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“That’s why we have to do this for the sake of the children of the next generation.” Thirty-three years ago, brother Thu KoKo was in his twenties. He has experienced the 8888 incident in Myanmar and changed his original thoughts. He started his pursuit of democracy and freedom, left his own military family, and came to Taiwan to start a new life. However, this process was not smooth because Brother Du has been labeled as a Myanmar immigrant, and was treated unequally at work. That has made him decide to self-contract the construction project and become his boss. Although he has been away from Myanmar for many years, he is still very concerned about the pandemic and the military coup in Myanmar. Until now he has still supported Myanmar by raising funds or donating medical supplies for the pandemic in the hope to give young people in his hometown a stable, peaceful, and democratic society. "Due to this matter, I still cried when I gave talks. " Because his father was a soldier, Brother Thu KoKo has agreed with the Communist Party in the beginning. He also regarded the international communist revolutionary pioneer Che Guevara as a hero in his heart, but that has all changed in 1988. Brother Thu who was a third-year student at Yangon University in Myanmar was driven by his curiosity and went to the university auditorium to see a student-led democratic protest. Four or five hundred students sat on the ground and shouted slogans. However, an hour later, the vast campus was surrounded by soldiers and started to drive out the protestors violently. The image of a soldier was instantly damaged in Brother Du's heart and changed his mind about them. In addition, during a certain curfew period, Brother Du went to Sule Pagoda secretly in Yangon to watch the protest. In front of the people who were unwilling to leave, the soldiers fired at them mercilessly, and the air was instantly dyed with a red haze. , "You ask me if I'm afraid? I'm really scared and my whole body was trembling", "But the next day, I will continue to protest. Why? Because at that time I understood that democracy and freedom are the most important." "I didn't expect to come to Taiwan." Brother Thu KoKo first went to Thailand to leave chaotic Myanmar. However, he ends up in Taiwan by accident. He even started to learn Chinese only when he was on the flight. After coming to Taiwan, Brother Thu has to face one problem after another. He has tried almost all kinds of jobs that he can do, but still received salary and other inequality treatments from employers due to his nationality issues, and language barriers. He got to learn a lot while working very hard. All the hard work of Brother Thu had eventually paid off with the professional skills that he learned over the years, he finally become a boss himself. Currently, he is engaged in building demolition projects and lives a stable life in Taiwan. However, Brother Thu still has difficulty getting used to his local food. "I have been in Taiwan for 33 years, and I am still not used to it." Even the Myanmar cuisine on Huaxin Street has been influenced by the Taiwanese taste, and hard to meet the hometown taste in Brother Thu’s standard. For example, Myanmar’s national cuisine fish soup noodles are usually prepared with a small freshwater fish called mackerel fish. While in Taiwan, the fish soup noodle mostly uses Tilapia fish. Such a small difference can lead to differences in taste, so Brother Du usually cooks by himself. Brother Thu also said that he likes to walk outdoors during his free time. His favorite scenic spot in Taiwan is the Su-Au Highway, which is a good place for taking pictures. We also sincerely thank Brother Thu for his love for the land of Taiwan. "This is the last battle in our lives, we must do it!" Although he has been away from his home country for many years, Brother Thu continues to support Myanmar in his way. Whether it is a pandemic or a military coup, he does his best to contribute to Myanmar. "I am currently the strongest protester in Taiwan. So if I go back to Myanmar now, I will be arrested, a bit like a wanted criminal." Brother Thu said jokingly with his face was full of pride and enthusiasm. "Did you have a good summer vacation? You can go out with friends happily." "But the children in Myanmar have not been in school for two years." Brother Thu looked at us indignantly. He said that before it was related to the pandemic, but now it is the issue of the military coup. "Although the government wants them to attend classes, however, the pandemic in Myanmar is so severe and the vaccination rate is less than 10%. From last year until now, I have lost six relatives because of the pandemic .” Brother Thu said with unconcealed sadness. Now the military government is suppressing the pandemic, but daily cases of positive patients are unknown. “A young man’s future is gone.” For the sake of the next generation of children, we must fight. "Whatever they need, we will find a solution." "The main thing that the democratic federal government overseas needs are money." Brother Thu opened his Facebook and said, "I wrote on FB what we need and donate, and they will find a solution. If we need money, they will donate it.", We sell T-shirts, mugs to make some money." Brother Thu showed us the products that they sold, with cute characters and inspirational slogans. We donated all the money overseas we made through these products. The process of doing these jobs and fundraising was very hard. Brother Thu said with a smile, “I take out more than half of my salary, sometimes it’s NT 20,000 to NT 30,000, and sometimes it’s NT 50,000 to NT 60,000.” “Because of this, I am very tired right now.” Even though this is a difficult thing to do, Brother Thu still said with bright eyes, “I am very persistent in doing this.”

THU, KO- KO

"But the next day, I will continue to protest. Why? Because at that time I understood that democracy and freedom are the most important."

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Our photo with THU, KO-KO.

We shot a photo by ourselves.

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8888 Incident.

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From:Thu KoKo's FB

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