On August 8, 1988, the 8888 uprising began with student protests in Yangon (Rangoon). These protests quickly spread across the country, involving hundreds of thousands of monks, children, university students, housewives, doctors, and ordinary citizens, all rallying against the government. The uprising came to a brutal end on September 18, following a bloody military coup by the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). Thousands of deaths were caused by the military during this period, although official military figures claimed around 350 people were killed.
The 1988 uprising was a pivotal moment in Myanmar’s political history and people’s struggle for democracy. It marked the rise of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as a national icon, led to the downfall of General Ne Win, and demonstrated to the world that the people of Myanmar did not accept military rule, despite the era’s limited technology and connectivity. After the crackdown, the military promised a nationwide election, which was held, but they never transferred power, instead employing divide-and-rule tactics among the people’s leaders to maintain control.
The 1988 uprising and the 2021 spring revolution are frequently compared, as both stand out in Myanmar’s history of resistance. Early in the 2021 spring revolution, a popular protest chant was, “Don’t use the 1988 tricks in 2021,” signifying the belief that the 2021 revolution would succeed without falling prey to the same tactics used by the junta in 1988.
To understand the perspective of those from the 1988 generation regarding the 2021 spring revolution, we spoke with U Tun Kyi, Secretary of Political Prisoner Affairs, who participated in the 1988 uprising as a student and continues to support the spring revolution in various ways.
MM: What do you think of the 2021 spring revolution and the 1988 uprising in general based on your experience?
Tun: Spring revolution started in 2021 when the army staged the coup from the civilian government. Our people’s anger and anti-regime manners got out of control even more because Junta staged a coup at the time people were expecting to completely control the second wave of Covid-19 in Myanmar and their hope to get the vaccination. Back in 1988, we were able to end the regime which lasted for 26 years and we ended a number of administrations controlled by one and only political party in the country at that time. However, we were not able to finish the game (end game). I still feel it is our responsibility. And I can surely say 2021 is set to win. People are sacrificing their living, their health, their social welfare, everything you can ask for because they understand if Junta is still ruling the country, it will destroy their future and their generations’ future. So, people are with the “must win manners” with surreal unity in our country’s history including mountainous and mainland to fight this regime till they can build the true Federal Democracy Union. Plus, ethnic armed groups such as KIA, KNU and even Kareeni are fighting against the army and hence, I believe we will win.
MM: Your generation at that time led the 1988 movements, what makes the difference between this 2021 movement led by Generation Z and yours back in 88?
Tun: The 2021 spring revolution has the benefit of advanced IT and youths take advantage of connectivity. For example; you can see all flash strikes become news headline locally and internationally within minutes. Back in 88, we ended up being cracked down by the security forces before we reached our goal because of the lack of coordination between the media and the protesters. And the army spies’ network was very strong and already infiltrated even before we did anything. Gen Z in this era has got the benefits of the more advanced IT than back in 88, no doubt. Another thing is the teamwork they got, which is way better than us. The main important thing is commitment. Gen Z’s commitment to carry out the strikes on the streets continuously is incredible. If the strikes on the streets vanish and people are back to normal life, of course the junta will show the world via their mouthpiece media that they have completely controlled the country but they still could not do it because Gen Z keeps going. And Gen Z gets overall support from the people nowadays more than we got back in 88.
MM: Once you yourself a “Gen Z” who had participated in the 88 uprising, what is your message to the current Gen Z in this 2021?
Tun: Gen Z of 88 would like to tell our fresh Gen Z of 21 that we respect, value and appreciate their commitments in order to terminate the dictatorship from the root by putting their own lives at risk. And we request to carry on this revolution till the “end game”. And we are together with you. Current Gen Z have overwhelming support from the whole country and they are in essential role to build a true Federal Union.
MM: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the Gen Z of 2021 in your opinion?
