Carol Clark writes:
The young people of Mogok inherit an incomparable way of life. In their remote, untouched realm they grow up immersed in the world's richest supply of gemstones. They begin learning at an early age how to make the most of this mother lode, as a former Mogok resident relates in the following account.
The majority of the Mogok populace is involved with gemstones, whether mining, cutting or buying and selling. Almost every family consists of at least one or perhaps all members dealing in gemstones one way or the other. Every child from ten years upwards understands gemological jargon. They have their own local terminology, a full glossary ranging from color grades and pleochroism through clarity to phenomena of the stones. The young and the old know the trade well. They know how to assess rough stones, they know how to orient while cutting to get the best color and the most weight and they know the value of fine stones.
Young girls start of their careers as lan pwezar, or, literally, "street brokers." Their job is to go about buying stones from the sources, in other words the mines and from other lan pwezars in the market, and then selling them to established gem dealers who do business in their own homes or offices. The girls start with inexpensive stones, graduating to more expensive ones when they become more familiar with he trade. They start with their parents' capital and then when they begin to make money, they continue to re-invest on a joint basis with their parents, until finally branching out entirely on their own.
The boys do not usually become lan pwezars, but commence their careers as apprentice cutters or miners. When they earning more and when they finally become fully trained either they work on a commission basis or start on their own ventures.
The young people begin their apprenticeship in their early teens, soon after finishing or during the secondary level of education, and develop into full-fledged professionals by their late teens. At this time they are ready to become full-time entrepreneurs.
Since they are earning handsome incomes for their age, the lure of lucrative business tends to urge them to continue working rather than continue their education. Even if they would prefer to go to a university, the parents usually insist on them going into the gem business they are trained for. Only those who have been affluent for generations or those who were educated themselves send their children to institutes of higher learning.
Robbery is part and parcel of boomtowns. In Mogok, robbers do not operate by holding up people in the town, but play the role of highwaymen robbing cars traveling to and from Mogok. Passenger cars and buses travel each day in convoys under armed escort. The outbound convoy would start from Mogok and the incoming convoy forms up ataa Letpanhla, a village about 50 miles from Mandalay. They meet and stop for a while about halfway for the tired passengers to stretch their legs after a tedious journey and for the escorts to change buses. The shops at this out-of-the-way place are favorite eating-places of the Mogok people who enjoy dishes of wild game, which are occasionally available.
Some passengers who come in their own cars like to stay behind a little longer when the convoy resumes its journey, intending to catch up with the sluggish moving convoy later. The delay of a few minutes, however, sometimes makes a lot of different in their fortune for this might be exactly the chance the dacoits, as bandits are known in Burma, are praying for and waiting for. With the escorts all gone, the dacoits wait along the road and wave the laggers into the roadside foliage with their guns, then strip the passengers of all their belongings.
The effects of a fortune thrust suddenly upon people are interesting and unbelievable. Some people become prudent while others become irresponsible an extravagant. People who have been well-to-do for generations are generally well disciplined and careful with how they spend their money. On the contrary the behavior of some of those who never had an affluent life before is nonsensical and preposterous.
I was told by a friend about a group of people celebrating their recent good fortune by having a picnic party on the outskirts of Mogok. When they became a bit tipsy with liquor one of the men got an idea to start a target-hitting contest. Like in a clay pigeon shoot, one person would hold a full bottle of whiskey while another took shots at it with another full bottle. They kept on doing this until one hit the target, breaking the bottles and spilling their contents in the process. Then the rest of the group would applaud this display of machismo. The extent to which some people go to show off their ability to squander money is beyond reason.
There has been speculation in the international gem community that the production of Mogok ruby has declined in the past few decades. They base their judgment on the poor quality and smaller quantity of stones offered at the annual gems Emporium and on the trickle of stones coming into Thailand across the Burmese border.
This opinion is justified to a certain extent because the production certainly could have decreased since the Burmese government is stepping up its campaign to stop the illegal flow of gemstones out of the country.
But to assume that the gemstone deposits are depleted is far from the truth. The detrital and primary deposits are still there. Mining activity is going on as usual. These deposits have been mined continuously since before the days of the Burmese kings to this day and never in their long history have the mines been known to have stopped yielding gemstones.
In recent years, the population of Mogok has increased many fold, houses have sprung up in swarms and the town itself has spread at rapid rate. It is possible because the economy of the town is developing—in other words, gemstones are being found with regularity.
There is a saying among Mogok residents: "As long as the waters of Yeni Channg stream remain red [with the mud from the mines] there is no danger of the Mogok people getting poor."
To this could be added that as long as there are alluvial patches and limestone bands to be found in the Mogok region, fine rubies and sapphires will still be around.
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