THE
CITIZEN
VIJAY VERGHESE 22 APRIL, 2021
Abandoning a country so dependent on tourist goodwill and dollars could play right into the hands of a thuggish junta that thrives in the shadows.
AS vaccination campaigns roll out, attention will turn once again to travel and the all too familiar tragedy being re-enacted in Myanmar. Is ostracism a heroic show of solidarity with democratic activists, already cut off from the world? Or is it hugely counterproductive?
As George Orwell wrote in Burmese Days, published in 1934, “Beauty is meaningless, until it is shared.” The country remains beautiful, mysterious, tormented, secluded, and shrouded in secrecy – a magnet, equally, for travellers, shady tycoons, and punitive embargoes.