Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

[maye@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

The University of Melbourne, Australia, presents the honorary degree of
Doctor of Laws to Dr Michael Aris on behalf of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, on
Saturday 5 September 1998.

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Occasional Address by Dr Michael Aris, delivered while accepting on behalf
of his wife AUNG SAN SUU KYI the degree of Doctor of Laws at the UNIVERSITY
OF MELBOURNE, 5 September 1998.

Chancellor, graduates of this university, friends,

It is with a sense of great pride and much joy that I have come here from
the other side of the world to accept on behalf of my brave wife Suu this
high honour from your great university. Although it is nearly three years
since I was last allowed by Burma's military rulers to see her and many
months since I could speak to her on the phone, last year she was able to
ask me to represent her here today. She wants me to convey to you now as
clearly as I can her sincerest thanks for this public recognition of the
justice of her cause.

Suu is inspired by the certain knowledge that her country will only blossom
when the hand of fear is lifted from her people and their talents are
thereby released. She believes this can only happen when all put aside
their differences to establish civilian rule based on the popular will. It
is an attainable goal. That so many others inside and outside Burma share
these convictions and stand so firmly behind her is what has kept her going
for a whole decade of relentless struggle. And so this gesture of
solidarity from your university is welcomed with all her heart.

If she had come to Melbourne in person it is thought the military
authorities would somehow prevent her from returning to continue the
struggle. How pleased they would be if she left and how sad her supporters!
So instead today you must endure the substitute of her husband. It is a
role I have had to play many times, and our sons too, not as her political
spokesmen but simply as members of her immediate family who enjoy the
freedom to travel that she is denied.

The duty to receive honours on Suu's behalf has taken us all over the
world. We were in Oslo in 1991 to receive her Nobel Peace Prize; she
directed that the funds associated with the prize be appropriated to a
charitable trust dedicated to the health and education of her people. The
same happened with the Nehru Memorial Prize given to her by India. I shall
spare you the full catalogue of her awards, which is extremely long, but I
feel I must tell you how greatly she values being made a Companion of the
Order of Australia. It is an honour she shares with other prominent Asians
who have made significant contributions to public life in their own
countries and to the strengthening of relations with Australia. Indeed you
could say the Companionship has become an important symbol of the many ties
that bind Australia to the diverse peoples of the continent in which
stands. Today I am truly delighted to be in Australia for a second time to
receive for her an honorary degree.

Just as Suu's father Aung San, Burma's national hero, looked for external
support in the quest for Burmese independence in the 1940s, so does Suu
today seek help from beyond Burma's borders in the struggle for democracy.
The Australian government and people ? and some very remarkable and
dedicated individuals among them ? have been at the forefront of
international support for the goal of political freedom in Burma. Today's
conferment of your honorary degree upon my wife is an open confirmation of
this fact.

This ceremony is therefore not an empty ritual. Just as it sets a seal upon
the academic triumphs of your own graduands, who have laboured hard and
long in the quest for learning, so does the Degree of Laws now conferred on
Suu celebrate her extraordinary efforts to establish the rule of law in her
country. As the one who claims to know her best and love her most, I need
hardly tell you what it means to me to see her properly recognised in this
way.

Every day of the week in Burma's official media Suu is vilified, calumnied,
slandered, taunted, ridiculed and insulted. In the cowardly way adopted by
soldiers who have lost their sense of honour anddignity. She has no right
of reply. Even if she did she would be the last person to reply in kind,
for she has never stooped to personal abuse. Instead invokes those timeless
principles of human justice, dignity and non-violence that derive from her
Buddhist faith. She speaks of the fundamental need for rational solutions
to Burma's many problems. Above all she appeals for a dialogue aimed at
achieving a political settlement, one based on mutual trust and respect.

While the turgid sewers of official abuse continue to flow, in the last few
weeks another message has begun to be heard from the military, one that
seems to echo her call for a political dialogue. The generals now claim to
be taking "confidence-building measures" calculates to lead to such a
dialogue. Can this be sincere? Is it a ruse to deflect international
criticism, the outcome of both genuine outrage and regional concern that
Burma will add to Asia's economic woes? I myself believe it reflects a
dawning realisation among many officers that Suu has been right all along,
that unless all sides sit down to work towards shared goals by a process of
negotiating and compromise, a national disaster is looming, as surely as
night follows day. Many are sceptical of the army's intentions, but I am
cautiously hopeful.

In Burma the notion of the Middle Path is sanctified by the teachings of
the Lord Buddha which every Burmese holds dear. He taught that it is only
by striving for the central ground lying between the extremes of indulgence
and austerity that enlightenment can be found. The lessons to be learnt
from this in the political sphere in seeking to bring the poles together
are transparent.

Meanwhile the example of self-sacrifice given by Suu and her supporters has
set a clear standard for the army to follow. She and they have given up so
much ? all the comfort and security of family life, all the pleasures of an
easy life ? in the cause of peace. For if there is one lesson in human
history that has to be learnt it is that if you truly want peace you must
be prepared to give something up for it. Which of its powers will the army
surrender in the interests of peace and the common good? Will they have the
courage to do so? I believe they will, but the timing of this is still
obscure to me. May it please be soon, for the sake of all.

I have tried your patience too long and must now bring this to a close. I
do so in the firm knowledge that your confidence in my wife and her cause
is not misplaced. I believe before long you will share with me the
wonderful experience of seeing her dreams, your dreams fulfilled.

We thank you.

Dr Michael Aris  ( on behalf of Aung San Suu Kyi)

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