Myanmar aerobics instructor dances to Indonesian protest anthem as military coup unfolds

The video of Khing Hnin Wai doing her fitness routine while armoured vehicles mass in front of Myanmar’s parliament has gone viral on Twitter and Facebook

Indonesian internet users have pointed out that the song to which she is dancing, ‘Ampun Bang Jago’, is about the power struggle between the people and the authorities

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Aerobics instructor Khing Hnin Wai does a dance workout against the backdrop of Myanmar's unfolding military coup. Photo: Facebook

Published: 7:39pm, 2 Feb 2021Updated: 11:03am, 8 Feb 2021

It was an aerobics routine with a difference – a front-row seat to a coup in progress. A video of a Burmese woman doing a dance workout outside Myanmar’s parliament building while armoured vehicles mass in the background has gone viral, garnering more than 10 million views on social media, with users pointing out her seeming obliviousness to the military activity.

But even as the video racked up views on Twitter and Facebook, it was Indonesian internet users who highlighted the significance of the song to which Naypyidaw-based aerobics instructor Khing Hnin Wai was dancing.

Ampun Bang Jago – by Indonesian duo Tian Storm and Ever Slkr, from the Indonesian city of Bitung in North Sulawesi – is about the power struggle between the people and the authorities. In Southeast Asia’s largest economy, it has often been used to mock police brutality during demonstrations, most recently when thousands gathered to protest a job creation law last year.

The video was initially shared on Twitter by a user named Angel Marrades. Journalist Vincent Bevins, who retweeted it, wrote that Marrades had taken the video from Facebook, and included a link to Khing Hnin Wai’s profile.

Marrades, who works for a Spain-based news portal focused on conflicts, election and trade disputes called Descifrando la Guerra, on Tuesday told This Week in Asia the video had been sent to him by a person from Myanmar. After asking HoaxEye, a hoax-busting account on Twitter, to verify the video’s legitimacy, he was told there were no “obvious signs of editing”.

On Facebook, the woman, whose profile stated that she was a 26-year-old PE teacher, had posted eight more videos of her dancing in the same spot. She said it was her favourite location to dance “in the past 11 months”. When insults piled in from supporters of Myanmar’s military, she took to the platform on Tuesday to defend herself.

“I wasn’t dancing to mock or ridicule any organisation or to be silly … I was dancing for a fitness dance competition,” wrote Khing Hnin Wai, who did not immediately respond to This Week in Asia ’s request for comment. “As it isn’t uncommon for Naypyidaw to have an official convoy, I thought it’s normal so I continued.”