New Mandala

24 responses so far ↓

• 1 Ivan // Nov 14, 2010 at 11:37 am

  Now the story will begin for real……..will she be be allowed to move around, meet who she wishes and speak as she pleases, or will she be locked up again….

  or worse, will the Burma generals murder her in some way, either to appear as an “accident” or “by a deranged assassin” or perhaps use the present Thai government’s favorite method of dealing with political opponents, a single sniper bullet to the head………

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• 2 Vichai N // Nov 14, 2010 at 12:21 pm

  Aung San Suu Kyi is an inspiration to all people who cherish liberty and freedom. She is among the very few with the courage to challenge tyranny armed only with the truth and her graceful integrity of purpose.

  Because of what Aung San Suu Kyi is and what she represents, certain unsavory characters invoke her name to draw attention. One such unsavory is Thailand’s fugitive PM Thaksin Shinawatra, a self-described protector of “true democracy” who didn’t shy away from comparing himself with Mahatmah Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi.

  Whereas Gandhi, Mandela and San Suu Kyi were imprisoned (with extended sentences) because of their convictions, Thailand’s Thaksin Shinawatra chose to run and chose exile because so limitedly narrow was this Red Shirt Supreme Leader’s “convictions”.

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• 3 Polyphemus // Nov 14, 2010 at 12:42 pm

  Just to kick things off – I believe that The Lady can now have a more beneficial role to play in representing the Burmese people from outside the country. Her role in the nations history over the last 25 years has been admired and applauded by most, but to remain a prisoner of the Junta within or without her house at this point I think is counter-productive. On the world stage she can bring more attention to the nations trouble and perhaps galvanise positive action.
  Hell ,if it was me I’d use the opportunity to visit the Chinese government and offer preferential trading partnership in the event of a popular democracy! Naive perhaps, but I see nothing to be gained now by being sidelined, marginalised or re-imprisoned.
  She has the credentials to be the Dalai Llama or Nelson Mandela of the 21st Century and state censorship notwithstanding a greater beacon of hope and representation for the forgotten people of Burma.

  Welcome back to the world Daw Suu and please step up to the podium and make the voice of your people heard.

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• 4 farang // Nov 14, 2010 at 1:30 pm

  yes it is a joyous occasion BUT remember she should never have been incarcerated in the first place ,

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• 5 john francis lee // Nov 14, 2010 at 2:40 pm

  I got no free advice for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. I got gratitude; and I know for sure that she don’t owe me, nor anyone else, nuthin’.

  People want freedom, and control of their own lives, they got to take same for themselves.

  Waitin’ for the tooth fairy to get it for them ain’t a realistic proposition.

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• 6 john francis lee // Nov 14, 2010 at 2:53 pm

  Nobel committee invites Suu Kyi to Oslo

  Oslo – Norway’s Nobel committee on Saturday invited Aung San Suu Kyi to Oslo to make a belated acceptance speech for the peace prize she won 19 years ago but did not pick up.

  The opposition icon of Burma was honoured in 1991 for her non- violent struggle for democracy and human rights, but was unable to travel to Scandinavia because she was under house arrest.

  She also feared she would not be allowed to return to Burma, and asked her husband, who has since died, to accept the prize on her behalf.

  The head of the Nobel committee, Thorbjrn Jagland, said he would seek a guarantee from the government in Rangoon that Suu Kyi would be allowed back if she visited Oslo.

  “I don’t believe she would leave the country without first obtaining such a guarantee, Jagland said told the Norwegian News Agency NTB.

  Her release Saturday after a decade-and-a-half of house arrest was good news for political prisoners all over the world, he said.

  This year’s peace prize was warded to Liu Xiaobo, who is serving an 11-year prison term in in his native China for his commitment to democracy.//DPA

  Why does Thorbjrn Jagland remind me of John Yettaw, looking to associate himself with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, hoping for a little star dust to rub off on him.

