1.Never pardon until the end of the world
2.The records we wrote with our blood
3.Re...vo...lution
4.The ones who lost in the battle for democracy
5.Oh… Dear Heroes…
6.A nation built with martyrs
7.Our citizens shine heroic bright
8.Our dead bodies here and there on concrete roads
9.could be seen helplessly fallen
10.My dear brothers & sisters…
11.These rivers of blood on these concrete roads can still be felt
12.Do not procrastinate
13.For the ones who died in the battle for democracy
14.Oh for the sake of our fallen heroes
15.Let us fight bravely for our freedom
16.For we are the martyrs who love our nation
17.We swear we will never forgive them until the end of the world!
"Until The End Of The World" By Htet A.Shine
A typical get-to-know small talk with fellow American college students starts somewhat like this: “Where are you from?” asked Becky, to which I promptly answered “Myanmar,” expecting her to make that confused facial expression for a couple of seconds before saying, “Oh… Myan… Mar…”, a slow, pretentious emphasis on each syllabus before our conversation ends. It is a sunshower to have someone respond with an “Oh Myanmar; you mean Burma?” denoting that it would commonly be a fellow international student or some social science enthusiast. Sometimes, when I don’t feel like it, I would just reply with the region Myanmar is in, “Southeast Asia.” But then, I knew I would have to explain anyway when they proceeded on to ask, “Where in Southeast Asia?” The apologetic face that they made for not knowing enough geography turns into a victory smile when I say, “It’s next to Thailand and right below China.” to evade the awkwardness. “Oh, China? Thailand? I like your food.” I would feel bitter not because Becky has no clue what Myanmar is, nor is it because of the alienation of the culture that I identify myself as. I got bitter because it reminds me of the ‘why’ where I am from is lost on the map of Asia.
I felt empty because Becky somewhat showed me a reflection of who I have come to be; someone who has forgotten about what is going on in his country, privileged and caring for none other than his own rights. I asked myself, where is the promise that I have kept myself to always resist the injustice? Where is the will to fight when the Myanmar military devils seize control of their own country on February 1st to crash the dreams of my fellow Burmese youth? What guilts me more is that it all started not even a year ago. I was on the streets of Myanmar along with thousands and thousands of protestors nationwide, mostly furious as their three fingers raised as a symbol of resistance against the military regime; their blood rushed through their veins as they chanted ‘Doh Yay!’ ( Our rights ), and their boards screamed for help to ‘Save Myanmar’, to ‘Reject Military Dictatorship’ or to ‘Release Our Captured leaders.’ ( Myanmar military leaders captured our democratically-elected president along with our national icon and state-counselor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi ) (Kyaw Hsan Hlaing) From all directions, you could hear ‘noises’ of unity in fury, grudge, and love for our nation and younger generations. Cars of all sizes and colors would honk from different corners of the roads, their speakers bursting out loud revolution songs. If you asked which song stood out the most, we would promptly say: “Gabar Ma Kyay Buu” (Never Pardon Until the end of the world), a 5 syllabi introduction and a title of the song that has been stuck not only in our heads but also in that of the 88 generations that fought before us, a long lost close friend that has always accompanied our series of fights in the battle for democracy. What has made this piece stand out for decades?
This is not something Burmese people are not familiar with. ‘Gabar Ma Kyay Buu,’ a song composed by Naing Myanmar during the 8888 uprisings ( 8th August 1988 ), shows a perfect representation of what happened during the 88s when General Ne-Win ordered to shoot thousands of protestors, mainly young university students, resulting in (Phoe Wa)
dead bodies here and there on concrete roads
could be seen helplessly fallen (8-9)
Similar to the 8888 Uprisings, the song mentioned the bravery of our citizens including school professionals and monks, while the devils waited for the right moment to act on the unarmed civilians. (Dellaferrera)
A nation filled with martyrs
Our citizens shine heroic bright (6-7)
The protestors’ bravery is attributed as a light in which it gives off ‘heroic bright’. The direct translation would be bright ‘bold’, which is not used due to showing a weak attribution of courageousness and love for the country. Censorship and barriers were once again raised by the new people in power. The coup led by Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s recent army general, a mulish dictator, and serial human rights destroyer, once again used its old justification of its action by claiming to ‘prevent the country from disintegrating.’(Dellaferrera)
“The fallen heroes” and “blood staining in concrete,” which are vividly mentioned in the song, occur once again, right in front of our bare eyes with our knowledge of these exact events that had happened before. “More than 1,100 people have been killed since Feb. 1 and tens of thousands jailed or forced to flee.” (Simon Tisdall) The root of ‘Until the end of the world’ is based on generations of Myanmar civilians’ demand to ‘resist’ a socio-political change. Ever since Myanmar was under the superstitious General Ne Win, it was shut down from the rest of the world for over 50 years; it had been ruled with absolute autocracy, and our freedom of speech, arts, and transparent information were taken away by a regime of armed military government. Ne Win is one of the predecessors of dictator rule, a strong illustration of greed and power that had preserved repressed Myanmar in cultural close-mindedness of misogyny, systematic ethnic racism, and religious extremism. He was one of the leaders behind defending a