Ju: Literature teaches me value of life. Literature teaches me how to love, literature teaches me how to respect others, literature teaches me how to be responsive. Only art can move people forward and only art can change our minds through our hearts.
Ju: Art is a very effective tool for communication.
When I saw this picture, I fell in love with condoms. At first I was very shy even to look at condoms, let alone to touch it. But you have condom bicycles, condom flowers. It is very beautiful. So art can communicate with people. Art can be a translator.
So art is everywhere. And we use art .
Ju: My generation, almost 20 or 30 years ago, almost all of us students know this poem, because this poem was translated into Myanmar by our late leader, General Aung San. And so we try to read it, and we realize this poem encouraged him, General Aung San – atthat time he was maybe 30, 27 eyars old – to overcome the difficulties, the disturbances, the fear, everything. So the art: maybe they encourage us. Everything.
Ju: Then at end of 2011, our president announced the Myit Soe was suspended.
Can we call it a success? Maybe or maybe not. Because it it is not stopped totally. Because he said it is stopped until he is re-elected. But we call it success, because it stops now, and we have tomove forward to continue this social movement.
KS: Do you think it would’ve been different for you if you were not an artist, just as social activist?
Ju: if I were a social worker maybe I would do it a different way. But I am an artist, so we organize through art. Yes we do it, but we have to do it in a creative way, so people will believe us and we can convince even the politicians.
KS: What is a creative way?
Ju: Creative way is not the ordinary way. When we organize people, we include all the people. We know the value of the cartoonist, value of the photographer, and we include them. We include rockers, singers, painters, even the grassroots leaders. We invited the grassroots leaders from every tribe, especially the Kachin tribe, from very remote areas. We sponsored them and we let them stay in Yangon or Mandalay for four days or five days, and we trained them. We shared the knowledge with them, because sometimes we have to learn from indidgenous knwoeldge. So we are like friends: not like trainer and trainee. Not like training, but like we are going happily. I think so.
KS: It’s interesting because when I created this brochure, they had some journalists come to us and say the Flying Circus is very political this year. I said why do you think this way? They said because we are involving people about journalism, activism. And I was quite shocked by that, because it was like artists have no role to play in political issues, according to this particular journalist. Like art should be just about beauty.
KS: How do you avoid the censors? This is a lesson we need to learn in Singapore.
Ju: It is very tricky. Because I am very well-known, and they thought I was doing something. And they were very cautious about watching my manuscript and every time they look, they read, they founds oemthing to censor. So what I have to do is a I feed them something to censor – just 10 or 15 words, or one paragraph, so they try to move it out. And then I very cautiously wrote what I really want to be in it, that novel. And they saw the first paragraph, they let me take it out, and the second paragraph and third paragraph, they miss.
In this way I have to cheat – it’s not a good word, but I have to cheat. But sometimes they are very clever. And they let me take out the whole paragraph and the whole pages. Yes, sometimes I lose. But sometimes I win. But the thing is, I have to write and write and write. When I submit my manuscript,t I have to rpay to lord Buddha, pelase help me, please help e, don’t want it cut down. And sometimes my prayers are heard. But not always.
But it doesn’t matter. What matters is you have to keep writing for your audience.
How do ou avoid the cesnors? This is a lesson we need to learn in Singaproe.
It is very tricky. Because I am very well-known, and they thought I was doing something. And they were very cautious about watching my manuscript and every time they look, they read,t hey founds oemthing to censor. So what I have to do is a I feed them something to censor – just ten or fifteen words, or one paragraph, so they try to move it out. And then I very cautiously wrote what I really want to be in it, that novel. And they saw the first paragraph, they let me take it out, and the second paragraph and third paragraph, they miss.
In this way I have to cheat – it’s not a good word, but I have to cheat. But sometimes they are very clever. And they let me take out the whole paragraph and the whole pages. Yes, sometimes I lose. But sometimes I win. But the thing is, I have to write and write and write. When I submit my manuscript,t I have to rpay to lord Buddha, pelase help me, please help e, don’t want it cut down. And sometimes my prayers are heard. But not always.
But it doesn’t matter. What matters ifs you have to keep writing for your audience.