KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 — Yangon-based Nang Mwe San fulfilled her parents dreams by becoming a doctor after completing medical school.
But it wasn’t what she wanted.
Blessed with good looks, Nang took to social media posting suggestive pictures in swimwear and lingerie as a hobby, going on to build an audience and scoring commercial appearances.
The images landed her in trouble at the Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation office where the 30-year-old worked as medical officer, where they demanded she resign.
She was even ordered by the national medical council to stop her hobby and made sure would never work as a doctor again.
“They told me it was against Myanmar tradition and asked me to sign a paper,” she told Coconuts Yangon.
“So I did sign it, but it didn’t stop me.
“Eventually, they sent me a letter saying that my licence has been revoked.”
With two million followers between Instagram and Facebook, Nang is a national sex symbol in her culturally conservative country.
The Buddhist country gave her a hard time about her pictures, but she told the website she prefers to ignore the endless harassment, saying the attention has helped increase her popularity.
“My parents didn’t like it at all since all the old people in Myanmar are very archaic,” she said.
“Though I was shackled by those pressures, by doing so, I became financially comfortable.”
In September, Nang decided to open an OnlyFans account, the London-headquartered porn-subscription site and went on to make US$50,000 (RM208,000) in just a month.
As a comparison, public hospitals in Myanmar paid doctors US$200 a month while private hospitals paid slightly more.
The ex-doctor said social media was a platform to make money without having to sell her body.
“I wanted to make some earnings, not from sugar daddies, but on my own.
“When I found out that I can do so on OnlyFans, that’s when I jumped in.”
She uses the content subscription service to post erotic videos and play with sex toys for followers who would pay up to US$25 a month for access.
“It’s amazing how it works. Here, I earn more than any other job I’ve worked before,” said Nang, who has fans from the US, Mexico and other countries.
Despite ditching the medical profession, she remains vocal about the salaries of doctors in Myanmar, such as her younger brother who works at a government hospital.
Nang said assistant surgeons would only earn US$250 a month and as a result, many qualified doctors leave the country for better prospects.
“I feel happier working as a model.
“Besides, if you look out there now, with Covid-19, doctors are frontline heroes.
“And that’s why most people go abroad for better earnings after graduation.”
Nang admitted she was worried when she decided to model full-time, adding that she didn’t have a choice back then.
“Now I have many opportunities as it’s doing well,” the first Myanmar national to be on OnlyFans said.
Prior to creating content on the pay-per-view site, Nang would post free videos on Instagram and Snapchat stories but when the pandemic hit, events and commercials were non-existent, so she had to think of other ways to earn an income.
“That’s when I found out how to make a bigger income and not depend on anyone else in my life,” Nang said.
Moving forward, she is thinking of taking her videos to more platforms such as YouTube and Snapchat premium.
And she insists she won’t be discouraged by critics at home.
“They can’t judge me by what I do since many Hollywood celebrities such as Amber Rose, Bella Thorne are doing the same thing.
“As long as the seller and their customers get along, it’s not a big deal.”
