Morality in Blue: Water Professionals in Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement
In her Master’s thesis, Whin Thiri Lwin reflected on the moral dilemmas faced by people working in Myanmar’s water sector, caught in between the political will of opposing the military regime, and the professional duty of providing a basic service to the population.
Morality in Blue
“If everybody is going to stop the country, then so many people will die”, said a senior-level Dutch water professional who had been working with the Myanmar government before the coup in 2021. She was commenting on the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). Myanmar’s CDM is a non-violent resistance movement against the military coup and the imposition of military rule. The NUCC (National Unity Consultative Council) defines the CDM as the peaceful revolution by whatever means to stop or disturb the administrative system of the regime. It is a popular political movement that defies the authorities non-violently. Myanmar has been out of the media headlines for quite some time. Weeks ago, it was back under the spotlight for a few days because of the earthquake news. But this is an ongoing crisis that we will never forget, and yet I am proud to say that there are people still fighting for freedom within and beyond the country.
The Myanmar Spring Revolution is a grassroots, bottom-to-top nationwide resistance against the military junta, which retook state power with a coup in February 2021. Civil disobedience emerged as a prominent form of protest within this movement. Civil servants took the lead, and their ranks were swelled by non-civil servant citizens, all willing to risk their lives and liberty in defiance of the military junta. It leads Myanmar’s civil servants to face many moral dilemmas. Educators asked themselves if, by continuing teaching, they would send the message to future generations to accept the suppression of democracy and freedom, and how, instead, they could actively work to promote democracy and freedom. Myanmar’s healthcare workers were caught in a similar dilemma: by joining the anti-coup protests, they would support the struggle but risk retaliation, while returning to work to care for patients would have made them look like collaborators.
The civil disobedience movement raised important moral questions for water professionals as well. Water is a basic need. In 2010, the United Nations declared the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right. For water professionals, going on strike could mean undermining this right to water and sanitation, even though they were also serving Myanmar’s people by supporting the revolution. This intersection of water provision and moral considerations, what I term morality in blue, reflects the complexities facing water professionals amidst the CDM.
Basic Human Needs and Moral Dilemmas
I explored this topic in my thesis, “Flowing in Crisis: Water Professionals’ Dilemmas and Capacity Building Challenges during Myanmar’s Political Turmoil”, for IHE Delft Master’s in Water and Sustainable Development. During the study, I interviewed water professionals from Myanmar, including those who participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and those who did not. I also interviewed Dutch professionals with international cooperation experience in Myanmar. One of the interviewees, who chose to continue working with the Myanmar government after the coup, said: “Don’t look at the government, it will make the country worse, and we don’t know how long it will take. Water is a basic need. We must continue our work.” Or, as a water professional in the private sector put it, “If we want to be a good water professional, we cannot sit still and not do anything simply because our work might legitimize the government. Otherwise, the water sector in Myanmar will collapse”. Another water professional told me that due to the CDM, there was an overload of work for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) staff in the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC).
The water professionals I spoke to were right: because of the CDM, there was an overload of work for WASH staff in YCDC, Yangon City Development Committee, according to an informant from the YCDC itself. Despite official claims that there were no water shortages, water was frequently cut off for the citizens of Yangon. These cuts can be partially attributed to the participation of water professionals in the CDM. One water professional also stated that the water service from the YCDC had not been at pre-coup capacity since 2021, and that they had to install a water pump to get water to the tap. The water pressure was very low, and the water supply was no longer functioning for twenty-four hours.
A private consultant providing technical assistance to Myanmar water services authorities said that the situation had already been dire. Although accurate data is scarce, it is believed that unaccounted-for or non-revenue water comprises at least 40% of Yangon’s water supply. This percentage is likely even greater in other areas. According to Water Aid, before the coup, over 80% of the population had access to clean water, and nearly 75% had access to decent toilets. However, these statistics don’t reflect the situation in many rural areas, which have some of the lowest access rates in Asia. The main challenge lies in the lack of sustainable public infrastructure and resources, which hinders efforts to provide these basic needs to the people.
Nevertheless, some water professionals still joined the CDM, seeing it as their moral responsibility. One example was Ma Ni Ni (pseudonym). She used to work on water-related projects at one of the Technological Universities before the coup. “I have a son” she said. “I want to leave an inheritance for him. A material inheritance doesn’t last long, I want to leave him ‘The good name of his mother’, which will always say that his mother is the one who stands for justice. I want to be someone that my son will be proud of even after I die”. For Ma Ni Ni, it is important to leave a legacy of standing up for justice. She feels strongly that the coup is wrong and unfair, and therefore decided to join the CDM despite the challenges that it presents to the water sector. Another water professional who joined the CDM simply commented: “The coup is unfair and unjust – this is why I am joining the Civil Disobedience Movement.”
Myanmar’s water professionals knew that joining the CDM would lead to a possible collapse of the water services, depriving civilians of water, a basic human need. At the same time, they were aware that in public opinion, joining the CDM was regarded as the morally right thing to do. For water professionals, the dilemma is: should they take care of people’s needs, or take a stand against the junta? If they do not join the movement, they might be socially sanctioned. On the other hand, joining the CDM might get them in jail and even tortured by the military regime.
Buddhist Morality and the Civil Disobedience Movement
In Myanmar’s revolution, one’s decision to participate in the CDM has become a moral question. This can be seen in the CDM policy that was drafted by the Joint Coordination Committee of Civil Disobedience Movement, National Unity Government. It states that the actions by individuals participating in the CDM are considered virtuous. It also emphasizes principles of justice and the well-being of the people. It presents those who joined the CDM as morally upright actors in the Spring Revolution, stigmatizing those who do not join the movement as less morally righteous. Indeed, when I mentioned to Myanmar friends and colleagues that I wanted to interview also people who decided not to join the movement, I was told, “They will not accept to be interviewed as they have a bad conscience.”
