'The homeless used to run away from us," said Kyaw Kyaw.
The lead vocalist/guitarist of Myanmar's punk outfit The Rebel Riot affectionately remembers the aversive public reception he and his punk collective Common Street received at charitable food drives and humanity outreach. "But they're now used to us handing out food, clothes and medicines as well as hanging out with street kids."
Still Kyaw Kyaw, 29, Oakar, 26, Zarni, 24, and new member Min Zaw, 24, of The Rebel Riot cut strange figures, carrying themselves with internalised pride that seems to readily guard them from muttered remarks and condescending giggles. Even on the mean streets of crazy Bangkok where eccentric dressers run amok, these young men stand out in full Oi! punk regalia.
Amid the long history and evolution of punk movements, there are many reincarnations and sub genres, but The Rebel Riot's appearance screams the most identifiable "punk look" with their coloured mohawks, liberty spiked hair, studded vests, multiple piercings, chunky boots and anarchy symbols sprayed alongside their much beloved punk forefather band names.
For the uninitiated, "punk" is conveniently associated with three-chord, raucous compositions and leather clad individuals with preconceived aggression. Prejudices are hard to battle, but The Rebel Riot are giving punk a humanist face: despite their heated political lyrics on top of crust punk sounds and in-your-face sense of fashion, members ooze inner tranquillity and kindness, testified best by their humanitarian project to help the homeless.
"For a lot of people when they see punks, they immediately think we're junkies and we're not good for this world. To me, drugs are nonsense. They fight feelings. We want to get the energy from reality, not from drugs," said Kyaw Kyaw, who did nearly all of the talking for the band.
The Rebel Riot, who became an instant viral darling in Thailand when photographed queuing for the BTS in their full punk get-up, were recently in Bangkok to play several gigs and to join the Asian premiere of My Buddha Is Punk, Andreas Hartmann's fly-on-the-wall documentary of the band.
Filmed in 2012, and released in late 2015, My Buddha Is Punk in another attempt to document how the Myanmar punk and hard-core movement reflects, resists and rejects the political repression, Buddhist chauvinism and religious hardliners in the country that is plagued by ethno-religious clashes and long-standing, complicated political turmoil -- even after the latest general election and promise of a new day. The documentary focuses on the awe-inspiring, messianic Kyaw Kyaw and The Rebel Riot, relays their peaceful acceptance of different faiths and humanity, and captures how they reconcile the two seemingly opposing ideologies -- Buddhism and punk -- through their protest music against political injustice, social ills and religious violence witnessed in their homeland.
In Myanmar -- as in its close neighbour Thailand -- Buddhism is strongly revered and a pillar of society. But the aspect of Myanmar Buddhism that is often caught in the global spotlight is the influence of Ma Ba Tha, the nationalist Buddhist organisation led by extremist figurehead Ashin Wirathu. Over the past few years the Ma Ba Tha has reportedly extended its reach beyond the realm of religion to politics, and Wirathu's fiery sermons have crossed the line into hate speech and bred religious tensions especially against the Muslim Rohingya.
Wirathu has been banned from giving sermons for a year by the country's top Buddhist body. To The Rebel Riot, ethno-religious extremism is neither Buddhism nor punk.
"If you have to kill for your religion, you are just a religious idiot," said Kyaw Kyaw. "I don't care what kind of people, what kind of ethnicity or what kind of religion. We're all the same. I just don't want people killing one another. That's all that matters."
At its core, punk is nonconforming, subversive and anti-establishment. Buddhism, on one façade, can be viewed as an organised religion calling for conformity to adhere to strict rituals. The obvious contrast is quite glaring.
"You are right that punk and Buddhism can be 'conflicting'," said Kyaw Kyaw. "On one hand, Buddhism can be an organisation, a system. But on the other hand, Buddhism is about all living, how you live in this life and how you build relationships with others. It's about how you treat others with kindness, love and compassion.
