Many of you may not know this, but Myanmar is in the middle of it's revolution. There are LOTS of stuff going on here - including their first Bi-Election. Here are some facts** I've collected about what's going on.
- Civil Wars are happening on the outer townships. What does this mean? Many Myanmar people have gone underground. They are "underground villages" hiding from the government that is suppressing them, and killing them if they oppose them. Some of them escape and make it to Thailand as refugees.
- A lot of information is STILL not public to the western world. For example, in some areas, social networking is not available. I doubt Myanmar people even know what Twitter is, or are on Facebook. Information going out of the country by journalists and whatnot is guarded.
- As of a year and a half ago, when an American girl I met who is living here came over here, there was no Myanmar on Google. It was just a black hole where the country should be - no images were allowed out of the country. And that was only a YEAR AND A HALF AGO! To put into perspective - I was just getting my news that I was accepted to Thailand at that point. Crazy, huh?
- There was a big election on Sunday. The woman running for a position is compared to Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, for the Myanmar people. She has been under house arrest for 10 years, and didn't even get to see her husband while he was on his death bed. She is known as "The Lady" (real name Aung Sun Suu Kyi) and is the leader of the NLD party (National League for Democracy). If she won a seat in office, it is a step towards the UN lifting Sanctions against the country. The election seemed to run smoothly, and she has been delcared a winner. However, the confirmation of her win will come this coming up Sunday.
- If you were caught wearing any NLD propaganda about a year ago - it was reason enough for the government to shoot you. Now, it is everywhere and it is ok. (I bought a bandanna myself as a souvenir).
- During the election, it was watched heavily by other countries to see how "fair" the voting would be. If the election went fairly, it would set the tone for a fair full democratic election in 2015. However, what WE do know (from being here) is that not all townships are allowed to vote (imagine a state in the US being told that they weren't allowed to vote for seats in Congress/Senate - total uproar, right?!?!?). Some voters were taken OFF the voting list, and deceased people were added. However, we still know that The Lady has won (unofficially).
If you want to read more about The Lady - here is her Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
There was also a movie in the US released, simply titled "The Lady"
Here's the NLD website:
http://www.nldburma.org/
Minglabar!
Apes :)
**My info might be off a smidge, but this is what I've learned from others while I've been here.
- Civil Wars are happening on the outer townships. What does this mean? Many Myanmar people have gone underground. They are "underground villages" hiding from the government that is suppressing them, and killing them if they oppose them. Some of them escape and make it to Thailand as refugees.
- A lot of information is STILL not public to the western world. For example, in some areas, social networking is not available. I doubt Myanmar people even know what Twitter is, or are on Facebook. Information going out of the country by journalists and whatnot is guarded.
- As of a year and a half ago, when an American girl I met who is living here came over here, there was no Myanmar on Google. It was just a black hole where the country should be - no images were allowed out of the country. And that was only a YEAR AND A HALF AGO! To put into perspective - I was just getting my news that I was accepted to Thailand at that point. Crazy, huh?
- There was a big election on Sunday. The woman running for a position is compared to Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, for the Myanmar people. She has been under house arrest for 10 years, and didn't even get to see her husband while he was on his death bed. She is known as "The Lady" (real name Aung Sun Suu Kyi) and is the leader of the NLD party (National League for Democracy). If she won a seat in office, it is a step towards the UN lifting Sanctions against the country. The election seemed to run smoothly, and she has been delcared a winner. However, the confirmation of her win will come this coming up Sunday.
- If you were caught wearing any NLD propaganda about a year ago - it was reason enough for the government to shoot you. Now, it is everywhere and it is ok. (I bought a bandanna myself as a souvenir).
- During the election, it was watched heavily by other countries to see how "fair" the voting would be. If the election went fairly, it would set the tone for a fair full democratic election in 2015. However, what WE do know (from being here) is that not all townships are allowed to vote (imagine a state in the US being told that they weren't allowed to vote for seats in Congress/Senate - total uproar, right?!?!?). Some voters were taken OFF the voting list, and deceased people were added. However, we still know that The Lady has won (unofficially).
If you want to read more about The Lady - here is her Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aung_San_Suu_Kyi
There was also a movie in the US released, simply titled "The Lady"
Here's the NLD website:
http://www.nldburma.org/
Minglabar!
Apes :)
**My info might be off a smidge, but this is what I've learned from others while I've been here.
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