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Transcript of Burma Interview Emma Shen
Myanmar: The Coup Takes Over Again
Interview By Emma Shen
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On the evening of Thursday April 22, 2021, I had the opportunity to speak with Asian Outlook alumnus Haythi Ei and her mother Mrs. Ei. Mrs. Ei briefly was a researcher on Burma focusing on training woman on sexual violence and recording data on the sexual violence against ethnic woman and the poor in Myanmar’s marginalized communities and rural areas. This directly conflicts against the military government. As of February 1, 2021, the military junta took over Myanmar, which resulted in everyone fleeing the organization and destroying documents. More importantly, more than 800 lives have been taken since the coup occurred (reported by Reuters).
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. An original version of the transcript is linked here: https://snuffalaughagus.wordpress.com/2021/06/16/myanmar-the-coup-takes-over-again/
ES: When you guys refer to your home country, is it
Burma or Myanmar?
ME: So, Burma is a country name given by the British that was colonized in 1824. Before that, we called it something like a “Kingdom,” like feudalism. Actually, we have so many ethnic people. One of the ethnic groups is called Burma. So it seems like it represents the whole country, but the name Burma doesn’t represent all the other diverse ethnic groups. So in the military coup of 1988, they changed the country from Burma to Myanmar. The reason they would like to tell the world is that there are so many diverse ethnic groups in the country. While the intention is good, it is bad because the junta, like today, did it forcefully. So the people of Burma don’t want to take this name. The United States also doesn’t want to recognize the name given by the military junta; that’s why they still keep saying Burma. And for the people in Burma now, after 30 years, they’re used to saying Myanmar. But for the opposition they don’t want to use the name Myanmar because it’s given by the military without any consent of the people.
HE: So using the name Burma means you’re denouncing the military. That’s why former President Obama used Burma instead of Myanmar. It has a big connotation. But personally, I say Burma because it’s just easier for people to pronounce.
ME: Actually, the military changed all of the country’s street names because they were given by the British. This is like saying, “after colonization, we have to change everything. We are now independent.” The military is very nationalist because they use the nationalist card to get support from the people.
HE: To hide their oppression, to hide their misdoings and human rights violations under the guise of nationalism.
ME: That’s what true authoritarians always do.
ES: How are you feeling right now with everything
going on in Burma?
ME: There’s a lot of mixed feelings: upset, sad, depression. Every day not only are they trying to control innocent people on the street but people are also not safe at night; the military can knock it out and can take whatever they like. They also rob people of all their properties like phones. It really is lawlessness because if they have a gun, they get to do whatever they like. This is an authoritarian dictatorship. They always use that kind of method and tactic.
HE: The Internet is being cut off and they [the government] have been arresting famous authors, writers, activists and actors/actresses who have openly protested or resisted the government. Not only do they do that, they also have been detaining parents or family members [if they don’t find the person they want to arrest.] And so people have to run away and the families have to go into hiding. Right now a lot of people are going to the jungle and running away to Thailand. The whole situation is really disheartening and horrible. We feel the effects of it every day here. Seeing what they’re doing to our people while not being really able to do anything but feel lucky for being here [in America with my family].
ES: It seems like a lot of governments are taking advantage of the vulnerable situations that COVID-19 puts countries in --like in Senegal and Haiti-- to
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get power and control. Do you feel like that was another factor in the military coup overthrowing the government in Burma?
HE: I feel like rather than the pandemic, what really pushed the military forward on the coup was President Trump’s call for fraudulent election votes. You remember how Trump was saying how the votes are fake and fraudulent, despite the numerous courts that testify to [Biden’s] authenticity and verification. So the military coup claimed that the votes in Burma were fraudulent because of what Trump inspired. So his inspiration directly led to the coup. Since a world stage leader–an American president– did that, other countries felt like, “Oh, if they could do it, then I can definitely do this, too.”
ES: What do you think is the most beneficial way for
people to help? Any organizations that people could contribute to?
ME: Ordinary people need to recognize the National Unity Government (NUG), a new parliamentary government elected by the people of Burma. So that’s the first thing. The second thing is for official recognition. People need to call their congressmen and senators by messaging them: “This is a young democratic country.” The people of Burma really want democracy. They really want freedom. They really want to be proud. They are always just looking up to the U. S. as a father democracy, but there’s no action.; there’s no actional help or assistance from democratic countries. And then for the people of Burma, they don’t have arms. They don’t have any weapons; they don’t have anything. They only have their will and their voice. So with this scenario, what they can do is use all the means possible to support the people of Burma.
HE: Yes, share your support of NUG on social media or share articles to raise awareness of NUG and what’s happening in Burma.
ME: It’s very hard over there because they kill innocent people young– more than 80% are very young, like twenty-somethings or late teens, because they are the generations now. They protest the most because they don’t want to go back to the dark age: no freedom of expression, no freedom of using the internet. Not only are they cutting off all Internet, the military is cutting off everything.
HE: The era before 2008 essentially, like the era I grew up in, where having a book could land you fifty years in jail– that kind of era. And people don’t want to go back to that.
ME: Now it’s starting again.
ME: If you have one dollar in your hands, you can be sentenced for ten years. If you have an email from somebody who is against the government, you can go to prison for another 15 years. Some of my friends have 96 years of imprisonment because it all combines so many times. I mean, they call it crimes, but it’s not actual crimes. The problem is that the military authoritarians do whatever they like; there’s no real laws. They’re already trying to possess nuclear weapons, [and once they do,] that will be another card they’ll use when negotiating with other countries; it will become another North Korea situation.
Thank you to the Ei’s for being so generous in sharing the history and knowledge on the state of Myanmar right now.
Image from New York Times
Sources: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia56636345#:~:text=More%20than%20 700%20people%20have,three%20 people%20who%20have%20died. https://www.nytimes.com/article/ myanmar-news-protests-coup.html
