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I went to townships in Monywa, Mandalay, and Rangoon. I read some of the research on sexually transmitted diseases done by Myanmar medical research teams. I met some prostitutes. Some were in the rehabilitation centers, others were still working. I met the managers of hotels. Routine reporting for me. Q: Was there any response from the government? A: No response. Q: Can you say more about the current HIV/AIDS situation in Burma? A: It’s very difficult to say anything because I’m not in a position to talk about it. We do have information from the international community and the government health department. But there is a wide gap between the two sets of statistics. I have friends who are general practitioners; they complain that they have increasing number of AIDS patients in their clinics. But I can’t really say that AIDS is spreading in Burma, because I don't have enough information. Q: Some people say that increased exposure to the outside world has corrupted Burmese youth and the values of Burmese society. Do you agree with this? A: I don’t think there has been a change in social values. I think there has been a rise in consumerism in Burma, because now you have more commodities flowing into the country, so you can choose consumer products. But I don’t think that this has had a great impact on social values. What people want is more knowledge and more access to information. I haven’t had a chance to meet many young people, as I don’t go to the clubs. I know that there are some sexually liberalized young people. But we had this in the 1970's and 1980's as well; it's just that now you have clubs and it's more open to outsiders. Generally the system is conservative and rigid. Q: What about drug and alcohol abuse? A: My impression is that there has been no change. In my student years, I had friends who drank liquor regularly and had a very hedonistic way of life. This is normal. Q: More and more households now depend on extra income from all members of the family. What impact does this have on family life? A: I don’t think that there has been any change. I was brought up by my mother and my mother was the breadwinner. But you are right that more people have to work now to cover living costs, so there might be some shift in the form of respect. I’m not sure. You can see a decline in traditional culture, especially in music. People are more interested in heavy metal, hip-hop and rap, rather than classical music. But that has nothing to do with social values. It’s just that tastes have changed, not values. It depends on how you define values. Young people prefer to wear T-shirts rather than traditional dress. They like to wear jeans. My daughters like Brittany Spears, not traditional music. Q: Do you think young people in Burma are more money-centered these days? A: We once conducted a survey of readers in which we asked who they would marry if they were to marry a foreigner. Most young people, over fifty percent, said they would choose a businessman. In another survey, we asked medical doctors in Monywa district what they would study if they could do their studies again. Most--again, over fifty percent--said they would study business. But I don’t think it is a shift in values. Before, you didn’t have a chance to get into [a legitimate] business, and if you went into the black market, it was illegal. A lot of friends who became medical doctors were more disposed to become businessmen. So if there is an entrepreneurial tendency in a person, now that person becomes a businessman. I think it already existed. Before you couldn’t see it but now you can. I think it's similar in every country: people are oriented towards money and social status when they receive an education. But in Burma, [young people] went into business because the universities were shut down, so they wanted to make money. Q: Universities reopened late last year after a long-term closure. Do you see any hope for higher education in Burma? A: If we are thinking of the international level of education, Burmese universities are quite far from reaching that level. The first problem is the salary of professors is quite low. They have to work extra hours in private tuition schools to cover their living expenses, so they don’t have any time to do research work. They have only very old journals and magazines. The libraries are quite old. The government regards the students as potential opposition to military rule, so they disperse them to the various small colleges, very far away from the city. I think that that political approach to education made the quality of the education worse and worse. If one says that the quality of education at higher levels is poorer, I won’t deny it. Q: Health and education are two areas that tend to get politicized. How do you feel about this? A: In Burma, many issues become polarized. Everything becomes a political issue because of the policy of military supremacy.