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Wed Jul 13 16:09:00 BST 2011 | Still Lifes from a Vanishing City

Still life with statuary, manger scene, and aquarium

Property rights in Yangon are precarious and it is often unclear who has the final say in whether redevelopment will happen. To most it seems inevitable. This family has been fighting for their right to occupy this space for decades. Despite the fact that the family has all required paperwork, the government has declared the building unsafe for habitation and is threatening to knock the structure down. ‘We keep our bags packed,’ says Hla, the family’s matriarch, ‘in case we suddenly have to flee.’ Her great aunt purchased the colonial-era flat in 1960 with the salary she received from her teaching job at a nearby Catholic school.

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