What is it like to be a Muslim in Myanmar, the capital of pagodas?

In other words, Awen picked up a magic lamp on the way to travel. The genie said, "Whatever wish you have, I can fulfill it." Awen looked at his rustic appearance, then looked at his companion Momo who was wearing the most fashionable and fashionable outfit, and said, I want to become a fashionable person. The genie said: Yes. Was it too late or too soon, Awen’s soul flew out of the body?

If Myanmar is the country of pagodas, then Yangon is the city of pagodas

When I landed When I was in Yangon, Myanmar, it was late at night, and all the shops in the airport were closed for work. There was no currency exchange shop or shop selling mobile phone cards. I only had bills with a minimum denomination of ten US dollars in my pocket. , the mobile phone also completely lost its function at this time.

A local middle-aged man came over with a bundle of kyats and asked me in broken English if I wanted to change them. I asked him what the exchange rate was. He gestured to me, 100 US dollars for 120,000 kyats. It’s more than 10,000 less than the normal market exchange! However, if I don’t change and take a taxi, the driver won’t even be able to give me change. I was so cruel that I exchanged $100 with him. On the way back to the hotel by taxi, I regretted booking a night flight.

That night, I stayed in a retro luxury yacht hotel on the Yangon River. The hotel was actually transformed from a yacht, and the retro furnishings in the room made me feel like I was in another world. The pendulum hanging on the wall, the nautical chart hidden in the mirror, and the kerosene lamp used in the last century? All these are telling me that I am sailing in the time tunnel at this moment.

The pendulum of fate pointed in the direction of freedom

Early the next morning, the sun shone on the Yangon River, and the river surface was glowing with dazzling light. It was already the end of November, and The temperature here is still about the same as it was in early summer. I climbed from the deck to the top of the yacht and went to the hotel's buffet restaurant.

Watching the sunrise over the Yangon River from the upper deck of the yacht

The boy who appeared in front of me was named Jimmy. He was wearing a red shirt on his upper body and black slim-fitting trousers on his lower body. Wearing a pair of black sunglasses, he is tall and thin, about 1.8 meters tall, with dark and healthy skin, and long, stylish hair. When he saw me, he smiled and took off his sunglasses. I saw his deep eyes, two thick black eyebrows, a high nose bridge, and earrings on both ears. Compared to I was really dwarfed by it.

He is indeed a very standard fashion model. If I could open Yangon and Myanmar as him, what I would see and feel would be very special!

Maybe it was a coincidence, maybe it was God's will, the meeting of red and white, the intersection of two lives happened

Jimmy is very talented in language, his English is very good, pronunciation and vocabulary The portions are all very good, and you can even hear some simple Chinese. He told me that he once attended a party held by a friend on this retro yacht, so everyone in the hotel knew him. When we were dining, the waiters all smiled and nodded at him. Perhaps to keep in shape, he eats very little, almost a quarter of my food intake. He once went on a diet to lose weight. His stomach has memory, and since then he can only hold very little food.

While chatting with Jimmy, I logged into Facebook, checked his account (Jame Iris), and found that he is still a celebrity on the social network. The photos and videos he posted, each There are hundreds and thousands of likes and comments. What is the daily life of a Myanmar fashion influencer like? I became more and more curious about his life.

Photos of fashion events posted by Jimmy on Facebook

The first stop, the place Jimmy wanted to take me to was his home, which is a Muslim community in Yangon place. It turns out that Jimmy was born into a Muslim family, so of course he is also a Muslim.

Every time he goes to worship, Jimmy will put on his national costume, and you may see a little sadness in his deep eyes

Myanmar has a total population of about 55 million, and Buddhism Christians account for about 90%, while Muslims only account for 4% to 8%. Some extremely violent incidents in recent years have spread fear and suspicion. As the largest city in Myanmar, although Yangon has basically escaped the violence, in May this year, some minor conflicts also occurred here, deepening fear.

