Rise of Aung San Suu Kyi

   
 

“The struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma is a struggle for life and dignity,” said Aung San Suu Kyi. The word “democracy” means more than just a value for Aung San Suu Kyi, a hero democracy activist in Myanmar. It defines Suu Kyi’s family legacy, her life in prison, the loss of her husband and the cries of Myanmar’s people. Now that Suu kyi is free, she is using the international recognition and praise she has received during her long incarceration, along with great domestic support to build a democratic Myanmar.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu kyi recently visited Korea in order to congratulate the opening of the Special Olympics and to meet Korea’s first female president, Park Geun Hye. Wearing Myanmar’s beautiful national flower, the padauk, Suu kyi arrived in Korea.

   
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The Stepping Stones

Aung san suu kyi was the third child of prime minister and Burma’s independence hero, Aung san. Suu kyi was just two years old, when she lost her father through assassination. After the death of her father, Suu kyi’s family moved to India when her mother was appointed Burma’s ambassador. Four years later, Suu kyi was admitted to Oxford University, where she earned a B.A. in philosophy, politics and economics and where she met her husband, Michael Aris. She raised two sons in the United Kingdom, and expected to continue her family life and career there.

When Suu kyi returned to her homeland to nurse her dying mother in 1988, Myanmar was going through a political upheaval, fomented by student-led demonstrations for democratization. Thousands of students, monks and activists were brutally killed by the military and Suu kyi, the daughter of an independence hero, was propelled to lead a peaceful revolt against the dictator, General Ne Win and followed her father’s footsteps. Suu kyi made speeches, sent open letters to the government and led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a landslide victory in the 1990 constitutional assembly elections. Unfortunately, the results were overturned by the military junta and Suu kyi was placed under house arrest.

Suu kyi’s husband applied for a Myanmar visa for several years but was continuously rejected by the Myanmar government, greatly limiting the amount of time Suu kyi could spend with him and her two sons. When her husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1997, the pressure for her to leave the country intensified. The government offeredto allow her to return to Britain to be with her dying husband, but she rejected their offer because she knew that the government would not allow her to return to Myanmar once she left the country. It was not until June 2012, when Suu kyi could finally visit his grave.

In May 2009, Suu kyi was released from house prison but was re-arrested for allowing an American named John Yettaw to stay in her house. Due to this incident, she was unable to participate in the 2010 election and was released six days after the election was held. After her release, she spent most of her time preparing for the 2012 election, in which the NLD won 43 out of 45 seats. “In Myanmar, Aung san suu kyi is a hero. Our people worked together for democracy for decades but she was the one who brought the people together and change,” said Iris Kay Khine (24, Yangon).

Today, she travels around the word, including Europe, Thailand and Korea, in order to spread the word of democracy and to increase her international recognition.

   
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Widespread Influence

“Aung is more than just a symbol of democracy for Myanmar. She holds power for great change.” said Iris, when asked about Suu kyi’s influence in Myanmar. Domestically, Suu kyi is a powerful political figure who works as the leader of the NLD and works for reform along with new president Thein Sein.

As the leader of the NLD, Suu kyi holds regular conferences and workshops to discuss democratic reforms in Myanmar, improving public education and freeing political prisoners. Through her efforts, hundreds of political prisoners have been freed and reform continues to apace. Myanmar is slowly accepting the concepts of democracy and the free market and the government had strengthened human rights laws and prohibited the use of child labor, which was a major problem in Myanmar.

Suu kyi also serves as an international inspiration for many activists fighting for human rights and democratization. For instance, 15-year old Malala Yousafzai, an education activist in Pakistan, is called “Pakistan’s young Suu kyi” by many supporters for her selfless sacrifice towards human rights. On October 9 2012, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban soldier after she persisted in demanding for girls’ education rights in Pakistan. She shocked the world she publicly declared that she would continue her struggle for equal education after miraculously recovering from the life- threatening abrasion and created the Malala Fund for Girls’ Education.

A New Page in History?

   
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Myanmar was long considered a “black sheep” and was isolated from the rest of the world due to its appalling human rights record. From 1962 to 2011, the country was ruled by a military junta that suppressed almost all dissent in the face of international condemnation and sanctions. The generals who ran Burma were constantly accused of human rights violations, which included forcible relocation of civilians and the use of forced labor, including children.

No one knows for sure what Myanmar’s future will be like. By canceling a 3.6 billion hydroelectric dam project that would have sent 90 percent of its energy to China and slowly opening up to the U.S, some say that Myanmar is becoming a new battlefield for the U.S and China to fight on. “The western governments have started to treat Myanmar differently, now that China has shown interest. China has worked a lot to extract resources and has built a pipeline across Myanmar. China is suddenly very involved in the area, and I think that must somehow have affected the West’s attitude towards Myanmar,” says Professor Cuz Potter (International Studies).

However, despite the skepticism of some, the situation in Myanmar changed for a logical reason. The generals came to the striking realization that the government had failed in its socialist reforms and a corrupt military governance was causing their once-rich economy to fail. In addition, political pressure from the international community and increased public influence of Suu kyi pushed the newly-appointed president Thein Sein to enthusiastically embrace new economic and political policies. By welcoming change with openarms, Myanmar was able to reconnect with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and many western governments. Economic reforms are currently underway and the public attention on democratic reform is not fading either.

   
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Future Outlook

Aung said herself during the speech she made at Queens college, “While we are started on the path, we are not yet anywhere near our goal of a truly democratic society.” The results of actual change in Myanmar needs to be assessed and watched over in the long run and continuously hope that the fire that had been lit would not fade out.

   
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The tipping point for Myanmar’s political change may have been the rise of Aung, but the building steps were from the works of the Myanmar’s people, the continuous protests and support. The works of the people should not be forgotten because those works were what built Suu kyi as an international symbol for democracy, human rights and progress.

Nevertheless, leaving her two young sons to grow up without a mother to support them and leaving her husband to die alone thousands of miles away, Suu kyi definitely sacrificed more than others could imagine. She spent her youthful days in house prison for a future that was not guaranteed.

Alone, Suu kyi may not have created practical change or pursued democracy in Myanmar, but the very existence of Suu kyi united the people to continue fighting for democracy and has inspired and led the next generation to fight for their beliefs. Whether or not Myanmar is just a political battlefield, we would never know. However, what we are sure of is that the name “Aung San suu kyi” has directly and indirectly brought and continued change in many regions and has rung the hearts of many to believe in change.

   
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