{"id":10172,"date":"2026-09-29T03:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:20:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/?p=10172"},"modified":"2026-09-29T03:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T21:20:13","slug":"the-right-to-speak-about-our-union-in-ethnic-languages-2-conclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moemaka.net\/eng\/2026\/09\/the-right-to-speak-about-our-union-in-ethnic-languages-2-conclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Right to Speak About Our Union in Ethnic Languages (2) \u2014 Conclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Right to Speak About Our Union in Ethnic Languages (2) \u2014 Conclusion<\/p>\n

Maung Yit (MoeMaKa)<\/p>\n

September 16, 2026<\/p>\n

And so, just as Radio NUG had its sunrise, eventually its sunset came as well.<\/p>\n

Public servants\u2014or CDM civil servants\u2014who remained loyal to the people and the country were never the kind of people who complained about the salaries, allowances or benefits they received from the public. What little compensation they received, I would rather call a \u201chardship allowance,\u201d as successive governments have traditionally called such payments.<\/p>\n

Writer Khine Khine Saw Lin once told a story in MoeMaKa. She asked Nway Oo Maung, \u201cHey, how much do you get for working at Radio NUG?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty thousand,\u201d came the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cFifty thousand baht?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u201450,000 kyat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those presenting weekly programs in ethnic languages, as well as those reading the weekly English-language programs, carried on with similarly modest allowances. Even full-time CDM workers received very little.<\/p>\n

They sustained themselves largely on the satisfaction of doing something meaningful.<\/p>\n

But eventually, in October 2025, Radio NUG ceased operations.<\/p>\n

The explanation was that the NUG could no longer afford the cost of radio transmission, although it continued providing some support to the staff. The Ministry of Communications, Information and Technology (MoCIT), which was dissolved around the same period, also provided whatever assistance it could.<\/p>\n

Still, once Radio NUG shut down, it is not difficult to understand that among the first things to disappear were all of the ethnic-language programs.<\/p>\n

From Radio NUG to m.CDM<\/p>\n

Whatever happened, the CDM public servants themselves had already decided that they wanted to continue their information and media work.<\/p>\n

So they kept their small community alive under the name m.CDM.<\/p>\n

We at MoeMaKa Media likewise decided that we would continue working with this new generation of media platforms that had emerged and been revitalized through the Spring Revolution.<\/p>\n

For more than two decades, MoeMaKa had operated as an independent, self-reliant media organization. We were individuals largely responsible for ourselves\u2014no one was responsible for anyone else; you did what you could and accepted the consequences yourself.<\/p>\n

Now circumstances had brought us together with a generation of CDM media workers accustomed to the responsibilities and practices of what they called \u201cstate media.\u201d<\/p>\n

And together, we would have to find a new road forward.<\/p>\n

From Radio NUG to m.CDM, these colleagues also helped breathe new life into MoeMaKa\u2019s literature and arts, finding ways to bring our work to wider audiences. For that, we owe them our gratitude.<\/p>\n

So our response was essentially:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right. Let\u2019s keep trying together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The transition from state media toward an independent CDM media organization\u2014one that is revolutionary in spirit and oriented toward the people\u2014is itself filled with challenges.<\/p>\n

But one thing had become certain: with the determination, energy and commitment of the CDM community, we had decided to keep walking this road together.<\/p>\n

Building the Union Ourselves<\/p>\n

This essay has already become quite long.<\/p>\n

But what I want to say is this: we are not merely trying to build the kind of media organization we envision. Nor can the Union that people themselves hope for be built simply through somebody else\u2019s sponsorship or support.<\/p>\n

The decision that we will stand together and live together, based on our own convictions and choices, must emerge among the people themselves, at every place and every level.<\/p>\n

For the Union and for all the peoples who belong to it, the role of public servants will always remain important.<\/p>\n

Government, therefore, must emerge from among the people. It does not have to descend upon them from above as some privileged authority.<\/p>\n

I believe the road we ourselves have traveled demonstrates this.<\/p>\n

At today\u2019s m.CDM, we have already invited back the ethnic CDM colleagues I mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n

Nway Oo Mai, who regularly reads the news in Burmese, has now enthusiastically begun presenting it in her own Chin Lai Zo language as well.<\/p>\n

Others have also willingly returned to work together. You can see this simply by looking at the ethnic-language programs now being presented.<\/p>\n

Until now, we have spoken about our Union primarily through the Burmese language.<\/p>\n

Now we are taking the next steps toward speaking about that same Union not only in Burmese, but in the many languages of its ethnic peoples.<\/p>\n

What I Learned<\/p>\n

In conclusion, I want to share the lessons I have learned.<\/p>\n

The first is that we once assumed Burmese language and Burmese writing were naturally the primary means of communication for the Union. After all, we ourselves could not speak ethnic languages.<\/p>\n

But I came to understand that communicating in ethnic languages is an urgent responsibility at the Union level\u2014at the level of the state itself.<\/p>\n

Public servants have a responsibility to make that possible.<\/p>\n

And when institutions at the state or national level are unable to fulfill that responsibility, then we, as fellow peoples of the Union, must step forward voluntarily and shoulder it ourselves.<\/p>\n

If state media cannot do it, then perhaps \u201cstateless media\u201d must step in and serve the Union.<\/p>\n

One Final Lesson<\/p>\n

There is one more lesson, and perhaps it is the most interesting.<\/p>\n

We try to include as many ethnic languages as possible.<\/p>\n

We try to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to speak in their own language and in their own voice.<\/p>\n

But when people from all of these different ethnic communities come together, we also sit around the same table and discuss things together in Burmese.<\/p>\n

We value our own languages while also speaking a common language through which we can communicate with one another.<\/p>\n

And perhaps that is what it ultimately comes down to:<\/p>\n

We want to live together in a Union where each of us has the right to speak in our own language and in our own voice\u2014and where all of us can speak together about the Union that belongs to us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Right to Speak About Our Union in Ethnic Languages (2) \u2014 Conclusion Maung Yit (MoeMaKa) September 16, 2026 And so, just as Radio NUG had its sunrise, eventually its sunset came as well. Public servants\u2014or CDM civil servants\u2014who remained…<\/p>\n

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