Let’s face it: there was no good news out of Myanmar last week.
On the one year anniversary of the National Ceasefire Agreement, aimed to bring an end to the country’s long-running civil wars, it seemed there was conflict everywhere. Battles between the military and ethnic Kachin rebels have intensified. And the headlines are dominated by the turmoil in northern Rakhine state, where dozens have died after militants attacked a series of police posts on the Bangladesh border.
The ensuing backlash against the Rohingya Muslim population, members of which the government says are responsible, has unleashed a tidal wave of anti-Muslim sentiment on social media.
Thankfully, the weekend brought a change of pace for Yangon, at least, where scores of people turned out yesterday for a festival organized by artists and activists celebrating the country’s diversity. Myanmar is home to more than 100 different ethnic groups and followers of multiple religions.
Collective Dream, a Peace Performance and Exhibition, held in Mahabandoola Park, featured installation art, live graffiti and poetry readings.
Children playing with colours at the Collective Dream festival in Yangon on October 16, 2016. Photo: Aung Naing Soe / Coconuts Yangon
A photo exhibition as part of the Collective Dream Festival in Yangon’s Mahabandoola Park. Photo: Aung Naing Soe / Coconuts Yangon
Here’s one of the poems read yesterday, penned by former political prisoner and writer Ma Thida and worth republishing in full.
‘Collective Dream’ by Ma Thida (translation via Kate Bowen with slight subbing from us)
Oh citizens
Let’s have collective dream
Dear citizens
Let’s dream together
To build independent open society
Let’s build it
Common, our Myanmar citizens!
Let’s wake up from individual dreams
Get out from your own one
Oh my citizens
To change our nation
To improve our society
One person one dream is
Totally not enough
Come on guys
Let’s have our collective dream.
Oh Myanmar citizens
Whether Kachin, Kayah, Karen or Chin
We all want to be treated as human
Oh my citizens
All who devote themselves to any kind of religion are
Not animals, but humans
My citizens
All who believe in any political ideology are also humans
Citizens
One lives either in mountain or by sea
Humans are humans
Oh my citizens let’s dream together
Let’s build a society where
Humans are treated humanely
Oh citizens
Let’s finish the era where only people
with power or money can be treated humanely
Let’s finish it by treating humanely to
Anyone with difference
Let’s finish the era where only people with
Same religion or race can be treated humanely
Let’s finish it by treating humanely to
Anyone with difference
Oh dear citizens
Let’s build the society of humanity
Oh citizens
Our dream country looks all people
With difference as just humans
Treat as humans
That is our dream society
Only I should be leader
No! We don’t accept it
Only my family gets rich
No! We don’t accept it
Only my race should reign
No! We don’t accept it
Only my party should influence
No! We don’t accept it
Only my religion should be superior
No! We don’t accept it
Let’s get out of those selfish dreams
Let’s get out, let’s do
Our society, our nation includes
Autonomous land, people, animals
And on-earth and underneath resources
Our nation, our society
Oh my citizens
Let’s dream together
Let’s dream, let’s dream
To have our nation developed
Let’s have collective dream
Oh my dear citizens
To have equality
We do not need to give up our own property
Our true dream is
Have equality in our rights
Not everybody wants to become leader
But everyone should have guaranteed
Equal rights to become leaders
This is our shared dream among our citizens
Come on! Let’s dream this dream
All together
To be humane
We don’t need to give up our belief
Empathy is taught by every religion
To be humane is to have empathy with others
Let’s not do to others what you do not want to be done
This is our shared dream among our citizens
Come on! Let’s dream this dream
All together
To accept the difference
Is not to give up others with difference
There will be similar things among difference
Of course, people are not equal
But different people should be treated equally
No one is above anyone
And let’s make no one under anyone
Human is human
Whether there will be many differences
Human is human and human is simply human
To treat different people equally
Is our similar and shared dream
Come on! Let’s dream this dream
All together
Oh citizens
In our society there should only be
Humanity and equality
Loved ones will be favored and hate ones will get tortured
That concept should not be in our society
Ours will empathy to all loved and hate ones
We should guarantee equality for all
This is our dream
This is our collective dream
We, citizens, want peace for our country
Therefore we will empathize with each other
And treat all equally
Our country should be peaceful
Because we behave peacefully
We, citizens, will build peaceful society
In our society there should only be
Humanity and equality
This is our dream. Everyone has this dream.
And this is also our collective dream.
Let’s dream.
