In Hpa An, on one of the bloodiest days since the military seized power and began cracking down on dissent, a 39-year-old teacher reflects on her horror at the coup and her determination never to work under the junta.
Today, February 28, many people died. They shot people straight in the head. I want to tell the international community what is happening in Myanmar. It’s now been 28 days since the coup and there have been so many deaths and injuries.
When I woke up that morning (February 1, the day the military seized power), I didn’t know there had been a coup. There was no phone or Internet signal, so I couldn’t contact my parents or siblings - who live all over the country. We had no idea what was happening, it was as if the world was suddenly ending. I was starting to lose control of my mind because I had no idea what was going on. I thought about Amay Suu and our President, about what had happened to them. For about one or two hours I was in such a state.
Then I met people who had seen the news on the (military's) Myawaddy News Channel, saying the State Administrative Council had announced a state of emergency and taken power. But what emergency? There was none! We went to bed as usual and woke up as usual. It was a normal day. I didn’t expect it at all, I was very angry.
I have a lot of friends who are part of the civil disobedience movement (CDM), some from the same school as me and others who I studied with. Some of them were officials at polling stations. I wasn’t assigned to do that but with COVID raging, I took a risk to vote. I was determined to cast my ballot properly. Some of my friends spent a sleepless night working at the polling stations, so they were even angrier when (the junta) said the coup was because of election fraud. That’s why the teachers came out in force on the streets.
After they first announced the (Section) 144 and said you can’t go out at night etc, they went around arresting education officials who had worked in the polling stations. During the elections, these teachers had worked closely with staff from the township general administration department (GAD) - we need to call them traitors - so the GAD knew who lived in which townships and on which streets. That’s how they arrested them. So teachers dare not sleep in their own houses. We knew that this is what they would do because the way they staged this coup was like the one in 1988. So many avoided capture by not staying at home, but some got caught.
I no longer want to carry out my duties under the coup government. I don’t want to be in the civil service under them. I have no desire for a military government. At the moment, many people are out on the streets protesting. Many have been hurt. I refuse to work under this government. If the people’s government returns, then I will return to work and continue teaching.
My parents think the same way. A lot of their children work in the public sector. My sisters are also in the civil service and they said we shouldn’t work under this cruel military government. They said we could do something else, like open a store selling stuff or do something privately for our living.
All over Myanmar, they’ve been using live rounds. It’s like we are now in Hell. The people are no longer safe. It’s almost like we are living with robbers and thieves. They could arrest us, beat us, shoot at us any time they want. I don’t want my children to continue living in this country in the future. That’s how insecure we feel. I’d like to ask our friends abroad to help us be free of this military dictatorship. I’d like to ask everyone to help us.
Artwork courtesy of Art for Freedom (Myanmar)
