From Exoticism to Empathy
Nandar Min Swe has supported various fundraising efforts in Los Angeles, and recently came on the podcast to discuss her difficulty in finding support for Myanmar’s democracy movement outside of diaspora communities. In the following excerpt, she describes her efforts to break through over the last two years, and the challenges she has run into.
“Burma is so exotic. If people hear about it and then turn around and forget, it doesn’t stick with them! So how do we make it impactful?”
“Why are we [in the Burmese diaspora] digging deeper into our own pockets when our own pockets are not deep enough, no matter how much we dig, right? It's kind of like a multifaceted issue because, number one, Burmese people tend to keep things to themselves. It's the way they were brought up, or maybe the nurturing. You're not supposed to voice your problems to other people. That's how they were raised. Inside our houses, they always say that you're not supposed to put your inner wall as an outer wall, right? Meaning that you're not supposed to voice your problems to others outside the house.
So this kind of upbringing has led people who have been here [in the Unites States] to be stuck with a certain sensation or sentiment. They might be crying when they get home, but they put on this happy face and pretend that nothing is happening, like wearing a mask, right? They do the same at work, in school situations. They don't talk about or voice how much Burma is in deep trouble.
And even if they do, what happens? Like you said, Burma is so exotic. If people hear about it and then turn around and forget, it doesn't stick with them! So how do we make it impactful?
Another issue is that we don't have influential people or social media status like those in the US or UK, like in Hollywood. We don't have access. I mean, Ukraine has Mila Kunis, right? We don't have anyone like that. We don't have anyone close to Burma who can talk about Burma. I mean, we had Michelle Yeoh, who played The Lady, but that's about it. She talked about it a little bit. But how many times can she go out and talk about it? This is not her country; she just portrayed the character.
And again, getting to the news outlets. Whenever we had rallies in LA, I used to try to send emails to all the local news stations, saying, "There's this rally happening. Please report on it!" But I never saw any news events coming out of it. So I don't know, maybe the Rohingya issue still has a big impact on Burma. Or maybe we are really exotic and unheard of. We just can't excite people enough.
When we did [our last fundraiser] for Myanmar, we received some donations and contributions from our closest friends and colleagues, and some people who were married to Burmese individuals. Even family members chipped in, but that's about it. We never receive philanthropy from big shots who could speak for us or empathize with us.
So that's where we are. And now that the NDAA has passed for 2022, there are hundreds of millions of dollars set aside that we still have to work hard to direct where it's needed! Because if we don't do it, the funds will just go through regular channels, maybe the Red Cross, Save the Children, or Doctors Without Borders. But going through official channels means going through the capital in Yangon or the local authorities, who we know are not reliable!
I don't believe much can reach all the people in dire need in such a situation. So right now, we are at the point of trying to reach the Senate and Congress levels to have some access without official lobbying. Because we cannot afford lobbyists, we are trying to write our own emails and make phone calls. That’s where we are now.”