Twitter, despite its international success, has yet to catch on here. Apart from media personnel, no one in Myanmar really uses Twitter on a regular basis or even has a personal Twitter account.
But the times, they are a changing. Earlier this year, the President’s office, the Ministry of Information, and Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing all strayed from the pack when they went ahead and joined Twitter. (Suu Kyi technically has an account too, but it was last active over a year ago.)
Now, the President’s Office is too big of a name to bother with following back any of its 1373 followers, but the Ministry and Min Aung Hlaing are slightly less exclusive. The Ministry follows 51 users, while Min Aung Hlaing follows 35.
Being the top investigative journalists we are, we felt it was our duty to delve deep into the two latter accounts. Who are these 86 carefully selected users who have caught (and held!) the attention of some of the most powerful people in our country?
After sniffing around, we found a few irregularities.
Sure, both of them follow a few news agencies, but did you know that members of the Ministry are huge sports fans and also follow the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Knicks? Or that Min Aung Hlaing seems to be invested in the lives of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus? Now you do.
After doing some serious cross-checking, we saw that between the 86 accounts that both parties follow, there are only four that overlap: the Irrawaddy, the Myanmar Times, the DVB Multimedia Group, and — here’s the kicker — Avril Lavigne. Say what?
Immediately, we scoured the web to see if there were any conspiracy theories linking Lavigne with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi or any other members of the Myanmar government.
To our utter shock, we came up empty-handed. In spite of Lavigne’s brilliance and powerful status —‘Sk8er Boi’ changed the music industry as we knew it — no one seems to think that Lavigne has anything to do with the Myanmar government. In fact, Lavigne’s never ever set foot in Myanmar (or has she?).
Ultimately, we had to admit defeat and conclude that the government just really likes Avril Lavigne. Although when you think about it, in today’s tumultuous times, maybe listening to a lot of Avril Lavigne is just what this country needs.
Think about it — is it really farfetched to imagine government offices blasting Lavigne’s 2002 classic ‘Complicated’ on repeat as they read the international community’s accusations of religious persecution and think, Really, why do you have to go and make things so complicated? If it was good enough to get us through our high school years, who says it’s not good enough to get us through a humanitarian crisis?
Avril, if you’re reading this, the Myanmar people need you right now. Between civil wars and allegations of genocide, there’s a lot of fighting going on. Please come hold a concert in People’s Park to bring all of the country’s leaders in one place and help spread peace and joy across the country. Please, Avril, help us attain our happy ending.
