For decades, Myint Soe's family has been able to practice freedom of religion in Myanmar, with neighbors reveling in the family's “half-Muslim, half-Buddhist” status.
But Myint, 58 years old, admits that when he married his Buddhist wife 33 years ago, some of his family did raise objection.
“Some, especially my grandparents, strongly criticized me,” he tells Anadolu Agency from his small house in Yangon’s central rail station compound.
“It was because I didn’t ask my wife to convert to Islam,” the government worker recalls. "But why would I? Even though I'm from a poor and uneducated background, I believe someone’s faith should not be controlled.”
Myint's wife, 58-year-old Khin Shwe, tells Anadolu Agency that she had doubts about her husband at first as her parents warned her that she would be forced to convert to Islam soon after the marriage. (Courtesy of Anadolu Agency)
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