The train driver who sacrificed his life in defiance of Myanmar's tyrants

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Because he couldn't face seeing his country fall under military authority again, Win Ko Oo gave up his career—and died.

 

A 50-year-old guy was selling noodles and warmly greeted fellow sellers and customers alike at a wet market in Mandalay's industrial suburbs on an August morning.

Win Ko Oo was noted for his friendly demeanour.
But not everyone who had grown accustomed to his cheerful demeanour was aware that he had once led a totally different life.

 

Win Ko Oo had 25 years of experience as a train driver when the year began.
The army then took authority, and everything changed.
He knew he had to fight the return of military control since he had lived through the aftermath of a similar coup in 1988.

Win Ko Oo decided to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) that was sweeping Myanmar a month after the country's elected civilian government was ousted.

“At first, I hesitated since I had to consider my family.
We didn't have anywhere else to go.
But, in the end, my hatred for the dictatorship overcame my anxieties about the sufferings we'd have to endure, so I resigned,” he told Myanmar Now on that August morning.

 

The railway employees of Mandalay were among the first in substantial numbers to join the campaign.
285 of 319 employees in the department where Win Ko Oo worked walked off the job in an attempt to deny the regime control over state machinery.

Hundreds of railway personnel and their families were compelled to leave the housing compound where the majority of the striking workers lived as a result of this.

But, as one of the protesting employees' leaders, Win Ko Oo had another cause to be concerned: an arrest warrant for inciting.

 

Lying low

 

Win Ko Oo felt it was time to go under the junta's radar for a bit since he couldn't afford to take any more chances.
He was given a place to stay by a cousin, but he still needed to make a living, so he began selling noodles in the market.

This was not an easy decision for him to make, given he had a son in university and a daughter who was already married.
He was used to being the family's breadwinner, but he had to swallow his pride now that his wife's employment as a seamstress was their only source of cash.

 

“At first, I was so embarrassed that I wanted to cry.
It was also difficult for me to get the hang of this business because I was new to it.
“However, after I started making money again, I began to like it,” he explained.

Despite the fact that Win Ko Oo has spoken openly about his experiences since the coup, Myanmar Now decided not to publish his storey after learning about it last month in order to protect him.

 

However, since then, another development has made it even more critical to expose the terrible price he has suffered for following his convictions.

Win Ko Oo was viciously attacked by a group of eight men who also seized his motorcycle around 5 a.m. on September 9 while making an early-morning delivery.
He died of a brain haemorrhage ten days later.