"There will be change, because all the military have are guns." - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
I was having breakfast at Al Reem Tower while waiting for my passport to get stamped by the Kenyan consul when my eyes idly turned to the TV screen. Aung San Suu Kyi was on Al Jazeera, meeting a crowd of journalists after being sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest. I have not heard of anyone who has gotten used to being imprisoned in their own home - two decades to be exact. She has done nothing but fight for democracy and the people in Burma who wanted change, and the Burmese military junta just keeps throwing her back in her home where she is expected to shut her mouth and grow old, hands tied.
But Dr. Suu Kyi has shown nothing but resilience. The very first thing you notice is the calmness on her face that does not at all indicate surrender. It's both a knowing look that saw yet another mockery of justice and democracy, and more importantly, a sign of hope and dedication. She will just keep trying, house arrest after house arrest.
She has a lot of supporters around the world. Governments, high-profile officials, intellectuals, non profit groups, civilians. She has won a lot of international awards for her efforts to pursue democracy and peace. It's sad that the only place in the world where support for her is perpetually suppressed is in her own country, which is the only reason she has been through a life-long political struggle.
I realized while watching her gracefully accept her fate that she is someone I truly admire. There is something in her eyes that says the struggle is worth it, and one day her efforts will pay off. Not for her own benefit, but for the nation she has lived for. The challenges in my life are nothing compared to hers, and there is no reason for me to worry, something I tend to do all the time. So I reminded myself to do like Aung San Suu Kyi --- live life or calm and ardor, with a smile that only the people who truly understand me will know the meaning of.
When I got my passport stamped with the visa, I beamed and glided down the escalator, in true Aung San Suu Kyi fashion. The only thing I've got that she hasn't is my black abanico. What's up Dr. Suu Kyi.
I was having breakfast at Al Reem Tower while waiting for my passport to get stamped by the Kenyan consul when my eyes idly turned to the TV screen. Aung San Suu Kyi was on Al Jazeera, meeting a crowd of journalists after being sentenced to another 18 months of house arrest. I have not heard of anyone who has gotten used to being imprisoned in their own home - two decades to be exact. She has done nothing but fight for democracy and the people in Burma who wanted change, and the Burmese military junta just keeps throwing her back in her home where she is expected to shut her mouth and grow old, hands tied.
But Dr. Suu Kyi has shown nothing but resilience. The very first thing you notice is the calmness on her face that does not at all indicate surrender. It's both a knowing look that saw yet another mockery of justice and democracy, and more importantly, a sign of hope and dedication. She will just keep trying, house arrest after house arrest.
She has a lot of supporters around the world. Governments, high-profile officials, intellectuals, non profit groups, civilians. She has won a lot of international awards for her efforts to pursue democracy and peace. It's sad that the only place in the world where support for her is perpetually suppressed is in her own country, which is the only reason she has been through a life-long political struggle.
I realized while watching her gracefully accept her fate that she is someone I truly admire. There is something in her eyes that says the struggle is worth it, and one day her efforts will pay off. Not for her own benefit, but for the nation she has lived for. The challenges in my life are nothing compared to hers, and there is no reason for me to worry, something I tend to do all the time. So I reminded myself to do like Aung San Suu Kyi --- live life or calm and ardor, with a smile that only the people who truly understand me will know the meaning of.
When I got my passport stamped with the visa, I beamed and glided down the escalator, in true Aung San Suu Kyi fashion. The only thing I've got that she hasn't is my black abanico. What's up Dr. Suu Kyi.
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