Hard to raise a joyful family under the junta



 
People have suffered from the military dictatorship for a long period. There is a lot of corruption under the junta. The government takes a lot of taxes from the public. Consequently, the citizens have to struggle to support their livelihood. So it’s hard to raise a joyful family.

A young woman is telling about her story how her family have been working hard to survive for their livelihood; include the education under the military dictatorship.

A young woman is sitting on her bed and looks at the fan on the wall. She has long black hair, white skin, a slim and tall body. She is dressing a pink color of T-shirt with blue trousers. She wears two bracelets on her left hand. One is the bracelet amulet mixed with red and white color.

Her name is San San (nickname). She is 23 years old. She was born in Mon State, Burma (Mon State has a short border with Thailand's Kanchanaburi Province at its south-eastern tip). She has one elder brother and one younger sister. The occupation of her father was trishaw driving and her mother job was a shopkeeper in Burma.

San San said that her parents have to work hard to support the whole family. They have a difficult time trying to support the whole family including the education of three of them. At that time, they face a difficult problem with the economy. Her parents could not support their education any more. The tuition fees were very expensive.

At that time, San San was in grade eight. Her brother was in grade ten. Her sister was in grade five. Her brother passed high school and continues to B.A degree. He had to stop his education in the second year of the University because of low income. The economy was crisis. In 2004 her mother left Burma and came to find work to support their family in Thailand. Her mother left Mon State when San San was attending grade ten.

San San said “I saw my mom cry when she left home.”

After that her mother came to Thailand San San continued to study at her hometown. She passed high school in 2007. Afterward, she continued to study B.A degree in Mawlamyine (the capital city of Mon State).

San San laughed and said, “I did not pass the exam on the first year because I didn’t have money to attend tuition (special classes). All students who attended tuition they passed the exam. Those who couldn’t attend failed.”

She mentions that in April 2007, her father and brother left home and to find new jobs that could get a higher pay. Their economic problems were getting bigger and bigger. San San and her sister have to live at their relative’s house after their father left.

During the two years that her father and brother left, her parents could not find good jobs. They have to save money to survive their daily life in Thailand. So they could not send money to them.

At the beginning, when her parents arrived in Thailand, they faced a different kind of problems. They were working in the construction areas. Sometime, the police came to check at the construction side and arrested those people who didn’t have any cards.
“Later, my mother sends the tuition fee for me. And I went to attend special class. Then I passed the course but I didn’t have a chance to continue to study the second year,” San San said.

When she talks about it, she looks down on the floor and her face is upset. In addition, she continues as you know the situation of our country, we have low education systems. At schools and universities, the teachers don’t give lectures to the students to be educated. They open special classes outside. For those people who have money it is so easy for them.  Then teachers let them know what information will be included in the exam. It’s not a good way to be educated.

“It’s a corrupt way,” San San said.

Furthermore, she said that at the end of the year of her university life, she met with one man. He gave an advice to her.

She said, “He said that there was a teaching job. If you were interested to be a teacher, you can get the salary and get experience from your work. There are many migrant children school in the border of Burma and Thailand. If you want to go, I know somebody there so I can contact for you.”

She said, “After that, I make a phone call to my mom, I tell my mom that I will go to teach the children at the border of Thailand. My mom doesn’t allow me so I keep quiet.”

In 2008, she came to Maesot at the border of Thailand and Burma. She came to work as a teacher for one and a half years at the migrant school.

She shared her experiences that she saw the situation of the children who came from Burma was suffering in the difficult life including the morality. They have different background, different life and different kind of children there. Some have good morals but some have not. There were different people come from different parts of Burma.

She said, “I asked one child; what do you want to do when you grow up? You know, he answered that I will go to Bangkok. I will go to do the construction. When I heard his answer I feel so sad.”

She added, the children do not have ambition. It is not their goal. It’s slavery in the other countries. At their age, they need to continue to develop their education. But they have less education.

During the time she worked at migrant children school over one year, she did not contact her parents because she doesn’t want her parents to worry about her.

 “My mother did not know I was at Maesot. My parents could not support me so I had to find work to survive. I didn’t tell them I am in Thailand. I did not contact them for over one a year. After that, I want to know about their life. I also miss them so much. And I called them and let them know I am in Thailand. My parents told me to go back to Burma. I told them I was happy to teach the children so I will go back later,” San San said.


After that, she is usually making phone calls to her parents and keeps in touch with them. In addition, she shares about her experience when she arrived in the border.

“When I arrived in Maesot, there is a new place for me. At the beginning, I didn’t have a work permit card. So I was afraid of the police,” San San said.

She said that after she worked at migrant school one year and a half, in 2010 she became an assistant at Min Ma haw school based in Maesot. She worked there for 3 months.

Then she joined the Continuous Education Program (CEP) to apply for TOEFL to practice her English speaking for one year. Then, she applied for scholarship, and fortunately she received the scholarship. In 2011, she had an opportunity to continue her education at IIS Ramkhamhaeng University. Her major is B.A English.

In December 2011, she went to visit her parents at Mahachai. (Mahachai is a port town about 45 kilometers southwest of Bangkok.) She didn’t see her parents for 8 years.

“I went to wait for my parents at their work. When my mother saw me, she didn’t remember me. I called her mom…mom…mom.. and I held up my hand to say hi,  let her see me, I was waiting. At the first time, she looked at me a few minute, then she called that oh my daughter. I couldn’t remember you. My father looked at me and smile. He didn’t say anything at that time,” she said.

 “When I saw them I feel sad but happy too. For the feeling sad because didn’t see them for a long time,” she added.

She also mentions that she saw her father who got really thin. And he looked older. Her mother still looked fat but she also looks old. She said if possible she don’t want them to do the hard jobs. When she saw them, she feels she really want to work and to support them, want them to live in a better life.

In addition, San San said they went back to her parent’s apartment. She cooked dinner for them and have dinner together with her parents.

She smile and said “my father said, delicious food today. I am very happy to meet them. We didn’t see each other for a long time.”

San San added even though she meets her parent but all of her family members could not live together until now. According to the unstable political situation and the economic crisis, so that they still have to fight for their livelihood. They won’t live a joyful family life until things change for the better.

Jasmine is the pen name of a Shan student in Thailand




 

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