DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI NEW YEARS' MES

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Subject: DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI NEW YEARS' MESSAGE

EMBARGOED UNTIL 12 NOON DEC 31 (BKK TIME)

DAW AUNG SAN SUU KYI NEW YEARS' MESSAGE
To be presented by "Democracy and Rights 2000" on New Year's eve at a rally
next to Legislative Council Building, Hong Kong. 

What are we going to be thinking of as the clock strikes midnight on the
31st of December 1999? That will be the last year of the 20th century and
we are going to enter the 21st century. We will all be thinking our
different thoughts, thinking of what we think might happen in the new year
and what we wish might happen. I hope that we are all wishing for peace and
for happiness, for greater friendship and for greater understanding. In the
end there is not very much that we can wish for. If  you ask people
anywhere in the world what they want, apart from the very personal such as
a new house or a new car or doing well in the examinations, I think most
people would say the same things that they would like a peaceful life, they
would like a happy life, they would like greater security,  they would like
greater freedom, they would like to be free from want and from fear. I
think for me that is the great hope for the millennium, that we must be
free from want and fear, not just the people of Burma but people all over
the world. 

Want and fear are two of the greatest enemies that we have to contend with
from day to day. In a country like Burma where we have been crushed under
the military regime for many, many years, want and fear stalk us all the
time. People wake up in the morning wondering which of their friends have
been taken into detention by the authorities. People wake up in the morning
wondering where the next meal is going to come from. They wake up in the
morning wondering what the future of their children will be and worrying
about it. Want and fear go together where there are no human rights and
where there is no justice. We would like justice, human rights and peace to
spread all over the world that the people everywhere might live free from
fear and from want. 

In Asia, where so many of us believe in such high ideals, there's still a
great need, a very, very great need for understanding the basic human
factors that make human life acceptable. I sometimes think that Asians are
too hard on ourselves as human beings. I think there is a lack of
compassion, which is a great pity and a great surprise because Buddhism was
born in Asia and Buddhism is the great religion of compassion. But yet
compassion is a very basic ingredient in all religions. For this reason I
hope that as we approach the year 2000, we will increase compassion all
over the world. 

In our struggle for democracy and human rights, we would like greater
support from our fellow Asians. We would especially like the Japanese
people to take a strong stand in the battle for democracy. Japan is one of
the strongest economies in the world and it is a democracy. It is certainly
the richest Asian country. As a richest Asian country and as a democracy
Japan has a duty to try to promote human rights and democracy in other
parts of Asia. We hope that the year 2000 will see a blossoming of Japanese
interest in human rights and democracy. 

I also hope the year 2000 will be a year of great happiness for the people
of Hong Kong where I understand this tape is going to be played. I feel
great affection for Hong Kong because so many of my friends are there and
we have always known of it as a dynamic little corner of the earth known to
the rest of the world for their achievements. What you have achieved in the
field of economics, I'm sure you'll be able to achieve in the field of
humanity as well. I wish you well in the year 2000 and I thank you for
giving me this opportunity to speak to you.

Thank you.

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A L T S E A N - B U R M A
Alternative Asean Network on Burma
Tel: 66 2 275 1811 * Fax: 66 2 693 4515
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