NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar — Dressed in flowing purple silk, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi climbed the stone steps of Parliament here Wednesday, delicate and serene in the face of a mob of photographers as she prepared to create a milestone for her country.
After two decades of persecution as Myanmar’s most prominent dissident, she and nearly three dozen members of her party, the National League for Democracy, took the parliamentary oath of office.
Can you believe it? Pinch me! After 19 years in house arrest, parted from her family, unable to be at her husband’s deathbed, unable to accept the Nobel Peace prize, she is taking her seat in Parliament! Amazing.
This is my pet issue. I was born in Rangoon, Burma before the coup and after Suu Kyi’s father was assassinated. I have this idyllic view of Burma. The innocent, beautiful, magical place where I spent the first years of my life. Growing up if I was angry with my parents, my big threat was that I would declare Burmese citizenship and move to Burma. That showed them!!
I went to see the newly released movie “The Lady” about Suu Kyi the other day. In Burma she is known everywhere as “The Lady”, their hope. The movie was a three tissue tear jerker. I cried through the whole thing. Partly because it was emotional for me personally but it is really such a sad story. I think everybody should go see it! Not because it is a great film or particularly well made, although the scenery and the acting are both very nice, but because it is a real story about extraordinary courage under dire circumstances.
Today she took her seat in Parliament. It is the beginning. The pressure for change cannot ease now.
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