Mandalay is attracting some interesting characters these days.
In February, a British woman was walking around Myanmar’s second largest city asking for money so she could take a flight to India. Police took her to Yangon, where she continued her unusual fundraising.
Now, we are seeing images of a ukulele-strumming foreign man singing songs for kyats at the Zay Cho market in Mandalay.
Like the British woman, he also has a sign in Burmese (who is writing these signs, anyway?)
It says: “Mingalar par Myanmar. I’m travelling without money. Help me. Thank you.”
There is also a “no camera” icon, which was clearly ignored by whoever uploaded the photos; they have now gone viral.
The pictures circulated on social media and were posted on Today News on Sunday.
Well, what can we say here? We don’t know enough about his situation or circumstances, and at least he is offering some tunes in exchange for money.
But some ethical queasiness sets in at the thought of a foreign national begging for money in one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.
