Rangoon/Yangon It's not quite what you expect in a country where the people's kindness & generosity is second to none, but Burma is a land full of contradictions. A few days before leaving this stunning country, one of our student friends remarked that despised leader of the military government, Than Shwe, had recently been in Singapore undergoing treatment for what is believed to be cancer. Although misinformation is normal in Burma, it's widely hoped that this was true, & you can bet that just about every member of the population, no matter how kind & how dedicated to Buddhism they may be, will be praying for the death of a man who has helped cause pain & misery for years. Welcome to Burma, home to one of the most brutal military dictatorships on the planet. A
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