New Mandala

Over at the Lowy Institute’s Interpreter Sam Roggeveen has a post that provides a recent glimpse of the front of 54 University Avenue, Yangon.  It is well worth a look for those who have never strolled that leafy neighbourhood.  WikiMapia zooms right in on Aung San Suu Kyi’s house to give some helpful context.  As something of a diversion, anyone with an interest in views from above will also appreciate this WikiMapia satellite snapshot of military aircraft at Yangon’s airport.

But that’s enough about what the satellites can tell us.

With the attention of many New Mandala readers now drawn, understandably, towards Aung San Suu Kyi’s expected  trial next week we are very happy to host commentary on these troubling events.

The lone swimmer fiasco looks like it is far from over.  For the Burmese generals it is something of a perfect storm, perfectly timed.  There must have been high 5s all-round when the implications of the American “intruder” became clear.  They can keep Daw Suu locked up on new charges, point the finger at murky foreign interference in Burma’s state affairs, and lazily stroll off into the distance on their long and winding road towards “discipline-flourishing democracy”.

It is a perfect political storm.  No wonder there is incredulity in some quarters about exactly how much of this episode can be taken at face value.