A pillar of strength

Burma’s inspirational pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi could be forgiven for thinking that these days would never come.

It would have been understandable over the past two decades had she succumbed to despair during her 15 years of house arrest and given up on her lonely campaign for freedom and democracy for the people of Burma.

After all, Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy won a resounding victory at the 1990 election taking 392 seats from a possible 485.

The military junta had placed her under house arrest in1989 to prevent her from entering the parliament and forming a government. Thousands of her supporters were jailed.

In 1995 I travelled to Burma and I was privileged to spend an hour or so with Suu Kyi.

She made a profound first impression and I was in awe of her grace and composure as she lived under a shadow of constant fear and intimidation.

Just months earlier Suu Kyi had been released from house arrest and there was some optimism among her supporters that the military may relax its iron grip on the country.

That optimism was short lived.

My brief experience with the military, as I passed through the security checkpoints and customs in Rangoon, left me deeply pessimistic.

I left Burma with grave doubts that Suu Kyi would ever be free to live in peace, or be granted the freedom to travel around Burma or overseas, let alone take her place in parliament.

One of the great tests of Suu Kyi’s courage was surely when her husband Aris, who lived in London with their two children, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 1997.

Suu Kyi was unwilling to travel to his bedside as she understandably assumed that the military junta would prevent her return to Burma.

Tragically for Suu Kyi, Aris died in 1999 on his 53^rd birthday.

Throughout her long ordeal, she has continued to be a source of inspiration for people around the world.

The people of Burma have been a primary source of her strength, although it is hoped she also gained inspiration from the international support she received, including a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

The compelling images beamed around the world in recent days of Suu Kyi’s first overseas trip in 24 years say much about her personal qualities.

Her first destination was not the halls of power in Asia, Europe or America, but a camp in Thailand housing thousands of Burmese refugees who had fled from their home country in search of a better life.

Suu Kyi was mobbed by the crowds, many reportedly wishing to return home now that Burma was undergoing democratic reform.

No doubt the welfare of these refugees will be high on her agenda during a scheduled meeting with the Thai Prime Minister.

Suu Kyi’s proposed return visit to England where she lived, studied at Oxford, married and raised her sons, until her fateful return to Burma in 1988, will capture the emotions of people worldwide.

It is to be hoped that the reforms under way in Burma and the role Suu Kyi has assumed in public life will create a momentum for change that will prove impossible to reverse.

Hopefully there will be a parallel between the fundamental political and societal changes in South Africa that followed the release from custody of Nelson Mandela.

While their experiences were naturally different, as Mandela was held in prison for 27 years, one of the keys to their eventual triumph over adversity was a refusal to give in to bitterness or the desire for revenge.

Mandela once said, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Suu Kyi has dedicated her life to bringing freedom to the people of Burma and the depth of their support for her campaign was shown in the recent by-elections where her party won 43 of the 46 seats.

It is my sincere hope and the hope of people all over the world that Burma will fully emerge from its darkest years and once again be welcomed into the community of nations.

The world continues to be fascinated by a petite Burmese woman, 66 years of age, who has managed to defy and hopefully triumph over a military regime using only the power of her ideas and her unwavering commitment.