Tun: Of course, we all make mistakes as we all are human beings. I would like to point out a mistake that Gen Z made, not intentionally but just an honest mistake. Do you remember in the early days people urged not to allow filming the protests because security forces might see the footage and track them down? Because of that small mistake, out of good-will, we missed chances to document the evidence of how the Myanmar army brutally cracked down the resistance forces who were only armed with air guns and slingshots by the use of superior forces and deadly weapons including the likes of RPG. What happened in Bago or in Hlaing Tha Ya, Yangon, we need evidence to prove how brutal the Myanmar army is to its own people. Hence, we must keep every evidence possible. So, I would like to suggest Gen Z to structure the information sector to flow the news and keep documentation in timely manner.
MM: You mentioned that technology is a huge benefit for this Gen Z. As we learnt some social network posts had backfired, what is your advice on that?
Tun: Thanks for this question. I would feel bad if I forgot to mention it. We can’t entirely rely on social networks. When I say flow the information, we shouldn’t post details of the operations set out. PDFs are on the ground still operating the mission, and if someone posts about their perimeter, extraction point etc, it breaches security. Information may get leaked to the enemy so it is very dangerous. We have learnt our lessons. Especially from the Mandalay case (when the location of a local pdf office got leaked and ambushed within minutes), everybody shared the picture of a man at the rooftop which many assumed was a junta’s sniper but turned out to be one of our guys. As the army has its own technology to trace the location by a picture on social media, the case ended tragically. This is one of the weaknesses of the technology and we shouldn’t let the same thing happen again in the future. Lesson here is to bear in mind that we have to take advantage of information technology along with our wisdom, not with emotion.
MM: To learn from history, could you please tell this generation how the 1988 uprising failed to step up to the end game?
Tun: Though our students’ union was united, there were two groups divided among political leaders. There was a U Aung Kyi-led political group including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Former Army Chief, General Tin Oo. On the other hand, there was U Nu, the former prime Minister and Bo Yan Naing. I am sorry to witness that both groups failed to get united when they sat together with us at the 119 heads committee meeting at that time. They stood separately with their own grudges. If all the five leaders found mutual agreement and led on the uprising together, I am certain we could have done a lot of work together. Unfortunately, our enemy by that time Khin Nyunt knew that there were differences in our camp, he managed to slow down the uprising tempo by announcing to hold the general election to draw everyone’s attention away from the revolution. That was the delay tactic which we did not know at that time and everybody fell into it. They did hold the general election but they did not transfer the state power to the winning party.
MM: As a follow-up, have you seen any delay tactic Junta is using to divide us in 2021 revolution?
Tun: Of course. The rumors you might have noticed a few days ago that General Yar Pyae (representing the junta) had met Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. I can say the regime is working together with ASEAN, China and Russia to push out that kind of propaganda to slow things down. The five-consensus agreed in ASEAN is also another delay tactic, we can assume ASEAN has initiated that tactic for the military regime to extend more life-lines. China and Russia have also instructed junta to receive the delegates from international communities, to receive the courtesy calls from the world leaders, to allow the UN affiliate organizations, to release the political prisoners so the international community may become more welcoming of military regime. That’s the textbook example of how these generals play politics whenever they have so much international pressure throughout our history. Now you can see how inhuman Junta is by using COVID-19 to draw our attention away from the revolution. People are getting too busy finding oxygens for their loved ones already.
MM: Based on your experience, how can we win the end game?
Tun: The most important thing is to keep the mindset that we must win this revolution. I do believe we will win this end game if everybody believes in that and try persistently. As you can see, the domestic unity that we have now has never been achieved in the history of Myanmar and that’s one of the key factors to win the end game as well. I would like to add that we can always take care of our own problems at the end of the day. What is important now is to fight the common enemy first. If you have a thorn in your skin, will you remove it first or will you cure the damage first? I would suggest we can always cure our damages later. The first priority is to remove the thorn which is the common enemy. If not, we only talk about our damages, our goal will be still far away.
Please note that this interview was conducted in 2021, and certain events may have since occurred or changed.
