Myanmar’s best-known Enrique Iglesias fan has announced his newest celebrity crush.
Nay Shwe Thway Aung, the grandson of former dictator Senior General Than Shwe, posted a statement on his Facebook page yesterday commending US President-Elect Donald Trump for “act[ing] better than anyone else” and for changing the young man’s mind about “rely[ing] so much on social media and get[ting] emotions through propaganda”.
Nay Shwe Thway Aung developed a reputation as a playboy and wannabe gangster during his grandfather’s rule from 1992 to 2011.
In 2009, “persistent but unconfirmed rumors suggested that Nay Shwe Thway Aung, an alleged drug abuser, and his friends kidnapped Wut Hmone Shwe Yee, a famous model and actress, and held her in his house for several days,” according to The Irrawaddy.
The same article also recounts an incident in which the young man and his friends destroyed and shut down a café owned by two ministers in his grandfather’s junta, allegedly reprimanding them for doing business in a state-owned building. Ironically, Nay Shwe Thway Aung was then working to open a discotheque within the University of Yangon compound.
He was also reported to be involved in a gang of unruly teenagers called Sin Zway, or Elephant Tusk.
His grandfather is best known for banning free speech and dissent, enslaving as many as a million Myanmar citizens and ordering the summary executions of at least 81 people.
Since the end of junta rule, Nay Shwe Thway Aung has made news as the intermediary between his grandfather, the former dictator, and Aung San Suu Kyi.
He has also released some videos of himself miming dramatically to Enrique Iglesias songs.
