Fear and uncertainty face the people of Myanmar as the military starts to crack down on mass protests against a coup which has shattered dreams and damaged livelihoods.

Amid the clamour of pots and pans on Myanmar’s streets, there are protesters who have experienced New Zealand’s democratic freedoms and are urging the Government to act firmly against the military junta.

“These guys have already destroyed a lot of our lives, and it's unfair because they are protecting their own interests, not the people's interests,” a young man in Yangon, who has lived in New Zealand, told Stuff prior to joining Tuesday's protests.

"We cannot know what is going to happen in the future, in the coming days ... I'm really sad for this kind of thing, because jobs can be lost, livelihoods can suffer and be quite painful, and always international aid can be cut off.”

Stuff has agreed not to name those interviewed within Myanmar due to concerns they might face repercussions.

Tension continues to rise in Myanmar as protests against last week's military coup grow. Water cannons and rubber bullets have been fired on protestors, Frontier Myanmar has reported.

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Fortify Rights, a human rights organisation which operates in the country, issued a statement on Wednesday saying a 19-year-old woman, Myat Thet Thet Khaing​, had been shot in the head and killed with live ammunition in the capital, Naypyidaw​.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Tuesday afternoon said all “high-level” political contact would be ended between New Zealand and Myanmar, a travel ban would be placed on Myanmar's military leaders, and it would be ensured that New Zealand's aid programme would not benefit the military.

The man in Yangon, who watched Ardern’s press conference, said New Zealand needed to support the Myanmar people.

"Never co-operate and never recognise the regime. Never do business, and also put pressure on New Zealand private companies who would like to do business with the military regime.”

The world has “disengaged” from Myanmar in the past after military coups, he said, and it made the lives of people in the country “worse, and worse, and worse”.

He said New Zealand should engage with the former National League for Democracy (NLD) government, an “interesting power play” that would legitimise the civilian government and diminish the military’s power.

Another young Myanmar man, who similarly had spent time in New Zealand, said the coup meant he had lost “everything”. “For our career, we don’t know what we should do, at least for a year. We lost all our dreams, our hope, our plans.”

It was unclear when the military may crackdown on the growing protests, he said. The internet had been up and down, banks and ATMs were closed, but the military had not “yet” cut off the movement of people.

• New Zealand suspends political contact with Myanmar, implements travel ban on its military leaders
• Myanmar military takes control of country, detains elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi
• Myanmar’s military reverts to its old strong-arm behaviour — and the country takes a major step backwards

There was distrust in the military’s claim that democratic elections will return in a year’s time.

“[Whether] they will take over for a year, another decade, two decades, we don't know what the military's intention is.”

He said New Zealand should involve itself in political developments in Myanmar in the coming years, alongside countries like the Australia and the European Union.

Sanctions against the military leaders had failed in the past, he said, however it was too early to say whether such a measure should now be considered. “Sometimes moral support alone is not effective.”

The Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, took control of the country last week and arrested members of a democratically elected government, including the country’s leader, Nobel Peace Prize winning Aung San Suu Kyi​.

On Wednesday, Reuters reported that in the lead up to the coup there had been days of fraught discussion between Suu Kyi’s NLD party and the Tatmadaw, which claimed a November election resoundingly won by the NLD was fraudulent.

The military was reportedly insulted by the NLD’s refusal to cede to a demand that it delay the sitting of parliament, disband the country’s electoral commission, and allow the military to supervise a re-examination of the vote. A coup was launched after discussions broke down.

Those who spoke to Stuff said the election was flawed, and the civilian government did not sufficiently work to resolve the issues raised by the military. However, the resounding win for the NLD or the legitimacy of the coup was not in dispute.

“The coup is not justified at all, the coup was a kind of insult to democracy. The system has many flaws, the system has many errors, but it is not justifiable to have the coup like this,” the man in Yangon said.