I hope my friends who know little about Myanmar can take a moment to read this.
From colonization by the Western world to the atrocities of Japanese massacres. From endless civil wars to devastating natural disasters — Myanmar has borne nearly every misfortune a nation can suffer, so much so that it bears a certain resemblance to old China. On top of that, some Chinese people have taken advantage of Myanmar’s political turmoil and the central government’s limited border control to engage in telecom fraud in northern Myanmar. This is not the doing of the Myanmar people, yet the country has been unfairly labeled as dangerous. Ignorant netizens back home have jumped on the bandwagon, painting Myanmar as a hell on earth and plastering it with every dark label imaginable.
It’s like a bully who escapes from his own village at night, then prowls the border roads of another village, swindling and cheating the residents of his original village. After pulling off his scams, he hides away. Instead of discussing how to root out the bully in their own village, people hurl abuse at everyone in the other village. This is the madness of the mob, the stench of twisted values, the absurdity of outlandish behavior, and the farce of ridiculous melodrama.
The people of Myanmar have built many great golden pagodas, open to all visitors. The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon alone used dozens of tons of gold, and its umbrella atop the spire is inlaid with countless gems. Given the recent surge in gold prices, if the Myanmar people were truly as greedy, deceitful, and untouchable as the labels suggest, the Great Pagoda would have long been chipped away or sold off by local thieves. As one of the countries with the highest proportion of Buddhists, the Myanmar people’s devotion to the Dharma, the Path of the Buddha, and their understanding of the sutras have long been a lifelong practice. Insulting the Buddha is even worse than breaking the law. The military junta and local warlords may change laws at will, exploit and bleed their own people, shoot civilians who insult the warlords — but they cannot destroy the Shakyamuni Buddha in everyone’s heart.
Please do not let algorithmic recommendations and exaggerated short videos blind your eyes. Do not forget to listen to those silent yet resolute voices. Myanmar is not just war, fraud, and suffering — she also has kindness, devotion, and resilience. The light of this country may be faint — even when you look down from the plane landing at Yangon Airport, you might see few lights — but its hope has never been extinguished. In their hearts, the people of Myanmar are as simple as anyone else. They care about whether their next meal is delicious, whether their child has caught a cold on a chilly day, whether the milk in the store is on sale, and whether tomorrow will be better.
I believe that no matter what difficulties Myanmar may face in the future, she will always rise again. The strength of a country, or even a nation, does not lie in how devastating the blows it has suffered, but in how it can always lift its head in the harshest of circumstances, turn toward the sun, and grow strong.