A new English word has entered the colloquial language in Myanmar, a word that could not even be uttered in public until recently. The word is "crony," and it describes the business elite who exploited their closeness to the country's military rulers to amass vast wealth in the past two decades.
These well-connected elite got rich in industries such as construction, rubber and logging, as well as arms dealing and drug smuggling. Their gains have only grown during the past two years, a result of changes that have privatized many state-owned assets and enterprises — and allowed the elite to buy them up at bargain prices.
But Myanmar's growing openness under its reformist president, Thein Sein, a former general, has also meant a loosening of restrictions on speech — allowing everyone from rickshaw drivers to farmers to complain about the cronies and their connections.