Aung San Suu Kyi, Beyond Myanmar’s Borders

Links View From Asia |By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW| May 30, 2012, 1:12 am

The last time Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s democracy movement, traveled internationally, it was 1988 and the Berlin Wall was still standing. That year, she flew back to Myanmar from Britain to care for her ailing mother.
Today, the lawmaker and leader of Myanmar’s opposition is in Thailand on a historic – and politically sensitive – trip, the first outside her country in nearly a quarter of a century. As The Irrawaddy, a Thailand-based news magazine set up by exiles from Myanmar, put it, “Only now does Aung San Suu Kyi really seem to feel free.”
To get a sense of the historic nature of this trip (and just how long it’s been since the Nobel Peace laureate was last about in the world), consider these facts, from a story by The Associated Press: In 1988, Ronald Reagan was still president of the United States, Libyan terrorists blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and Prozac was introduced to the market.
In June, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Switzerland, Britain and Ireland, where she is due to appear on stage at a concert by Bono, who has been an outspoken supporter. She will also travel to Oslo for her Nobel, awarded in 1991 but never received by her.
Most significantly, her presence in Thailand signals that the woman who cared so passionately about bringing democracy to Myanmar that she endured many years of house arrest, even missing the funeral of her husband in Britain, is confident that the government of President Thein Sein is serious about the democratic reforms it began last year. Until now, though she could probably have traveled at times, she stayed behind, fearful that the generals who ran Myanmar wouldn’t let her back in.
The trip “signifies a strong vote of confidence on Suu Kyi’s part in the seriousness of the reforms underway in the country,” Suzanne DiMaggio, the Asia Society’s vice president of global policy programs, told The Huffington Post. She wouldn’t take the risk of leaving “if she wasn’t absolutely certain she would be allowed to return,” Ms. DiMaggio said. ........

Love4Burma (2011)： A Letter from a servant's little dream

Thanks for supporting the Love4Burma non-profit organization with your love and prayers.

This year (2011) the political atmosphere in Myanmar has changed a lot. We hope that the openness of the new power can bring a new future for the people of Burma. Hillary Clinton’s visit on 12/1/2011 marks a new era of US-Burma relationship.

Two images kept popping up when I thought of Burma. One of the images is the rice bowl of the student. It was 1998 my first visit to Lashio. We were conducting a Winter Camp with students of Sheng-Guang Chinese school. I had a chance to eat with around 10 of them in a student table setting. I heard that day is the day the short term mission team donated some money for their dinner so they can eat well. That day we were having a happy time with them because they are very excited to have some meat in their rice bowl. I am not a picky person in eating. I ate with a taxi driver at the road side of MaeMiao without any problem. That day’s meal is delicious for me even though it is very simple. Two days after that, one night I happened to walk by the student’s dining area. I saw they were eating. I glimpsed to see into a boy’s rice bowl. It was just rice with a little greasy oil on top. I realized that is their normal life.

The second image is the hopeless eyes in a student boy. That was a night when we were about to leave. I talked to a boy. He is very shy and not any confidence in him. I asked him what he would like in the future. He said Taiwan is their dreams, but they need to work very hard and pass some examinations. If not, if lucky, they can go digging in the jade mines for their life. No excitement for their futures.

Later, I happened to know some Palaung. I realized poor is a relativity. They are even poorer than those Chinese students. The worst part is that they had been looked down for centuries. The poor looked down the poor in a survival world. They lived in the mountain and perceived as a lazy people. They all know that there are these poor people. Even worse, no gospel of Salvation had ever reached them. Not only in Burma, in Yunnan of China as well.

I don’t know how Love4Burma can do. But, this is a little dream hoping that Love can be delivered without prejudice. God love can be known everywhere and glory to God alone!

May God bless you all!

Wen-jen Chen