When the time came for Myanmar‘s military to move in and seize power yesterday morning,
Khing Hnin Wai was making some moves of her own.
The 26-year-old was throwing down very earnest aerobics moves just after dawn outside the parliament building in the capital when a dozen black vehicles, including two mounted with weapons, speed into view behind her, barreling toward the guarded entrance.
Coup d’etat underway after Myanmar military arrests Aung San Suu Kyi, president
And Khing Hnin Wai? She didn’t miss a step, oblivious to the coup-in-progress behind her. She just kept on dancing to her fresh Indonesian beats, unaware that she was filming the moment the military swept in to seize the civilian seat of power before the new parliament convened its first meeting.
Responding to her sudden internet fame, the physical ed teacher, who works for the Ministry of Education and lives in a logging town just Naypyidaw, said she had another conflict on her mind: a fitness dance competition to win.
“The background scene and the music kind of match,” she said on Facebook, where she posted the original clip. “I was filming the clip for a competition before the morning’s news came out. What a memory!”
(Her full video can be watched on her Facebook page. For more on them bangin’ dangdut jams, visit our friends at Coconuts Jakarta, who break down why Have Mercy, Bang Jago has become the de facto TikTok tune there.)
That Myanmar woman who inadvertently filmed military coup danced to a hit Indonesian tune
As she danced, she eventually noticed helicopters and additional convoys mounted with heavy weapons passing her. Some of the officers gave her a smile as they rolled by.
The clip was widely shared on social media as yet another in nonstop WTF moments brought to us by 2021.
Vibe check: A woman doing a live aerobics class in #Myanmar this morning, apparently unaware of the ongoing coup. Military vehicles arrive behind her to seize the parliament building. pic.twitter.com/eZX2w2A4AE
— Jake Hanrahan (@Jake_Hanrahan) February 1, 2021
Get a look at Myanmar’s recently built capital city as filmed by a drone:
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