Coup Caught On Camera: Myanmar Woman Goes Viral For Dance Video With Surreal Backdrop

Enlarge this image

Khing Hnin Wai’s video of herself dancing while seemingly unaware of Myanmar’s military coup unfolding in the background has gone viral since Monday.

Khing Hnin Wai/screenshot by NPR

hide caption

toggle caption

Khing Hnin Wai/screenshot by NPR

Asia
Myanmar Coup: With Aung San Suu Kyi Detained, Military Takes Over Government

Resty Woro Yuniar, a reporter for the South China Morning Post, wrote on Twitter that the music in the background is an Indonesian song called «Ampun Bang Jago, which she said was «used widely on TikTok during the Omnibus Law protests last year. Those protests in Indonesia targeted government reforms which critics said would harm workers and the environment.

She recorded the video on a roundabout on a main road leading to the parliament complex in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw, according to the BBC, which said it had been in contact with Khing Hnin Wai and she «confirmed the video is real. NPR has not independently verified its authenticity.

After others on social media cast doubts on the video’s authenticity, Khing Hnin Wai shared another Facebook post with several videos of herself dancing in the same location, saying she had been working out there regularly for the past 11 months.

«I wasn’t dancing to mock or ridicule any organisation or to be silly. I was dancing for a fitness dance competition, she wrote, according to the BCC. «As it isn’t uncommon for [Naypyidaw] to have an official convoy, I thought it was normal so I continued.

Myanmar is under military rule following Monday’s coup, in which the military detained de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and declared a yearlong state of emergency. The military claims Suu Kyi’s party won last November’s election because of fraud.