I am neither an expert on Burmese history nor one on human rights, but having watched Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel Peace Prize speech, delivered two decades after she received the award, I felt compelled to pen a few thoughts. I visited Yangon two years ago and spent a meaningful and somewhat enlightening five days in the Burmese capital. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Under the sweltering Burmese heat, we toured parts of the city and were fortunate enough to have had the chance to interact with locals. I distinctly recall two incidents which have been vividly etched in my memory. The first was when we spoke to a middle-aged man who left us by telling us how he was desperately keeping his fingers crossed that Daw Aung San would be released and that democracy would one day reach the Burmese people. Another was when we left a temple to find ourselves surrounded by people attempting to sell us old Burmese currency. Our taxi driver had been patiently waiting at the entrance and I asked if the image on the old notes belonged to General Bogyoke Aung San. To my surprise, he frantically looked at the guard outside the temple and immediately placed a finger on his lips, telling me in a hushed tone that I should never mentioned that name in public. I was surprised as Yangon's famous central market was named Bogyoke Aung San and it had not been a problem referring to it as such. These two incidents illustrate the political situation in Myanmar during our visit but things have changed since although people will inevitably disagree on the significance of these changes. I cannot help but side with those who believe that the recent efforts to 'democratise' Myanmar's political process carry a palpable, positive significance, if more symbolic than real. The fact that she is now able to travel thousands of miles to Norway in order to address the global community speaks volumes. This was the lady who rejected the opportunity to see her dying husband while under house arrest, knowing that she'd never be allowed to return home to continue her cause.
My friend Kelvin told me about his takeaways from the speech. He wrote to me about his admiration for Daw Aung San and how in spite of the many years of house arrest, she appears to be without a modicum of bitterness and retains an inexplicable vigour for the cause she has fought and suffered so much for. Having watched it, I couldn't disagree with Kelvin. Perhaps Daw Aung San knows that her adversity had not been in vain and not only have her efforts been globally recognised and praised (they have been for a while now), those in power in Myanmar are beginning to acknowledge that oppression is an increasingly outmoded tool. As we all know though, and as Daw Aung San has made clear in her speech, the Nobel Prize is only one means towards an end. She didn't begin her political career with an ultimate aim of winning the prize but of alleviating the suffering placed on the shoulders of many who had been, and remain to this day, victims of an oppressive regime. Implementing democratic ideals in Myanmar will indubitably remain an immensely difficult task, considering the country's make-up and history, but up to this stage, one cannot be faulted for being optimistic, having witnessed what can be accurately described as a 'triumph of the will'.
Several months ago, a friend and I were having a discussion on what 'greatness' really is. He contended that no one is truly 'great' which, to a large degree, challenged my prevailing perspective on the many individuals I had studied and had come to admire as a student of history. After a lengthy conversation, we came to a compromise: no one can be considered 'great' per se, but it is not unfair to label someone as 'great' in a particular field. Watching Aung San Suu Kyi's speech, this inevitably sprang up in my thoughts and I began to re-assess our compromise. In this case, to call Daw Aung San a 'great human rights advocate' or a 'great political leader' does more to obscure than to clarify, and does little to help us gain a comprehensive understanding of her person and the events which shaped her. I'd like to believe that once in a while, history provides us with people whom we can only describe as embodying a certain 'greatness', people whose efforts mesmerise us and whose character leaves us aspiring to be better than we are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUPfkNXpZvQ
