Kyaw Kyaw has been a revolutionary about as long as he can remember. His political awakening came through an unlikely influence: punk culture. “Punk is being yourself. It’s a rebellion against injustice,” he tells us. He was especially enamored with the punks’ freedom of expression, which does not seek out society’s approval.
In response to the violence of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, he formed his punk band, Rebel Riot, where he is the lead singer, to express his rage at the Burmese military. Kyaw Kyaw’s fearlessness eventually found another target in the nationalist Buddhist monks of the anti-Muslim Ma Ba Tha sect, who he called out on his famous track titled, “Fuck Religious Rules.” He makes clear that he has great respect for the Buddha and those teachers and practitioners who try to follow his teachings, but cannot abide those using Buddhist rhetoric to justify brutality. His outspokenness on this and other issues, including the Rohingya crisis, have resulted in several death threats.
Kyaw Kyaw takes his own meditation practice seriously. As one would expect from a rebel, he has devised his own form of mindfulness, rejecting the idea of attending retreats because he has rarely seen positive effects in friends who have joined such courses. Kyaw Kyaw’s commitment to service led to his establishing a regional chapter of Food Not Bombs, and collects donations to fund his outreach.
When the military unleashed the coup in Myanmar on February 1st, Kyaw Kyaw joined others in venturing out to protest. He later joined forces with other Burmese punk artists to make “Cacerolazo: The Night Will Not Be Silenced,” and following that, produced “One Day.” Amazingly, both these videos were recorded post-coup on the streets, with Kyaw Kyaw, his band, and the recording crew venturing outside in the early morning hours to quickly get the necessary footage before the military could spot them.