Pop Act Pushes Back: Asian Girl Group Challenges Myanmar’s Ultra-Conservative Values

They sing. They dance. Their “skimpy” stage outfits drive parents (and young men) crazy. And they want everyone in the world to know who they are and buy their just-released album.

Pretty typical fare for yet another girl group charging after pop stardom.

But since this twenty-something quintet hails from Myanmar—the ultra-conservative southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma—it’s anything but typical.

Meet the M N Ma Girls Group From Myanmar

(credit: New York Times)

You see, Me N Ma Girls (get it? Me N Ma…Myanmar? good) is the first girl group in the land. And as is often the case with trailblazers—especially of the female ilk who dare to test the limits of their country’s censors and elders (and boyfriends)—the bumps in the road are plentiful.

“We are living two different lives,” group member Lung Sitt Ja Moon told the New York Times. Moon—who goes by Ah Moon on stage and sports a Baptist minister for a dad—admitted that after “we do what we want to do onstage…then we go home to our parents.” (And preferably by 10 p.m., thank you very much.)

After a long period of dictatorship, Myanmar has been loosening up and moving toward the Asian mainstream. The government’s censorship board—which approves songs, films, and news articles—could be getting its own muzzle quite soon; and even longstanding cultural mores, such as acceptable female dress (i.e., ankle-length sarongs), look to be on the outs in favor of “more Western-inspired entertainment, clothing and lifestyles,” the Times said.

And the members of Me N Ma Girls are surfing this swelling societal wave, all the way down to their (gasp!) tank tops and denim shorts—clothing the Times said “would raise eyebrows on the streets of Yangon.” (But forget colored wigs, which censors barred the group from donning last year.)

Meet the M N Ma Girls Group From Myanmar

(credit: New York Times)

“We try our best to be hot, but not too sexy,” said Wai Hnin Khaing, another band member.

Guess that depends on your definition (and in this case, your culture’s definition) of sexy.

To wit: Me N Ma Girls’ video for “Festival” features group members dancing in a sweaty nightclub, hitting a swimming pool, and peering over sunglasses while singing, “Hey you! Are you happy? You want some?”

Lalrin Kimi‘s father couldn’t have been pleased seeing his daughter in the latter clip. “He wanted me to do only gospel songs,” Kimi (a.k.a. “Kimmy”) said, adding that Dad disapproved of her joining the group in the first place.

Of course there’s less risque stuff, like “Liar!” Inspired by the breakup experience of Su Pyae Mhu Eain, a Me N Ma Girls member whose stage name is Cha Cha, the chorus (“You are a liar!”) is clearly directed at yet-another no good boyfriend:

The video was shot in Bangkok late last year, an experience that seems to have left quite the impression on Me N Ma Girls, as four of them had never before ventured beyond Myanmar’s borders. The Times elaborates:

They marveled at the mass transit system in Bangkok, were floored by the selection in the shopping malls and basked in the anonymity of a big city.

“I felt freedom there,” said Kimmy. “We could wear whatever. We didn’t need to care about other people. Here if we wear shorts we get teased.”

The band also saw the libertine side of Bangkok, including a sex show at a sleazy set of bars known as Nana Plaza.

“There were so many things we don’t see in Myanmar,” Kimmy said. “Prostitutes — so many!”

(The show, which featured one particularly explicit sex act, was too much for Cha Cha, the zoology major. She ran to the ladies’ room and vomited.)

But at this stage of the game, it’s dues-paying time. And with the power regularly fritzing in one of their rehearsal spaces (the roof of which leaks during the rainy season), the group is quite far from Beyonce & Jay-Z monetary status. Heck, they‘re not even in the Spice Girls’ financial galaxy.

Not that they’re unfamiliar with shallow pockets. Kimmy grew up in a mountain village near the border with India, the Times noted, an area that “regularly suffers from famine and plagues of rice-eating rats.” She’s still hard up for cash these days (recently not having enough to spring for bus fare), earning what money she can by singing in bars and restaurants.

Cha Cha is nevertheless undeterred: “I want this band to hit Hollywood!”

