Have Pity on the Working Man
Insight Myanmar9 Aug 2022

Have Pity on the Working Man

Episode #116: On July 7th, the official account of the European Union in Myanmar posted a two-minute video urging factories in conflict-torn Myanmar to re-open, charging that the factory shutdowns had driven former employees to poverty and even prostitution. In response, many charged that the EU was trying to manipulate Burmese voices to advocate for a policy that would benefit themselves but goes against the aspirations of the democracy movement. Today’s guest, Maung Maung, currently president of the Confederation of Trade Unions in Myanmar (CTUM), addresses this video, as well as labor’s role in the current revolution and the overall conditions for Myanmar’s workers.

While Maung Maung does not dispute an accusation in the video that the closed factories harm ordinary Burmese workers, he believes it is hurting the regime more, and that is the current priority.

Maung Maung also found the video highly offensive because it is quite chauvinistic and insulting for Western powers to try and “educate” the Burmese people on the dangers of local young women turning to prostitution.

To make matters worse, the junta has picked up on the video and has begun to promote it as a way to normalize their brutal regime, meaning that, in effect, the EU has managed to provide the Tatmadaw with a key piece of propaganda to boost their rule.

Yet, as hard as things are now in the country, Maung Maung is hopeful for the future. “We are winning. We want people to not just think like well, ‘The military is going to win again.’ No, it is not!”

Avsnitt(540)

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice

Pyae Phyo Kyaw, a gay doctor, is simultaneously helping his countrymen while taking a sledgehammer to the barriers that have long defined Burmese society.Pyae Phyo Kyaw was aware of his sexual orienta...

10 Mars 20221h 32min

Alan Senauke, Engaged Buddhist

Alan Senauke, Engaged Buddhist

In the aftermath of student strikes in 1968, Alan left Columbia University and moved to Berkeley, California. There, he found himself amid a whirlwind of social unrest: the counter-culture movement, a...

3 Mars 20222h 6min

The Language of Freedom

The Language of Freedom

Most people would not regard a violent military coup as the best time to start an organization, but that's exactly what Katie Craig and her partners did! Katie has worked with minority language commun...

24 Feb 20221h 28min

This Woman’s Work

This Woman’s Work

“I think Tatmadaw is a place where soldiers and their families have lost their human rights,” Su Thit asserts. Her bold criticism of Myanmar's military is somewhat unusual because her husband was one ...

17 Feb 20221h 2min

Looking Within A Burmese Nunnery

Looking Within A Burmese Nunnery

Like so many other spiritual seekers from the West, Kim Shelton and her husband were attracted to Myanmar by the opportunities that the country presents for developing a deeper Buddhist practice. Kim’...

10 Feb 202258min

Depicting a Golden Kingdom

Depicting a Golden Kingdom

When films examine a subject in detail, it’s sometimes described as a “meditation on…” that particular theme. Golden Kingdom, a 2015 film by Brian Perkins, fits this expression in more ways than one.B...

5 Feb 20221h 34min

From Burma With Love

From Burma With Love

Kenneth Wong, a Burmese language instructor at UC Berkeley, has spent a lifetime studying the history of Burmese films, and is one of the organizers of the Burma Spring Benefit Film Festival. He grew ...

31 Jan 20221h 9min

Revisiting the Burma Spring

Revisiting the Burma Spring

For her first post-coup documentary, Padauk: Myanmar Spring, Jeanne Hallacy’s team employed a technique called “in-depth personal storytelling,” and the results were simply stunning. It allows the vi...

26 Jan 202256min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
flashback-forever
politiken
blenda-2
rss-sanning-konsekvens
aftonbladet-daily
spar
rss-vad-fan-hande
motiv
rss-krimreportrarna
dagens-eko
svd-ledarredaktionen
rss-frandfors-horna
olyckan-inifran
spotlight
rss-flodet
grans