Myanmar (also known as Burma) is celebrating what could be the most auspicious anniversary in its 56 years of independence, which was declared at 4:20 a.m. on Jan. 4, 1948. Interestingly, the British government had agreed to grant independence on Jan. 1, but superstitious elements within the newly formed government would not accept it because revered astrologers considered the timing less auspicious or even bad.

So the authorities and event workers got up early on Jan. 4, during the coldest spell of the Myanmar winter, to perform a crucial ceremony for a country that had lost its independence 125 years earlier. Although the nation's outcome since then has turned into one of the more saddening stories in world history, all of Myanmar's governments have continued to keep the tradition of following the advice of astrologers.

On Aug. 30 last year, the ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council, or SPDC, and new Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt launched a nation-building strategy called "the seven-point road map." Though it was rejected at first by Western countries, the United States and Britain recently accepted it with caution after demanding that it bring together National League of Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi, all democratic factions and ethnic representatives for a national convention this month.