Sunday, November 26, 2017

The Irrawaddy Magazine

The Irrawaddy Magazine

‘In Prison We Wrote on the Floor…. You Can’t Ban Poetry’

Posted: 26 Nov 2017 01:25 AM PST

San Zaw Htway (b. 1974) is a visual and performance artist who spent fourteen years in prison because of his political activism as a student. Banned from painting in jail, he collected discarded colorful plastic, cut them into pieces and created recycled-art collages from this garbage, as a form of political resistance. He is also an amateur poet and a trauma counselor for former political prisoners and their families.

When did you start writing poetry?

When I was around 21 years old. But I didn't send my poems to magazines at that time. I wrote poems just in my notebooks.

In 1999, I was arrested and put in prison. I met with poet Maung Aung Pwint in prison. He had organized poem recitals every evening. I wanted to participate, so I had to write a poem every day. It made me feel happy.

Why were you arrested?

I should back up a step and tell you about my life from the start. I am 42 years old. I was born in Yay township, in Mon state. When I was born, we moved to Tavoy township, and I grew up in Mie Gyaung Ai village. This was a village in the middle of the civil war: there were Karen armed groups there, Mon armed groups, and Burmese military. Battles often happened when the Burmese military came into the area. And when they did not come, Mon and Karen rebels came to ask for rice, oil and food. We didn't have peace or any kind of stability.

My mother sent my three sisters to Yangon to learn a trade – tailoring – and the rest of the family followed them shortly thereafter. We moved to Yangon with all of our savings. Then in 1987 the government cancelled the currency, making it worthless overnight, and all our savings were gone. Just like that.

Why had they cancelled the banknotes? We had saved that money so slowly, day after day, with such patience. Who gave them such authority to do so? I asked my father: he replied that they did it because they could. There was no explanation. I was so angry. They showed no responsibility or accountability.

I decided to fight against the government. I became a member of the Burmese Student Union. After the Hledan student strikes in 1998, I had to go into hiding, for the secret police followed me whenever I went outside my home. I went underground for almost a year. I hid in a monastery in upper Myanmar. Our cover story was that because the universities were closed by the government, we had come there to sell dried fish to make a living. I'd return to Yangon from time to time to meet other activists. We published and distributed political pamphlets

My luck ran out, and I was arrested for protesting in 1999 and sentenced to thirty-six years in jail. I was released after the Presidential amnesty in 2012.

You met with the famous poet Maung Aung Pwint in prison?

I met with Saya U Aung Pwint while we were at interrogation center but I didn't get a chance to talk to him. I heard they were beaten by special police or military intelligence personnel. We were sent to prison at first and we left them including Saya Aung Pwint at Aung Thapyay interrogation center.

We then met in prison. He introduced himself as "Maung Aung Pwint who writes poems" when he came out of his cell to take a bath.

Why did you start making recycled art in prison?

Painting was forbidden in jail. So I found a way around that: by making collages out of discarded plastic. I cut up plastic wrappers, instant coffee packaging, and any other colorful plastic bags and wrappers I could find, and transform them into art.

I still do this art now, and travel around the country now giving workshops. I want to encourage everyone – particularly victims of trauma – with the idea that "we have nothing but we still can do something."

We also have a big problem with garbage in Myanmar – there is little, or no garbage disposal in most places still. I believe that throwing trash on the street means neglecting one's morality. If one can create artwork out of rubbish, this is a way to boost your morality. This is the message I want to give.

Why do you concentrate on visual art instead of poetry?

Making collages for me is all-consuming – in some ways I feel that it is a way of transforming words into colors. When I am working on my art, I can't write poems. Of course, when I feel deeply about something, I write a poem.

How was poetry affected by censorship?

If you are banned from doing something, you must overcome it. According to Buddhism's Pahtana, bad deeds may support good deeds. We had restrictions and barriers and so we had to try hard to overcome such restrictions and barriers. New words were born; new expression came from this struggle.

In every country that suffers from dictatorship, the expression of art is so strong because of such restrictions.

In prison, they didn't allow us to write poems but we wrote down poems on the floor, or we made poems just by reciting them, and memorizing them. You could not ban poetry. Poetry was always in our mind.

What do you think about the changes in Myanmar today and how does this affect poetry?

The changes are happening at many places and they are very fast right now. But I see the people's character does not change.

We now have the right of freedom of speech or expression. But everybody needs to practice it. We need to express our feelings freely, but without being angry or disrespectful.

Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. 

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

 From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com

The post 'In Prison We Wrote on the Floor…. You Can't Ban Poetry' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

From Star of the Screen to Carrying Coffins

Posted: 25 Nov 2017 10:26 PM PST

Kyaw Thu (b. 1959) has acted in more than two hundred films and won two Burmese Oscars. Retired from acting, he is now Myanmar's most famous philanthropist, the founder of the Yangon Free Funeral Service. He seems to live inside his office, a cluttered place full of photos and awards from his screen idol days, which is constantly full of visitors coming to offer donations and have their picture taken with him.

Tell me about your life.

My parents were in the film industry, and I became a successful actor. I acted in a lot of films. The government asked me to star in several propaganda films. And then one was a film about students taking up arms and fighting against the military government – this was after the failed student protests of 1988. I didn't want to do it, so I refused. That didn't help my career, but I still was able to keep making films.

Then one day, during a summer holiday at a Buddhist literature camp, my children asked a prominent monk whether actors went to heaven or hell when they died. The monk said they go to hell. He explained that actors make people cry, they make people angry, make them laugh, all of which are misdeeds. I was terrified. This led me on to the road to participate in social obligations and worthy meritorious deeds.

 How did you set up the Free Funeral Service?

My director Sayar U Thuka started it. In 2000, he was sick and in the hospital. An old woman lay beside him in his hospital room. She was sick too. Her family members visited her and took care of her every day. One day the doctor told them they should take their grandmother home because there was nothing else he could for them. Instead of taking her home, the family stopped coming to the hospital. The woman died alone, and was buried in a common grave. Sayar U Thuka was shocked. He found the family; they confessed they had abandoned their grandmother because they did not have money to pay for her funeral. That is why he decided to set up the free funeral service society – to help people without discrimination on race, religion or class. We collaborated with him, and have buried over 160 000 people – on average forty per day – since 2001.

Why are funerals unaffordable in Myanmar?

Most people are desperately poor in this country – Myanmar is the poorest country in South East Asia. Traditional funeral costs are on average about $7500 (according to a 2014 survey), and that does not include cemetery costs in Yangon, which will easily cost around another $2000. So a typical funeral and burial costs run to at least $9000. And undertakers expect to be paid in full at the time of the funeral. That is impossibly unaffordable for many people.

You encountered many difficulties in your work.

Most people in Myanmar are extremely superstitious about funerals. Authorities do not allow hearses to drive through some neighborhoods, and some streets are even marked by signs saying, "No hearses allowed."

My show-business friends were initially shocked that I carried coffins at funerals – this is a task often shunned by the superstitious. Some even started to refuse to co-star with me in films because they believed that my work with the dead would bring them bad luck. With time this has now changed, and we have many donors from all over the country.

We have expanded our philanthropy beyond funerals, we now run an emergency rescue team and ambulance service – there are almost no ambulances in Yangon. We run a free healthcare clinic that treats more than two hundred patients a day. We have set up a library and free educational and vocational training school. We set up a camp for leadership training and capacity building. We have a meditation center. And we are also working on a pilot project for garbage disposal in our neighborhood.

We encountered a lot of resistance from the past military government. They ordered our head office closed during our rescue efforts in the aftermath of the May 2008 Nargis Cyclone, which devastated Burma's Irrawaddy Delta. They forced us to move to an abandoned garbage dump. During last year's student protests – we were providing emergency medical care – the police smashed one of our ambulances as they were arresting students. Why would anyone do that?

The past military government also banned you from acting.

During the 2007 Saffron Revolution, we donated food and water to the protesting monks. This was our responsibility as Buddhists. We were briefly arrested, and I was banned from acting and my films were prohibited from the cinemas.

I was angry, but had the opportunity to do more social work. So I was happy for that. An actor does his work just for himself, for his own fame and for money. All for his own ego. In social work, we do work for the public. Meritorious deeds. My acting ban was lifted in 2015, but I do very little acting now. I am so busy with philanthropy.

I love what I am doing. I have a better understanding of life's value now. And I am not afraid of dying.

We all are on the path to death. Whether you are rich or poor, famous or not, you will have to walk the same path leaving your wealth and popularity behind. Death is our inescapable destination. Once we die, we leave nothing behind except our good deeds. So we should do as many good deeds as we can while we are still breathing.

And you are an amateur poet.

Yes, I write a poem from time to time, though I am by no means a professional. It is part of our culture. It is how we are able to give expression to our feelings. As a charity worker and artist, I try to reach the heart of our community with poetry.

