-determination should be respected as a person is to be respected.