全通翻譯/翻譯社

Land of Opportunity . . .　and Risk

Empire in Burma conjures up images of the Raj in the twilight of its glory years. But for centuries, the country now known officially as Myanmar was the one wielding the imperial yoke, as it presided over a series of powerful empires that intermittently dominated Southeast Asia. At the height of its glory, under the 16th century monarch Bayinnaung, the Taungoo Dynasty ruled a tranche of land that ran from Tibet to southern Thailand — the largest empire the region has ever seen.

Although the city of Yangon sprung up in tandem with Burmese expansionism, it wasn't until British rule that it came into its own. Indeed, the city retains more colonial architecture than any other location in Southeast Asia, though what hasn't fallen into disrepair has often been tarnished by insensitive face-lifts. Myanmar's authoritarian military junta has been accused of attempting to expunge all traces of the colonial era, but, paradoxically, the fact these crumbling edifices still exist may well be down to years of economic misrule. Simply put, there was no money to build anything else. Perhaps the most visible sign of decay is the abandonment of the gigantic Secretariat Building with the relocation of the capital to Naypyidaw in 2005. 

仰光——機會與風險之地

緬甸帝國使我們憶起英屬印度榮光的尾聲。但數個世紀以來，如今官方稱為 Myanmar 的這個國家曾實行帝國統治，主宰陸續支配著東南亞的一系列強大帝國。在其全盛時期，即十六世紀的君王莽應龍的領導下，東籲王朝的統治範圍涵蓋了西藏到泰國南部，為此地區史上幅員最廣的帝國。

儘管仰光市隨著緬甸的擴張主義而興起，卻直到英國統治後才有了自己的地位。確實，這座城市留下的殖民建築比任何東南亞地區還多，不過尚未受損的卻常遭無知的翻新而受到破壞。緬甸軍政府被控試圖抹去殖民時期的所有遺跡，但矛盾地，這些殘破建築仍存在的實情可能是多年經濟治理無方之故。簡言之，政府沒有錢建造其他建築。或許最顯著的衰敗證據是二○○五年將首都遷至內比都後所遺棄的龐大英屬緬甸秘書處大樓。

資料來源：biz互動英語報