 |
| 8th Year living in Myanmar.... and still counting? |
In a flash of a flash, I've been living here 8 years and have seen so much changes in the Golden Land. I remembered last year (7th year blogpost), I was stewing in my sweat due to the power cuts while writing that blog post. This year, I am once again stewing in my sweat, in 40 degrees heat writing my 8th year blog post, with a power cut 😓😓😓 I guess, some things just never change. (Side note : Dear EPC - don't you think the electricity issues are getting a bit old? It's been 8 years. Can we move forward please?)
Over the last one year, my frustrations with Myanmar has grown and I'm left once again questioning if I am over-staying my welcome. Despite the dynamic growth and the leap-frogging of everything, as I mentioned, some things never change. Nevermind the fake "arr nar" culture which I wrote about last year, but over the recent times, particularly in the face of a pandemic, I have seen more and more selfish behaviour emerge from this place I call home for now. Wait, let me just reiterate this "arr nar" culture. I have to, cos this still persists up till today. Again, there isn't an English word for "arr nar". In the Chinese language, we say "mm hou yee si". We are arr nar when we need a favour or help from someone. We are arr nar when someone pays for your lunch. But you know, in Myanmar - this arr nar is used for convenience purposes. Let me give you an example. I've told the so-called admin guy of our building to catch me only in the mornings to pass me the monthly utilities and maintenance bill. Sometimes, I ask for things to be fixed in the house but he doesn't update me and when I ask why, his answer would be "Because it's late. Arr nar lote." BUT when it comes to passing me the monthly bill, he seems to enjoy knocking on the door at nights (when I'm showered and naked indoors!) even though I had specifically told him to pass it to me only in the mornings. So same situation, one has arr nar, and one doesn't. It baffles me. Doesn't it baffle you? Don't get me wrong though. My building's landlord, family and team are super-duper helpful to all the tenants and making our stay as comfortable as possible.
Please let me continue my rant. After all, I try to do this only once a year to let off some steam 😝😝😝 But if I do offend anyone, my apologies and I don't mean to offend. This is just my observations and personal views after living in Myanmar for 8 years.
Back to the herd-mentality of selfishness that prevails here. Let me talk about the open-burning. I call it the 'Open Burning Festival' as a sarcastic way of greeting the horrible stench of smoke and pollution in the air every year when the temperature in the country drops to welcome cold season. This year, I see a lot of social media users complaining about the bad Air Quality Index which was near dangerous levels in fact. Hello people - first of all, simply sharing and complaining on social media isn't going to help! Anyway, again - after 8 long years, the burning is still happening and getting worse every year! It's like, they don't wanna give themselves a break from all the existing pain. The cold temperature is the one time you can really enjoy the weather outdoors. But they decide that it's the best time for a burning festival. Ugh. The only thing I have taken upon myself is to give the people who are open-burning a bit of a lecture when I happen to pass by them. And you know, 9 out of 10 of these people (some live in the rich areas and some are as close as my landlord's family 😏😏😏) they actually know that it is bad to burn! They will say "hote, hote" and keep doing it anyway or they just grin at me. The admin guy at my apartment does it sneakily when I am not at home but usually fails to cover up the leftover burning area and I can see it from my window up above! But now that it is a WFH situation, he hasn't been able to do so. The challenge is not enough rubbish collection / rubbish bins to throw out their leaves and rubbish. Well, the inconvenient part would be to pack all these into your car or bike or whatever and bring it to the nearest dump bin. The convenient part would be to burn this because you're selfish and lazy. It's all about their convenience. Not a care about people living in the surrounding areas. Just this morning, at 35 degrees heat, the neighbour was burning again. What happens if one of the hot ash was caught by the wind and blows it to rooftops? They don't think about that. Myanmar, it's disappointing that you choose to be ignorant even when you have the knowledge. Don't wait for the government to regulate this. It's democracy. Regulate yourselves!
Recently, due to Covid-19, I also see a lot of finger-pointing and blaming going on. What really irks me the most are the photos and contents which blame businesses for "not protecting your staff". In an earlier blogpost, I had already written that this pandemic is a new issue for everyone globally. And with this virus, it is not an "I" situation. It is a "We" situation. Before you blame the business for not protecting their staff - did you ever stop to ask yourself - what the hell are you doing at the business outlet, adding on to the crowd and risking the safety of not only yourself but of the staff as well? Before you take the photos and post it all over social media, do you have any idea how the businesses here in Myanmar are trying their very best to do their best? Are you in any of their meetings? No. So, don't blame. Don't point fingers. Do your part. If you see some businesses where the staff aren't wearing a masks, why not offer them masks on your next visit? Or just keep quiet and wear your own masks please. Almost everything in Myanmar is about "other people not doing their thing" 😣😣😣 When will everyone start doing their thing instead of looking at other people not doing their thing?
