This is an excerpt from Number One Wisma Putra published by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations of Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006.
In it, former UN Special Envoy Razali Ismail tells of his encounters with Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese military junta.
It has been too long since the junta usurped the power of the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Myanmar(Burma) is now not only out of the Commonwealth but also out of favour with too many countries.
A mechanism needs to be found to bring democracy to this poverty stricked country.
It has been so long that even Suu Kyi’s husband, a British professor, has died of cancer, but advised her not to give up.
The tragedy continues…..
Myanmar remains one of the poorest countries in our region. If the military junta can deliver the ‘goods’ of running the country & modernising it, no one will ask them to quit & permit free elections to be held.
Some Myanmarese even have to come to Malaysia to work & study.
The new UN Secretary General needs to take initiative to be pro-active enough to solve the problem of Myanmar which is receiving only luke warm receiption in international circles of influence.