Episode list

For fifty years, publishing a poem, making a movie or singing a song placed people in danger of detention, torture and imprisonment in Myanmar. Creativity was crushed, culture and art destroyed, individuality punished. Now, pop groups are going global, literary festivals can be held in public and graffiti is hip. Having survived the dark decades, the New Myanmar's most respected artists are struggling with a new challenge: How to inspire a generation who grew up in fear, were denied an education and have no sense of their country's history or identity.

Yangon's British Colonial Era buildings are falling to pieces. The crumbling structures have survived a century of tropical storms, several wars and decades of neglect. While Myanmar remained isolated from the world, these architectural treasures were largely ignored, left in a state of majestic decay. But with the country opening up, developers are moving in and many Colonial buildings are being torn down. The Yangon Heritage Trust is on a mission to save them, but the rescue process is complicated and time-consuming. And TIME is running out as the city, and country, embraces the modern world-at break-neck speed.

From military propaganda machine to a burgeoning free press, Myanmar is being lauded for the dramatic pace of its media reforms - a pace that observers say is putting its Asian neighbors to shame. There's social media, new media, old media, but no longer state-CONTROLLED media as censorship has been abolished and privately owned publications have been green-lighted. Or is it just hyper and hyperbole? Some are advising caution and suggest the reforms may not prove as revolutionary as they are being portrayed. But there's no denying that some things have changed.

The sanctions came down, the gate was opened, the entrepreneurs, opportunists and multi-national corporations began rushing in. Myanmar's political and economic reforms have sparked a stampede among the business community. In just three years, the country has been catapulted from despised pariah to the "New Frontier," the "Next Tiger". Is it time for a reality check? While opportunities abound, the road ahead is set to be a bumpy one. Assuming, of course, the road has actually been built. Also on the 'To Do" list, transparent investment laws, trained staff, a functioning telecommunications system to name but a few. And how will these reforms benefit the people of Myanmar?

Myanmar's has earned local trust and international praise for its sweeping political and economic reforms, which are transforming the nation from a military state to a civilian-led democracy. But as we've seen, there are numerous challenges -- too numerous to list. However, there is one challenge that eclipses them all - resolving the ethnic conflicts that have plagued the nation for decades. There is goodwill on all sides. Ceasefires have been negotiated, conferences arranged, international assistance sought. But the PEACE PROCESS is complicated and urgent. If the country cannot resolve this issue, say experts and observers, the reform process risks being seriously undermined, along with the New Myanmar's credibility.

Myanmar has surprised everyone. It has transformed at a speed few would have thought possible just five years ago. Censorship and fear have made way for new freedoms. People in exile are returning. But it is a country starting from scratch. New laws, new political system, a new democratic path. As the country prepares for its first civilian elected government in the coming year, we take a look at what has changed, how it has changed and what lies ahead as the country tries to live up to its new reputation as THE NEW MYANMAR.