For Aung San Suu Kyi, the Arab spring is an “inspiration” for the Burmese
The Nobel Prize winner says she envies Egypt’s revolution, stressing that freedom is a universal aspiration. She calls on the United Nations to do more and quickly for Myanmar. Myanmar authorities refused entry to Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh, who portrays Burma’s iconic leader in an upcoming movie.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The recent uprisings in the Middle East have been an “inspiration” to the people of Burma, a still military-dominated nation despite its formal civilian government, opposition leader and Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said during a radio interview with the BBC. Meanwhile in Myanmar, Malaysian-born actress Michelle Yeoh has been blacklisted and stopped before entering the country because she portrays Ms Suu Kyi in a forthcoming film.
Aung San Suu Kyi said she envied Egypt’s revolution, which no one could have predicted just a few months earlier. “Why is the Arab Spring an inspiration to the Burmese? Because we have lived it ourselves,” the National League for Democracy leader said. “The universal human aspiration to be free has been brought home to us by recent developments in the Middle East. The Burmese are as excited by these events are as people elsewhere,” she added.
She also launched an appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations to do more for Myanmar and quickly.
Aung San Suu Kyi was released last November, right after the elections that led to the creation of the first parliament. She spent 15 of the previous 21 years under house arrest.
In the past, Myanmar saw two popular uprisings, one led by students in 1988 and another by monks in 2007, brutally suppressed by the junta.
The Nobel Prize winner plans a campaign-style tour of the country, but its details have not yet been released.
At home, the authorities blacklisted actress Michelle Yeoh and stopped her at Yangon Airport before she could enter the country.
The 48-year-old Malaysian-born star, famous for playing a Bond girl, portrays Aung San Suu Kyi in a forthcoming movie titled ‘The Lady’, the nickname by which Ms Suu Kyi is popularly known in Myanmar.
Ms Yeoh met the iconic Burmese leader back in December during a visit to the country and travelled to Burma with the latter’s son, Kim Aris.
Aung San Suu Kyi said she envied Egypt’s revolution, which no one could have predicted just a few months earlier. “Why is the Arab Spring an inspiration to the Burmese? Because we have lived it ourselves,” the National League for Democracy leader said. “The universal human aspiration to be free has been brought home to us by recent developments in the Middle East. The Burmese are as excited by these events are as people elsewhere,” she added.
She also launched an appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations to do more for Myanmar and quickly.
Aung San Suu Kyi was released last November, right after the elections that led to the creation of the first parliament. She spent 15 of the previous 21 years under house arrest.
In the past, Myanmar saw two popular uprisings, one led by students in 1988 and another by monks in 2007, brutally suppressed by the junta.
The Nobel Prize winner plans a campaign-style tour of the country, but its details have not yet been released.
At home, the authorities blacklisted actress Michelle Yeoh and stopped her at Yangon Airport before she could enter the country.
The 48-year-old Malaysian-born star, famous for playing a Bond girl, portrays Aung San Suu Kyi in a forthcoming movie titled ‘The Lady’, the nickname by which Ms Suu Kyi is popularly known in Myanmar.
Ms Yeoh met the iconic Burmese leader back in December during a visit to the country and travelled to Burma with the latter’s son, Kim Aris.
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