During the last day of Thingyan, Min Aung Hlaing’s wife Kyu Kyu Hla, and her children and granddaughters visited the Thingyan Pavilions in Pyin Oo Lwin District, we can see that the wives of the generals had to work chores to get favour. Everyone knows that this is unusual only in this era of transparency. There has been a normal routine for these people like Ne Win, Than Shwe and Min Aung Hlaing since long time ago.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing and his wife Kyu Kyu Hla come to celebrate the air force’s birthdays every year at the Meikhtila Air Force. The officers’ wives sweep the guest house where they will be staying. They have to do the dusting. A bottle of alcohol that Min Aung Hlaing drank at the ceremony cost more than 300,000,000 MMK since before he seized power. It is not easy for the captains who have to pay for the pudding, cow’s milk before going to bed, etc., to work with the battalion fund.
Why do you have to do it like this? The role of wives cannot be underestimated in the military, where money and honor are important. As mentioned above, Why are the generals and wives afraid of Khu Khu Hla? Husband’s authority, position, powers are words of superiors’ wives. If you don’t believe me, I want you to stay in the army for a month. Even the wives of low-ranking officers, when inspecting the houses of lower rank-soldiers, if they see a piece of garbage in front of their house, they used to shout and scold. There were people who had to run and hide the cross they were worshiping.
When I was in the army, I also heard about an incident of an infantry unit. The wife of the battalion commander of that army had to participate in many of the conditions of her husband’s work. Sometimes, reporting to the battalion commander outside of office hours, there are situations where the quartermaster general, the military captain, and the rear-line major come to report. Then the battalion commander’s wife gave permission with verbal command. The worst situation is where she inspected the the main weapons garage. It was later learned that action was taken.
On the other hand, even though the military commanders, starting with Min Aung Hlaing, usually talk about the attitude of their comrades whenever they visit the cantonments. But in reality, if a major general visits, from the battalion commander of that army to the lower level, there is more work, and the wives have to take care of the major general’s wife with step-by-step pressure starting from the lowest level of soldiers, no matter how educated they are. It can even be said that the “women” destroyed army due to the longing of power and wealth under the gradual discrimination and oppression.
Ever since Than Shwe’s era, during DSA graduation and Thingyan festival, they usually visit Pyin Oo Lwin camp. During Thingyan, DSA handsome cadets have to play water near the boarding house where Than Shwe’s daughters were staying. For Than Shwe’s daughter, the wives of the regional commanders had to do all the cleaning, including chores.And even participated in weddings full of diamonds that was not allowed to watch officially.
The main reason is that the Tatmadaw nominally does not distinguish between ranks, but in reality It is because they assume that husband’s position is wives position too. If the generals came to visit training schools, the trainees in the army had to work like the fools surrounded by the fire. They believe that this is a responsibility. In the end, they lost their lives under the personal orders of higher officials and wives.