Burmese Living In Singapore Fear For Families’ Safety As Protests Intensify
On 1 Feb, news emerged in the early hours that several National League for Democracy (NLD) members, including leader Aung San Suu Kyi had been detained, and that the military had seized power.
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Burmese people, including the estimated 200,000 who live and work in Singapore, woke up to what for many of them was déjà vu.
General Min Aung Hlaing, the Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces, took over the government and detained Ms Suu Kyi as well as other NLD leaders.
In the following days, the populace took to the streets to protest the coup and demand for the NLD leaders’ release.
MS News spoke to several Burmese living in Singapore, all of whom still have family back in Myanmar.
All but 1 of them we spoke to expressed surprise and shock at the news of the coup.
Burmese in Singapore say contact with family & friends cut off
“Ever since the election (in Nov 2020) they have been going on about fraud, but I think many were genuinely surprised that their process was a coup”, one unsurprised interviewee told MS News.
The woman, who declined to be named, elaborated that there were hints on 27 Jan that the Constitution might be repealed.
However, that surprise would give way to anger as the situation morphed into suppression — first land lines were cut, then social media networks, followed by the Internet itself.
For some Burmese residing in Singapore, their only contact with family members or friends back home might be Facebook, and the junta’s blockage would temporarily cut that sole communications line right off.
Anna, one such resident working as a media sales specialist here, said that phone lines were cut on 4-5 Feb in her home city of Taunggyi.
This was followed by Internet outages during the weekend amid street protests.
Protests in Yangon on 8 Feb
Source
Finally, electrical outages took place on 7 Feb.
Power and the Internet were only restored yesterday afternoon in Taunggyi, allowing Anna to contact her family on Monday (8 Feb), but the situation might escalate at any moment, which leaves her particularly worried.
She is concerned that a violent crackdown might occur even though the demonstrations have been peaceful.
Already, state television warned on Monday (8 Feb) that protests against military rule are illegal and can lead to them having to take action if they continue.
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Families take to the streets in protest of military coup
Many, especially those who were around during the last coup in 1988, were unwilling to sit on their hands and allow the military to seize control again.
So they went out to the streets, including many of Valencia’s relatives.
The 24-year-old student in Singapore shared with MS News that even her grandma, who has to walk with cane assistance, was out there protesting.
Image courtesy of Valencia
Valencia’s grandmother was joined by her cousins, aunts, and uncles.
Image courtesy of Valencia
But of course, Valencia is worried for her relatives’ safety, especially as she’s in Singapore and can’t travel back if anything happens to them, due to the ongoing pandemic.
Regardless, as many as 90% of Yangon dwellers have decided to risk their lives and call for the release of Ms Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders, as well as a return to a government that they chose.
Getting around social media & Internet bans
Unlike with previous coups, the Burmese now have the Internet and technology as weapons.
They’ve organised protests and contacted each other through offline apps as well as Facebook, allowing coordinated demonstrations to take place despite the junta’s efforts to cut communication lines.
After the junta banned Facebook on Thursday (4 Feb), people in the country quickly found their way back on social media via virtual private networks (VPNs).
One of those we spoke to shared that her 70-year-old mother was talking about mesh networks.
Hope for voices to reach out
Now, the hope is that they can reach out to the rest of the world — signs demanding for Ms Suu Kyi’s release are in English, and the hashtag #whatshappeninginmyanmar is trending on social media.
Valencia told MS News:
Myanmar really (needs) help from everyone now. We just hope our voices will be heard and (justice) will be served.
She emphasised that the ones they’re against are not the police, but the military junta. Some protesters even gave military police food and drinks, she said.
Meanwhile, May Hnin, a 28-year-old domestic helper from Loikaw, emphasised the need for Myanmar to have the government that the Burmese people chose.
“It is not the government we have elected,” she stressed.
Protests are for a better future
Whether the protests will lead to a return to civilian rule is yet unknown. One interviewee expressed little hope that the military will simply cede power again in an election as they can simply nullify the results whenever they wish.
Despite pictures and videos of crackdowns as well as allegations of pro-military protesters stoking violence, the anti-coup protesters continue to defy warnings.
May Hnin said,
The protesters are out in the thousands, so if the military wants to punish the protesters, they have to arrest all of them.
If history repeats itself, much more would be at stake than a coronavirus outbreak.
Trauma of military rule remains
For our South East Asian neighbours in Myanmar, the ongoing situation is hardly a new occurrence — there were previous military coups in 1962 and 1988.
However, the trauma of decades of military rule remains, even after the country transitioned to democratic rule in 2011, and when the NLD took the 2015 and 2020 elections in landslide victories.
The military’s reversal in the latter election following what appeared to be progress has shocked and angered the population.
Yet some others don’t hold out hope for the situation to get any better, as Myanmar went decades under military rule the last time a coup took place.
But with the Internet and social media used by much of the population, there just might be a fighting chance this time round, even as the junta attempts to suppress both.
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Featured image courtesy of Valencia.
