about siyar

Hi I’m Siyar, a third-year Business student in Mae Fah Lung University.

I come from a small village in the Karen State of Myanmar. I was very close to my mother as I grew up. The greatest lesson that she taught me was empathy. She was a very charitable woman and always helped others. Therefore, since I was young, I had my heart set on helping others.

An issue that bothered me, however, was the strong sense of despair in rural areas. It often felt like there was no hope for a better life: Farmers could only farm during the six months of rainy season, and were idle in the other months; Youngsters sought jobs in the city, but those who failed to do so spent their waking hours on drugs. I deeply wanted to help the sad people around me. But I did not know how.
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An opportunity arose when I attended a school ran by an Ngo at the camp. The programme was designed in way so that I would participate in volunteer programmes. For example, I researched on the drug problem, and found out that the lack of job opportunities was the root cause of the problem. This piqued my interest in business, believing that it was the key to solving social problems. I also engaged in an internship at an NGO. I observed that the NGO could not exist without generous donations from businesses. These experiences inspired me to study business administration at university.

After graduation, I hope to work in a corporation and save up capital for starting my own business. I have a few ideas in mind: firstly, I hope to help villagers in rural areas to make better use of their land during the dry season. This can be done by increasing access to seeds that can withstand dryness. Another idea is to open barbecue restaurants (in towns). I was inspired by the barbecue restaurants in Thailand and thought they would be a big hit in Myanmar. I hope that I could generate revenue through the successful business, and thus contribute to worthwhile causes.
 

About Siyar
Name: Saw Siyar
Age: 24
Ethnicity: Karen
Place of birth: Karen state, Myanmar

School and programme
School: Mae Fah Luang University
Programme: Business Administration
Year: 3rd Year