A year on edge
One year after the dramatic events of 1 February 2021, Myanmar remains on edge. During this year, all of us have become adept at crisis management and skilled in navigating uncertainty. I’m infinitely grateful to the TML team for your resilience and your sense of responsibility in extremely difficult times.
Just days after we launched our digital-first strategy in late January last year, we immediately reshuffled our priorities.
We put people safety above all else. If we cannot keep our staff safe while keeping people connected, we would be failing our purpose as a company. There is no empowering of societies if people do not feel safe at work. We put in place strict safety protocols, both to fight the virus and to avoid anyone being put in harm’s way. We organized vaccinations, upgraded staff insurances, and wrote new policies for healthcare and legal support. For most of us, the measures meant we were able to live and work safely through this very challenging year.
I wish we could have said we were 100% successful. Regrettably, we were not. One of our colleagues here in Yangon was at the wrong place at a wrong time. For some time we were hopeful that she would make it, but in November she sadly passed away. Our thoughts and all our support are with her family and loved ones.
During this tumultuous year, many have also suffered from rough bouts of COVID-19 infections. Several of our staff have made it safely through the pandemic so far, but many have had family members severely ill for weeks. Quite a number of colleagues have lost loved ones in the pandemic.
While all this has been going on, the open, thriving and worry-free civic spaces that many in Myanmar had grown accustomed to, have disappeared. Society has become less transparent and more constrained. For many of our staff, this has been a source of concern and stress. The psychological strain of uncertainty and a feeling of constant risk can be immense. In this situation, care and concern for each other is essential. We have tried to weave it into the way we operate and manage the company. You all continue to impress and amaze me by your resilience and your sense of duty.
Because the reason we’re here is to keep the people of Myanmar connected. To what matters most for them. Keeping that promise is the reason we go to work every day. We do it by staying focused on what we can impact.
This week, we have lived through 12 months on the edge. I want to thank you for your enduring commitment to our values and our culture, and for the essential work you put in — all of you, every day.
/Jon Omund
