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A visit to the Myanmar National Military Museum
In May, I visited the Myanmar National Military Museum in Yangoon.
After several minutes of long negotiations with the army guards at the gate, my driver got them to sell me an admission ticket but I was not permitted to bring my camera. We walked up to a relatively new, modern, and very large white building and another guard in the lobby examined my ticket as if it were the first one he'd seen. Then I began to tour the first of several floors. On the 1st floor the galleries were broken down by branch of service, i.e. Infantry, Armour, Artillery, Engineer… and they seemed to concentrate on contemporary interpretation of the tools and weapons systems of each branch with limited historical background. In the back was the large Air Force gallery, more like a hanger with a good collection of aircraft. On the opposite side was the Navy gallery with a full size replica of the deck of a river patrol craft. On upper floors were galleries relating to other branches of the government and above them tribal and regional militia units, and cultural regions were interpreted. This was all plaid out around a central open-air courtyard. I asked to meet with an administrator or curator but was told that all appointments of that nature must be arranged in advance. The lack of environmental controls and even the switched-off electric lights made viewing the exhibits uncomfortable but there were pleasant guards in each gallery and a smattering of families and children were also touring that day. All-in-all it was a very respectable museum with only limited English language labeling but a large and fairly well organized exhibits program. Being that Myanmar is a military dictatorship, The Military Museum covers every aspect of public life in the country. Like much of Myanmar it appears to be remnants of a once proud and modern culture slipping into decay. Still, I would recommend it to tourists but only with an interpreter to assist. Kim |
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