Rangoon has been ranked as the worst city in Southeast Asia for quality
of life in a new study.
Burma’s commercial hub placed 195
out of a total of 221 global cities included in the Mercer survey released on
Tuesday. Vienna was ranked as the world’s best place to live with the Iraqi
capital Baghdad as the worst.
Singapore scored as the top Asian
city for quality of life as well as best worldwide for infrastructure.
Port-au-Prince in Haiti scored world’s worst in the latter category.
After living in Thailand for more
than three years, Ma Thet told The Irrawaddy that returning to Rangoon was
extremely tough with poor roads, uncontrollable traffic jams, no driving
regulations and perilous public transportation.
“People still lack knowledge or
need to improve their attitude,” she said. “They just don’t care. For example,
they throw rubbish in the middle of downtown even though there are refuse bins.
Some people drive nice cars but they lower the window and throw plastic bags containing
[red betel nut saliva].”
Ma Thet said that the lack of
road safety, expensive yet poor quality accommodation, substandard taxi
services, sparse electricity distribution that causes constant blackouts and
unsanitary street food are daily problems faced in the former capital.
Rangoon ranked as the sixth worst
city in the entire Asia-Pacific region for quality of life behind only Tashkent
in Uzbekistan, Ashkhabad in Turkmenistan, Dhaka in Bangladeshi, Bishkek in
Kyrgyzstan and Dushanbe in Tajikistan.
“A noticeable gap can be seen
among Asia-Pacific cities where several cities have improved in the region
partly because they have been investing massively in infrastructure and public
services,” said Phil Stanley, Asia-Pacific global mobility leader for Mercer.
“Competition among municipalities
has been continuously increasing in order to attract multinationals,
foreigners, expatriates and tourists. Yet a considerable number of Asian cities
rank in the bottom quartile, mainly due to high political volatility, poor
infrastructure and obsolete public services.”
Mercer conducts the annual survey
to help multinational companies and other organizations compensate employees
fairly when they are placed on international assignments.
However, Rangoon’s pitiful
position may well be short-lived according to a new report released by a
leading business consultancy firm on Tuesday.
Frost and Sullivan Vice-President
Vivek Vaidya said that Burma being among the first few countries US President
Barack Obama chose to visit in his second term is indicative of the country’s
improving status and image among the global community.
“With the market opening up,
Southeast Asian companies are rushing to invest in the country,” he said.
“International companies are also doing so, but on a more selective and
wait-and-see nature to get clarity on direction and laws of the country.
“Myanmar, the only neighbor for
both China and India, is likely to assume great geopolitical business
importance in years to come.”
The Irrawaddy reporter Saw Yan
Naing contributed to this article from Rangoon.
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