Feeding Freedom, Not Fear

A world-renowned expert on Burmese cuisine and author of the best-selling book Mandalay: Recipes and Tales from a Burmese Kitchen, Mi Mi Aye never imagined that one day she might become an activist. But as she has become increasingly invested in Myanmar’s current crisis, that is the role she has begun to take on.

Having deep connections to the full range of Burma’s cuisine— running the gamut from humble street stalls to five-star dining— Mi Mi Aye was concerned when the pandemic broke a year ago, noting that the restaurant industry especially has been suffering. And although she feared that a sudden military takeover would only place a greater strain on this already reeling industry, Burmese cooks have not been idle. Many of them, along with food delivery workers, have been at the forefront of cooking and delivering food in mass quantities to the large numbers protesters taking to the streets each day, as well as to “Civil Disobedience Movement” employees who are refusing to return to their jobs as civil servants.

Mi Mi Aye also reflects on the fear many Burmese—especially the older generation—have harbored because of Burma’s history of coups and political repression. She says, “Something I don’t really talk about is to be Burmese, especially if you’re of a certain age, is to be afraid, from bitter experience. It’s a low-level, visceral feeling most of the time, but sometimes, like now, it can be overwhelming. Because all the worst things you can imagine that could happen to you or your loved ones can happen and has happened, to you or to people you know, because of the Burmese military. Right now, I don’t even want to eat, let alone cook anything. There’s a reason Aung San Suu Kyi’s most famous book is called Freedom From Fear.”

She notes how many younger Burmese followers have thanked her for these words, noting that their parents had always told them something similar, but growing up with greater personal freedoms, they never had quite understood their parents’ fears.

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