Interview with Ms Thazin Thant I

On one of our visits to Peninsula Plaza, our group was faced with the daunting task of attempting to engage with the Burmese stall owners in the mall. We had little success with these attempts until a Singaporean property agent (also featured in this blog) directed us to a publishing firm ’Thazin Success Magazine', tucked away on the 5th level of the mall. We met with the daughter of the owners, Ms Thazin Thant and found that she was willing to speak with us about our research. Ms Thant moved to Singapore with her family when she was just 2 years old and eventually became a Singaporean citizen. Despite being successfully assimilated into the Singaporean society and culture, she retains a large part of her Burmese heritage. She attributed a large part of this to her parents, whom she says have done an extraordinary amount for the Burmese community here in Singapore.

Our interview with her will be covered in three parts. In this part, we will showcase the exciting community outreach programmes This is an excerpt from the interview with Ms Thant:

Q: So actually apart from the food that your mother cooks, your family doesn’t do anything that is traditionally Burmese right?

A: yeah, we only do events. We did the water festival, Song Kran for the past 3 years. It’s unique to 3 or 4 Southeast Asian countries. We did it at a small plot of land opposite Funan, beside SCDF.

An advertisement for the Song Kran Event

(Photos courtesy of Thazin Success Magazine Singapore,

more footages of the event can be found on their Facebook page)

Q: How was the turnout?

A: Quite good. We did free entry for everyone and they were food donations, where people sent in food.

Q: How did people know that it was happening? Facebook?

A: yeah! This year’s 2016 turnout was really good. There were about 30 thousand people.

Q: Wow so you guys organised this event that catered to 30k people?

A: Yeah, me, mum, my dad and my bro.

Q: Apart from the performances and food, what were there?

A: Water dousing and that’s about it, they just like to gather together. We had

some other small events here and there based on the Burmese calendar.

Ms Thant’s family is heavily involved in many aspects of the Burmese community here in Singapore and singlehandedly organising a festival on such a massive scale, says a lot about how strongly they feel about their people. Events like the annual Song Kran, or even their gatherings in the Burmese Buddhist temple, help solidify ties within the community and at times, provide support that is much needed.

Thazin Success Magazine have also dedicated themselves to helping Singaporeans and Burmese understand each other better and in some issues of their magazine, even dedicated pages to featuring and introducing Singapore’s culture. Ms Thant’s family provides a platform and a bridge for many Burmese people, who feel so far away from home, helping create a community in a land that is much different from theirs.

Ms Thazin Thant of Thazin Success Magazine.

Leonard and Natasha with Ms Thazin Thant