One of the other well-known bands in the punk new
wave in Myanmar is Rebel Riot. For 29-year-old singer and
guitarist Kyaw Kyaw, his idea to start a band was instigated
during his country’s Saffron Revolution in the late summer
and early autumn of 2007. Protests had kicked off in Yangon
and spread around the country after the government
removed fuel subsidies, causing the prices of petrol and
natural gas to skyrocket.
“After [the revolution], we believed that people have the
power to oppose the military system. That’s why we became
a punk band – to speak loud for justice,” says Kyaw Kyaw.
From a fashion trend to a music underground movement,
Burmese punk runs deep in a country where approximately
one quarter of the population still lives below the poverty
line – a rate that doubles in rural areas. Rebel Riot tackles
this state of affairs with the lyrics of dissent of the variety that
have defined the punk genre: “No fear! No indecision!/Rage
against the system of the oppressors! We are poor, hungry
and have no chance/Human rights don’t apply to us/We are
victims, victims, victims.”
right Punk band
members play games
with children during
a “Food Not Bombs”
campaign
below Food and
activities are organised
for the community
during “Food Not
Bombs” events