Progress?

There is a lot going on in this country lately. We have had more dignitaries visiting in the past year than in previous 40 years I think.  Every week some VIP is visiting. And the number of tourists has shot through the roof. All very nice I’m sure and, apart from the occasional traffic jam because of a visit, there is little that disrupts normal life.

This morning I was watching one of the local channels. I usually don’t watch this but since we were leaving for school shortly after, I couldn’t be bothered changing the channel.

To my utter surprise I saw a promotion for Engelbert Humperdinck. Engelbert Humberdinck live in Myanmar. I thought I was dreaming. But sure enough it was there It was, the date and venue of the concert.

After my first shock wore off the only thing I could think of was that an artist must be pretty strapped for cash and/or attention to have a gig in Yangon. On second thought I realized it was a good match. His best days were in the 60’s and the Myanmar are suckers for that kind of music.

This evening when I was reading the newspaper I noticed a small article tucked away at the end of the paper mentioning the coming of Engelbert Humperdinck again. This time it not only mentioned date and place but also prices. And what prices they were. Western prices! Tickets are 70,000; 100,000; and 150,000 kyats . Roughly translated that would be $80; $120; and $170. In a country where the average salary is about $40 those prices can be called steep indeed. The local most famous rock band (Iron Cross) who have been around for ages  and still going strong usually sell their tickets around 5,000 to 10,000 kyats.