And speaking about Covid-19 - why do people still spit everywhere? I have a really big issue with this. Cos at the swimming pool where I swim, doesn't matter male or female, they just love hacking back their phlegm and spitting it out. It's the most disgusting thing ever. And I'm shocked because these people come in their big, fancy cars and more often than not, the security or lifeguards will run after them to carry their bags for them. Once again, Eileen never learns to keep her mouth shut. A few times, I told them off. I gave them the dagger stare. I tell them "Don't you know it is dirty??" But of course, they ignore me. I know part of the Myanmar culture is not to be told off publicly. I don't give a shit seriously. If you intend to spit in public, then I intend to tell you off in public. (But then again, when it comes to praises and apologies, they always demand to make it public! What gives??) But all on deaf ears. I asked the lifeguard to tell them not to spit and sometimes the lifeguards just grin at me. Maybe they are afraid of offending these"rich people" of a higher caste than them (another prevailing issue here in Myanmar). But wait! It is ok to tell me not to take photos at the pool. But "arr nar" to tell them don't spit at the pool. Seriously. I can't even. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️ Which is worse? Photo or spitting? To be fair, one of the HOD working at the pool did try to do something about it and I appreciate him stepping up. I'm just appalled. Some of these people who spit in public are young, in nice trendy clothes working in fancy office towers. So, you definitely cannot say that they are uneducated. But.....They. Still. Spit. My question is - do they spit inside their homes? On the floor of their own homes? Even participating in the marathon events here - they bloody spit while running. In the last Yoma Marathon, I had one guy spitting and his spittle landed on my shin. It was the most disgusting thing ever. If I wasn't chasing my timing and pace, I would've beaten him up, I swear to God. Instead, I just screamed at him, at how dirty he was. 😡😡😡
Look, it's not that the above issues I highlighted are making me feel unwelcomed in Myanmar. It's just an overall of everything here, the whole nature of 'kyite thar tar lote' (do as you like which usually is chaos, unplanned, using a problem to solve a problem.....) that is really, really making me question - "Do I really have another 8 years to give this country?" I mean, I am trying my best here for the people and to bring about some good. (again, acknowledging that there are millions out there, some locals, some foreigners who are all trying in the same struggles and challenges as me, to help the people of this country. Let's give ourselves a pat on the back!). I realized maybe what I do is significantly small to create any large changes. However, I still believe that making an impact for one person is better than no impact. But, I dunno, the whole herd-mentality and the refusal to move forwards, take accountability for actions, the selfishness, the drama, is really taking its toll on me and wearing me out. I don't even use energy these days to try to understand some of the things here anymore. In fact, speaking to some of my Myanmar friends here, they too do not understand their own people! So how can me, a foreigner understand any more than them?? I'm not saying this doesn't happen in other countries. I am sure it does. But I'm here in Myanmar right now so let's talk about Myanmar. (I can vouch that Malaysia and the idiotic government is not that far away. LOLOL!)
Well, to be honest, at the start of 2020, I was planning my next big adventure. Palestine, Israel or Syria. In fact, MOH, always being so supportive of my life's purpose to save the world was looking up flights and travel plans to either Palestine or Syria so that I could check out the place and plan my next move. And then we all know happened. The damn Covid-19 happened. 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
So, here we are, not being able to travel and unable to be with my family too. And in the middle of all of these, in 40 degrees heat, power cuts! I feel someone up there is testing me daily. But the closure of airports and halting of any travel plans (in fact, any damn plans at all) have bought me some time here in Myanmar. Looking back at the 8 years, it's not all negative here for me in Myanmar. The work that I do here has positive purpose and impact and 8 long years after, I get to see some tiny, tiny bit of results and that is always a wonderful thing.
I had been doing my succession planning and for SoyAi and The Children of Tomorrow Youth Centre, I have 100% faith and believe in Htet Shine who has really stepped up, you know. In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, he had tried to innovate his business and scaled up the delivery and hygiene. I'm so, so, so proud of him and his team. If I do leave Myanmar, the ONE thing I would be very proud of would be SoyAi and Htet Shine. I do have access to the SoyAi FB Page although I don't touch anything at all. I see a lot of messages from customers who are supportive and most of all, a lot of messages saying "I love your tofu!" or "We love your soy milk!". This is all Htet Shine yeah. Absolutely nothing to do with me. I wanna also say thank you to Ma Kye from Organic Valley for looking out for Htet Shine and his tofu too. They are actually next door neighbours! Htet Shine and his SoyAi team will indeed find their growth and success in time. I know it from the bottom of my heart. This year, Htet Shine and I were planning the annual children's Pre-Thingyan Party. And we had to cancel because of the current situation. He loves the children and that's very important for the business purpose. If you do see him, or if he happens to deliver soy milk or tofu to you, please give him a cheer. Tell him he can do this!