Putting on Burmese traditional clothing, Lungi, I instantly felt a sense of down-to-earth fashion. Jimmy took me through a neighborhood inhabited by Muslims, where he grew up and walked daily

It is said , the root cause of violence is the legacy of the colonial period. At that time, Indians came to Myanmar as public officials and soldiers, many of whom were Muslims, sowing the seeds of resentment in the hearts of some extreme Buddhists in Myanmar.

Jimmy was walking on the streets of Yangon, and pagodas were almost everywhere, shrouded in golden light

Jimmy and I were walking in a Muslim neighborhood, and people looked at me for my foreign skin tone. The strangers didn't feel much curiosity, and people were doing their own things quietly as usual. Only when Jimmy greeted his acquaintances did they look at me and nod.

No matter yesterday’s conflict, life goes as usual

Children playing in front of Jimmy’s house

Jimmy’s home

Jimmy finally He stopped in front of a low house. This was his home. Compared with the building next to it, this house is really inconspicuous. The house is divided into two floors, with the bedroom upstairs, the living room downstairs, and the kitchen further inside. As soon as we entered the door, we saw Jimmy and his family sitting in the living room watching TV.

Jimmy's family

This is really a big family. Jimmy's parents have divorced. Now it is his uncle who lives with them. Jimmy also regards him as Father. There are three younger sisters and a little niece living together. I was embarrassed to ask if these three younger sisters had the same father as him. In addition, he has a married brother and a sister.

The woman on the right is Jimmy’s sister Mar Lar Sein

When it comes to her sister Mar Lar Sein, Jimmy’s mother’s eyes are full of longing and sadness. Many years ago, Malasheng and her husband went to Ruili, Yunnan, China to make a living. The police found drugs in her backpack. It turned out that her husband had hidden the drugs in the bag without telling her. She could not prove her innocence to the police, so she was arrested. It has been 19 years since he was sentenced to prison.

This reminds me of the story of the heroine in the movie "Meth" shot by Burmese-born Chinese director Zhao Deyin: the third sister was trafficked to China and then returned to Myanmar. She hoped to save money to take care of her child. Come back and live a peaceful life. The third sister found her cousin and started selling methamphetamine. During a transaction, the third sister was caught, and the man who drove her on a motorcycle narrowly escaped. In order to relax his nervousness, he began to try drugs and eventually went crazy?

Poster of the movie "Meth"

Jimmy’s family can only communicate with his sister Malasheng by phone, and his brother remits basic living expenses to his sister in prison every month. Not long ago, they learned on the phone that their sister would be released from prison in another year.

Jimmy told me that maybe because of his sister’s incident, his mother often shed tears and had a heart problem. He wanted to find a way to make more money to treat his mother’s illness.

In order to help us negotiate the price with the taxi driver, Jimmy asked us to stand aside. He went up alone to negotiate the price with the driver and then asked us to get in the car

Farewell to Jimmy’s family , walking on the road, I felt very heavy in my heart. Unexpectedly, Jimmy, who is cheerful and sunny and always has a smile on his lips, has such a bleak life behind him. Except for him and his brother who are working to make money, Jimmy's family seems to have no other family members. I can't imagine how financially strapped they will be.

After leaving Jimmy’s house, we took a taxi, crossed the Yangon River along the bridge, and ran towards East Yangon University, the school where Jimmy graduated. The university is about 20 miles from the city, on the outskirts of Yangon.

The strong man selling betel nut, Burmese people love to chew betel nut, and of course it is also one of Jimmy’s favorites

Eastern Yangon University was born out of Yangon University. Yangon University has officially become an independent university in 1920 and will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary. It was the leading university in Southeast Asia 50 years ago. General Aung San, the founding father of Myanmar, U Nu, the first prime minister after Myanmar’s independence, and U Thant, the third secretary-general of the United Nations, all graduated from Yangon University.

After the Burmese democracy movement that shocked the world in 1988, Yangon University was closed for several years. It reopened in 1991, but turmoil broke out again in 1996. At this time, the relevant military government completely moved Yangon University from the shore of Swallow Lake and established Eastern Yangon University and Western University.

