“We must work together in unison to achieve our goal”
— Aung San Suu Kyi—
The committee called her an icon of Myanmar’s struggle for democracy and of the global struggle against oppression in awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize ‘for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.’
International humanitarian and political activist Aung San Suu Kyi is free. The most prominent among more than 1,000 political prisoners held by Myanmar’s [Burma’s] military government, Aung San Suu Kyi had been under house arrest or in jail for most of the past 21 years.
“It is not power that corrupts but fear,” Aung San Suu Kyi writes in her most famous 1990 speech ‘Freedom from Fear’.
“Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.…
“Fearlessness may be a gift but perhaps more precious is the courage acquired through endeavor, courage that comes from cultivating the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one’s actions, courage that could be described as ‘grace under pressure’ — grace which is renewed repeatedly in the face of harsh, unremitting pressure.
“Within a system that denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day: Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.
“A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that ‘might is right’ to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most crushing state machinery, courage rises up again and again; for fear is not the natural state of civilized [human beings].…
“Concepts such as truth, justice and compassion cannot be dismissed as trite when these are often the only bulwarks which stand against ruthless power.”
In the mid to late 1960s, Aung San Suu Kyi studied philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University and in the late 60s to early 70s she was part of the U.N. secretariat as Assistant Secretary, Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions; evenings and weekends she volunteered at a hospital, helping indigent patients in reading and companionship programs.
In 1988 (September 18) Burma’s military established the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) and political gatherings of more than four people were banned; arrests and sentencing without trial reaffirmed; parliamentary elections were held but multiple parties were expected to prevent a clear result. On September 24, the National League for Democracy (NLD) formed, its policy non-violence and civil disobedience; Aung San Suu Kyi was its general-secretary. Aung San Suu Kyi was detained, placed under house arrest (1989) without charge or trial but despite her detention, the NLD (May 27, 1990) won the election with 82 percent of parliamentary seats. The SLORC refused to recognize the results.
Aung San Suu Kyi has received the Rafto Human Rights Prize (1990), the Sakharov Human Rights Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize (1991). Penguin in New York, England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand published her speech “Freedom from Fear.” Translations of the speech include Norwegian, French, and Spanish. The $1.3 million Nobel Prize money Suu Kyi designated in 1992 for the establishment of a health and education trust for the Burmese people. Aung San Suu Kyi was born in June 1945 in Rangoon (now Yangon).
Sources
“Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi released — Pro-democracy leader emerges from seven-year house arrest and addresses supporters gathered outside her home in Yangon, November 13, 2010, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/11/20101113105340355661.html
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1991/kyi-bio.html
“Freedom from Fear” (Aung San Suu Kyi, 1990, http://www.loyarburok.com/selected-exhortations/freedom-from-fear-aung-san-suu-kyi/; and
http://sanooaung.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/freedom-from-fear-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi/
Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi,
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/05/2009514339158749.html
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