Malaysians in Yangon are involved in many different industries, including IT.

Mastech, an IT company founded by a Malaysian, has been operating in Myanmar for more than 20 years.

36-year-old Joshua Lee came to Myanmar in 2013 at a time the IT industry was still in a rudimentary stage, but the country caught up rather quickly after that.

"For instance, Malaysian telecommunications companies generally go from 2G to 3G and then 4G, but here in Myanmar, they leapfrogged straight to 4G."

Mastech was set up way back in 1995 as an IT company before it diversified into other businesses in more recent years, providing CCTV services, fire prevention and telecommunications equipment as well.

Of the company's 120 employees as of last year, five were Malaysians and all the others were Myanmar citizens.

Despite a late start in economic reforms, Joshua Lee said people in Myanmar are willing to learn new things and this explains why they are able to catch up very fast.

Also from Malaysia, 43-year-old Ben Wong came to Myanmar nine years ago, and joined Mastech only in 2018.

He said the country was very backward in the past because of the government, and admitted that the Myanmar people are actually very intelligent.

"After the market was opened up, they have become more willing to accept new information and technology. They are very strong learners and will apply what they have learned. This country holds tremendous development potentials."

When asked whether he would encourage Malaysians to come to Myanmar to work, Lee said affirmatively, "Of course. There are plenty of opportunities here!"

Going too fast!

Many Malaysians came to Myanmar in the 1990s to start a business here. One of them was Leong Kin Mun, 54.

He was working for a Singapore shipping company back in 1992, and had the opportunity to come to Myanmar. Seven years later, he married a local woman and is currently involved in a number of businesses, including an agency for Taiwanese fishing boats and construction industry.

"Business was not that hard at that time because the country was not very open then and people were simple and honest."

However, he said the country's business structure experienced tremendous changes in 2011 and after that, the business culture began to change and bad loans became more common.

While many foreign investors rushed into the country for business prospects after Myanmar was opened up, land and goods prices have also skyrocketed.

"In KL, let's say you earn RM2,000 a month, you only pay about RM8 for a plate of chicken rice, but here in Myanmar, you earn RM500 and pay the same RM8 for chicken rice."

Not only that, the Myanmar people's attitude has changed. They used to be very submissive and obedient in the past but are much more "rebellious" now and would start arguing with you.

Leong, who used to be president of the Malaysian Association of Myanmar, agrees that a country cannot stay closed to the outside world forever. "But there should be a proper pace. Myanmar has gone too fast!"

He said there were very few Malaysians here when he first arrived in the country, but there are more and more young Malaysians arriving during the last two years.

He admitted that he indeed wished to go back to Malaysia some day but lamented that nothing much had changed despite a change of government in 2018.

Avid cinema-goers

When Avengers: Endgame was screened in Myanmar last year, almost all the cinemas in Yangon were packed to the seams. As a matter of fact, few foreign firms got to be screened in Myanmar's cinemas merely six or seven years ago, and there were not too many cinemas at that time either

The Mega Ace cinema chain that can be found in many of Yangon's shopping malls is actually a Malaysian investment.

Mega Ace CEO Yap Mun Yue said when the company first came to Myanmar to survey the market, it found that there were not too many cinemas here and only local movies were screened.

Her company expanded into Myanmar in 2013 and its first release Iron Man 3 was a bestseller.

Given the popularity of foreign films and the fact Myanmar has double as many people as Malaysia, Mega Ace is upbeat about the country's market potential. The company opened its first cinema in 2015 and now has ten cinemas across the country.

Over the past few years, Mega Ace has introduced many best-selling foreign movies in Myanmar, including those by Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen. Among the most popular movies in recent years are Annabelle and The Conjuring 2. "They love horror movies," she explained.

Although movie tickets are not cheap — about $3.50 for a 2D cinema and $4-4.50 for a 3D cinema  — Myanmar has seen a surge in local film productions in recent years, and they are well supported by local fans.

Yap said the Myanmar people were also very excited about Bollywood productions as they could clap and dance while inside the cinema hall.

Arriving in Myanmar in 2013 to help explore the company's business here, Yap spends around two to three weeks here each month.

She said she was thrilled by the dramatic changes taking place in the country.

"Every time I come back here I see something different. New changes. To me, every time I come here is like my first trip to Myanmar."