Michael Haack - South China Morning Post https://www.scmp.com/rss/509526/feed Michael Haack is a freelance writer focused on Southeast Asia and China. He has previously conducted research on Myanmar’s history and politics for the McSweeney imprint Voice of Witness and for Yale University MacMillan Center. Michael is currently a contractor with the China Labor Translation Project and Campaign for a New Myanmar. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png Michael Haack - South China Morning Post https://www.scmp.com When Myanmar railway switch operator Ko Thet, 34, and his family were evicted on March 22 from the home they had lived in for generations, they did not have time to pack much. The family of six took “only our essentials: clothes, some pots, and bowls”, he said. They were among the hundreds of families in Mandalay who were forced out of their government-issued housing for taking part in strikes and protests against the February 1 coup that have ground the country’s economy to a halt. Nearly... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3130905/myanmar-railway-workers-stay-defiant-even-after-junta-evicts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3130905/myanmar-railway-workers-stay-defiant-even-after-junta-evicts?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Apr 2021 07:00:17 +0000 Myanmar railway workers stay defiant even after junta evicts them from homes Zarni was 20 years old when he received a life sentence for his involvement in Myanmar’s 1988 uprising, although he had his sentence commuted just in time to join the 2007 Saffron Revolution. He now runs a youth centre in North Okkalapa, which he says is “the only township in Yangon that scares the military”. Home to more than 300,000 people, North Okkalapa is one of the largest working-class communities in Yangon. Infamous for lawlessness and illicit activities, it has also been central to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3128239/amid-myanmars-post-coup-violence-there-one-township-yangon-scares?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3128239/amid-myanmars-post-coup-violence-there-one-township-yangon-scares?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 04 Apr 2021 06:00:09 +0000 Amid Myanmar’s post-coup violence, there is one township in Yangon that ‘scares the military’