MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR MOBILE PHONES, INTERNET, AND GENDER IN MYANMAR RESPONDENT 5 AGE 28 LOCATION YANGON (URBAN) OCCUPATION UNEMPLOYED MOBILE OWNERSHIP STATUS NON-OWNER At times he gives me money to buy a mobile phone. But I have to use it for school fees for my children. And what I want to get is a smart phone, which I can’t afford to buy yet. Whenever I have to talk with my husband about something important, the lack of a mobile phone makes the task more difficult. When he is on a trip, I often can’t contact him because I don’t have a mobile phone. I don’t have enough money at the moment. I would like to work any job that will allow me to earn some money. Finding a job is difficult for me. I would work even if it is as a cleaner because our income is not enough for our children. 28-year-old Respondent 5 is a housewife. She is married and lives with her husband and two children—a son aged 9 and a daughter aged 4. She does not own a mobile phone. Her household Her husband, who works at the dock of the Myanmar Port Service doing welding and cutting, is the sole income earner. She is completely reliant on her husband’s income. Her husband does not allow her to work outside the home. She tried to earn some money by selling groceries at home, but she had to give that up as she lost capital after going deeply into debt. 84 I would contact my children’s teachers first because the school sent out a letter saying that parents should give the teachers a contact number so that they can contact the parents for situations or emergencies concerning their children. Having only one mobile isn’t enough for us. At least two are needed. Both of us should have one each. Then we could communicate while we are away from one another. Communication Challenges and difficulties Respondent 5’s siblings own personal mobile phones. In her household, her husband owns a mobile phone. He got the SIM card from the government through an installment payment scheme. The SIM cost MMK 200,000, which he paid to his department in monthly installments of MMK 15,000. He purchased a handset for over MMK 100,000 (she thinks). The main difficulty for Respondent 5 is a lack of extra money, which causes problems running the household every month. She is often in debt and can only pay it back at the end of the month after receiving her husband’s salary. She uses her husband’s mobile for voice calls to other relatives and to play games once he comes home from work. His phone is a smartphone, but he does not use the internet. During the day, she chats with her neighbours. She has one close friend who is a 19-yearold girl who owns a smartphone and also uses the internet. She feels that it is inconvenient for her to use other people’s phones because she cannot talk very long and feels uneasy talking about financial matters in their presence. She does not know how to store a contact number in a phone, and is not familiar with the other features of her husband’s phone either. She usually plays games and looks at photos with her husband’s phone. She does not use the internet on his mobile. “When the end of the month draws near, that is the 25th or 26th days of the month, there is no money left for our use. Money is the most important thing for me. I feel upset when I don’t have any money.” Being a mother of young children, she looks after them even though she wants to go out and work. There is no one else in the house who can take care of them instead. She feels bad about being female and doing household chores and thinks that males are less burdened in life. “I feel upset about being a girl. I want to be a boy because they don’t have to do anything. Nobody told me to do so, but since we are girls, we need to do all the household chores like washing and ironing. Even though there are jobs everywhere for us.” Even though she does not have her own phone right now, she really wants to buy a smartphone for herself, especially for playing games. Respondent 5 receives money from her husband. She only knows that her husband earns approximately MMK 98,000. She does not think that her husband gives all his wages to her as he keeps some aside for buying alcohol and beetle. She manages the household finances, including paying the rent and keeping money aside for various purchases. She also borrows money from her parents and relatives. Most of the time, she has to make the decisions regarding household purchases. However, her husband never discusses the purchase of electronic goods such as TVs and mobile phones with her. She is only required to hand over the necessary money. 85