An aversion for fish
The following was written by Htet Myat, a former Tatmadaw soldier who has since defected, and translated by Yuu Tu. The story is made possible from the team behind Breaking Brainwashed.
There is a camp called Vikkaw. A stream runs at the bottom of the camp, with the water at thigh-level. There are many big stones in the streambed, and no place is deep enough to allow for swimming. The water is cold and clear.
Around this area, soldiers had to construct new roads with bulldozers, sedans, trucks and donkeys, all of which had to be rationed from the front line camps. When they construct these roads, they also must bring in a guard team as well.
Our battalion was given this task of road security, and we were responsible for the area from Baw Se Kho to Vikkaw camp for about 2 weeks.
In the morning, we checked the roads thoroughly. If there was traffic, we divided into groups and monitored the situation. If no traffic, we just took a break.
On the front line, food is always hard to come by. So we had to manage it on our own. We bought food where possible, and if none was available, we had to search ourselves for it. As we were near this Vikkaw stream, we often fished and looked for frogs and bamboo shoots to eat. I enjoyed it actually, going around with these restless legs of mine, instead of sitting down.
One day, my friend and I went to fish in that stream, evaluating the best place to drop the net. That evening, we went back to check if we’d been successful.
The soldiers remaining at camp joked as we left, saying, ”Sir, bring the big fish, we are waiting here with mashed chilies!”
We went along the stream with a voracious desire to eat fish. It took a long time to get through the water, so we were very tired as we slipped again and again.
Before we reached the net, we saw the shadows of several people. One was actually on the shore and the other was near the shore. When I looked at them carefully, the one on the shore had a gun! At that time, the other fellow saw us, and he waved his hand. We thought that they were calling us to give the fish they had caught, so we ran to them happily. But, well… we were wrong.
When the one with gun saw we were coming, he started to shoot at us!
We said each other, ”The one called us over, but the other is now shooting us.” So, we ran as fast as we could.
In truth, we ran in fear. We couldn’t dive into the water as it was too shallow, and the stones were big, so we had to avoid them. But both of us are tall blokes, and our knees became bruised from these large rocks. We felt tired and huffed and puffed from running in fear of the bullets from their gun, all while bruising our knees and elbows. It was quite lucky we two got back alive to our camp.
When returned, the others asked us what happened, after seeing all the blood on our knees and elbows. Well, we said that nothing happened! They all laughed at us. They laughed very loudly, in fact. When the paramedic put medicine on the bruises, he said, “Instead of fishing, you two come back from taking a bath together!” All we could do is just to smile, as we couldn’t really say anything to him.
Since that time, I admit that I hate fish, and I no longer eat it even when served.
Let me tell you something, friend. If a guy is waving you, it doesn’t mean he is calling you with good intentions. Sometime, it may be setting a trap.
That is also one of our military tactics. Today, you cannot ignore and assume anything about them. Do not lose consciousness, or else you will find yourself in trouble. It is the same in politics.
There are a lot of things we cannot decide only with our subjective view. We have to use not only physical strength but also mental strength. We have plan everything by thinking every possible situation.
I hope every revolutionary will understand what I want to say. Thank you very much.