Denial and shock
The fallout from the state-sanctioned execution of four democracy activists continues to reverberate. While the media has followed much of the response from international actors and noted leaders, there has been little reported on how it has impacted the younger generation in Myanmar. We recently received a submission from someone in Yangon, who describes how he and his friends have felt following this execution. To describe Ko Zeya Thaw’s role in Burmese society to an American readership, he could be characterized as a kind of mix between Grandmaster Flash and Chuck D of Public Enemy; in that he founded an entire genre like the former, and brought a sense of political and social engagement like the latter. To put this in context, can you imagine how you would even begin to feel if the US courts held secret trials for Grandmaster Flash and Chuck D for fabricated crimes, and then ignoring the domestic and international condemnation, killed them in a prison execution room?
The feeling of the the morning I heard the news of Ko Zeya Thaw and Ko Jimmy is the same morning as the first seizure of power in Myanmar. I was in denial thinking that it's not true. It was as if the military council had announced that they had officially killed people. I think this news will become a source of strength and fuel for the soldiers under the military dictatorship. They will be thinking like “Even our father/BaBa doesn't care about international affairs, so we can kill as much as we like.” They will commit war crimes and monstrosity to people in the coming months even worse than what we have to face right now.
Although I was not close to Ko Zeya Thaw, He is a person who was an influence to me and my friends who are now 30 years old. Somehow we were so proud that a young rapper was elected for Parliament and stood beside Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and he is also among the young people who took the first step in Hip Hop in Myanmar. It doesn't ever really make sense, all we can do is support the family and friends and make sure you never forget the person. It's tough.
Me and my friends are in a denial stage and I don’t know when we will recover from it. We hope to think that these are all bad dreams and Somebody has to help us pitch really hard. No matter what the result is…