MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR RESPONDENT 3 AGE 19 LOCATION YANGON (URBAN) OCCUPATION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT MOBILE OWNERSHIP STATUS OWNER My mobile phone is like a second mother to me. I love it because my mother and grandmother gave it to me as a present. I keep and use it carefully. Playing COC energizes me. It makes me think about how to earn money in that game. Because of this game, there have been nights that I don’t sleep… I am that crazy about this game. Living here alone without any relatives is really hard for me. I’ve got no one to talk to, no shoulder to cry on if I face a problem…. I am so alone … So I have to discuss it with my mother over the phone. 19-year-old Respondent 3 is a third-year student at Tarwa University. She resides in Yangon and goes to university every day by bus. On average, she spends 2–3 hours on the bus. She is not employed as yet. She is a mobile phone owner. For Respondent 3, her mother is the most important person in her life. Her mother fulfills everything she needs and even though they are miles apart, she feels close to her. She thinks her mother understands her more than her father. Her mother calls her every day from the village. However, if the weather is not good or if there is an electricity shortage in town, she could lose contact with her mother for 3–4 days. 80 Her household Respondent 3 lives in her grandparents’ house in Yangon, with one maid, while her other family members live in Bogalay where they do business. There are six family members in total: her grandparents, parents, younger sister, and herself. Her grandfather arranged to rent the front space of their house and gives this rental fee to Respondent 3 for her expenses. She receives MMK 120,000 from this rent and uses it to pay for food and school fees. Why and how did she get her mobile phone? She understands that there are good and bad things about using a mobile phone. She got a mobile phone after passing her matriculation exams with good results. She asked her mother for a mobile as her graduation present. “We use it for using Facebook, for voice calls, and for playing games. Talking on the phone for a long time can damage your ears. Also playing games make my eyes bad. I have to wear contact lenses because of bad eyesight. Plus I lose hours of sleep because I use the mobile too much. Playing COC is costly for me.” “My mother and my grandmother paid for my mobile as a reward for my achievement. I chose Samsung Note II. Everyone wanted to buy it because of its large screen.” She also has a keypad phone that she uses only for voice calls. Mobile and internet usage “I use my mobile all the time. Even in the toilet.” According to Respondent 3, she uses her mobile to access Facebook all the time. Currently she is using the handset for playing the Clash of Clans (COC) network game. She uses her mobile mainly for: • • • • • Facebook COC COK (Clash of Kings) Viber Dictionary Through Facebook, she says she learns about how ladies should behave before and after marriage, about the freedom that a girl should have, and how to protect herself. She also learns about religious teachings. “I use dictionaries a great deal for my assignments. Sometimes I have to use three dictionaries at the same time. We have Shwe, Oxford, Longman, and Planet Dictionaries.” “I used to be afraid of people when I was a child and it’s very difficult to connect with friends. Now I can learn a lot from Facebook about how to behave in life, how to act when someone is jealous of me, etc. Reading the words on these pages makes me realize how to control my anger. I have saved in my phone sermons from monks. Having this phone makes it easy for me to hang out with friends.” “… children should not use mobile phones until they graduate high school for their own safety. Education is very important, and at the same time, so is social networking. But because so many people meet on Facebook, they became boyfriend and girlfriend and then get married unintentionally.” What she thinks of owning a mobile phone “We will become more knowledgeable, possibly. I didn’t have much knowledge about many things before I had my mobile. We were too reserved to go to public areas. When we use Facebook through a mobile phone, we can realize what kinds of people are around us and we can’t be cheated easily. I also want people from my hometown to be knowledgeable. They can, for instance, know the prices of fish and of weather conditions.” Regarding mobile ownership, she thought that more men have mobiles, as women do not have equal opportunities compared to men. Men receive priority for mobile phones, and their interests are also different. “Men are interested in business and politics. Women are interested in social media and how to keep a family together or how to take care of their husband.” “It would be good for girls from rural areas if they know how to use it well. Otherwise it could be a hazard. They need to have a good understanding of the ways in which they should use the app.” Respondent 3 spends about MMK 1,000 per day on her mobile, especially on internet usage. She uses an MPT SIM for browsing the internet and a Telenor SIM for outgoing calls. She does not like Ooredoo because she does not understand its promotions. She prefers Telenor for its messages about credit balance and the promotions it offers. She initially learned to play (mobile phone) games from her friends, and later learned more about how to play these games from her boyfriend. 81