The Mustache Brothers

In December of 2003, my friend Lisa and I traveled to Burma. We were living in Hong Kong at the time and wanted to make the most of our winter break, as neither of us was making the long trip home for Christmas. At the time, I knew nothing about the country or the military junta that had taken control (renaming it Myanmar). Some people I met who learned that I was going criticized me, saying that my tourist dollars would be going to support the junta which was oppressing the Burmese and had massacred thousands. Once there, however, any apprehensions I may have had about playing a role in supporting the bad guys melted away the night we went to see a performance by a local comedy troupe. Lisa had read about the Mustache Brothers in the Lonely Planet and suggested we check them out. After dinner, we took a trishaw (cycle rickshaw) through the darkened streets of Yangon to the home of Par Par Lay - one of the Brothers - that was converted into a performance space when the junta banned them from performing for Burmese.

Lisa and I were the first to arrive and we sat in two of the white plastic chairs set out in a semicircle for the all-tourist audience. While waiting for the rest of the chairs to fill, Lu Maw, one of the other Brothers, chatted with us. Through the performance we learned more about the struggles of those fighting for a democratic Burma and the movement's leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Brothers stressed that tourism to Burma was vital in order to help spread awareness throughout the world as to the state of things. They encouraged us to take as many pictures as we wanted and to share our stories once went back to our home countries. The Brothers themselves are forced to keep a low profile, but they still make their positions clear in their own way, such as the orange jackets they wear - orange is the color of the democracy movement. Lisa and I liked their jackets so much that we asked after the show if we could purchase them and then posed for a photo with the Brothers.

When I learned about the recent violence in Burma (through an email from Lisa actually, while I was traveling in India), the first thought I had was how the Mustache Brothers were faring, hoping they were unharmed. This past week, my fears were confirmed when the first page of the International Herald Tribune I bought in Tokyo contained a photo of a tired-looking Lu Maw and an article that told of the recent arrest of Par Par Lay. Amazingly, Ma Win Ma (Par Par Lay's wife) and his brothers are keeping an optimistic outlook, continuing to perform and cracking jokes. They are among my heroes and their conviction is truly inspiring. I hope and pray for the safe return of Par Par Lay, and look forward to the day when monks are not killed in the streets while peacefully protesting.