Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country

- -

When I pick up the camera

maybe my hands are shaking.

I may have a heavy heartbeat.

But after shooting for a little while, it is okay.

I have nothing in my mind. I have only my subject

in my mind, you know. I just shoot.

This is my country.

And this is the way it has been for more than 40 years.

I only remember a few weeks when things were any different.

- -

In 1988 I was just a little boy.

But that's when everybody in Burma got into the streets.

They'd had enough of military rulers.

They wanted change.

It was the students who led the demonstrations.

They became more and more outspoken

and they demanded that the generals give up power.

- -

There was so much hope.

We even had Aung San Suu Kyi

who came back from Europe to lead the people.

But the generals wanted it differently.

At the end of the day

3,000 people were killed in the streets, and

it was all over.

I feel I want to fight for democracy.

But I think we had better make a longer plan.

We cannot go out to the streets again, and get shot

because we have no more people to die.

These people were so brave

but sometimes I feel they died for nothing.

- -

There is nothing left from '88.

It's like everything has been forgotten.

Aung San Suu Kyi is sitting in house arrest

in the middle of Rangoon.

She is in the house

but you cannot go and talk to her.

There is just... you know

darkness.

I feel the world is forgetting about us.

That's why I decided to become a video reporter.

At least I can try to show that Burma is still here.

- -

We have to hide our camera in a bag.

We can only shoot for a little while.

And after that

we have to smuggle our footage out of the country.

It is a very difficult job.

But we try.

If they catch me with a camera

I know I will go to prison.

And, if people talk to us and tell us what they think

they will go away, too.

So they keep silent.

Our stories are silent.

In the night times, I always think about

what I did during the day.

A little worried

"Oh, who could have been watching?"

Or something like that.

What if someone knows me and noticed I am shooting pictures?

Yeah, I think about this.

Fear is so deep in everybody. Also in me.

Sometimes when I feel like this, I go and see Ko Maung.

There is a whole group of us in Rangoon.

We are all facing the same problems

but Ko Maung looks at it differently

even though he's already spent 12 years in prison.

He is a special guy. He doesn't seem to mind.

Oh, shit!

Ko Maung is a persistent person.

He is rarely upset or depressed.

He is strong.

The information, pictures and photos

from Internet reporters was crucial

because it's telling the world what is going on.

They are the world's eyes and ears in this situation

because we, as journalists, can't fulfill our role properly

because we are banned by the authorities

from going in.

- -

I remember August 15 quite well.

I was on a bus going to Rangoon.

I decided to make a story

because the mood was quite strange on the bus.

Not like usual.

On that day, the government raised

fuel prices to double rate.

Everything got much more expensive.

To normal people, that was a huge problem.

They are still scared.

Who is an informer? Who is military intelligence?

You cannot know who is who on the bus.

But, although they are not talking

I know, something'll happen soon.

I can feel it.

When I arrived in Rangoon,

I heard the news that a prominent demonstrator will

make a solo strike at the crowded market

in downtown.

The security is very tight in Rangoon.

So many government people are there without uniforms.

He may not last more than two or three minutes.

He will be arrested, we're sure.

For our team, it is the time to use all our energies, and

we decide that everyone will go there.

So... we went there and spread around

and these things happened just in front of me.

It was Kyaw Kyaw who got this footage.

My tape is lost.

I got too greedy at the time.

Because I followed them.

That's me in the white shirt with the black bag.

I followed very close and I saw them

throwing the demonstrator on a truck.

I ran towards the truck.

I had to get a picture of this.

Then I hear somebody shouting

It was me. They caught me.

They took me to an office of the secret police

to question me.

How did I get the camera? Why was I shooting this?

So many questions.

I explained that I borrowed the camera from a friend

and that I was just there by accident.

They said, "We don't believe you."

"But we keep the camera and the tape, and you can go."

I was relieved.

But also I knew that I should not be fooled.

Why did they release me?

I think, just to follow me and see what I'm doing next.

Do I work with somebody else?

How do we operate?

All those kinds of things.

When I informed all this to my organization's headquarters

they told me, "You are not secure enough in Burma."

"We want you to come to Thailand."

But...

I didn't reply to their e-mail.

I ignored their order.

I know something will happen.

If I miss the chance to shoot now

I'll have to wait another 20 years.

It is once in a blue moon, you know?

So I decided

"Whatever happens to me, I'll do it!"

After a few days, I got the news that Su Su Nway

who is very famous for her courage

would make a demonstration.

It can lead to a bigger demonstration

if she can do something very well.

So we need to promote.

As usual, we spread around.

They're trying really hard to get her

but the people cover and protect her.

It was a big movement for us and a big mistake for them.