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• 7 It's Martino // Nov 14, 2010 at 3:05 pm

  Good news — but I wonder how long it will last… why won’t they just put her back in jail/under house arrest for sedition? How would those in Yangon react to that?

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• 8 Peter // Nov 14, 2010 at 6:35 pm

  How long is it to the next elections – 4 or 5 years?. Nobody could expect a lot from the first one. People have to learn democracy and even the basic fundamentals about elections (see the “i feel helpless” commentary) again.

  It also took the people in Argentina, Chile and Brasil more then one election to get rid of their military leaders.

  So there is no need to whiningly look at the disappointing outcome of last weeks election. The step is made and now the opposition has time for their 4 year election campain.

  At the moment i have a gut feeling that Burma might have a better future then Thailand.

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• 9 Neverfree // Nov 14, 2010 at 7:18 pm

  Pigs may fly! Abhiset might listen. Thaksin might practice what he spins. Singapore might become more democratic. Malaysia might stop putting all its blame on its minorities. Hun Sen might learn to live within his own means instead of robbing it from the rest of the population. New Mandala might figure that it earnest intellectuallism is a total waste of effort in a region that continues to prefer tinpot dictators, blowhards and out-&-out crooks. Like it or not, this region is stuck with silly old fools in ridiculous uniforms for decades to come. And the world and this forum really doesn’t have the slightest idea how to deal with such riff-raff.

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• 10 Vichai N // Nov 14, 2010 at 8:47 pm

  “The opposition icon of Burma (Aung San Suu Kyi) was honoured (with a Nobel laureate honors) in 1991 for her non- violent struggle for democracy and human rights, but was unable to travel to Scandinavia because she was under house arrest. She also feared she would not be allowed to return to Burma, and asked her husband, who has since died, to accept the prize on her behalf.”

  Aung San Suu Kyi feared she would NOT be allowed to return to Burma, while Thailand’s self-proclaimed hero of Thai democracy, feared being forcibly repatriated back to Thailand. The contrast of heroes is astounding!

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• 11 michael // Nov 14, 2010 at 10:27 pm

  Yes, wonderful news…up to a point. And very moving. But, how free is she, and for how long?

  Watching the coverage on the Beeb last night, I was struck by a statement Sue Lloyd – Roberts made: the Burmese military get 40% of total budget, while Education gets 1%. I’m wondering how this compares with Thailand. Anyone know?

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• 12 john francis lee // Nov 14, 2010 at 11:54 pm

  Pavin Chachavalpongpun on Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese
  military:

  Suu Kyi faces long ‘struggle’

  While the junta says it has imposed no restrictions on her movements, Suu Kyi will still have to watch her step, said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

  “She has to be careful not to cross the line of the military regime,” he said.

  “Nobody can read the regime’s mind, but I am sure there is a line. She is not allowed to do whatever she would like to do. She has to be careful not to jeopardise her freedom, otherwise she will end up in house arrest again.”

  Burma’s new political landscape also means that Suu Kyi might have to “compromise a little bit and work with the new government,” added Pavin.

  That’s about the same line he takes with Thai democrats and the Thai military, isn’t it?

  They just have to “compromise a little bit and work with the new government”?

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• 13 Time for an Aung San Suu Kyi reality check | Asian Correspondent // Nov 14, 2010 at 11:58 pm

  [...] Nicholas Farrelly at the excellent New Mandala blog puts it: "…many difficult questions remain unanswered and nobody pretends that the future [...]

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• 14 Marco // Nov 15, 2010 at 3:25 am

  I understand that her youngest son Kim, who hasn’t seen her for 10 years, has been waiting in Bangkok for a Burma visa for almost a week now. Will he get one? We don’t know yet.

  Daw Suu has been invited to attend the Nobel laureates’ congress, she has a grandchild overseas she’s never seen, people are suggesting she meet people overseas. Will she go? I guess she still fears that if she leaves the country she may be barred from going back. That was the case when her husband was dying.