Why is poetry so important in Burmese culture?

Sixty years ago in Myanmar, all progress in economic, health and social matters was blocked by the military government. They shut the door on society.  Many Burmese found a way to open this door through painting, literature, music and poetry.  Culture was an effective outlet, and poetry was the main tool to open this door.

Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. 

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com

The post From Star of the Screen to Carrying Coffins appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Poetry Is Like Eating Delicious Food… It Is Pure Pleasure’

Posted: 25 Nov 2017 07:44 PM PST

Moon Thu Eain (b. 1995) is the youngest poet in this collection.  Bold in her writing, she has broken many long-standing taboos in Burmese culture by openly writing about sexuality.

When did you realize that you wanted to become a professional poet?

 I have no intention of being a professional poet or an amateur poet. That my favorite poets would see me as a poet is more than I could ask for. I write poetry because I love it and I love to write. I have been writing poetry since 2012.

How do you write?

I don't have a routine. I write poetry when I feel it. Sometimes, I get inspiration when I am walking on the street or I am hanging out with my friends. I try to take small notes to grasp that sensation.

Sometimes, I sit at my study table and recall all the moments and senses from past, and I try to write. Most of the time, I treat writing poem as free writing. I write and I write until every words come out from me and leave me empty.

How does rewriting and editing – working on a poem – work?

Once it is a poem, it is already beautiful. When you decorate your poem – edit it – it may get more beautiful, but over-decorating will not help. There should be a balance between poetry and craftsmanship.

Do you imagine a life without poetry?

No. Poetry is like having a very delicious meal. Eating delicious food. It is pure pleasure.

How was your writing affected by living in an unfree society where freedom of speech was not permitted?

I do not think society affects my poems. I may write about an unfree society, but I do not let it to have any control over my words. I do not pay attention to the restrictions on freedom of speech.

I want to live by my own rules. Rules that I set for myself. And I am ready to take responsibility for my poems and stand by them.

Your poems often explore what life is like for a young woman in Myanmar.

One of the reasons I wrote poems about sexual freedom is there was not much written from a woman's voice on this subject. As a female poet, I am proud that I can give a voice to what I think as a woman and as a human being.

But I do not like it when people automatically assume that I am a feminist poet or only write on sexual topics. I am female and my poems may sound like a female voice. That is natural. But I simple try not to care about what the other people may think of me based on my poems. Because at one point, harsh criticism blocked me from writing poems freely for a while and I did not like that feeling at all. I also felt very weak for failing myself because of criticism. So, I am trying to take all the negative criticism in a positive way and transform it into fuel to fly higher. I also believe that poetry is my other life and that this life should not be molded by the effects from actual life.

Poetry is my entrance to the world, my freedom, my existence. Existence means freedom and entrance, I think. How can I say it? I have my own private depression, moods and sadness. Getting darkness is easy, but happiness is difficult. That is why I write poetry – as a way to free me from kinds of things I don't tell anyone. Everyone has these kinds of moods. I do too. I make my poems by writing down those moods. It's like writing a diary. Writing poetry releases me from depression. If something can't be told to my closest friend, I put those feelings in my poetry. I escape from real life by writing poetry.

You are currently studying in the United States.

My major is computer science and my minor is art. I am thinking to get a graduate degree, or find a job in computer science when I finish. Studying abroad has not been so easy. I rarely had time to write poetry the last year. But being in a new place gives me new perspectives on life, and I am very lucky to be studying abroad. My "poetic sense" is fed by these experiences, and I know I will write about them.

When I am a bit far from my home, I can see what I did not see in my country. I realise more how much I love my country. I also realise that there are so many differences between America and Myanmar. Myanmar is a developing country now, and I am worried that my culture will be washed away by this wave of development and globalization.

Authors’ Note: These interviews are excerpted from Burma Storybook, a poetry and photography book inspired by the documentary film of the same name, produced by Corinne van Egeraat and directed by Petr Lom. 

The English language hardcover edition of the book is for sale at Hla Day, Innwa Bookstore, Myanmar Book Center and the Strand Hotel. A Burmese language-only paperback edition of the book is for sale through Yangon Book Plaza.

From Nov. 25 to Dec. 4, you can visit the Burma Storybook Photo Exhibit at the Tourism Burma Building.

For more information: www.burmastorybook.com

The post 'Poetry Is Like Eating Delicious Food… It Is Pure Pleasure' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.
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