Life in Myanmar : Disconnected

I figured I better post this article (to be out on Vanity Shack soon) on my blog while I am still within the "super-fast" internet zone :)
____________________________________________________________________________

Welcome To The World Of 128k At The Ridiculous Price of Gold. Mobile phones included.  

Photo ripped from stupid-ideas.blogspot.com

Mingalabar! Greetings from Yangon! Time seems to fly by and I’ve been here a month now. Since I last wrote, I am happy to say that it really seems like the government is delivering what they promised with regards to electricity. We haven’t been out of since 1^st June 2012 (Knock-Knock Wood!). [rev : there's been some relapse but none as dreadful as 7 hours of power cut]

I’ve been keeping busy. No, no…. not as a full-time housewife – hah! I could only take being a full-time housewife for a week. That was my limit. To all those who have actually chosen to be a full-time housewife, I salute you. I for one, was never cut-out to be one. Anyway…despite me saying that I will take it slow in adjusting to life in Myanmar, I’ve gone to fill up my plate over the last two weeks. I figured, you either swam or drowned – something I preach to my team in Cambodia every day. Therefore, I’ve confirmed a part-time consultancy job with the biggest retail chain in Myanmar and have also confirmed my voluntary work with an NGO for underprivileged youth as well as another voluntary work for an orphanage in Yangon. On top of that, I have started my Burmese language class too. A kind old teacher offered to teach me for free – which was super awesome and besides teaching me the language, she brings me local food too. She says I need to know everything about Myanmar – starting from the food. I really like her, though my waistline doesn’t! As I said in my previous post, most of the locals here aren’t exactly motivated by money (well, not yet anyway) and they help you not because you can afford to pay them, but it’s just them being kind. I have to keep reminding myself to stop thinking that there is “udang di sebalik batu” when someone offers to do something for me for free here! I’ve also definitely started training at a gym – one where I enter and I step back into the 1980s. Yes, please laugh. More about gyms in Yangon next time around.

For now, whilst it seems like life has gained some sort of normalcy here and fallen into a routine that doesn’t revolve around power cuts, I still have a major frustrating issue – the INTERNET. I’m not going to talk about how it is government-controlled and everything (there are only two ISPs in this country) – but the fact is it IS ridiculously priced. Not funny at all! USD650 – USD750 for one time installation and thereafter, it is USD50-USD60 per month. MOH and I had a bit of disagreement over this. He was not keen to pay that much for internet at home – which doesn’t work like 50% of the time – as experienced at his office (they subscribe to BOTH ISPs at work!) whilst I wasn’t keen on being disconnected from the world! In the end, he relented and we installed the cheapest option available (which happens to be the slowest speed – the 1980s speed of 128k :P and still USD50 per month!!!)

And….m…y….G..o…d….. w….a…s….. it……s…..l…o…..w…….. I thought Cambodia was slow! This was far-out! It’s been 2 weeks since I’ve been using this 128k. And it is sooooo frustrating! Given the nature of how I run my businesses, this slow speed and the unstable connection just doesn’t cut it! I connect with my partners in Malaysia and my team in Cambodia and all my clients around the world via emails, chat, skype, etc. Right now, I can barely send emails without banging my head on the wall. I can’t download attachments or large files. Sometimes, while downloading, it just cancels by itself. Oh – and like right this very moment as I am typing this piece, the internet connection has disappeared. Yup! Just like that!

I don’t think words can describe how frustrating it is for me to work this way. From super-speed Eileen who chases other people to work faster, respond faster, this Gordon Ramsey The Second has been reduced to an apologetic wimp simply because I feel desperately unproductive and as well as very sorry for my Cambodian team – who have been unable to send me any proposals for me to vet through. I can’t even scream at them for missing deadlines! All I can tell them is “SWIM OR DROWN!” and pray the email goes through and pray that they present their ideas well enough to clients. You guys try it one day – just try when your email isn’t working, your server is down or UNIFI decides to switch off service. Just for one day – and then you think about me. I will be living with this for awhile. [rev : some of you wouldn't even come visit me saying that you'll wait for internet issues to be solved first :P]

I’ve also never felt this cut-off from home before. I used to chat with my Mom almost every other day. Since I’ve arrived in Myanmar, Google Talk had never succeeded in launching on my computer :P For some reason though, FB seems to work a little faster and sometimes, the chat works. Sometimes too, the status updates take like 10minutes before it is updated. Really, really *slap forehead ten thousand times* moments for me. Of course, there are days where the 128 functions like normal and everything seems to be a breeze. That is the moment I would choose to hurry-hurry-hurry and email all I need to email and while at that – upload some photos on FB so that friends can catch up with me too!

Actually, I’m eager to start work with Citimart. I would then be able to really experience how the locals work despite the setbacks of the internet. Best you know that this problem of s-l-o-w speed and constant dropped connections doesn’t just happen to me. Ask anyone who provides internet service here and they’ll tell you that “The whole of Myanmar have internet problems.” Yes, perhaps like what some of my friends so kindly suggested, I need to go back to the time of fax and telegraphs :P But using the fax would then mean I need a landline which would then mean, I need to apply with the correct authorities for said line and who says it would be cheap???  

SIM cards are also an expensive commodity. Foreigners cannot own SIM cards (though visitors have the option of renting a SIM-ready phone at the airports – be prepared to fork out the dough!) and my SIM card was applied-for by MOH’s office. It cost me USD350. Yes, welcome to Myanmar. And despite the fact that this is an international SIM card, I am unable to send or receive any text messages outside of Myanmar!! OMG! Again – very disconnected from the world. If not for the patchy internet, I might as well be a cavewoman!  Not just that, when making calls sometimes, you get that recorded lady’s voice telling you a bizarre story that there is “no such number.” What do you do? You hit the redial button over and over again until the call connects. Oh Lordy. Yes. Even local calls are subjected to such “disconnections”. MOH and I have this joke that there is actually a person sitting behind this giant board with plugs trying to connect all the phone calls manually. And obviously, this dude is overwhelmed, hence “number not in service.” :P

While in the process of planning my brother’s wedding, Westin KL wanted to do a conference call with me since email was ridiculously slow. When I saw that email, I wanted to literally ROFL. After explaining my situation to the manager about the internet and phone communications, he said “So dangerous leh…” referring to my situation of being so disconnected. Damn right. I’d hate to think that in a dramatic tragedy, where with my last breath and strength, I dial MOH’s number only to hear that lady telling me “no such number” or “number not in service”. OMG. OMG. OMG. My only consolation is that after applying for it and password permission granted, I have internet connection on my mobile as well. But again – this isn’t free of charge :P [rev : When I finally met the Kayumanis Team during my bro's wedding, they actually commented "Usually you are super-fast with the emails! What happened?" Hmm... 128k happened.]

But like with the electricity, I am still keeping (and praying everyday) a positive attitude and vibe that it CAN only get better. With the influx of investments coming in to wake this sleeping giant up, there is no way internet or mobile phone connections can remain the way it is otherwise, there’ll just be too many people with holes in their heads (from banging on walls too much). Especially since Myanmar will be hosting the SEA Games 2013.

Here are more photos of life in Myanmar for me thus far. And OMG – the internet connection is up again! So… nauq-twe dhe da baw!! [rev : you can view the photos when the article appears on VS :)]

_______________________________________

Having said that - whilst it is good to be back to super-fast internet and the joys of Maxis, I am actually missing Yangon and I cannot wait to get back :)