Myo Min Thant

Farmers in Sagaing Region plant rice at night to avoid airstrikes by Myanmar’s military (Photo: AFP) While Min Aung Hlaing envisions a great leap forward, the people actually working the fields remain bound by more basic concerns. . . Subscribe for full access Myanmar Now's award-winning journalism is made possible by our subscribers. Become one today. Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Log in

My grandfather’s earliest memories were of a time of war. When he was just a boy, two great imperial powers, Britain and Japan, vied for control of Myanmar. Disease, death, and destruction were rampant. These years were the darkest of his life. He grew up in harsh times, when almost everything was scarce. His dream was to see future generations spared from the hardships he had known.

A monitor used by the Department of Petroleum Products Supervision and Inspection, under the regime’s Ministry of Electricity and Energy, to track fuel transport trucks (Photo: Junta’s Ministry of Information) GPS tracking, automated alerts, and an expanding monitoring network are allowing the military to follow fuel tankers in real time, as resistance-held areas face soaring prices and shortages. . .