Insight Myanmar

As many already know, the situation in Myanmar continues to be intolerable. Day by day innocent civilians are being killed, maimed, starved, and forced from their homes, and the military continues their campaign of terror. The need for financial support is a dire one, in so many ways.  And towards this end, the Art Against Tyranny auction is being held.  This supportive and hopefully inspiring event will be held over two days: the 11th and 12th of this month (Eastern US time), or 12th and 13th for those in Asia. Using art to combat tyranny might feel somewhat dissonant. But art in whatever form is essentially communication that expresses the human condition.It is through art that Burmese rappers, painters, poets, graffiti artists, video editors, and others have expressed their opposition to the junta, and inspired their compatriots to continue their march to ultimate victory. It is through art that the true horror and carnage of the military's reign of terror can be conveyed to people all over the world. A New York City art gallery, the Jane Lombard, has graciously donated its space for free to showcase revolutionary art from Myanmar artists, in order to highlight the plight of the Myanmar people. And virtually, artists from around the world have united through their art to fight against dictatorship, oppression, terror, and tyranny. Some pieces on display today are biting, while others are hauntingly beautiful… but all of it is inspiring. Please take time to see what art is on display, listen to artists speak of their work, and maybe buy an exquisite piece for a good cause! The more money raised, the more lives saved, and the sooner the military's campaign of death and destruction will end.

“It's really sad that our young people had dreams, but after the military coup, every dream of theirs has been destroyed.” So starts the interview with May, who tells us why she became a revolutionary, and updates us on how the Magway Division has fare since the coup.May had been studying in New Zealand, and had only just returned to Myanmar when the coup hit. Like many, she was unsure how to respond at first, but faced with a real-life struggle against evil, she committed herself to activism, delving into fundraising work. Because her father was so concerned for her safety, May had to keep her activities secret and stay in safe locations away from home in order to carry out her work. Her level of involvement has carried with it a serious mental and emotional burden, and May turned to a combination Buddhist meditation and a practice of “positive psychology.” She observes the mental content in her mind, and tries to give less food to those negative emotions and thoughts, which has the result of making her “relaxed and focused on the the right things.”May waxes poetic about her home region, the Magway Division, which is famous for its ancient pagodas, and a common pilgrimage destination for devout Buddhists. But sadly, the military has instigated repeated, targeted assaults in and around Magway, which have resulted in thousands of newly Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs). May has added this issue to her mission portfolio, and is desperately trying to locate funds to support them. Compounding this even further is that the conflict has prevented farmers from tending to their crops, increasing dangers of a looming starvation. May clearly more than has her hands full! In closing, she has just one message for listeners. “To end the military regime, we have to stand together and fight back… If not, we will never, ever decrease their evil. So please become involved in this revolution.”

Imagine a conversation that ranges from The Life of Brian to the modern Burmese Sangha, from The Godfather to trashy Burmese style romance movies, from Eminem to Ashin Wirathu… and lots more in between. That is the discussion that follows with the artist, "Bart Was Not Here." Bart employs an unpredictable blend of classical influences with modern, often Western pop influences in support of his main underlying theme: social commentary on contemporary Burmese society. Bart’s primary artistic inspirations specialized in “worldbuilding”—the creation of a unique world, with all the elements of that world, believable—and that is his own creative motivation. As one might imagine, the present situation has deeply affected Bart, both as a Burmese citizen, and an artist, and he has used his artistic talent to support the movement. His works this year are strong, artistic statements on his feelings about the current situation. Perhaps surprisingly, though, Bart did not intend any of these pieces as “political statements,” per se. He views this artwork as a kind of diary about the protest movement. One of his most well-received recent works is a rendition of a photograph of a military truck being attacked and bursting into flames. For Bart, like for so many Burmese, this moment was the first time that the bully who had been terrorizing them had finally been finally punched in the nose. Staying true to his artistic inspirations, Bart continues to temper his driving home of powerful messages with a sideswipe of parody or satire. Hs explains that humor exposes the generals not as karmically-endowed divine leaders, but rather poorly-educated, deteriorating old men.

Dave LeDuc loves all things Myanmar. But maybe more than anything, Dave loves stepping into a fighting pit without gloves or shoes, and giving well-placed head butts that knock an opponent cold! Dave is Myanmar’s first— and only— foreign champion of Lethwei, a traditional martial arts boxing practice that dates back centuries.Dave became interested in mixed martial arts and trained in a variety of forms. He eventually went to Thailand, and began looking for fighting opportunities. He landed a controversial bout through the Department of Corrections, which invited Dave into a Thai maximum security prison to spar with a convicted felon. The stakes were high: if the criminal beat Dave, he would be released from prison. But Dave won, and is currently in talks about a movie being made about that encounter. That bout was also the springboard for him to enter Myanmar and learn Lethwei.  From the moment he arrived in Myanmar in 2016, he knew he had found a home. His first opponent was the then-undefeated Lethwei champion, Too Too, and after beating him became a cultural phenomenon in Myanmar. He even got the very painful Lethwei tattoos, a rite of passage in the sport.Now living in Turkey, Dave was, like so many, horrified when the coup broke in February. He knew that refusing to stay silent would close off any potential business he hopes to build in Myanmar, along with ensuring that he won’t personally be able to visit for the foreseeable future. And yet he has chosen to speak out, highlighting the struggles of the democracy movement in light of the naked aggression faced by the Burmese military. He closes with, “Keep fighting, stay strong! You're not alone. There's a lot of love from around the world.”

