The writer is a journalist in Central Myanmar who is receiving support from The Kite Tales to write these diaries.
Every time I go to the market these days, the most common thing I hear is: “The price has gone up.”
When the price of gold skyrocketed shortly after the military took power, it didn’t affect me directly, but the commodity price rises since the beginning of February this year are like demons haunting our family.
The price of cooking oil that we usually buy is now over 9,000 kyats per viss (a traditional measurement that is equivalent to about 1.6 kg). It used to be over 4,000 kyats. Peanut oil is more than 12,000 kyats a viss. It used to be around 6,000 kyats. Although peanut oil is supposed to be better for your health than cheaper alternatives, ordinary people can only afford the low-price edible oil.
It used to be that 5,000 kyats was enough for a delicious meal, including a meat dish, a vegetable stir-fry and a sour soup for a family of four for a day. Now, that isn’t enough even for a single meal.
Since I no longer have the level of monthly income I had before the coup, we were already being frugal with every expense. Now, there are weeks when we don’t eat any meat. In fact, we can’t really afford to have desserts after meals or snacks in between. We’re skimping and scraping to ensure we eat three square meals a day. Sometimes, I wonder - and worry - how we would cope, what we would do, if there is a health scare in my family.
It's not just the price of edible oil that has increased, but the price of all basic food items. So now when I’m in the market, I have to prioritise buying only what I really need for the kitchen.
A bag of unbroken rice is now almost 50,000 kyats. It used to be around 30,000 kyats. A bag of “Paw Sun” rice is now more than 80,000 kyats, double the previous price. For the most expensive variety, Shwebo Paw Sun Special, a bag costs more than 90,000 kyats.
But we can’t afford this type of rice. We only buy Manaw Thu Kha, which is 1,500 kyats per pyi (another traditional measurement). I’m trying to cut back on anything that can be cut and balancing our incomings with outgoings.
The price of gasoline has been rising steadily since the beginning of March too. Previously, you could fill up your motorbike with a thousand kyats worth of fuel, but now it costs more than 2,000, so to save money on the fuel cost, I go everywhere on foot, unless it's an emergency.
Regular electricity supply has also become a thing of the past. We used to have power outages due to weather events, like strong winds and rain. But these days, the power goes out even if nothing has happened. And that leads to other expenses.
Even though electricity is available only part of the time, what we pay has not decreased. The people voiced their complaints on social media but the coup government, which lacks responsibility and accountability, remained ignorant and did not provide any solutions.
Without regular electricity, we have to buy charcoal for cooking, and the price of charcoal has risen from 3,500 kyats to more than 6,000 per bag.
Ordinary people like us have no choice but to bitterly accept the impact of rising prices as we cannot afford to buy the items in bulk and save them for the future.
As foreign companies have also left Myanmar, employment opportunities have become scarcer, and the high prices have created more challenges for our people. Every day we hear about an increasing number of thefts and robberies, crimes that used to be rare in the big cities.
Incidents such as two men on a motorcycle snatching the purse of a woman who was riding a motorcycle on her own in broad daylight in the centre of the city or mobile phones being snatched while people were talking, are commonly seen on social networking sites as well as in the environment in which I live.
In addition, there are cases where people will push the motorcycles and rob the driver at knifepoint after he has fallen. The motorcycle, jewellery and wallet were taken.
The military junta has little interest in solving these problems. All they do is to kill people who oppose them.
Freedom of expression, which is the essence of democracy, is no longer there, and we’re in a situation where you can be punished for even criticising the authorities online, let alone protest on the streets.
The coup government has already spent millions of kyats on military expenses, including the cost of air raids and the bombing of towns and villages. I think how great it would be if this money could be used to help people.
I would like to have a government that can control businessmen who put self-interest above others and sell things at high prices in these terrible times. I really want a government that can offer solutions for the people who are suffering and living in poverty.
So I truly wish for the military dictatorship to end as soon as possible, to have a government that can meet the needs of its people.
It’s clear that we in Myanmar can no longer even hope for a good life. The terrible times we are living through are getting worse.
The artwork is by an anonymous illustrator who is receiving support from The Kite Tales to produce illustrations.
