AN ADVERTISEMENT in the airport in Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city, welcomes the visitor with a short and cheerful message pushing Gold Roast Coffee Mix, a ready-creamed coffee drink.
“The strong aroma . . . rich flavour . . . yet it gives you no heart palpitation. No wonder . . . Gold Roast is everyone’s favourite!”
Burma has had its fair share of heart palpitations during nearly 50 years of rule by military juntas, so it is no surprise that people on the buzzing streets of Rangoon say they are optimistic, but take this hope with a liberal dose of caution.
Since November last year, when the military government staged limited elections and freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from years of on-off house arrest, and with more freedom of the press and political prisoners released, hopes are rising of genuine change in Burma.
The hopes are there that President Thein Sein, a former general, will deliver reform, but no one expects the Burmese Spring to happen overnight.
Street vendors believe the reforms are real and will take place, “but it’s just not going to happen overnight,” says the driver of one of the Toyota Corolla and Nissan Sunny cars that make up the lion’s share of the Rangoon fleet.
This used to be the most advanced country in southeast Asia, but in latter years Burma has suffered terribly from military dictatorship and international isolation.
In Rangoon, the cars are right- hand drive, but they also drive on the right, so overtaking can be a hair-raising experience. This dates back to 1970, when military leader Ne Win changed the driving side of the road to the right, allegedly on advice from his astrologer.
Most of the passenger vehicles though either predate the changeover or are reconditioned imports from Japan, Thailand and Singapore.
Rangoon is a melting pot of cultures and is infused with religious buildings. Worshippers from numerous religions mingle easily in century-old Anglican chapels, Tamil churches, mosques and Buddhist temples.
The lack of global influence is striking, although foreign brands are coming in slowly. Brand new signs for Ariston white goods and Yale locks can be seen, although another shop that claims it is a Facebook fashion shop, using the Facebook logo, probably isn’t what it seems.
The depth of affection for Aung San Suu Kyi is remarkable. The taxi driver who brings me out to her home on New University Road in the suburbs refuses to accept payment when he hears the address.
“She is my friend. When you say you want to go to her house, you are my friend,” he says.
Suu Kyi has confirmed that she will run for parliament in upcoming elections, one of the tentative reform steps the new government has taken to loosen restrictions in the military-dominated country.
Moe Kyaw, managing director of MMRD market research, does not necessarily buy into the “slowly, slowly” approach that so many of the grassroots do.
“Our walls have become transparent now,” he says. “They were barbed before, now they are transparent. You can look in and see they are transparent.”
Kyaw is speaking in his office on an upper floor of one of Rangoon’s few tall buildings. Skyscrapers are everywhere in southeast Asia, but poor Burma remains low-rise.
One of the tallest buildings in the city is the Shwedagon Pagoda Buddhist temple – and that is 2,500 years old.
“The thing which is spectacular is we don’t have to be afraid to say things any more. We are free to say what we like,” Kyaw says.
He believes Burma still has enormous hurdles to cross before the economy gets going, chiefly the development of human capacity or talent.
“Back in 1990, I thought it would take us 10 or 15 years to give Thailand a run for its money, but now I think it will take two generations for that to happen.
“Thailand has made huge progress, China, it’s starting in Vietnam. The reason people can be happy here is that they don’t know what they missed. But then again they don’t have mortgages or credit card debts either.”
Political detente would allow US and European companies greater access to a market of 62 million people who have relied on neighbours China, India and Thailand to expand one of Asia’s smallest economies.
However, even the size of the population is an issue and, while 62 million is a commonly cited figure, the actual population could be anywhere between 52 million and 62 million, Kyaw says.
In terms of removing sanctions, the most important thing the visit by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton might achieve is allow Burma access to aid from the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, as that will help build roads and infrastructure.
“What is even better is that Korea and Japan are saying they can do business in Myanmar without worrying what big brother is going to think,” Kyaw adds. “When your Pepsi-Colas and Coca-Colas come back, that’s when the development comes back in.”