The one wish that I want to see come true in 2025 is the fall of Min Aung Hlaing’s regime. This single wish encompasses all the hopes that we, the Myanmar people, hold dear.
I made this wish as the country in which I’ve sought refuge welcomed the new year at midnight on Dec. 31.
While others shouted “Happy New Year!” I could only murmur, “Min Aung Hlaing, Mother F…”—a curse widely used against the junta boss in Myanmar.
For Myanmar people, 2025 begins with little to be happy about.
Instead, it’s been yet another grim “festive season”, the fourth under military rule since the February 2021 coup that overthrew the country’s democratically elected government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and saw the military seize power while detaining elected leaders and lawmakers.
2025 also marked my third New Year away from home, living in exile, as I had to flee my home country in February 2022 (one year after the coup) to evade arrest by the junta and continue my work as a journalist.
I have no resolutions or hopes beyond this one: the end of the regime.
Reflecting on 2024, it was another troubled year under the junta and I would say even worse than ever in terms of the junta’s brutality.
The regime’s indiscriminate bombings and massacres, the loss of resistance fighters and jailed activists, and the worsening economy all painted a grim picture. Over 6,129 people, including 700 children and over 1,300 women, have been killed since the coup. Over 21,000 remain in jail, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners. More than 3.2 million people have been displaced and over 22,000 forcibly conscripted.
Even as ethnic armed groups and resistance forces made gains, their victories came at a heavy cost: young resistance fighters’ lives or limbs lost, relentless junta retaliation, and increasing hardship for civilians. Interference from those that advocate “peace” while failing to stop the junta’s killings further complicated the struggle.
And yes, that’s why I wished for nothing else than the fall of the Min Aung Hlaing regime. I know nation building and rehabilitation in the post-junta era will be an enormous task, but the demise of the junta could at least end our suffering and bring about the things listed below.
No more deaths of civilians: Brutal killings and massacres would cease.
Freedom for political prisoners: Over 21,000 unjustly detained people including dozens of my fellow journalists would be released.
The end of displacement: Millions forced from their homes could return safely.
A way back home: Refugees, exiles and resistance fighters could reunite with their families.
Freedom of the press: Under a federal democratic union, after the fall of Min Aung Hlaing’s regime, it is my wish that we journalists will be able to work without intimidation, giving voice to the voiceless and monitoring those in power.
A future for all: The establishment of a new federal democratic union would mean equal treatment for all. Children could go to school without fear of being bombed or shot. Justice would prevail.
It is my wish that all of these things come to pass this year, or at the soonest possible time. Myanmar people, like others around the world, deserve peace, freedom, democracy and happiness.
I hope 2025 will bring that day. Witnessing Min Aung Hlaing and his regime being toppled would be one of the most beautiful moments of my life—the happiest day that we Myanmar people can imagine. Only when that day comes will we be able to heartily and genuinely celebrate a “new year”—a time of joy, hope, strength and inspiration, but also of tears in memory of those who sacrificed for that moment.
I don’t know exactly when it will be, but I hope it will happen this year. We do believe this moment will come; as they saying goes, “Where there’s struggle, there’s hope.”