For some of my first batch of mentees, in the last year or two, I had already stepped back from them. Letting them grow their own wings to fly. Yeah, I do get the occasional "Sayarma!!!! I need to talk!!" or "Sayarma, I need some guidance!!" which is all fine by me, yeah - as long as they remember to mark down in their book of debts, the lobsters they owe me 😜😜😜 But seeing them grow over the years had been wonderful too. And c'mon, with technology these days, I can still "talk" to them online. Zoom is the in-thing now, isn't it? 😆😆😆 There is another team which I was mentoring and coaching closely and one day, I was told point-blank : "Your micro-management is suffocating us!" Ouch. It's fine. I can accept both courage to tell me and reasons. Sometimes, I too never learn. I need to consistently believe and trust in myself, that I have guided and coached them the best that I can and really, to empower people is to let them walk and fall. So, I dropped this team into the deep end of the ocean. And you know what? They seemed to have stepped up. And again - in light of the whole crisis and "new normal", they are managing things to the best of their abilities, striving and thriving. I see some mistakes here and there, but you know what? They will learn by themselves. As usual - I am always gonna be around to guide when my guidance is needed. That's all.
Of course, I had taken on more new students / mentees under my wings. It is my personal goal to see them flourish. This would never stop for me, no matter where I am. Some are flourishing, some are struggling, some are consistently inconsistent (you all know who you are!!!). All walks of life. I would one day, look back and remember them all, with their different characteristics, behaviour, attitudes and perhaps laugh fondly, especially at the times I physically slapped them. 😜😜😜 I know some try to portray something else to me and to the rest of the world, but they can't escape my eyes. Especially now that I have finished my Social Psychology Certificate Course. When that happens, it is my job to subtly bring them back down to earth. Oh, I have my ways. Having said that, I am a bit more choosy with whom I extend my mentoring time to now. Quality over quantity. As of last year, my new motto is that my mentoring zone is a 'No Drama Zone'. The moment you bring your drama in, I will drop you like a hot charcoal. So far, this has worked perfectly for me, seeing as how the Myanmar folks just love dramas! But I never say no to anyone who just needs some help or advise. It is up to them whether they are "arr nar" or not. But some do feel as if they are entitled and these are people I don't care to give time to.
The uni where I am lecturing in, Strategy First University is closed at the moment - again, we all know why. I think much to my students' joy, I am publicly admitting that I miss their naughtiness. In particular the current digital class that had to stop midway. I used to dread Wednesdays because this class is particularly naughty. They are united in their naughtiness 😫😫😫 But now that I haven't seen them for a month plus, I'm beginning to miss them. I just miss teaching overall. I did try over the Thingyan break to get them to do a lecture with me online. But they were so naughty, they ignored me!! 😕😕😕 Well, I have a bad feeling that when school actually reopens, they would all have forgotten everything! Like every business in Myanmar affected by the Covid-19, SFU is no different. I have very high respect for the school's principal and for what he does to empower the youth of this country and will continue to give them my support, as long as it is within my capabilities.
The unnaturally quiet Thingyan this year here in Myanmar had also given me some time to reflect - is my job here really done?
With the Covid-19 wreaking havoc globally, we can already start seeing the damage being done here in Myanmar particularly to the underprivileged communities. I read about a man starving to death a couple of days ago and it is so very sad. Yes, whilst it is true that I don't think I have another 8 years to give this place, but I know now there's more work to be done here. I do know that I can't possibly do it alone. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. I do have some plans in my head on rejuvenating a small part of the economy post-Covid and at the same time, helping ease the burden of the poorer communities. I just need to put the proper plans in place and find the right people to partner up with. So, do stay tuned! (If you're interested - let me know. I'm gonna be working closely with local restaurants and small eateries.)
They say in every cloud, there is a silver lining. In every dark times, you can find the light. In every challenges, there are opportunities. And in any occasion, we can choose to rise. Well, I am going to choose to rise, as I always do, against the electricity, the challenges, the burning, the spitting, the idiotic road users and all the frustrations. I am not Mr. B, so I might flip the table and lose my shit every so often - made worse that my MMA classes have also stopped these days so I have nowhere to release my anger except on my poor husband 😂😂😂 or I might give an idiot road user my middle finger (you know, one day, I'm gonna be a popular meme in Myanmar - "Sayarma Eileen and Her Middle Finger" 😝😝😝 but seriously, some of these drivers really deserve my middle finger!!) Anyway, I just have to understand that for me, my life's goal and purpose does not change, where ever I may be. Whenever I digress, I need to refocus on my purpose and find ways to action upon my purpose.
These days, with a volatile pandemic situation, my future plans look a little vague. While my new adventures would have to be on hold for now, I intend to make use of my time here, to continue doing good for the people of a country that had welcomed me and MOH for the past 8 years.
