We miss the good satires of a silent Myanmar Muslim activist

“Maung Yin… looks like you’ve become a big media man now, eh?
‘Ah Ba’ is proud of you…
So tell me, what kind of news are you writing these days?”

— “Yes, Ah Ba.
These days I’m posting real-time updates on Muslim violence in France… and writing all the news about ISIS, the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Fatah, the Chechens, Boko Haram, the Brahui groups — basically every Muslim extremist or Arab extremist group, Ah Ba.”

“Ah, good, good… keep writing.
But just to ask — do you know this?
In France, for poor and underprivileged children — especially for Eastern-European-origin Christian kids — the Qatar Foundation builds schools and funds their education. Did you ever hear about that?”

— “Oh… no, Ah Ba, I didn’t know.”

“And in Cambodia and Laos — did you know it’s Arab foundations supporting children’s education?
Because of them, many primary-school children in those countries receive better schooling and happier childhoods than our Myanmar children.
Ever heard about the Prince of Bahrain digging wells and distributing food across Central African Christian countries?
Or about how, during the Sri Lankan civil war, almost every poor Buddhist household in the conflict zones had at least one item donated with a Saudi label?

What about the time in Bangladesh when a Bengali Buddhist monastery was destroyed by floods — and an Omani engineer rebuilt it with his own money, with his own hands?
You remember Nargis aid camps, of course.
And when almost the whole town of Mandalay burned in ’84 — did you hear who came and repaired Mandalay’s water supply system for free?”**

“My dear nephew… you have to look at the world with fairness.
If you only report extremist violence, then troublemakers will support you — they’ll use religion to insult others — and innocent minorities will end up being blamed.
If you keep doing this, you will never find peace.

Those very extremist actions you highlight will one day come knocking at your door.
Because you are the one inviting them.
And they will come.”**

“But if you write about charity, humanitarian work, and peace — then peaceful people will support you, praise you, and rejoice.
You yourself will feel calm and peaceful.
And those merits, that peace, that loving-kindness — will come back to you.

If you still don’t understand media ethics, go read again, nephew.
Study Julius Streicher — the media man executed at Nuremberg…
Study Jean Bosco Barayagwizi and Ferdinand Nahimana — the Rwandan media leaders jailed by the International Tribunal.”**

“By the way… ‘Ah Ba’ knows you boys get scared easily too.”

Credit – Ye Min Nyi Nyi
Read this, Ukkar Ko Ko, Thun Ne Soe, Kyaw Swar Myint… come and read.