Speech on Environment by Cartoonist Aw Pi Kyeh Suspended

Burmese Cartoonist Aw Pi Kyeh

A scheduled speech to the Myanmar Fisheries Federation (MFF) by cartoonist Aw Pi Kyeh has been suspended by authorities. Three days before the order, the MFF requested him not to talk about matters regarding Myitsone Dam, he told Mizzima.

“As soon as I heard that [the government] decided to halt the Myitsone project, the fisheries federation called me. They said the authorities ordered them to suspend the literary talk,” said Aw Pi Kyeh.

He said, “The MFF has organized literary talks for many years, so they have a lot of experience. MFF officials canceled the arrangement because the authorities sent the order and they [MFF officials] cannot refuse it.”

Aw Pi Kyeh, a well-known conservationist, had planned to deliver a speech titled “Help in Pushing” that would have covered topics regarding environmental conservation and Burma’s current status among neighboring countries.

“For instance, if the wheels of a bullock cart are stuck in mud, we cannot move forward. The country cannot improve. To improve, we need to struggle from the mud. I had planned to talk about it. I’ve talked about it for two or three months [in previous speeches],” he said.

The MFF and the Myanmar Shrimp Association jointly invite writers and scholars every two weeks to deliver speeches at the MFF headquarters.

This article originally appeared in Mizzima News.

Read Sampsonia Way‘s interview with Aw Pi Kyeh and other persecuted political cartoonists from around the world.