It is not a shame that Yangon is on a list of ten worst cities to live in, said Yangon Mayor Maung Maung Soe during a press conference. 

The mayor made the remark in response to the media question about the latest international survey published by Forbes Magazine in which Yangon was ranked 10th amongst the 10 worst cities to live in the world.

"This is not shameful or delightful. Whatever we may say about technicalities, it is more important to ponder the selection strategy and its motivation. Is it political or social? The method of selection is crucial. It might be more important as to how the 10 cities were selected. 

Forbes issued the list of the 10 worst cities to live on December 4. Myanmar's ex-capital Yangon is among the list with Kuwait city coming in first. On the list are also three cities in the United States. 

"I would say that they selected 10 cities randomly. Yangon might be the lowest among the cities that are somewhat good to live. However, we cannot refer to other cities such as Tokyo or San Francisco on the same level. And overall, those 10 cities are not really the worst. I know. It is not a matter of dignity that we are on the bottom of the list. Look at the other nine cities. The world isn’t just these 10 major cities. After selecting nine cities, Yangon seem added to the list as an afterthought. Yangon would go down on the bottom list automatically (compared to the rest of the cities). 

The 10 worst cities to live, according to Forbes, are Kuwait (ranked 82), Rome (ranked 81), Milan (ranked 80), Lagos (ranked 79), San Francisco (ranked 77), Los Angeles (ranked 76), Lema (ranked 75), New York (ranked 74) and Yangon (ranked 73). 

The world's 10 best cities are Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh, Singapore, Montreal, Lisbon, Barcelona, Zug, the Hague and Basel.