Word: taunggyi
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2002-2002
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After the show, the biggest rock star Burma has ever produced stands on the concrete parking apron of a shabby hotel in Taunggyi in Shan state, alone in the cool midnight air. Zaw Win Htut's fans came by the thousands today to see him perform, chanting his name for hours before he took the stage. But they've left, and his band mates and family have retired to their rooms. He looks almost peaceful now, smaller somehow than when he was in front of the crowd. It's quiet, something the 38-year-old could get used...
...view him automatically as a threat, a potential subversive, because he holds a microphone. Burma's cultural input is zealously monitored and artistic expression heavily censored. Musicians are controlled right down to the length of their hair. Outdoor concerts are seldom allowed, and order is always maintained?tonight in Taunggyi by platoons of soldiers, cops and the white-helmeted riot squad...
...Htut cannot afford to be so idealistic, not publicly. One night in Taunggyi, he was sitting with band mates in a hotel bar, plates of grilled rabbit and feral cat in front of them. On several occasions, he started to bemoan his working conditions, then abruptly changed the subject. Later, he admitted he's thought about leaving the country, about moving to Australia perhaps and maybe opening a studio there. But he isn't going anywhere. His mother is here, his friends, fans and band mates. And he knows he couldn't equal the success he's had in Burma...
| 1 |