[Tee tiong huat]

After 7-years of medical school in Myanmar, finally her goal of becoming a doctor a month after she graduated then found a job, her dreams started unraveling. In Feb 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup, the country’s economy, hammered by COVID-19 pandemic, started to buckle. Prices soared, & May’s paycheck equivalent of $415 a month, evaporated even faster. W/her father suffering from kidney disease, she grew more and more desperate,  she met "date girls,” making twice as much as her, money was enticing — even if it involved sex with men. It’s difficult to accept despite all years of study to become a doctor, I’m kind of work just to make ends meet,” said May, 26, who work as a prostitute over a year in Mandalay 2nd-largest city. She, like others who spoke for this article, asked not be identified b'cos her family does not know how she earns money, been a Dr & as prostitution is illegal in Myanmar.

The coup ensuing civil war ravaged Myanmar’s economy. Inflation soared to 26% this year.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/world...ution.html