It is not a disrepect issue. It is not a moral issue. Of course it has nothing to do with child sexual assault.

Dr Nang Mwe San deserves my respect, her colleagues' respect, and her patient's respect for her medical competence. What she does without a stethoscope is irrelevant.

Shame on the Myanmar Medical Association for taking away her licence.

Jamie

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Putting on a brave front
Aye Thu San
Myanmar Times
19 July 2019

A voluptuous lady with long curly hair and golden highlights, in a tight body-hugging blouse and ripped jeans, is walking with her shoulders open. She exudes an air of confidence.

Her image is far removed from that of a white coat-wearing doctor carrying a clipboard and with a stethoscope hanging around her neck. But these two images were once the same person, before the Myanmar Medical Council (MMC) revoked her medical license.

She is now unable to treat any patients, and the time she spent on her education has gone to waste. Except that the MMC’s decision has garnered lots of publicity, in newspapers and on social media.

This is Dr Nang Mwe San, a “sexy model” who has been working full-time since 2018 in her new modeling role, posting sexy images of herself on Instagram and Facebook in revealing dresses, bikinis and luxury brand underwear. Though her banning from the medical profession caused a lot of controversy, it has also boosted her popularity – mostly among men.

Typically in Myanmar people are not permitted to work two professional jobs at the same time. In fact, many medical students who had a job before graduating were unable to obtain their license. Dr Nang Mwe San graduated back in 2013, and only much later started modeling.

“I’m not upset by this situation, but I have to make an appeal to the medical council within two months. If they insist on me not wearing what they call ‘inappropriate’ clothing then I have no choice but to relinquish my license,” Nang Mwe San said.

Age is also a consideration in her decision to continue modeling. “Modeling depends on my youthfulness and good health, so it’s good to keep modeling while I am still young. As time passes, I will try to get my license back,” she said.

After receiving the first letter she continued her modeling work, accepting that the council was unhappy with her. The following warning letter was more serious, and because she ignored it she received a third – which told her she was fired.

When she started posting her sexy photos on social media she was working as a monitoring and evaluation officer on a malaria prevention project in an INGO. Even then her boss warned her to choose one job over the other, not because of any legal obligation to do so but to avoid “disrespecting” her colleagues.

Back then it was still more of a moral issue, and the social consequences it would have in the workplace.

“I tried very hard to become a medical doctor for over five years, and I never considered taking up modeling full-time. It was more of a hobby. However, when my boss warned me I could see there was a professional risk to what I was doing. Finally I quit the INGO job,” she said.

How to revoke a medical license

Nang Mwe San decided to study medicine to please her parents, but was unsure of what she actually wanted to do herself. They didn’t approve of her interest in modeling, and encouraged her to stop. She was also scorned by other relatives and friends.

“Some comments were super rude, and I didn’t want to read or hear them. I was afraid of what people were saying at first, but now I’m used to it. As a sexy model the more skin I reveal in my photos and videos, the more fans will like it. I have to wear fashionable clothes, and I take good care of my body and skin. That is my job,” she said.

Conditions for revoking medical licenses in regards to activities outside of work are unclear, but Nang Mwe San said she always took the Hippocratic Oath seriously. The oath is a commitment to ethical best practice, and doesn’t say anything about what doctors should wear, she explained.

“According to the oath, it’s a doctor’s duty to treat every patient with a medical condition. We cannot provide dangerous medications to our patients, even if they are our worst enemies. There can be no inappropriate relationships between doctors and patients, especially between men and women. I never promoted my images at work, so I’m not sure why I received this kind of punishment,” she said disappointingly.

Nang Mwe San strongly believes that doctors are over-praised in society, sometimes treated as a protected class: “Doctors are not religious leaders. We are just human beings, just the same as people who work in other professions. That was my only professional job, and it doesn’t need to restrict other parts of my life.”

“One day, I will return to the medical field. If I’m unable to practice in a professional capacity, then I will do charity work. Currently, I’m trying to become an Instagram model and willing to do Bikini model shoots in the United States,” she said.

Sex education is needed

Some of her most vociferous critics like to blame sexy models for the increase in rape and child abuse cases in Myanmar. This is an extremely difficult accusation to prove, and Nang Mwe’s suggestion has always been to improve law enforcement and sex education in the country.

“Rape cases are just criminal cases and are not connected to sexy photos. There is a real lack of knowledge about sex, and the weak law enforcement doesn’t help deal with sex offenders at all,” she said.

“If someone is seen with a condom, that person will be blamed and shamed – rather than seen as being responsible. This is a very conservative mindset,” she said.

Many people judge women on what they wear. She is used to this, but also finds it strange that it’s women who are often the harshest judges. “It’s a kind of gender discrimination by women, and it shouldn’t be like this,” she said.

https://www.mmtimes.com/news/putting-brave-front.html