"If you're a part of a Buddhist group then you're under the system. Buddhism is not about organisation. Buddhism is about finding yourself, not following an institution. To us, it's not a system; it's a way of thinking. It's very individualistic. That's what we believe in. In our opinion, Buddhism and punk are similar in a way that they are both about humanity and equality. All human beings are created equal. In our eyes, there's no racism or sexism in Buddhism, but Buddhist organisations create those, you know what I mean.
"Also, Buddhism is very DIY, like punk. You gotta find your own path by yourself."
Even as progressive as The Rebel Riot and their rebellious compatriots in the underground scene may be, the lack of female participants cannot go unnoticed. When this is mentioned, Kyaw Kyaw is quick to show a tattoo of a woman in a Myanmar national dress on his left inner arm as a skin-deep testament to his gender equality cause.
"We're still a very conservative, very religious country, and women are under pressure. They're pushed down. Women still don't have equal chances like men. It's very difficult for women. We support feminism. Feminism is very important to us. We support human rights, and human rights are not only for men."
In physical looks and in attitude, The Rebel Riot seems to embody the shock of change that has swept across Myanmar in the past few years. Formed as teens in 2007 after the much-publicised pro-democracy Saffron Revolution, The Rebel Riot's first taste of foreign music was punk. They found treasure troves full of punk cassettes on the black market where seamen would bring home knick-knacks from overseas for curious teens to rummage through. The band members admit that they can't survive financially being in a punk band. Zarni is a tattoo artist while the rest of the band relies on T-shirt making.
"We know that it's impossible to make a living from our kind of music. Also, if we rely on it solely to survive, it would be difficult for us to be completely honest. Our music is not a popularity contest. It's how we think, and how we feel. Music is our spiritual speech. Music can change, but not so much. The mass only follows certain kinds of music. They listen to stuff about puppy love and failed relationships. They don't want to hear about revolution and freedom. Music can change, but it's still not enough. That's why we need a movement to go with it. We're not only musicians. We also go out, and do something that we believe in," said Kyaw Kyaw.
The Rebel Riot and their punk collective Common Street have been handing out food and other life necessities to the homeless and street kids in Myanmar since 2013 on Monday nights. Besides the food drives, Common Street also spend time talking, listening and advising youngsters who are in need of kind advice or sometimes just a sympathetic ear. They became inspired after seeing and learning about the "Food Not Bombs" movement in Indonesia.
"Everyone can complain. You can complain about everything. F**k this. F**k that. But we've decided to do something which is music and activism in hope for change. Before we just complained, and we did nothing. Just drinking, wasting our time. We hope that when people see us doing this, they will get some sort of inspiration, and they start doing it somewhere else. This is the kind of change we want," said Kyaw Kyaw.
The Rebel Riot believes that their country is still in transition, despite reports there has been a boom in foreign investment in Myanmar, where natural resources are still in abundance, and many opportunities unexplored. Is everything better then? The quiet drummer Zarni is quick to respond.
"I don't think so," he said. "We need time. From democracy to military, that's very easy. It can be done in one day. But from military to democracy, we need more time. Maybe, more than 10 years from now until all the systems are in place. We need a better education system and economic equality. We need to level the economic playing field. On one hand, it's good because people are getting jobs. Another side, however, is that everything is getting more expensive, and the poverty gaps are widening. Poor people are getting poorer, so people are becoming more racist."
"They then blame the foreigners, resulting in stronger nationalism," Kyaw Kyaw added.
The Rebel Riot has no set future plans. They're adamant to continue with their politics-driven music and charitable works. The band is clearly uncomfortable with the thought of receiving financial support from non-governmental organisations as they feel donations do not go directly and entirely to the underprivileged. So far, authorities have not yet tried to suppress them as they deem their movement still small and underground.
"We want to help more than what we're already doing," Kyaw Kyaw said.
"Punk and Buddhism are our ways of thinking … our ways of life. We are rebellious for humanity."
