Well, here's the story so far .....

It's been 2 and half years since Mrs Ming and I were married. Mrs Ming, along with our adorable infant son, currently reside in an outback town of Myanmar, the country which was once known as Burma. I'll make it clear from the start that I won't be posting anything of a political nature here. I'll leave that for those who don't have family and loved ones still living in Myanmar for reasons which should become obvious. What I will be posting, however, is a reflection of my family's life in an impoverished, underdeveloped Myanmar in the 21st Century.

Present day Myanmar is what life used to be in most parts of South East Asia 50 years ago. What many of us in modern developed countries take for granted today, such as running water, electricity and a high standard of health and hygiene are all but a luxury for the majority of people in Myanmar. In many villages today, people draw water from wells, or from communal dams and carry it back, bucket by bucket, to their homes so that they can bath or wash dishes and clothes. Electricity is considered a luxury and those fortunate enough to have it often experience blackouts and brownouts on a daily basis. As for food, that other basic requirement of life, the majority of people I have come across in outback Myanmar eat for survival. There is no over indulgence whatsoever, and it's often one meal a day where the purpose of it all is so that one can live for yet another day. In Myanmar, life is about survival .... day to day survival ...

So, this is the story ..... a story about how it came to be, that a guy who lived most of his life in a middle class suburb of Australia, now finds himself with a wife and son, living in one of the most impoverish nations in the world, Burma.