(Based on Aung Thuya’s post from the IRRAWADDY on 15 January 2025.)
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| US$ 77,500 Hermes Bag. |
Foolish Myanmar Army has a long habit of not
acknowledging its fallen soldiers as KIAs (Killed-in-Action) but as MIAs
(Missing-in-Action) for two nasty reasons. One is to save face by not openly admitting
so many Myanmar soldiers are being killed daily in the nation-wide civilwar battles.
Other lucrative reason is a financial as the
corrupt paymasters are still drawing the dead soldiers’ pays and pocketing it, and
as the brutal excuse for the army’s compulsory life-insurance company
Aung-Myint-Mo-Min (conveniently owned by Myanmar Dictator MAH’s son
Aung-pyae-sone) not to pay out death benefits to the families left behind.
Every service member must contribute a large monthly life-insurance premium taken out automatically from their monthly salaries. When they are Killed-In-Actions they are supposed to gat back their contributions plus death benefits but if they are reported as MIA they will not.
Can you imagin the enormous amount of money collected
as life-insurance premiums from a reportedly 300,000-strong military. During
more than four years since the Motherfucker MAH’s illegal coup in 2021, close
to 100 billion kyats from the massive defnse budget has been corruptly
misappropriated in that fashion.
One question asked regularly is, how comes the supposedly
broke Myanmar Army has such a vast amount of money in hand? They have been fucking
printing kyats like hell, or more like US Federal Reserve. Well over 30
trillion kyats were printed at Warzi Currency Printing Facility in Middle-Burma
since 2021.
The dire result is the stone-like dropping of
Myanmar Kyat against US Dollar and other hard currencies. Forty years ago, in
1985 when I left Burma for good, one US$ fetched only four kyats but now one
US$ fetching more than four thousand kyats in 2025. Accompanying Hyper-Inflation,
the so-called indirect tax, has been killing Myanmar economy and Myanmar people
literally.
As usual in any dictatorship, that vast amount of that
money has benn collected by the greedy family of corrupt Myanmar Dictator
senior-general Min Aung Hlaing also lovingly known by Myanmar people as the
Motherfucker.
Where have all those billions of kyats gone? Of
course, into the deep pockets of Dictator’s family to be wasted on their lavish
lifestyles. Luxury condos in Thailand, properties in Bejing and Moscow, and
prime lands houses in Rangoon, and Kyu Kyu Hla the Dictator’s wife’s massive
collection of most expensive handbags on the planet.
According to the inside sources, Kyu Kyu Hla owns an
impressive collection of luxury handbags worth nearly five billion kyats. The
exact number in her collection remains unknown, but she has been spotted with
15 totes from several ultraluxury brands, valued at a staggering US$ 274,000 –
or over 1 billion kyats. All money stolen from the dead Myanmar soldiers’ grieving
families, now poor and destitute and begging desperately to survive.
Her Luxury Handbag Collection has even overtaken
the notoriety of Imelda Marcos’s Expensive Shoe Collection in the annal of
South-East-Asian nations. Following is the Irrawaddy’s original article on her
Luxury Handbag Collection. Please curse the corrupt family to enjoy their good
fortune while it still lasts for that good fortune will not last too long.
Couture Coup: Inside the Lavish World of Min Aung Hlaing's Wife
Kyu Kyu Hla, wife of Myanmar coup leader Min Aung
Hlaing, is known for her lavish tastes, particularly when it comes to luxury
handbags. The exact number in her collection remains
unknown, but she has been spotted with 15 totes from several ultraluxury
brands, valued at a staggering US$ 274,000 – or over 1 billion kyats. That
figure was calculated based on the retail prices of standout handbags Kyu Kyu
Hla has been seen carrying in media photographs and videos.
A taste for the finest
Kyu Kyu Hla has been spotted flaunting a variety of
world-renowned designer handbags, wristwatches, and outfits ever since her
husband assumed the role of Myanmar military chief in 2011. Her handbag
collection features iconic brands like Hermes, Prada, Louis Vuitton (LV), and
Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) in various designs and colors.
Kyu Kyu Hla carries a Prada handbag worth US$ 4,250 during a meeting with the wife of the Thai military chief in Bagan in 2018.
Topping the list is a black Hermes tote crafted
from authentic crocodile skin and adorned with real gold, valued at $77,500 –
or over 310 million kyats. Kyu Kyu Hla was spotted with this exquisite piece on
February-8 last year during a visit to the Two Dragons Monastery in Tachileik,
Shan State.
Her lavish fashion statements in the face of Buddhist modesty extended to a blue Hermes handbag worth $34,200 (120 million kyats). She chose to carry this bag – made from the finest Togo leather and embellished with real gold – at a ceremony to donate robes to monks at Lawkananda Pagoda in Sittwe, Rakhine State, on November 7, 2023.
Collection expanding post-coup
Observers note that Kyu Kyu Hla’s penchant for Hermes bags has grown considerably since her husband staged the 2021 coup to oust the elected NLD government. In media appearances since the military takeover, she has showcased eight different Hermes bags, with the cheapest among them valued at $4,999 (around 20 million kyats). This particular piece was seen dangling from her arm last year on March 17, during a ceremony to consecrate the Kyaik Pinnyaya Pagoda in Bago.
In July 2021, the United States government
sanctioned the Kyu Kyu Hla in response to her husband’s putsch. Kyu Kyu Hla
carries a Hermes tote valued at $4,999 during a visit to Bago on March 17, 2024.
From humble beginnings to lavish displays
Born and raised in the small village of Zee Kyun in
Rakhine State, the story of Kyu Kyu Hla’s journey to opulent wealth is
intriguing. The ethnic Rakhine woman attended the University of Yangon to study
Burmese literature and went on to become a Burmese instructor at the same
institution.
Min Aung Hlaing first encountered her during his
single year as a law student at the University of Yangon before he joined the
Defense Services Academy. Kyu Kyu Hla was the older of the two and commanded
respect from her future husband right from the start, according to sources
close to the couple.
High-ranking Myanmar military defectors state that
Kyu Kyu Hla harbors personal animosity toward Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, envying her
reputation and popularity. The democracy icon has been imprisoned in Naypyitaw
since she was arrested, along with other NLD leaders, on the first day of the
coup.
Observers have linked Kyu Kyu Hla’s dazzling displays of wealth to the booming business empires of her two adult children. Since Min Aung Hlaing became military chief, Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon have emerged as top cronies, controlling businesses in Myanmar’s most lucrative sectors, ranging from telecoms, energy, and construction to pharmaceutical imports, weapons factories, aircraft parts procurement, and film production.
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| A mass grave of Myanmar Army soldiers. Their death benefits become Hermes. |
