Poet Mone Aung’s pen name is familiar in Karen literature. But he is much better known as a lawmaker than a poet.
Currently Saw Thura Aung (his real name) is the chair of Bago Region Parliament Ethnic Affairs Committee and he represents the No.2 Constituency in Okpho Township in Bago Region.
The way he sees it there is no big difference for him between being a lawmaker and a poet. He considers poetry can also encompass political ideas. But one difference is the poet enjoys more freedom to express himself.
He is also well-known as a lawmaker with a disability He has to use crutches. “My parents told me that I could walk until the age of 11 and then I paralyzed by polio” he said.
Saw Thura Aung (aka) Poet Mone Aung was born in Kyaungsu village in Ngashinroe village-tract in the western Bago Region in 1975.
His father is a headmaster of the basic education primary school while his mother is a clerk of the village General Administration Department. He is the eldest of five children in the family.
He started his education at the primary school in Ngashinroe village-tract. He passed the matriculation exam in 1993 at Basic Education High School in Okpho. In 2000, he graduated with a Physics degree from the Distance Education in Pyay (branch).
When the schools were closed due to the currency demonetization in 1987, he started writing poems after reading Sayargyi Min Thu Wun’s poetry.
His first poem titled “Shwe Ta Nay, Ngwe Ta Nay” appeared in the Pyinnyar Tasaung Magazine in March of 1991.
After graduation, he worked as a tuition teacher and did teaching at the affiliated high schools and free schools. He worked as a tuition teacher for around 13 years before entering politics.
“I mainly taught Physics. I had to teach different subjects as I also worked as a teaching coach. While working as a private teacher, he spent ten years of his life writing poetry and studying music. He did not achieve success in music, even though he played guitar at the ceremonies to commemorate the Karen New Year Day,” he said.
He joined the NLD when the party officially registered in 2012. In 2015, he submitted a candidate application for 2015 General Elections and was elected.
He served as a secretary of the Bago Region Parliament Ethnic Rights Affairs Committee and a member of the Bago Region Parliament Education, Health, Social and Labour Affairs Committee, for one and a half years. Later he became the Chair of Ethnic Rights Affairs Committee.”
“I don’t know how long I have been engaged in politics. I face pressures every day. One day I have to get out of politics. But I am not satisfied with five-year in parliament, because I have to struggle for at least two years to thoroughly understand how parliament works,” he said.
As a lawmaker with disability, he gave talks on the rights of disabled persons. He plans to enable the disabled persons to get the assistance provided by the Social Welfare Department.
Activists are working for the rights of the landmine victims in Shwegyin and Kyaukgyi Townships in the eastern Bago Region. Saw Thura says he has to work for the rights of the persons with disabilities in the western Bago Region as much as he can.
Being a chair of the Ethnic Affairs Committee, he has to deal with all ethnic affairs in the Bago Region. The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) has chosen him as a candidate for Bago Region Constituency-2 in Okpho Township in the 2020 General Election.
“I will retire from parliamentary politics sometime in the future. As a human being, politics never comes to an end,” he said.
After retirement, he wants to have a peaceful life. He has a plan to publish books and translated poetry.
