Aung San Suu Kyi
“I was informed today that my dear wife Suu has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize … It is my earnest hope and prayer that the Peace Prize will somehow lead to what she has always strived for – a process of dialogue aimed at achieving lasting peace in her country. Selfishly, I also hope our family’s situation will be eased as a result of this supreme gesture of recognition for her moral and physical courage, and that we may at last be allowed to pay her visits again. We miss her very much.”
~ Dr. Michael Aris ~
There is something rather sad about an un-used life. When an act of God, cuts a life short, before being allowed to mature and bear fruit, it is a tragic and yet, accepted sorrow; but a life which is wasted, never rising to be what it could be, stirs a beating heart to break.
So often, when confronted by tragic and overbearing circumstances, people surrender to the yoke of inevitable hopelessness and simply give up their dreams and desires. There is no point in directing harsh words or judgment on such sad souls, as they have done what they could; and while perhaps their failures might be worth studying to some, they have little interest to me.
However, I am fascinated by the person who spent 15 of the last 21 years locked in her home, under house arrest, refused permission to see her dying husband, allowed only limited access to her sons and the outside world; and yet managed to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the Rafto Prize, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, the International Simon Bolivar Prize, among other honors. Aung San Suu Kyi is such a person.
Aung San Suu Kyi was fathered by a warrior, who fought for independence from colonialism, and birthed by a diplomat who created an environment of enlightenment, while providing her daughter an education which took her around the world, studying everywhere from India to England. She worked at the United Nations, married Dr. Michael Aris, a scholar and intellectual, and together had two sons, who have sought to make a unique contribution to the world around them.
After enduring years of hardship, at the hands of a totalitarian, military government which has been in power since 1962, in Myanmar (formerly Burma), on March 31, 2012, at 66 years of age, Aung San Suu Kyi was elected to the lower chamber of Parliament, though her party, the National League of Democracy won the majority of the open seats, they do not have a majority of power, and in fact this election victory is much more symbolic than influential, in terms of directly impacting Myanmar’s government. Nevertheless, the victory does bring hope and I think redemption.
Dr. Aris said that when he met his future wife, Aung San Suu Kyi, she commented that she was his, unless and or until her country needed her. It would not be until her own mother was sick, and she returned to Myanmar to see her that the call of her nations freedom would be felt; but when it called she answered, helping to form the National League of Democracy in 1988. In 1990 the party would win the majority in a multi-party election; but the results were nullified by the military government and Aung San Suu Kyi would be placed under house arrest.
In the more than twenty years that followed, there would be releases and re-imprisonments, and heartaches and hopes, both personal and professional, which may have well destroyed a lesser person; but through it all Aung San Suu Kyi continued to not only preserver but thrive.
The older one becomes the more relative the notion of age becomes. For many, 66 is the age of retirement; while others view 66 as an age when one may well be at the height of their success, not say assuming a seat in Parliament, with little power attached to it, but rather becoming Prime Minister or President of your country. Yet, on April 1, 2012, as results of the election became clear, Aung San Suu Kyi was herald as a victor, not only in this election but in her life.
How much will she be able to accomplish in the current Myanmar government, without a majority? Her position can be compared to an Independent candidate, in the United States, being elected from an under populated state, to the Congress. Without a party majority, established political party, or a large population to court the executive branch, it is hard to see what Aung San Suu Kyi can do. Unless, of course, you are one of the many muted souls to whom she has given a voice!
This victory, regardless of how it is perceived in the real world, has given hope to all of those around the world who have not only supported her cause, but most importantly to those who have followed her life’s mission, living subjugated to the same government which while not imprisoning all of its’ citizens, has steadfastly limited their freedom.
Is this Aung San Suu Kyi’s second act? Or is she continuing the work she was born to do, and began with the formation of the National League of Democracy? What will she be able to accomplish, finally freed from house arrest and duly elected to public office? It is hard to know, and impossible not to reflect on how Myanmar might have benefited from her service, in those twenty plus lost years. Where might this troubled nation be if it had let its best and brightest work unencumbered during what most would think the most productive years of one’s life?
For years, I like so many, have followed Aung San Suu Kyi’s life. I have always been fascinated by those that persevere through what seems to be insurmountable odds. How do you not surrender to defeat when you live in bondage? How do you continue to hope when time and again all possibilities of freedom are crushed? What is it that makes a person like Aung San Suu Kyi continue to fight?
Undoubtedly, she was truly bred and educated to fight for her nation; but it is equally true that Aung San Suu Kyi has used the adversity forced upon her as a tool. For so many of us, heartache only leads to despair. We allow our grief to birth desolation, and find, as our life nears its end, that moments of hardship were given the power to overtake whatever joy we could have known or good we could have done. It is so easy to make our misfortunes into weapons of anguish, which end up being used against us; as opposed to seeing that “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45 NIV)
Despite the best efforts of her oppressors, Aung San Suu Kyi has not lived a wasted life! She has risen to the challenges she has been forced to live with, and I have no doubt will find a way to make the coming years of her life matter not only to her but to her nation. I know that she has already inspired me, That is All for Now.
