Chiang Mai – Despite being a graduate of Yangon Technological University, Ko Ko said he has lost hope in finding a good job and plans to go abroad to earn money.

"It is easier to dream of going abroad then sticking around here, because I don't see any hope for my future here," said Ko Ko in a telephone interview with Mizzima.

While impossible to paint the expression on his face, his voice naturally tells that he has lost the hope he once had to earn a living as an engineer in his own country.

His plan now, he said, was to go abroad, anywhere other than Burma, and earn a decent salary to build up his life.

Ko Ko, however, is not alone.

An employed information technology (IT) engineer at the Myanmar Information and Communication Park (MICT Park) in Rangoon said although he earns a monthly income of 200,000 kyat (nearly 200 USD), he too plans of leaving and going to Australia to continue with further studies.

"I earn a pretty a good salary which is enough for me. But it is insufficient if I have to support my family. Although I'm okay here, I will go abroad for further study," he said on condition of anonymity.

Parents, even teachers, seem to have lost faith in Burma for the future of their children.

Naw Eh Khu, a high school teacher in Rangoon, said she is sending her two daughters, ages 6 and 8, to Singapore for studies – as she does not believe education in Burma can guarantee her children's future.

"The education here cannot guarantee the future of my kids. So I am urging them to go and study in Singapore," Naw Eh Khu explained in a desperate tone.

A retired economics professor from the University of Rangoon commented that with Burma's deteriorating economic situation and the lack of opportunities for young people, both educated and uneducated Burmese youth see migration to foreign countries as a new opportunity to enhance their careers.

A popular employment agency in Rangoon, which has connections with job placement agencies in several Southeast Asian countries as well as the Middle East, remarked that the number of job applicants has increased in recent years.

Normally, the employment agency said, at least 10 to 15 Burmese youth per month are picked up by companies to work in foreign countries. But in a few months, when a spike in hiring is expected, over 100 could get picked.

And the number of applications for positions abroad in the past year have doubled, an official at the agency said.

"Applications are coming in at twice the rate of before. Though there are many vacancies like accountant in Burma itself, most applicants prefer to find a job overseas," Yee Mon, manager of another employment agency in Rangoon elaborated.

Yee Mon said the most popular countries where Burmese educated youth seek employment are Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai.

While many Burmese opt for general labor positions, in Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai it is possible for Burmese to find jobs as accountants, IT professionals, engineers and hoteliers, according to the agency.

"Most Burmese people here work in the fields of IT, engineering or accounting," said a Burmese worker in Singapore. He added that it is because of strict Singaporean laws on illegal immigration that many Burmese manual-laborers are barred from entering the country.

Ma May Oo, who earlier worked as an accountant at a machinery company in Rangoon, said she left her job and came to Singapore to find employment as she feels that a simple white-collar job in the city-state can better guarantee her livelihood.

"In Burma, it's not easy to get good jobs which can grantee a future. I'm sure working here is a big opportunity for my future," she explained. But she added that she is yet land a job.

A retired tutor from the Hlaing Campus of the University of Rangoon said that although there are several young graduates in Burma, the country is unable to offer them proper placement upon entering the workforce.

'The main reason they leave is because there are no appropriate jobs with an appropriate salary that can keep them in Burma," said the retired tutor who wished not to be named.

A retired economics professor, who now resides in Singapore, agrees. He said Burma does not offer space for its youth to express themselves to the fullest and has constantly imposed restrictions that eliminate the possibilities of creating new spaces for them.

"They [the government] have constantly suppressed the students, and in order to control the students, they repress the education system and never bother to check the standards," he added.

With at least 2 million Burmese migrant workers recorded in neighboring Thailand, Burma is one of the highest producers of migrant workers in the region. According to a human rights group based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia hosts about 500,000 Burmese migrants.

While a few Burmese are lucky to be employed in clerical jobs, most of these migrant workers fall into blue-color jobs such as those in restaurants and at construction sites – with lowlier posts including jobs like cleaning drains.

Singapore hosts as many as 60,000 Burmese nationals. But with its strict policy on illegal immigrants, most Burmese nationals in Singapore do hold legal work permits.

"This is going to be a common phenomenon in the coming years too, until there is a change in Burma," the retired Professor said.

But the fear, he continued, is losing human resources from a country that has been plagued with political instabilities that have in turn led to economic deterioration.

Following General Ne Win's military coup in 1962, Burma's economy hit a downturn, as the ruling Burmese Socialist Programme Party implemented a policy of self-isolation.

But the situation actually worsened after the current batch of military dictators assumed power in 1988 and brutally crushed protestors demanding democratic change in 1988.

The military junta, who has since refashioned itself as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has tried to implement a weird education system which is unrecognizable by international standards.

From 1988 to 2008, the SPDC has changed the curriculum of a basic high school education at least five times, with each new curriculum lasting only a mere couple of years.

The junta has also engaged itself in what it deems upgrading the education system by erecting new university buildings, opening new institutes – including those for technology and computer science – and forcibly re-employing former students as faculty.

However, most Burmese youth under the given systems have struggled to sustain their hope in finding a job at home.

The retired professor went on to note that though voluntary migration of Burmese youth is a step backward in terms of the loss of human resources, it could also be an investment in a future Burma as many of the youth, experiencing severe difficulties in Burma, have an opportunity to continue their studies and obtain an international standard of education abroad.

In Singapore, he said, "traditionally Burmese youth will join the polytechnic and get a diploma in two years. And since they excel in their studies, they can get jobs easily."

As for Ko Ko, though jobs in his profession are not lacking, he said that with the little income he is making there is no more progress he can make in Burma.

"I have graduated here [in Burma] but there is nothing more I can do here to enhance my career. My only hope now is to go abroad and continue my studies," he concluded.