International Women’s Day might’ve been yesterday, but that doesn’t mean we should stop celebrating women the other 364 days of the year, especially women who are paving the way for others. Case in point: 30-year-old Myat Yi Mon, who is the Yangon Bus Service’s first ever woman bus driver.
Although there are women bus conductors — Myat Yi Mon used to be one herself — this is the first time that one is operating as a driver.
“When I first started driving [the bus], I ran into a few problems with narrow roads and having to wait for passengers to board. But other drivers and vendors help me out, so everything’s been okay so far,” Myat Yi Mon told 7Day. Considering that she’s been in the role for less than a week — her first day was on March 4 — it’s understandable that she’s still trying to get the hang of things.
The owner of the bus company that operates Myat Yi Mon’s bus also explained, “We’ve put her in a trial role as a driver. She’s not a stranger to our bus [system] — she used to be a bus conductor, and we’ve taught her how to drive and helped her acquire her driving license. She also used to drive school buses. She’s gotten better at driving [public] buses, so we switched her over to a bus driver role.” Myat Yi Mon’s bus operates along the number 21 route, which runs from the University of West Yangon in Hantabin to downtown Yangon’s Mahabandoola Road.
Although a specific number was not disclosed, the owner stated that Myat Yi Mon was receiving the same salary as her male colleagues. He also said that they would try to hire more woman bus drivers in the future.
While bus companies have said that they do not discriminate between men and women, it’s obvious that apart from Myat Yi Mon, the rest of the city’s public bus drivers are men. When asked why this was the case, the owner of another bus company explained to 7Day that it was because they hadn’t received any driver applications from women. *insert major eye roll*
