Discovering The Answer

“What is the definitive answer to the question that people ask you most often?”

The question people ask me the most often is why go to Myanmar? It’s a question that is often prefaced with “What do you do?” “I work for my own business in Myanmar,” I would usually answer, but deep down I knew it wasn’t true. Too often I had to bite my tongue. But that answer usually works and it garners curiosity. Also, the reactions I get do give me a little satisfaction.

The reactions would depend on the age group of the person asking. If it’s someone in their 50’s they would often recall the Myanmar or Burma of the past, and give a quick history lesson on the country and its glory days.

If it’s someone in their 40’s, they would often talk about a business idea they always had which never came to fruition and how lucky I was to be able to have my own business.

And if it’s someone closer to my age in their 30’s they would often ask: “Why there? What's there?”

“What do you do?” has always been a question I would often dread answering. Maybe it’s because self-discovery was never a career option.

Context

History lessons are best left to the experts or Wikipedia but here’s a quick summary (from Wikipedia): Myanmar, or as it was previously known as Burma, is a recent democracy. In 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) achieved a sweeping victory in the general election, taking 86% of the seats in government.

This was the major event. It was at this point that the country was thrown into the international spotlight. This allowed foreign businesses to enter the market and try their hand in the emerging market. That was when I first set foot in the country.

As a fresh graduate, I was at a point in my life where I felt I could make my mark on the world, as young people so often feel. Now I won’t try to sound smart or say that I had the foresight to go into a rapidly developing market because I definitely didn’t have both. I just threw the term first-mover advantage around a lot and people often nodded in agreement.

I guess I better get down to the answer.

The ‘business’ reason for going to Yangon, the business capital in Myanmar was to start a cafe. It was an interesting opportunity introduced to me by a friend from the army who was there a year earlier. The pitch to me was this: a new retail space between newly built office towers, a new mall extension and two of the most modern hotels in the country; the scarcity of good coffee shops options for a growing expatriate community, and the freedom of creating something new.

This glazed over the fact that I had zero food and beverage experience or business background.

My education was in communications. This ‘business’ reason was the default answer I would tell almost everyone who asked and if they gave me the occasional weird look I would also often add in the phrase: “If not now then when?” to justify the decision or make myself feel like I was a maverick young entrepreneur.

However, the reason I moved was less of the ‘business’ reason stated above. It was more for a combination of factors related to both my innate curiosity and escape from the inevitable 9-5.

Curiosity

Stepping into the unknown was exciting. I was given a taste of life there before flying into the country through regular calls with a friend who was living there. He shared his experiences about the diverse range of people he met, the exotic foods in the markets, and the flourishing nightlife. Those were things I wanted more of that Singapore didn’t have. The calls stirred my curiosity. I was enticed by the thought of making my mark in this buzzing city.

Of course, work was also on the agenda. I did well in university and had my eye out for opportunities where I could test my mettle. To prove to myself that I had the skills, experiences, and knowledge.

I was curious to take on the unfamiliar and thrive.

Escape

The anchor experiences I had prior moving was being in the army and studying in England. It developed my taste of having new experiences, which developed into a yearning. I craved more and a new country into their first year of democracy was the perfect escape route.

There was also the matter of not being a part of the rat race if I remained in Singapore. I was stubborn about not being part of the norm. I saw Singapore as a cage and felt at the time that it wasn’t the direction my compass was pointing to. There was a compounding discomfort of the job-seeking process and the craving to do more.

When opportunity knocked I grabbed the first ticket out of there.

The Answer

If pressed for a definitive answer, self-discovery would sum up my reasons. The combination of those factors gave me the unique opportunity for an exercise in self-discovery. It threw me into the deep end of an unknown city with no social network and career guidance. However, it allowed me to use scarcity as a tool of self-development, granting me a sense of resourcefulness I never thought I had. There were moments that were deeply humbling, highly confusing, and incredibly satisfying.

Conclusion

Why did I dread answering the question at all? It could be the guilt of prioritising my ambition over security. Or feeling like a fraud with the ‘business’ reason I would often quote. Even arrogance of not letting people into my journey.

The definitive answer to why go to Myanmar was not as clear cut as I thought. The reason is multi-faceted and constantly evolving, which is why I could never have a grasp on. But that is the way of self-discovery. The doubts, the myriad of emotions, the monetary pressure, the anxiety. I have to accept that these turned out to be the foundation of my journey. Although this isn’t the reason I moved at the beginning, the chance to find myself is an answer I find myself gravitating towards.