{"id":1911,"date":"2025-07-15T05:43:06","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T05:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/?p=1911"},"modified":"2025-07-15T05:43:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T05:43:06","slug":"i-want-to-be-a-tumbling-kelly-not-a-puppet-on-strings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/2025\/07\/15\/i-want-to-be-a-tumbling-kelly-not-a-puppet-on-strings\/","title":{"rendered":"I Want to Be a Tumbling Kelly, Not a Puppet on Strings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Once upon a time, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stood tall with the resilience of a Pyit Taing Htaung<\/em>\u2014the traditional Burmese tumbling toy that always rights itself no matter how many times it is knocked down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Like a Tumbling Kelly, she embodied endurance and quiet strength in the face of oppression. But sadly, once elevated into the role of State Counsellor and Presidential advisor, she seemed to have unknowingly become a Yoke Thay Yoke<\/em>\u2014a puppet pulled by invisible strings, manipulated by the very forces she once resisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps I am too optimistic, but I still hold onto hope. After her baptism by fire\u2014after betrayal, prison, and political exile\u2014perhaps she will rise again, not as a puppet, but as a Phoenix<\/em>: reborn from the ashes to guide Myanmar toward a just future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for me, I have always wished to be like the Pyit Taing Htaung<\/em>\u2014resilient, grounded, and untethered. I refuse to be anyone\u2019s marionette. I dislike even the idea of invisible strings\u2014cables of control that direct my every move, be they visible like a puppeteer’s thread or hidden like political manipulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Burmese, we have a saying: \u201cAh Htet Phar – Auk Phi\u201d<\/strong>(\u1021\u1011\u1000\u103a\u1016\u102b\u1038 \u1021\u1031\u102c\u1000\u103a\u1016\u102d) \u2014a person who speaks frankly to superiors, even at personal risk. That is who I am. I\u2019m not very obedient. I won\u2019t flatter or follow orders blindly. I will lead by working with<\/em> others, shoulder-to-shoulder, not by giving commands from above. I\u2019m the kind of person who takes on the dirty, dangerous, and difficult jobs myself\u2014so that others are inspired to join in, not coerced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Burmese puppet (Yoke Thay<\/em>) is a beautiful art form. Whether depicting princes or ogres, horses or clowns, these marionettes are often painted red or gold, with ever-smiling white faces. But no matter how elegant they appear, they are always subject to strings\u2014controlled, manipulated, and posed by an unseen hand. That is not the life I want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the Pyit Taing Htaung<\/em> toys sometimes come with a string on the back of the neck to hang them up or carry them around. But I reject that too. In Burmese, I would say politely but firmly: \u201cPyit Taing Htaung Yoke-Kyo Ma Shoke Chin\u201d<\/strong> (\u1015\u1005\u103a\u1010\u102d\u102f\u1004\u103a\u1038\u1011\u1031\u102c\u1004\u103a\u101b\u102f\u1015\u103a \u1000\u103c\u102d\u102f\u1038\u1019\u101b\u103e\u102f\u1015\u103a\u1001\u103b\u1004\u103a) \u2014I do not wish to be tied up, lifted artificially, or strung along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me fall if I must. Let me be kicked, ignored, discriminated against, or misunderstood. But I will rise again, not because someone lifts me up, but because, like the true Pyit Taing Htaung<\/em>, my center of gravity is deep within me\u2014anchored in principle, not propped up by power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the mythical Phoenix, I believe in rebirth through trial. In legend, this fiery bird lives for centuries, and near the end of its life, it builds its own funeral pyre of fragrant woods\u2014myrrh, cinnamon, and spikenard\u2014and lays upon it to die in flames. From those very ashes, a new Phoenix is born, destined to fly again with renewed purpose and beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I want to be like that: not a puppet that lives by someone else\u2019s strings, but a Phoenix and a Tumbling Kelly\u2014forever falling, forever rising, forever free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So please\u2014do not try to tangle the strings around me, no matter how invisible they may be. I was not born to be pulled upward by the hand of power, but to stand back up on my own every time I fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once upon a time, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi stood tall with the resilience of a Pyit Taing Htaung\u2014the traditional Burmese tumbling toy that always rights itself no matter how many times it is knocked down. Like a Tumbling Kelly, she embodied endurance and quiet strength in the face of oppression. But sadly, once elevated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,16],"tags":[117,116,118],"class_list":["post-1911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-opinion","tag-foenix","tag-puppet","tag-tumbling-kelly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1911"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1915,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions\/1915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myanmarmuslim.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}