  She has been put through insufferable pain by the low-life junta and her grace though it all is a shining example to all human beings. We just don’t know what they will do next, Than Shwe is an uncaring, unpredictable paranoiac and we can only hope for the best.

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• 15 Polyphemus // Nov 15, 2010 at 6:50 am

  Khun Vichai,
  This is not the Thaksin bashing page – plenty of room elsewhere!
  Mr Lee,
  Of course “The Lady” has international status, an honourable CV and charisma, why begrudge this? The Burmese people you root for certainly don’t. If she is their last, best hope on the international stage – that’s where their needs are best served. If you are cynical of the peace movement approach then you’ll have to await the next insurrection and bloody crack down to sate your appetite.
  I see today she is prepared for open discussions with her elders and betters. Don’t see them going there unless it’s for a new era photo-op but lets see first eh? There may be bigger wheels in motion we are unaware of…
  I don’t think they are desperate enough to martyr her at the moment with their shiny new democratic suits on – and such fears have not and would not stop her following her own chosen path anyway.

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• 16 Moe Aung // Nov 15, 2010 at 10:06 am

  Time she broke the vicious circle of defiance and defeat. Confrontation if unavoidable needs to be backed up by force, and whoever can muster it will most likely end up the winner if neither party will back down. Her people are ready and willing more than ever to follow her all the way.

  The generals, though always fully prepared for it, do not want confrontation, only capitulation or collaboration. Repeated calls for genuine dialogue have only fallen on deaf ears so far. Chance would be a fine thing even to be able to contemplate and discuss some kind of compromise with the regime. That’s evidently not the kind of politics they do.

  Time she reclaimed the Tatmadaw for the people. She must try and level the playing field, so People Power has a fighting chance of winning. No need to split the army, just win them over en masse. If she can’t do it, no one can. Definitely worth trying when it comes to the crunch, and it requires political work beforehand which the NLD is still best placed to carry out. Not only did they see no choice but to free her as they ran out of excuses, interestingly they have not persecuted the NLD for carrying on with political agitation let alone outlaw the oraganisation. They must make hay while the sun shines. It’s not likely to last.

  I’m sure it’s not martyrdom she seeks as Justin Wintle has suggested. To leave their mark and make a name in history books as their mission in life is what career politicians like Tony Blair do.

  She wants results for her people, but if she remains hamstrung by her total commitment to non-violence, she is looking at a fate like the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala for a half century and counting, or worse. They wouldn’t mind seeing her lobbying and rubbing shoulders with world leaders and statesmen, but they might get desperate enough to make another attempt on her life because she will stay and continue to lead her people in their ‘second struggle for independence’ .

  She remains the only person, like her father before her, who can unite all the myriad peoples of Burma and achieve genuine national reconciliation, but it looks increasingly like in the end this will actually need the overthrow of the ‘elected’ military regime as a crucial step. And she needs to be more like her father in having no qualms about the people’s right to armed resistance.

  She cannot be sidelined by the generals but come the fire next time she can be left by the wayside if she fails to lead the people to victory.

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• 17 Polyphemus // Nov 16, 2010 at 5:20 am

  Moe Aung,
  If I understand you correctly you are calling for:
  1) Armed insurrection against the junta
  2) The daughter of Aung San to lead it

  From what I understand of Daw Aung San’s stance of non-violent protest I don’t think this is a realistic view, much as I appreciate your frustration.
  Her principles have been placed on the international stage and deviation from these would undermine her valued position and play directly into the hands of the military.
  You will have to look elsewhere for a militant leader but I’d suggest you don’t throw aside the ruby whilst searching for a diamond. I think she is aware of the danger of being sidelined by events as some critics have postulated. Equally the juntas game has moved to a new phase and their tactics have perceptibly changed. If there is room for her to exert influence or open up dialogue with the outside world it must be worth exploring. I am sure the generals sense change in the outside world order and are now looking to change or legitimise their role in it with China’s assistance. We should, for now at least follow Daw Aung Sans precept of expecting the worst but praying/plannig for the best.