self-regulating ‘brain-washed’ system that holds their military power: a system in which the law manual is none other than a piece of the written record in which the main idea is for the military to gain the upper hand in Myanmar’s legislation; education illiteracy and poverty are widespread to keep liberal ideas of standard ‘citizens’ rights’ away from Burmese people; ethnic minorities, gaslighted to turn against each other, holding Myanmar’s position in breaking the record of ‘the country with the world’s longest-running civil war. ( Kyaw Hsan Hlaing) Back in 2015, Myanmar was known to become the newly ‘reborn’ democratic country of South East Asia when our democratic leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won the majority of the votes in all sections of Myanmar’s parliament. But what the international public did not know was the longstanding troubled history of Myanmar, filled with twists and turns that are meant to slow the country’s growth. Regardless, the real-life ‘wonder woman’ and her opposition party went through complex socio-political challenges to achieve her vision of democratic Myanmar, a country based on ‘freedom from fear.’ Within a short 4 years of her government, the dreams of our youth almost got clearer, the room to envision almost became bigger, and the future of newer generations almost seemed to become more sustainable. This is until February 1st when these ‘almosts’ become true that they were dreams of uncertainty all along. “Never Pardon Until The End of The World” is once again deep-rooted in every youth’s heart. As long as our ultimate goal is to obtain freedom against the military dictatorship, and our history keeps repeating itself, ‘Gabar ma Kyay Buu’ would be the long-lost close friend who keeps feeding our demands to resist the injustice.
As an international student living thousands of miles away from home, my rebellious blood has turned cold. I remember the countless nights of news addiction along with the silent mourning for the death of my fellow university students who died for freedom with a bullet in their heads. I remember the tears I fell for not being able to do anything as I watched in silence how soldiers would rape, assault, or torture thousands of unfairly captured detainees, some of them minors, in my comfortable, privileged bed. It is almost as if I chose my path to give up, to forget about all the injustice that they had upon us for centuries, and instead, to continue walking on the easier ‘Americanized’ road. Being a country that has not suffered such instability for over 150 years, the U.S., in its innocence, is ignorant of that treacherous experience and therefore pays no attention. Feeling privileged and at the top of the pedestal, the U.S. does not bother to consider the plights of other countries. The sounds of Gabar Ma Kyay Buu is a ringtone to my alarm that wakes me up from being a privileged kid, uncaring of his motherland:
Do not procrastinate
Oh for the sake of our fallen heroes (12-13)
The 88 song says ‘Ma Tway Way Nae’ ( Do not be confused), if directly translated in English. However, I do not want to portray Myanmar people as ‘confused’, because they are crystal clear in their ultimate intent - “Let us fight bravely for our freedom”, the line that comes next. The word ‘Procrastination,’ on the other hand, takes into account the ‘delay’ in achieving the aforementioned dream, the delay that has resulted from people like myself turning cold. It is a slap in the face saying I am still a big part of this revolution. It serves to bring me back to the streets, my blood rushing with vengeance and bitterness, my heart with all the Burmese people that surrounds me. But realistically speaking, for how long can our resistance be held?
I realize the power of being resilient does not mean I have to be physically present in the middle of an ongoing war zone. I have learned that they could take away my country, take away the young souls of our future, or steal all our resources to sell them to other countries, but what is a country without its people? The revolution is already in me. One similarity between me and an 88 protestor would be our principles; the principles that we share on the injustice:
Never pardon until the end of the world
The records we wrote with our blood (1-2)
I believe we all write our records in different ways. With the mindset that I have for my people, and by leveraging the privilege I have, I believe I could make a change, even if it is with a grain of salt.
That initiative would not have been made possible if I had not stepped on the soil of Becky’s country, the possessor of the world’s largest economy ( Executive Office Of The President ), the land of freedom and independence ( Ujala Yousaf ). We know that the United States, with its astonishing immutable system of democracy, has the power and resources to act against such treacherous injustice. Unlike citizens of third-world countries like Myanmar, the citizens in the west are born with the privilege to protest without being shot and the generosity to speak out. Their voices are the first step to making a change that follows for the Burmese people. Perhaps I should start by spreading the words to Becky.
Citation
Edoardo Dellaferrera https://segbsa.com/author/edf-bsa/. “History Repeats Itself in Myanmar.” Seg.bsa, 5 May 2021,
Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, Emily Fishbein. “'We Shall Not Surrender': Myanmar Rises up against the Junta.” The Nation, 15 Feb. 2021, https://www.thenation.com/article/world/myanmar-protests-military/.
Phoe Wa “Interview with the Creator of Kabar Ma Kyay Bu.” The Myanmar Times, 10 Feb. 2021
“8888 Uprising.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Oct. 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8888_Uprising.
“'We Shall Not Surrender': Myanmar Rises up against the Junta.” Progressive International, https://progressive.international/wire/2021-02-22-we-shall-not-surrender-myanmar-rises-up-against-the-junta/en.
Cover Image: New York Times