I argue that the language of “clear conscience” is used as moral pressure within the context of the Spring Revolution. CDM is associated with the Buddhist concepts of Anatta (non-self), the opposite of Atta (ego). The latter is viewed negatively as selfish and self-centered, also in the CDM policy. This implies that the people who join the CDM view their actions as selfless and aligned with principles that go beyond personal gain, contributing to a sense of moral purity. Ma Ni Ni expressed empathy for people who had no other options but to work for the government, but not for those who did: “I can understand people who couldn’t join CDM because they have their constraints, but I cannot understand people who are willing to work in government offices after the coup if they have different options for work.”
In 2019, Michał Lubina, in the book The Moral Democracy. The Political Thought of Aung San Su Kyi, argued that Aung San Su Kyi’s political ideology was inspired by Western philosophy imposed on Buddhist concepts. It is clear from the CDM that the younger generation in Myanmar is also influenced by this mix of ideas, even though they are now exposed to Western ideas through social media after a long period of limited access to information due to military control. This can also be found when we reflect on water professional’s motivations.
Buddhist Morality and Water as a Profession
“Water is a merit, I work in the water sector so that with my work I can contribute to the people’s needs, which is good for others and good for me”, said one of the informers. This quote expresses a commitment to water work as a way of earning merit, which is deeply rooted in Buddhist philosophy. As the Burmese proverb “ကုသိုလ်လည်းရ ဝမ်းလည်းဝ” says: “Make merit and fill the stomach at the same time”. The act of giving generously, particularly donating water, is believed to prevent the donor from entering the dreaded realms of the four netherworlds.
In Buddhist belief, there are six realms of rebirth and existence in total: heaven, humans, and the other four dreaded realms. Based on the karma done, it is decided on which realm the person is going to in the next life. It means that giving water services and donating water can prevent you from entering those dreaded realms: Demi-god realm (Asura), Animal realm, Hungry ghost realm, and the hell realm. Besides this, water professionals were also motivated by western ideas of human rights. Interviewees would say, for example, that “Water is a basic need. Water is essential” or that “Water is a civil right and a human right, as it has been affirmed at UN summits”.
Some of the water professionals I spoke to, used this rights-based thinking to justify their non-participation to the CDM. They legitimise their choices by referring to the global discourse on sustainable development. Specifically, they refer to their commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 6, which calls to ensure access and availability of water and sanitation services.
Despite working within the regime, some professionals strive to align their political convictions with righteousness. They do so by supporting resistance groups through financial means and actions such as providing them with information. In times of political upheaval, moral considerations become blurred, and it is important to remain open to questioning what is perceived as “good or bad” and “right or wrong”. “There’s a lot of friction between people. So, maybe you join the CDM but are not tough enough, and somebody else is judging you that you must do more protests, and another one is judging you because you are protesting. I saw horrible things on Facebook, what people were saying to each other,” commented a Dutch water professional. Instead of fostering solidarity and positive impacts, the moral discourses attached to the CDM might have led to guilt and social fragmentation.
In the same shoes
On the 10 of February 2024, the military junta announced the enforcement of the People’s Military Service Law. Every man between 18 and 35 years old and every woman between 18 and 27 years old now have to serve in the military for at least two years. Doctors, engineers and citizens who graduated from one of the technological institutes have this period extended until 45 (for men) and 35 (for women) years old.
The enforcement of the People’s Military Service Law has created a situation that, for most civilians, is similar to the one faced by civil servants during the CDM. The military is recruiting normal citizens for the military services by force. Joining military services is a must, and resisting will cause deadly punishment. Joining the military is also a dreadful service as you are asked to kill the rebel forces that resist against the military regime.If all citizens are placed in the same shoes as civil servants in the aftermath of the coup, the question becomes: would all the citizens join the CDM? This shared experience could provoke a sense of empathy and solidarity among the citizens, making them more inclined to understand and support each other. Or, could it cause the repetition of the same pattern of social division that has happened between those who joined the CDM and those who did not, stigmatizing some as good and others as bad people? This could lead to tensions and further polarization within the society. Those who comply with the military service mandate may be perceived differently from those who resist or refuse to participate, potentially leading to social fragmentation.
However, when talking about the prospect of forced conscription with young people, what I heard was despair rather than concerns about solidarity. Young people are consumed by feelings of despair and are desperate to escape the situation. On Delta News Agency, a CDM member called on young people to empathize with civil servants who have been in the same situation since the coup. People are trying to leave the country as quickly as they can, amidst a sense of hopelessness. This mass exodus is also a mass disobedience movement. I worry that when the first storm that the conscription news has caused passes, the impulse to blame civilians who make “the wrong choice” will take over, just as it did with those civil servants who decided not to join the CDM. Where will this lead us?
Those interested in learning more about Myanmar are invited to the Conference on Social Justice in Myanmar, hosted by VU Amsterdam (5-7 June 2025). More information here.
I salute all the brave people in Myanmar who are resisting the junta. The contribution is dedicated to my best friend, who lost his life in the revolution, and to other people for their brave acts in pursuit of their beliefs and freedom. Together, let us continue the fight for justice, freedom, and democracy, not only in Myanmar but also in every corner of the world where these ideals are threatened.
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Win Thiri Lwin (May 9, 2025). Morality in Blue: Water Professionals in Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement. FLOWs. Retrieved June 21, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/13wcj