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• 18 Moe Aung // Nov 16, 2010 at 8:16 am

  Polyphemus

  All I’m saying is she must consider all options and prepare herself and the people. If winning international adulation and accolades is all she cares for, she is in the wrong struggle. She might as well leave the country like some well meaning but wrongheaded people have advised and the generals hope she’d do. But I do hope she’s not going to need plan B, and good luck to her. She knows she’s going to need it.

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• 19 Fisherman // Nov 16, 2010 at 9:25 am

  I do hope this is not a disguised version of the Hundred Flowers Campaign. Perhaps the timing is all designed to test the waters… so that the generals can get an idea of who to watch?

  The optimist in me hopes the current happenings are part of a genuine attempt to democratically govern, and releasing ASSK is the first gesture along the path to a fairer system. There does seem to be some hope at the moment… but it’s all so very hard to work out what is happening and why it is happening now.

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• 20 Moe Aung // Nov 16, 2010 at 10:44 am

  Fisherman,

  Flushing out the opposition is what they’ve done time and again, so you do have a point there. I’d say it’s a bit late in the game now, as the above ground opposition is mostly out in the open, and their underground counterparts – I guess there must be this side of the movement – are not about to break cover.

  I agree it’s hard to figure out what’s going on in the generals’ mind. For one thing, as I mentioned earlier, they have not stopped the NLD’s defiant continuation of its political work, no arrests, no outlawing the ‘disbanded’ party so far. And the chink in the regime’s armour is definitely their own rank and file.

  It’s hard to imagine they are finding it hard to get their act together, since if they don’t hang together they would most assuredly hang seperately, notwithstanding the dichotomy within the ruling military class when part of the top brass was forced out of uniform and made to ‘reapply for their old jobs’ in government.

  It’s even harder to imagine they had an epiphany or a Damascene conversion. Only the gullible and the regime apologist would say the election was a genuine step to democracy particularly after the events that just unfolded. Safer to assume that this is the usual cat and mouse game with a change in the backdrop and the villain of the piece donning the democratic mask after the socialist one was dropped in the last act.

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• 21 Charles F. // Nov 16, 2010 at 3:53 pm

  I believe that ASSK could call for resistance to the generals, and the people would rise up, but she wouldn’t live to see the end of it.

  I’d like to see her do two things, neither of which is likely:

  1) leave Burma, then form a government in exile. I think many countries would quickly recognize her as the legitimate head of Burma.

  2) for once, speak directly to the hopes and aspirations of the hill tribes, who have borne the brunt of the genocide.

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• 22 chris beale // Nov 17, 2010 at 1:11 am

  Charles F. #21 :
  Difficult to see your suggestions working, without major splits within the Tatmadaw.
  ASSK’s best option is the one she is now pursuing – which may indeed lead to major splits within the military.

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• 23 plan B // Nov 18, 2010 at 10:58 am

  Here at New Mandala, from Ko Hla Oo personal assertions to multiple quasi-autobiographical/exposée by various ex Tamadaw Burmese, the fantasizing of a Bolshevik/Menshevik type scenario 2º to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar quagmire lives on.

  SPDC is in charge so successfully only because of the Tamadaw support, a supporting Tamadaw that has been honed to its present form, for 1/2 a Century, to a perfect instrument of domination and oppression for every Junta willing to take charge.

  Thanks to the initial laissez-faires and subsequent careless useless approach of the West.

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• 24 Joy Amber // Nov 18, 2010 at 10:04 pm

  Given the ongoing debate about whether ASSK’s freedom will be sustained, was just wondering if we have sidelined how she would move on in terms of her relations with the international community.

  This is taking into consideration that in general, she has never shown greater support for international aid/support for the Burmese. And there may be traces where she is for isolating Burma and making the country self sufficient.

  Perhaps I am being very pessimistic, but would The Lady’s release truly help the Burmese in their cry for international aid?

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