This is the fifth show in the “Love Letters to Myanmar” series, focusing on the role of artists in the democracy movement. It is part of an ongoing conversation about the role of art in the democracy movement, with several past and future shows continuing this exploration.At the present moment, the Burmese people are in the middle of a life-or-death struggle against an organized military that is attacking, shooting, bombing, raping, abducting, torturing, and killing their friends and family every day for the past year, and with no end in sight. Artists are now in the forefront of that movement, which insists upon basic human rights, dignity, and freedom. Far from just being a luxury to pursue when times are safe, artistic inspiration is essential in this struggle!The first guest is music producer, Aye Win. He recently assembled a dozen hip hop artists from across the country for an album, Rap Against Junta’s “Dickcouncil,” to call out the military while helping the people keep their spirits up during these difficult times. Next up is May, a poet and writer. She has also been drawing dozens of portraits of people around the world, with proceeds going entirely to her organization’s fundraising mission to help people within the Civil Disobedience Movement. The final guest is Alex. He is an Australian living in Montreal who, with a friend, designed a mural depicting the country and showing his support for the democracy movement, with a central tribute to Angel, a young woman who was tragically killed early on in Mandalay. It is our hope that this episode educates listeners about more of the great art being produced in resistance to the Tatmadaw and their cruelty.

Burmese artists are rightly gaining global recognition for their courage and bravery, standing up for freedom of expression against a murderous regime. While this is somewhat of a new phenomenon for the younger generation of Burmese artists, Darko has been at the intersection of protest and music for some time, as the lead singer of the Indie band "Side Effect."Darko grew up under the prior military regime, when one could be arrested for simply expressing oneself, and so has been well-trained in the art of hiding meaning and keeping a low profile. He feels disappointed that younger musicians don’t appreciate how hard he and his generation of artists had to struggle against the limits of censorship. Yet in spite of that, Darko continues to support their creative expression not only by his 20 years of ground-breaking artistic work, but also through creating platforms and opportunities for younger artists to get their voices out. Aside from music, Darko’s other passion in life has been spirituality and meditation, but he’s not a traditional Burmese Buddhist, especially after he looked into growing anti-Rohingya activity. He visited the camps, and was stunned at what he saw. He was overcome by guilt, and heartbroken to see how the Rohingya were being treated. This experience led to his song “Meiktila”, named after the city where terrible anti-Muslim violence had recently occurred. Because Burmese Buddhists started referencing the Buddha in order to justify violence against Muslims, he began to question everything about how organized religion was manipulating— and perhaps even perverting— the Buddha’s teachings.Ironically, moving away from traditional Buddhism is what allowed Darko’s nascent meditation practice to really take off. He became fascinated with “brainwave entrainment,” which explores how brain waves can be synced with auditory or visual stimuli.He doesn’t have a proper meditation teacher, but finds inspiration in Alan Watts, as well as the Satguru philosophy. Essentially, his practice can be boiled down to simply observing the mind without judgment. However, the military’s brutal behavior has challenged his non-judgmental observation of unfolding reality, to put it lightly. 

David Eubank didn't know that a single moment on a jungle path in 1997 would prove to be so eventful for not only his own life, but an entire nation as well. Living in Thailand at the time, David was growing distressed hearing about a Burmese military operation that was displacing over half a million people. So loading up four backpacks with medicine, he decided to travel the border to see if he could find anyone who needed help. One thing led to another, and that trip ultimately give birth to the Free Burma Rangers (FBR).In this episode’s wide-ranging interview, David goes into his background of 25 years living and supporting those many ethnic communities, sharing what he’s learned from the different groups, the various hardships they’ve faced, and even the strange and exotic foods he’s sampled. As a Christian, David’s faith in a higher power has been a major factor in his work. To this day, his faith animates all of his humanitarian work. “That's the heart of why I do it,” he says. Even in these most difficult of times, he draws on the reservoir of his faith; in spite of his first-hand knowledge of 25 years of Tatmadaw cruelty, he still tries to love his enemy. Still, this does not mean allowing entire populations to be victimized without recourse, and David acknowledges that self-defense, whether on an individual or communal level, is a basic human right everywhere in the world.Compounding the Myanmar military’s brutal tactics used has been the almost total lack of response or engagement by any international actor, a fact which has surprised and greatly distressed David, especially given the extent of the unfolding humanitarian disaster and Myanmar’s geopolitical importance. He believes there is so much good that other nations and foreign entities could still do now, if only they chose to. 

