Insight Myanmar21 Aug 2024

From The Ground Up

Episode #261: Saw Kapi delves into his journey and contributions to Myanmar's democratic and educational landscape. His story began with involvement in the 1988 student uprising against military rule, which led him to the Thai-Burma border to join the resistance. The struggle for democracy became a central theme in his life, intertwining with his identity as a student and later as an educator.

Saw Kapi emphasizes the critical role of education in revolution, stressing that a well-educated population is essential for sustainable change. He highlights his efforts in preparing young Burmese for international scholarships and higher education, aiming to create a new generation of leaders. Despite the challenges posed by a repressive military regime, his focus remained on fostering critical thinking and bridging gaps between local and international opportunities.

His narrative underscores the importance of grassroots governance, advocating for decentralized, community-driven governance structures as a foundation for a federal democratic union. By empowering local leaders and focusing on public administration, Saw Kapi envisions a future where Myanmar can build a democratic system from the ground up, ensuring that governance serves the people and not just the central authority.

“Our standard of treating the population that we govern has to be right!” exclaims Saw Kapi. “We cannot just treat them differently because we have guns and control the area. If we think that political authorities come from the barrel of the gun, then we are heading towards dictatorship. But if we believe that our authority to govern comes from the consent of the governed, we are heading in the right direction.”

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(564)

The Architecture Of Exclusion

Episode #549: Mohammad Siraj, a Rohingya researcher, political analyst, educator, and aspiring legal scholar living in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, studies citizenship, constitutional reform, educati...

5 Jun 1h 28min

An Officer and a Gentleman

Episode #548: Sunda Khin shares a remarkable family journey through contemporary Burmese history. She starts with her father, U Chan Htoon, who suggested that a young Indian businessman named S.N. Goe...

4 Jun 2h 36min

No Man’s Land

Episode #547: Scott Leckie, an international human rights lawyer, and Jose Arraiza, a specialist in housing, land, and property rights and citizenship in conflict-affected settings, argue that land in...

2 Jun 1h 42min

From the Other Shore

Episode #546: Recorded in Kuala Lumpur during Malaysia’s final stretch as ASEAN chair, this is the second episode in a three part series which looks less at policy language and more at political conse...

1 Jun 1h 17min

The Long Fuse

Episode #545: The promise of justice for war crimes in Myanmar is far from perfect, says Dr. Stuart Casey-Maslen, a leading legal expert on disarmament and international humanitarian law. The military...

29 Mai 1h 19min

Acts of Translation

Episode #544: May Shine, a recent graduate of the Elliott School of International Affairs, approaches policy work from the position of someone shaped by displacement and minority identity within Myanm...

28 Mai 1h 17min

Through the Interregnum

Episode #543: “We believe in dialogs among people of different backgrounds,” says Chayan Vaddhanaphuti, a Thai professor at Chiang Mai University and director of the Regional Center for Social Science...

26 Mai 1h 8min

The Path Awakens

Episode #542: Max Ante, a former deeply committed practitioner of the Goenka Vipassana tradition, describes a spiritual journey shaped by a relentless desire to understand reality directly, regardless...

25 Mai 2h 30min