I have this post-it on my laptop desktop currently to push me because at the start of this week, I had zero motivation. Absolutely zero motivation to do ANYTHING. I was given my video task to do and I was dreading and kind of scared about doing a video all on my own. I will have a colleague with me but I'll have to teach her a little production skills. I even freaked out last night just thinking about doing the video, but I kept looking at this post-it and psychoing myself that I can do it. And yes, whoop everyone's asses hahaha. So somehow I am quite motivated already. I'm gonna rock it.

Btw I got this meaningful quote from a church I went to recently.



There's something about old churches that make me feel... at peace.

This church is situated within the University of Yangon. My Burmese friend asked me to walk around its campus with him on a whim and I said yes without much enthusiasm haha. I expected it to be some normal University ground teeming with students so I never really thought much about it. Besides, I was kinda having a slight headache.

But after walking around the campus grounds and talking to my friend...




I felt so sad.

There were no students around. The facilities were unused. And there was a certain sense of... melancholy in the air.

I felt sad not because it was empty but because of what I learnt and found out - The history behind this University.

University of Yangon, or what was known then as Rangoon University, used to be a thriving place where students congregated to think up of plans for their country. And also plans to overthrow the government. Because of political activity and the threat it posed to the military, they shut it down throughout the 1990s and it has been closed ever since.

The right to an education is one of the most fundamental right every citizen of every country deserves. Myanmar's education used to be one of the region's best when the British first granted independence to the country. Now... what is left is a dilapidated campus, and its soul... well, nary a soul. What could've been, was not to be.

I always think of Myanmar as a place that could have been like Singapore. Rich and prosperous IF it had had the right leaders and governance in the 1960s. Well they did actually... Aung San Suu Kyi's father - Aung San was supposed to take over. But the opposition assassinated him. Along with 8 others.

Just think about it in Singapore context to get a better perspective: It's like LKY and people like Goh Keng Swee getting killed upon gaining independence from the Brits. Isn't that sad? Then Singapore might not be what it is today. That's why I always feel like I can understand Myanmar and feel sad for it.

And it so happens that the day Aung San got assassinated was just a few days ago, on the 19th of July.

And I got to witness something very special last Sunday, an occasion that they call Martyr's Day.



Aung San was assassinated at 10:37am. And at exactly 10:37am, everyone in Myanmar honked their cars as a mark of respect for the man and a show of defiance to the incumbent government.

It was quite amazing.

I was invited to follow my Burmese friend to his English class. They started the class off solemnly as students took turns to read biographies of their leaders in class. Everyone was so serious... And not bored at all. In Singapore, we'd all be moaning lor. I would be moaning also lor. Coz it's typically so boring. But here, they take these things seriously. And they're all young people like us.

So for me, what was supposed to be an innocent turn up at an English class turned out to be quite revelatory for me. (and yes I was still having a bit of a headache then haha)

Every single day that I am here, I am just really thankful of everything that I have. A good education, good system..... everything. And I respect Myanmar people a lot. They don't have much in terms of governance and a system but they are aware of many things happening around them.


Then it inevitably reminds me of the young ones of this nation.

I want to tell you guys about my trip to Bago. I would've loved to say I enjoyed that trip very much but guess what, the highlight of my travel there was actually THE TRAIN RIDES (again)

Coz I made friends with these little ones...



So when we got off the train, I requested to have a picture with them!

Myanmar is opening up and these young ones need to be prepared for the new world.

Even though their standard of education is low, and although my colleagues' degrees are not equivalent to our standards in Singapore, I have never seen them as less intellectual than me. In fact, it is the reverse. They are so aware of issues and hold many deep opinions about the world. I see this in all of my Burmese colleagues. One of them showed me her tenacity for learning when one day we were supposed to connect my laptop to the printer wirelessly. When we first tried, it couldn't work and I was thinking in my head, ah whatever, I'm just gonna tell me boss that we can't connect it. But no. This woman ah, she was so persistent about it and even called the printer company to find out the problem EVEN THOUGH I told her I know the solution already. She was all out to solve the problem. And there I was feeling languid the moment I couldn't do it at the start. She was the one who pushed me to find out the solution and it was actually easy lol. But I was lazy. She taught me something.

Lemme end this post with this picture that I've already posted on IG. But I like it a lot lah so, here goes:


: )

p/s my boss staring me down liao, gotta get out of the office already, cannot use wifi.
p/p/s I know this is really too much info.. BUT IM SO GLAD I GOT MY PERIOD!!! After 4 freakin months, I swear to god I thought I could no longer have kids. And I was prepared to head to the doctor's the moment I get back to Singapore.
p/p/p/s I'll be meeting go-far peeps for dinner tomorrow hehe! So excited to see fellow Singaporeans again. And what a coincidence that the destination is Myanmar. Just nice when I'm havin internship here ; )