Just a short window of five minutes might have saved the life of Dr. Troy… but he doesn’t feel good about it.In a country where just practicing medicine can now be cause for arrest, Troy is a part of a network of underground doctors who tend to patients in secret, often using rudimentary equipment in undisclosed locations. Earlier this year, he was on his way to relieve another doctor, but was delayed in traffic. During those few moments, soldiers stormed in and arrested his colleague. That doctor is still in prison, a fact which weighs heavily on Dr. Troy to this day.In order to increase capacity, doctors have begun to train Burmese civilians in secret to perform some basic medical interventions if a doctor is not able to come quickly. This arose out of the tragedy that occurred during the siege of Hlaing Thaya. Even though doctors had prepared for the violence, military roadblocks prevented the injured from getting out—or doctors from getting in—and so many the wounded succumbed to otherwise treatable injuries. Compounding matters today is the Third Wave of the COVID pandemic. Because the military is preventing the importation of oxygen concentrators, and the black market cost of oxygen canisters have skyrocketed, the situation is dire.To deal with the enormous stress and mental trauma, Troy has tried to fall back on his Mogok meditation practice, but he has been unable to string together even a few moments of mindfulness. But his practice has helped him to understand his mind more, even during these challenging moments. As a Buddhist practitioner, he tries to send metta to his aggressors, acknowledging how they must still be suffering through this. No matter what they are doing on the outside, he feels that internally they must be haunted by their evil actions.For Troy, his own path is clear as he continues on in his work. “We are not going to give up now, or ever, until we we achieve or we achieve the true democracy of our country.”

One night in March, Hla Hla and her husband, Yan Min Aung, were on the rooftop of their condo as part of a neighborhood watch group, where ordinary citizens banded together to protect themselves—not from common criminals, but from those supposedly charged with protecting them. That evening, the police arrived to take down some barricades, and she took out her cell phone to film them. They saw the light of her camera, and started shooting. That experience and others caused Hla Hla and her family to flee the country. Choosing to leave Myanmar represented not only the end of a life and community in their home country, but also the realization that the innovative company they had started there, a fun, augmented-reality learning app known as 360ED, would be severely impacted as well. Hla Hla had combined her professional backgrounds in tech and education to create a service that could bring learning opportunities to those marginalized groups often left on the sidelines. And as they knew that many of those who would need the service most wouldn’t necessarily have reliable or inexpensive internet, much of the app can function even when offline.After nine years of product development, they launched in Silicon Valley in 2016, but moved operations to Myanmar as part of the “re-pat” movement, in which exiled Burmese settled back in the country during the stable and optimistic 2010s transition period. And, it was remarkable that they chose to establish their company there, essentially bringing one of the world’s most innovative and cutting-edge technological learning tools to a country that had only recently gotten on-line at all. In other words, when the coup broke, 360ED was well on its way to becoming Myanmar’s first true tech start-up success story!Of course, all this came to a crashing halt in February. Their team members began to go into hiding, and with the educational system in complete disarray, it became apparent that collaborating with school administrators would not be possible. While many outside observers have been following the daily terror and pervasive human rights violations that are now sadly commonplace in Myanmar, stories like these often slip through the cracks, and thus, the extent of the damage and disruption being unleashed by the Tatmadaw is not fully known. In the case of Hla Hla and Yan Min, this meant not only trauma in their personal life, but at least the temporary end of their technological and educational dream in Myanmar as well. 

“Myanmar people are very resilient,” Meredith Bunn says at the start of the conversation.“They have the older generation who lived through so much already. And very luckily, in a way, those people have explained to them, ‘Well, this is what we used to have to do. Let's do this again.’”As much as Meredith has witnessed countless examples of the Burmese people’s courage, she still encounters scenes evoking a horror that is hard to describe. From children so hungry they are literally eating dirt, to young girls mysteriously disappearing, to the military deliberating sending COVID-infected patients into high population areas to intentionally spread the pandemic, to depriving oxygen for infected patients literally suffocating with the illness. It doesn’t end.As someone so deeply connected to a country and a people enduring this suffering, she is clear on who she holds responsible. “I don't hate the Tatmadaw. I don't hate everyone in it. I hate Min Aung Hlaing…I hate the puppets that he has inside.” And while she understands that not every soldier is courageous enough to defect or refuse commands, many are engaging in acts of deliberate cruelty for which there is simply no excuse.While Meredith appreciates any foreigner who has decided to stand with the Burmese people, she has also found herself uncomfortable when those living in safety have arrogantly opined on what Burmese activists should or should not be doing to respond to the carnage there, made even worse if they have not researched the situation and show little interest in listening empathetically to better understand the context. She is equally concerned by what she characterizes as “voyeurism,” beyond just opinionated judgments.With all this, Meredith certainly has her hands full, but her mind and her heart are clear, and the Burmese people are fortunate to have such a person on their side.