A famous historical school has completely lost its vitality and spirit.

At the gate of Eastern Yangon University, the two of us looked quite like college students in our outfits

The taxi stopped at the gate of Eastern Yangon University. , I found that the school’s gate was really crude. Later I discovered that not only the gate was crude, but the teaching buildings, classrooms, and teaching facilities inside the school were even cruder.

At the school gate, we were stopped by the security guard. It’s strange that even though we all have yellow skin, we are easily recognized as foreigners wherever we go in Myanmar. The security guard refused to let us in because we were not students of the university. Unless Jimmy can find his professor or school leaders to vouch for it, we will be allowed to visit.

In comparison, the two yellow people like us were indeed too white and could easily be recognized.

So Jimmy had to ask Momo and I to wait at the school gate. Go in and talk to professors you know. While waiting, I noticed that there were many taxis entering and exiting the school gate, but the security guard didn't even look at them. I told Momo that if I had known better, we would have sat in the taxi and let the taxi take us into the campus, which would have saved us a lot of trouble.

After a while, Jimmy came out on a motorcycle. He was afraid that we would be impatient, so after communicating with the school professor, he took a motorcycle and rushed out. After obtaining permission, we successfully entered the campus of East Yangon University.

The school does not have an artificial lake, and you can see naturally formed ponds in the woods

If you want to use two words to describe this place, apart from the "simple" one used before , another word is "primitive", which is so primitive that it seems a bit desolate.

Although we just met, Jimmy regards me as an old friend

Jimmy has not returned to school for several years. Compared with when he went to school, the school now has There have been some changes and some new buildings have been built. When we visited, we met several of his alumni who came to say hello. They stayed at the school to teach after graduation and became teachers here.

In the main teaching building of East Yangon University, maybe it was the lunch break, but we did not see many students here

Jimmy studied geography during his university years. , he has to commute between home and school every day, which is about 15 miles and takes three hours by bus. In college, he worked very hard and studied very hard, and achieved excellent results, and his English scores were among the best.

The teaching building of East Yangon University is overgrown with weeds

Sunlight shines into the classroom

The versatile, tall and handsome Jimmy naturally became a He became the object of admiration among girls. There he met his first love, a girl from the next class at school who was also a Muslim. One day, when he passed by her, he heard her singing, so he was attracted by her singing. He looked for the singing and found her. However, good times are always so short. After graduating from college, the girl married someone else.

Jimmy’s graduation photo

Jimmy, who graduated from college with excellent grades, did not find his ideal job in Myanmar. He said that many Myanmar companies do not hire Muslims, and even if they do, they pay Muslims much less than other ethnic groups.

Movie: "Goodbye Wa City". In the gloomy tropics, the girl Lian Qing meets the boy A Guo. They are both stowaways who trekked from Myanmar to Bangkok

In 2014, in order to find a better job, Jimmy managed to get a Singapore work visa and went to Singapore. , working as a waiter in a western restaurant. During the two years he worked in Singapore, he sent almost all the money he earned to his family living in Yangon to treat his mother's illness. In 2016, his work visa expired and he had to return to Yangon.

Jimmy’s Chinese textbook. He once went to Yunnan to study Chinese and was able to communicate simply in Chinese.

I once saw an information on the Internet. Due to discrimination in employment, many Myanmar residents In order to get a good job, local Muslim men not only hide their religion, but also shave off their beards and give them the same name as the Bamar people. Their daily habits are no longer much different from those of Buddhists.

I started traveling around the world because I was tired of working. Unexpectedly, at my first stop, Myanmar, I had the chance to realize how happy and privileged work is in certain places and at certain times for certain people. .

The student restaurant in East Yangon University

After coming out of East Yangon University, we returned to the city, and Jimmy took us to a Muslim restaurant. This restaurant is a bit like a tea restaurant in Hong Kong. In addition to being clean and delicious, another feature is that it is cheap. These pastries and snacks are so delicious that they explode on the spot, and they are so cheap that they make us doubt our lives.

