NAYPYITAW, Myanmar — Watched around the clock,
bathed twice a day and otherwise pampered, five white elephants are munching on
choice greenery in Myanmar's vast, remote and surreal capital. Above them soars
a shimmering, gold-plated pagoda
From ancient times, Myanmar's rulers regarded these rare
albino animals as sacred accessories of kingly capitals, symbols of power and
prestige. But in this grandiose city built from scratch in secrecy, at great
cost and in a seemingly unsuitable location by the country's former military
dictators, some find it fitting that "white elephant" is also a term
for a troublesome possession too expensive to maintain.
Eight years after Naypyitaw — "Abode of the King"
— was proclaimed the new government seat, it has become something more than a
"ghost capital hacked out of the jungle," as it was once described.
Private enterprise is staking some ground. More shops and
restaurants have opened and 79 hotels are operating or under construction. Some
foreign companies, notably the Japanese, have set up small branch offices.
A dozen impressive stadiums, meeting halls and hundreds of
villas for visiting VIPs have been built here for the Southeast Asian Games, an
11-nation event that began Wednesday. Naypyitaw (nay-pee-thaw) will be in the
spotlight again next year when Myanmar chairs the 10-member Association of Southeast
Asian Nations.
But the capital remains far from meeting the grand
expectations that built it. It's 40 times the area of Washington, D.C., dotted
with enormous public buildings that seem incongruous in one of the world's
poorest countries. The U.S. Capitol is positively puny compared with the
equivalent here. The main conference center dwarfs the United Nations building
in New York, and the airport, home to just two international airlines, is
designed to handle up to 10.5 million passengers a year.
Vast empty spaces dominate. Many government workers live
alone because their families don't want to move here.
The political opposition and diplomats are among those who
hope the capital one day reverts to Yangon, the country's heartbeat in almost
every way, as democracy truly takes root and the military's power wanes.
Myanmar has a rich history of moving capitals — more than 30 shifts since the
9th century, the shortest lasting barely a year.
The current leadership says Naypyitaw is here to stay, and
the city has other boosters, including executives of two international-brand
hotels nearing completion.
"As the capital of one of Asia's fastest-emerging
economies, Naypyitaw has a huge amount of potential," says Glenn de Souza,
the regional vice president for U.S.-based Best Western International.
"Initially you might call it a 'curiosity factor,' but as time goes on it
could become a serious option for more leisure travelers."
A senior vice president of the French-owned Accor Group,
Patrick Basset, predicts Naypyitaw will become one of the most-visited cities
in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Some residents say the airy capital is more livable than
Yangon, a city of seething tenements, traffic-jammed roads and about 5 million
people. Naypyitaw's water supply is better, and its virtually uninterrupted
electricity contrasts with Yangon's daily power cuts.
"It's a spacious, green city, so it's a healthier city.
I feel suffocated when I go back home," says Ko Pyone, a Yangon native who
manages a branch of the Cherry Oo watch chain.
Foreign embassies are steadfastly holding on in Yangon, 320
kilometers (200 miles) south of Naypyitaw and a five-hour drive away. Diplomats
are looking toward the 2015 election, expected to pit military-backed parties
against opposition led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
"I strongly believe that the capital will one day move
back to Yangon," said the spokesman for Suu Kyi's National League for
Democracy, Nyan Win.
Although no public poll has been taken, one joke circulating
says that any politician who promises to restore Yangon as the capital will be
guaranteed election.
Naypyitaw has some amenities, including a state-of-the-art
movie theater, a safari park and a modern mall. But except for one bustling
market, it lacks the color, crowds and friendly chaos of other Myanmar towns
and cities. The sprawling city lacks public transport, so people must rely on
expensive taxis, private cars and motorcycles.
"There is no nightlife here. There is nobody walking in
the streets after 9 o'clock. So you stay at home and watch TV," says Zeyar
Oo, owner of a mini-mart chain.
Several officials said moving the capital back to Yangon is
not an option. Like most in the government, they spoke on condition of anonymity.
Reflecting the secrecy still ingrained in a country under
iron-fisted military rule for nearly half a century, officials refused to
provide such basic information as the city's population. Various sources,
citing official statistics, have said it was 925,000 in 2009, though many
visitors have found that figure hard to accept.
The government has never even clearly stated why the capital
was relocated in the first place.
Theories include its more central, strategic position,
allowing better control of the country, and its isolation from a Yangon
population that periodically rose up in bloody protests against the regime.
Many Burmese believe former junta leader Gen. Than Shwe, the
capital's prime architect, followed the examples of ancient kings who believed
changing capitals was auspicious and consulted astrologers before giving the
command.
Than Shwe, still believed to wield considerable power behind
the scenes, lives in a secluded Naypyitaw compound with other top military
leaders. A restricted military zone is said to contain bunkers and tunnels.
Construction of the city began in the early 2000s in an area
inhabited by largely dirt-poor farmers. Much of the city consists of long
stretches of multi-lane highways flanked by scrubland, forest and fields where
water buffaloes graze. Set within the greenery are hundreds of orderly
apartment blocks housing civil servants, assigned according to rank. The roofs
are color-coded: green for employees of the Agriculture Ministry.
To attract — some say force — usage, the government has
relocated everything from the equivalent of Myanmar's Academy Awards to most
animals in the Yangon Zoo to the annual gems emporium.
Diplomats have been more difficult to attract. Only
Bangladesh and Malaysia are known to have paid the government's $1.5 million
price for an embassy plot, and neither has begun construction.
But Thant Myint-U, a prominent historian and government
adviser, says returning the capital to Yangon would be very expensive, and the
government will have other priorities.
"Nothing is irreversible, but as the years go by, I
think it will increasingly difficult, even if there was the political
desire," he says. "Having an administrative center that's different
than the biggest city is not in itself a bad thing."
Than Shwe stamped a traditional seal on Naypyitaw as a
center of power by erecting an almost exact replica of Yangon's incomparable
Shwedagon Pagoda here. He made it 30 centimeters (one foot) shorter out of
respect for that holiest of shrines.
And the white elephants were given their deluxe lodgings.
Life here is "lonely, boring" for Forestry Department veterinarian
Tin Ko Lat, whose wife and two children live far away. But he loves his work.
"The rulers believe that keeping the white elephants
here will bring prosperity," he says
DENIS D. GRAY , Associated Press
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