(September 19, 1988/ 16 yrs old/ S.H.S 2, Latha)
Win Maw Oo was a high-school student who was shot dead by Burmese soldiers during the 1988 student protests. She was one of the hundreds of protestors killed in Rangoon after the military coup of the 18th of September, 1988. “I got a phone call from the hospital. She was still conscious at the time,” Win Maw Oo’s father, Win Kyu, recounted how he learnt of his daughter’s fate. “She gave them the names of her father and mother, and home address and telephone number. At the hospital, after the operations, she was put in the intensive-care room. She was unconscious. I had to go to retrieve her body from a doctor. I asked the cause of her death. The doctor told me it was due to shrapnel wounds. Only then was I able to retrieve her body. I was told to bury her within 24 hours. I also had to sign a pledge saying that she was not involved in [political] activities. Her younger sisters and brothers weren’t able to see her when we buried her. At the funeral, there were only 25 people at most. We had to do it behind locked doors.”
“I still miss my daughter every day,” says Win Maw Oo’s mother, Khin Htay Htay Win. “Today, I want to cry the way my daughter cried. They said that they shot in the air, but they aimed straight at her. That’s why she died straight away. In my heart, I know my daughter did it for her country; she gave up her life for the country.”
(Source: http://hamarashakespeare.com/personalities.html)
(Photo: dvb.no, Burma’s Revolution of the Spirit)
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I painted the unforgetable photo in Cambodia while I was living a refugee life. Now the picture will be seen hanging on the wall at the office of CPJ, as I presented to the committee.
Ma Win Maw Oo will always be remembered by us who love Peace and Democracy.