The Start of a Movement
Coco represents a unique intersection of personal ambition and pivotal historical events, as shared during a recent podcast discussion. A 31-year-old doctor in Myanmar, he stands at the crossroads where the pursuit of a medical career abroad collides with the imperative to engage in a protest movement against a military coup. Shaped by a blend of familial expectation and personal revelation, his journey into medicine wasn’t just a path chosen but a legacy inherited and ultimately embraced within the walls of his father's clinic. His transition from reluctant student to passionate practitioner echoes a broader transformation — from private citizen to public actor in a nation's struggle. Coco's story is a testament to the transformative power of mentorship, the weight of generational expectation, and the unexpected call to action that can redefine a life's trajectory. In the following excerpts, he describes the steps leading up to the Civil Disobedience Movement, which arose soon after the 2021 military coup.
“Doctors and medical staff around the nation were supported nationwide and hailed as heroes and heroines of Myanmar.”
Luckily, there was already cohesion and connections between medical staffs, doctors and volunteers around the nation in response to COVID-19 in 2020. For communications, we were very active on social media, especially on Facebook with dedicated discussion groups on matters related to public health and COVID-19. There were many Facebook groups with doctors from same graduated years, non-medical volunteers and other communities who regularly shares news and ideas on the group chat. During COVID-19, despite the lack of proper protective equipment and adequate medicine treatments, doctors and medical staff courageously stayed on the frontline of the pandemic. Hence, doctors and medical staff around the nation were supported nationwide and hailed as heroes and heroines of Myanmar.
As the coup arrived in 2021, these networks of doctors and medical staff immediately began discussing ways to resist the junta. After looking at past political events around the world and witnessing the success of massive civil disobedience against the government systems, we decided to start a CDM. After we posted the CDM approach on social media, many people just followed through. Although roughly 30% of these followers do not understand what CDM stands for, many of them knew that by joining the CDM, we were all standing up against our common enemy – the Myanmar military junta.