By Dr Ko Ko Gyi @ Abdul Rahman Zafrudin with the help of Chat GPT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Picture Source: Wikipedia, Islamic\u00a0Persian miniature<\/a>\u00a0of the Sleepers from a 1577\u00a0Stories of the Prophets<\/em><\/a>\u00a0manuscript.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I left Myanmar in 1986.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like many migrants, I told myself:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I will work abroad for a few years, save some money, and return home.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forty years later, I was still in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One night, after finishing my teh tarik and reading old news from Myanmar, I fell asleep in my chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was standing in Yangon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At first, I thought Allah had performed a miracle similar to the story of the Companions of the Cave (A\u1e63\u1e25\u0101b al-Kahf).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I became excited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Surely,” I thought, “after forty years, Myanmar must look like Singapore.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus slept for centuries and woke to a better world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps I too had awakened into a modern paradise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I hailed a taxi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The taxi driver looked at me strangely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Where have you been, U Lay?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I have been sleeping in Kuala Lumpur for forty years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “That explains why you still have hope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we drove through the city, I noticed many buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some were new.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others were ruins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many roads were broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Electricity disappeared and reappeared like a magician’s rabbit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “What happened?” I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The driver shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Civil war.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few minutes later he added:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Also earthquakes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another few minutes later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Also corruption.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another few minutes later:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Also bad luck.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then he paused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Although some people say bad leadership.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I decided to visit my old village.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Halfway there, I thought I had entered an archaeological site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Broken houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Collapsed schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Destroyed clinics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Entire villages looked as if they were competing to become UNESCO historical ruins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I asked a villager:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “How old are these ruins?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He answered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Three years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I became worried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps I had not returned to Myanmar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps I had accidentally travelled to the Stone Age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To confirm my suspicion, I searched for a mosque I had known as a young man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I found only a fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Where is the mosque?” I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An elderly man laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Brother, that question is too modern.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Can we rebuild it?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He laughed even louder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Now you are speaking science fiction.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I wandered around, I noticed another mystery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everywhere I looked, people were chewing betel nut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Young men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Old men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shopkeepers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Politicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Retired officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even some people who appeared to have no teeth left were still chewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I asked a doctor:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Why are so many people visiting hospitals?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Kidney stones.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly everything made sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The houses were becoming stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The roads were becoming stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The politics were becoming stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hearts were becoming stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now even the kidneys were producing stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myanmar had achieved total national stone self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Confused, I went to a monastery and asked a wise monk:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Venerable Sir, have I travelled backward through time?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The monk smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “No.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Then why does everything feel older than when I left?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The monk answered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Because technology can move forward while minds move backward.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I wrote down his words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They sounded dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That night I fell asleep again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my dream, I met the Seven Sleepers of the Cave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They asked me:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Brother, how long did you sleep?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Forty years.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then they asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “What wonders did you find when you woke up?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I became silent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One Sleeper said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We found a society that had progressed.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We found freedom to practise our faith.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n A third said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We found that persecution had ended.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally they asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “And what did you find?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n I replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I found that some people still argue about who belongs in the country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I found villages destroyed by war.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I found houses destroyed by earthquakes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I found religious buildings waiting for permission to breathe again.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “I found citizens surviving despite everything.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sleepers looked at each other sadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then the eldest among them smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Do not lose hope.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Empires fall.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Tyrants disappear.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Caves open.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Stones crack.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “And people eventually wake up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next morning I awoke once more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This time I was back in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My chair was still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My unfinished cup of tea was still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My Malaysian neighbours were arguing about football instead of civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thanked Allah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I made a silent prayer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “O Lord,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please let Myanmar one day experience the same miracle as the Seven Sleepers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not the miracle of sleeping for centuries,<\/p>\n\n\n\n but the miracle of finally waking up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I continued my journey to Mandalay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surely, I thought, the city of my youth would have risen from the ashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, even Tokyo and Hiroshima rebuilt themselves from wartime destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forty years is enough time for a child to become a grandfather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forty years is enough time for a sapling to become a tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forty years is enough time for a nation to become an economic tiger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yet as my bus approached Mandalay, I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Had I travelled to the wrong city?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Had I accidentally entered a historical museum?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Had the Mandalayans also discovered a magical cave and slept there for centuries?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The houses looked tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The roads looked exhausted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The infrastructure appeared to have surrendered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The city seemed frozen between memory and reality.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Then, in classic satire:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I asked a local man,<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Brother, when will this reconstruction finish?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He scratched his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Which reconstruction?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The one after the great fire.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He looked puzzled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Which great fire?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The 1984 fire.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n He laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Ah, U Lay, since then we have had so many disasters that we need serial numbers.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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