(h/t: New York Times; watch video accompanying story here)

Comments (19)

  • Mr.Fitnah
    Posted on January 13, 2012 at 8:48am

    Preferable to Islam.

    Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
  • Irosin
    Posted on January 13, 2012 at 7:45am

    Why is it that when Westernization starts to take place, it always reflects the worst from the West, such as all the crap from music videos and the entertainment industry. Why can’t it be honor, friendliness, goodness, going all out to help others, traits like that, that are more important.

    Report Post »  
  • The10thAmendment
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 11:47pm

    Well, for sure if they want to emerge in the United States they’ll have to do a Selena style cross over Album. Without that they are never going to make it to…………..DISNEY! But if you take a look at Hollyweird, they’ll take anyone and turn them perverted and freakish.

    All they have to remember is the tritone. Use the hypnotic intervals (augmented 4th spanning 3 full tones). It worked for Jimi Hendrix on Purple Haze, Black Sabbath on Black Sabbath, Metallica on For Whom The Bell Tolls, and most notably Danny Elfmans Simpson Theme.

    I liked the interview with former Black Sabbath guitarist Toni Iommi. (excerpts) Tony Iommi denies making conscious use of the ‘Devil’s Interval’, claiming that he was just looking for “something that sounded right… something that sounded really evil and very doomy.”

    Report Post » The10thAmendment  
  • Constantine Ivanov
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 10:48pm

    Another one proof that feminism is always about making female genitals similar to the USA-Mexican borders.
    Sorry for straight talking.

    Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
    • Mr.Fitnah
      Posted on January 13, 2012 at 9:21am

      Id say that was straight up gibberish.

      Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
    • Constantine Ivanov
      Posted on January 13, 2012 at 2:12pm

      To MR.FITNAH:
      Do you have any evidence showing that feminism ever considered female sexual freedom less important than any other female issues?
      I was talking about feminism, but you accused me of “gibberish” talk as if I said it said about suffragettes.
      It seems you don’t know any difference between those two movements. It’s a pity.

      Report Post » Constantine Ivanov  
  • Joe_The_Patriot
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 6:30pm

    What do I get for $10 ???

    They make me wanna boom boom long time…. }:-)

    Report Post » Joe_The_Patriot  
  • el thinko
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 5:09pm

    I wish them all the success in the world.

    Report Post » el thinko  
  • JAMACAMECRAZYMAN
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 4:11pm

    Better than crap rap

    Report Post »  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 3:54pm

    They will all be handled with a good ole muslim honor killing……. Even if they’re not muslim….

    Report Post »  
  • kentuckypatriot
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 2:53pm

    Maybe I’m being paranoid, but why do I get the feeling Burma, or wherever they are from will blame the US for being too westernized?

    Report Post » kentuckypatriot  
  • SpankDaMonkey
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 2:42pm

    .
    “Hey you! Are you happy? You want some? Me Love You Long Time”

    Sounds like that Boom Boom Yo Mama’s a W hore music……………

    Sell it with SEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • JLGunner
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 1:48pm

    This song sux.

    Report Post » JLGunner  
    • Kaoscontrol
      Posted on January 12, 2012 at 3:10pm

      The whole group suk-eth big time. Since they have no talent I assume they’ll be enormously popular.

      Report Post » Kaoscontrol  
  • vic138
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 1:23pm

    I feel bad for the people of burma. Only way to get a good job is to have a family member in the military, preferably high ranking. Only govt jobs are for insiders as well.

    Live sex act in Nana? I don’t think so, must have gotten a special tour.

    They better keep their music to relationships or they may end up like Par Par Lay…

    Report Post » vic138  
    • Two Sheds
      Posted on January 12, 2012 at 7:12pm

      You missed it dude. I saw live sex at Nana. I saw stuff that would make the weak throw-up too. Way more to see there than the ping pong ball show! Makes me wonder why these girls went to the show?

      Report Post » Two Sheds  
  • Sirfoldallot
    Posted on January 12, 2012 at 1:01pm

    The say anything , do anything , sing anything crowd, like a prostitue.

    Report Post » Sirfoldallot  

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