Episode #107: The Power of Dialogue
Like so many in Myanmar, Soeya Min has been trying to adjust his life according to the country’s changing reality over the past several years. And it hasn’t always been easy.
Soeya Min got his start in the travel industry, then he switched careers and began sponsoring live events, as well as managing musical artists. With dreams of owning his own recording studio and record label, his career was advancing… and then the pandemic struck. The entertainment industry was hit especially hard. With work opportunities dwindling and a lot of free time on his hands, Soeya Min began started learning about psychology, a topic that had intrigued him from the years as he listened to, and tried to understand, the various artists he worked with. He also got involved in the world of podcasts, and began following the likes of Sam Harris, Joe Rogan, and Jordan Peterson.
All these interests converged in a pandemic project: starting up his own podcast. Calling it Thoughts and Opinions, he invited guests from a wide range of backgrounds. Having produced over 50 episodes until now, this is one of the first Burmese-language podcasts to gain attention. However, Soeya Min is looking not just at how his own platform can expand, but hopes to elevate the entire local podcasting industry. “If they find all these people are communicating with each other and there's all these platforms and topics, it will get more attraction and then people will be more curious.”
One of the reasons why Soeya Min feels that podcasting has not yet taken off in Myanmar is that “Burmese people are a little bit shy,” and rather than just being relaxed and going with the natural flow of a conversation, there is fear of saying the wrong thing.
But since the coup, the ground shifted again, and Soeya Min has placed a greater emphasis on bringing in activists, PDF leaders, and political commentators to discuss ongoing events, and to talk honestly about sensitive topics. His reasoning, however, is not simply to speak about all the bad things the Tatmadaw is doing. He is trying to bring more nuance and depth of understanding into the discussion, because many Burmese are now uncomfortable entertaining criticism of any kind about the NLD, the PDFs, the EAOs, etc. “When we try to point out the mistakes, and when we have different opinions about what they are doing, those people are getting cyber bullied or labeled as dalan [spies].”
The coup has also changed the way he views the value of psychology. Where he first saw this relevant as a means of understanding the artists he was working with, as well as directing marketing strategies to customers, he now recognizes psychology as critical to helping ameliorate the varying degrees of trauma that people have been going through. With a colleague, he opened his own mental health service platform, and now supports many who are in need.
In Myanmar, however, this was no easy task. “When you say ‘mental health,’ they think you have some kind of disease or disorder, or they think you're just crazy. There's that stigma.” But ironically, the pandemic offered a kind of silver lining in partially normalizing mental health work, as more people began seeing therapists due to the unusual stresses of the time. That said, he acknowledges that more progress was made with Burmese women in this regard than men.
Soeya Min explains that in Burmese culture, boys are taught never to cry, for example, a lesson they hold onto as men. “A man has to be tough, you know? So, if life gets hard, you just get through it. That's the mentality.” Men are also expected to provide for the entire family. “And if you cannot do it, you are seen as a failure, and you cannot show any feminine side of your personality.” So to Soeya Min, this emphasis on a man’s main worth evaluated by his success (or not) as breadwinner serves to discourage many men from looking at, let alone developing, other sides of their character. He also finds a contrast between city and countryside where people are less likely to seek out help. For that reason, his clinic offers free services outside the city on the weekends.
Since the coup, Soeya Min feels that the entire country has been living through trauma every single day. He sees an acute rise in depression as well, although laments that there is not sufficient data to understand how to treat it. “We need to do more research,” he notes. “What are the main issues, like demographics and areas? That's why I feel we need more data and research. We have to know which areas are urgent.” Aside from this, he also hopes that foreign mental health professionals might lend a hand in training locals in how to better provide support during these difficult times.
Soeya Min has also worked with defected soldiers, providing him a rare insight into the psychology of the Tatmadaw. “It’s very sad, because they are built upon fear and exploiting your insecurity. They are purposely making a circle of violence inside their own institution! They are not based on trust. They're not based on love, or on compassion. They're just based on violence, fears, and insecurities.” Such work has also required Soeya Min to listen without judgment, while realizing that what the soldiers really need is a type of re-parenting.
His understanding of psychology is also influenced by his Buddhist meditation practice. When he first began learning about psychology, he was intrigued to realize just how closely related the two actually were. “It is the same concept in a different way, with different types of words. But the concept is nearly identical for me. When you try to find happiness in your life, you have to be very calm, you have to be compassionate, you have to give out love, and this stuff is already in Buddhism. If you want to find peace, you have to look inside.”
He credits his grandmother with being his first meditation teacher, as she guided him how to observe his breath. From there, he learned how to be mindful of the whole body. While mainly self-taught, he has drawn on some techniques from the Mahasi tradition. “You just have to be aware every second. You have to be aware of your hands, movement, your feelings, what you're thinking, how you're moving, what are you saying,” he notes, describing how his practice developed. These days, he has also found a focus on mettā particularly helpful, especially as a mental health professional dealing with clients who are going through terrible circumstances.
This sensitive approach is quite a contrast to how the Tatmadaw has been perverting Buddhism. “The military is using this Buddhism, which is very peaceful and therapeutic, it is a very peaceful religion and they are making it seem like a violent one. That's really crazy, you know?”
Finally, as a mental health professional, he is also quite concerned with how long the Burmese people can keep going without any outside assistance. “All the Burmese people are asking for support, believing in the democratic process, and the democratic values of human rights. But when you have not received the same reaction or support [as Ukraine], people might turn cynical. That's what I'm afraid of, people get cynical and down. Then what to do?”