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Foreign Correspondent: Myanmar — dictatorship to democracy?

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Buildings in Myanmar
Foreign Correspondent: Myanmar — dictatorship to democracy?

SUBJECTS:  Geography

YEARS:  9–10


Imagine living your whole life under a military dictatorship.

The people of Burma (a country also known as Myanmar) have been living this way for about half a century.

See how recent government reforms have opened up new freedoms for Burmese citizens and given the international community access to the country once again.


Things to think about

  1. 1.Burma is emerging from nearly 50 years of what has at times been oppressive military rule. What changes might the Burmese people expect with this change of rule?
  2. 2.Observe the clip's scenes of daily life. What impression do they give you about the quality of life of average Burmese people? The reporter says that 'decades of authoritarian rule … have stunted development'. Do you see anything in the clip that supports this comment?
  3. 3.Do a search on the World Health Organization's latest health indicators for Myanmar. What do you notice? You might also compare them with Australia's latest health indicators on the WHO site. What is similar and what is different? Find out the average wage for a Burmese citizen. How might this affect their quality of life or hardships they face?
  4. 4.Find some international government and non-government organisations that are working to improve the wellbeing of the people of Myanmar. You could start by searching in the phrase 'Myanmar aid'. What is the stated aim of these organisations? What action are they taking?


Date of broadcast: 20 Mar 2012


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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