"In Rangoon, it is often said that the long-suffering Burmese people can bear almost any hardship, as long as they still have enough rice to eat. Such endurance stems from an acute awareness of the price to be paid for open expression of discontent. In 1988, the army slaughtered thousands of pro-democracy protesters, who took to the streets after months of skyrocketing food prices and shortages. But 14 years on, Burmese patience again appears to be wearing thin, as the spiralling price of rice, cooking oil, and medicine puts basic necessities out of the reach of many common people, including the country?s growing number of landless labourers and urban poor..."