Insight Myanmar24 Dec 2024

Shaken, Not SIlenced

Episode #295: "I was born on the sixth of the 8th of the '88; the famous '88! My parents were part of the student movement, but growing up with my grandmother, I didn’t know much until I was older. They just said my parents were away."

Hnin's story is tightly linked with Burma’s turbulent history. When her activist parents were forced into exile, she was raised by her grandmother, and grew up disconnected from her parents.

Eventually reunited with her parents in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, she saw firsthand the hardships they endured, and only then began to understand the scope of their sacrifice in the service of democracy. Relocating to Australia in the early 2000s, she struggled with identity, culture, and belonging, all while her parents continued their activism, hosting the Burmese community regularly.

In 2011, Hnin returned to Myanmar and opened Father’s Office—a bar merging Burmese heritage with a modern identity, particularly providing a safe space for women. The 2021 military coup transformed her life, along with everyone else, and a downtown creative space she had set up became a resistance hub where activists could gather and strategize, despite the inherent dangers. Hnin’s efforts echoed her parents’ legacy.

Forced to flee Myanmar, Hnin moved to Chiang Mai, where she continues her work supporting Myanmar’s resistance, through organizing workshops, running community kitchens, and preserving Burmese cultural heritage through exhibitions.

Hnin embodies resilience—a constant evolution reflecting Burma's struggles. From chef and bar owner to activist, her journey remains a testament to community power, resilience, and the pursuit of freedom, even amidst oppression.

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(626)

Freedom’s Just Another Word

Episode #611: “I always want to be free.” Lienchi Tran, a Vietnamese American meditation teacher, first learned what unfreedom meant in postwar Vietnam. After South Vietnam fell in 1975, her father wa...

22 Sep 2h 7min

Critical Condition

Episode #610: “I can't leave anymore, because if I were to leave now, I would like never be able to live the same way, because of the comrades who have fallen and the comrades that are still with me… ...

21 Sep 1h 34min

Birth of an Icon

Episode #609: Jostein Kobbeltvedt, director of the Rafto Foundation for Human Rights in Bergen, Norway, reflects on how the 1990 Rafto Prize awarded to Aung San Suu Kyi helped bring Myanmar’s democrac...

18 Sep 1h 46min

The Giving Tree

Episode #608: Dave Hopkins came to vipassana meditation not as a scholar, traveler, or spiritual seeker, but as a working-class tree worker carrying grief, anger, addiction, and exhaustion. Raised in ...

17 Sep 1h 53min

From Section A to 505 A

Episode #607: “I could not stay under a military rule that’s been killing thousands of people,” Maple says. “I cannot just sit and watch.” When Myanmar’s military seized power in February 2021, Maple ...

15 Sep 1h 58min

No Neutral Neighbor

Episode #606: Anusorn Tamajai’s attempted intervention during Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Thailand began with an undelivered letter. Prevented from placing his proposals directly before Myanmar’s milit...

14 Sep 36min

Borrowed Intimacy

Episode #605: Note: this podcast episode, as well as the following text describing it, includes frank language about sexuality, male sex work, and self-harm. Reader and listener discretion is advised....

11 Sep 1h 8min

Straight Outta Yangon

Episode #604: “I chose hip hop.” Born in Yangon in 1979 to parents who were nationally known singers, Anegga grew up in a household where art was both celebrated and watched. His father had helped int...

10 Sep 2h 34min