Muslim Restaurant in Yangon

Now, Jimmy does not have a serious job, and the fashion industry is not very popular in Myanmar, so being a fashion internet celebrity does not give him It brought a lot of stable income, but it did not affect his love for life at all.

Jimmy likes to take selfies

Jimmy has a dream in his heart, he wants to be an artist. God gave him a good skin and a rare talent. He has a natural sensitivity to fashion and art, and he loves singing and dancing. Even if he lives in the dust, he must absorb nutrients from the dust and grow into a tropical plant, so that he can live a decent and dignified life. Perhaps fashion has given him this dignity. He made me understand that fashion is not just a luxury for the rich. Even people living in poverty can still rely on him for strength and salvation.

In Mahabandura Square, we sat down on the grass. In this park in the city center, all kinds of people gather here. They have different skin colors, different classes, different races, different beliefs, and come from all over the world to enjoy this small green space. Jimmy lay down on the grass and looked at the blue sky. This day was a dream for both of us. After waking up from the dream, I would continue on the road and his life would be back on track. Perhaps, this day's intersection may bring about some slight changes in each other.

The same sky, the same dream

In the square, we met several children. Jimmy told me that they were all homeless street children. They regarded the park as a I have a home and go there every day. No matter when I go, I can see these children there. One of the boys, whose face was covered with Thanakha (Thanakha neem tree) powder, left a deep impression on me. Jimmy asked me if I had any change, and I said yes. He took the change from my hand and bought a bunch of balloons, and then gave the balloons to the boy. The boy took the balloon with a smile on his face.

Jimmy said that this was the cleanest day he had ever seen a boy dressed. Every time he came here before, he was always dirty, and sometimes he even didn't even wear clothes.

The boy held the balloon with a smile on his face

Jimmy and the little boy

When we were about to leave the square, I suddenly saw a woman sitting On the edge of the square, she was crying sadly and wiping her tears. Another woman next to her was saying something, maybe words of comfort, maybe words of helplessness, maybe words of equally sadness. Jimmy said that the crying woman was the little boy's mother, who begged near the square with her child every day.

The next day, when we were passing by nearby, we saw the woman and the little boy again. They were in a different place, and I could hardly recognize their appearance. When Jimmy pointed them out to me, I couldn't quickly identify them either.

We are walking through the lobby of a five-star hotel

Through the crowds, through the bustling or desolate, through the bright or dark, Myanmar seems to gradually appear in my mind. It becomes clear, and then becomes blurry in an instant. This is the kingdom of Buddha, a kingdom of two poles, a corner forgotten by time.

I hope that Jimmy can realize his dream one day, and I also hope that the child can have a home one day.

Jimmy

I gave Jimmy an idea. He speaks English and Chinese so well. I can introduce my friends who are going to Yangon to travel to Yangon and he will do it. Wizard so you can earn some fees.

If you are about to travel to Yangon and need guide services, you can search for JameIris on Facebook, or contact me via private message in the background.

Photography for this article, traveling companion in Myanmar, the first stop of the global trip: Momo

Momo and the little boy

The first stop of the global trip to Myanmar has ended, and the second The itinerary of stopping in Cambodia has been announced in advance in the "Follow Awen to the World" WeChat group. On December 8, Shenzhen-Phnom Penh; on December 14, Phnom Penh-Shenzhen. The winner of this free trip is the netizen "Da Meng" who signed up through the Jianshu platform.

Looking forward to our trip to Cambodia with Dameng.

I'll wait for you at the next stop. If you are interested in traveling with me, you can sign up via private message in the background. I divided the world trip into different stops. At each stop, I will provide a free travel quota. I will pay for the round-trip air tickets, food and accommodation, and you are responsible for taking photos to record our trip. My only criteria for selecting people are fun and relatable people. Traveling with interesting people will make the journey less boring.

I'm waiting for you here