The True Patriot
It is in only times of strife that one learns what they really believe… and what is more, what one is actually made of. And after the coup happened, May learned that she had a love of country that she never knew existed. Like so many Burmese right now, she chose to disregard her personal safety in order to fight for the freedom of her people. As inspiring as this was to hear, her words now carry a tragic undertone, as May has been missing since this interview. For all the more reason now, the voice of May, and so many like hers, need to be heard and shared at this time.
“I wouldn’t want to see my country in shackles again. And if I would have to die tomorrow to achieve that, I would not be afraid.”
“It's been really exhausting. I guess that's the only valid word that I could use to describe how I've been feeling.
There's this sort of well inside me to just go out and scream and just dispose the military. It's very hard to describe, but this feeling inside me arose that I didn't know existed. Perhaps it's called nationalism, perhaps it's patriotism.
I do not know what it is, but I've been ignited inside. When I say ignited, I mean that feeling that this cannot happen and that I would do anything for this country. I never viewed myself as nationalistic or as a patriot but I wouldn't want to see my country in shackles again.
And if I would have to die tomorrow to achieve that, if I knew for certain that it's going to happen I would not be afraid to die.
But I also know that this is not just my personal feelings. I know that a lot of people feel the same way. We've seen how we've been pulled back from society. We've been economically damaged. We've been put into shackles. As the younger generation we've spent half of our life under the dictatorship and the other half in a pseudo-democracy.
So I think the contrast for us was very stark. And that ignites a lot of extreme feelings inside of us.”