The Lady and the Peacock (72 page)

9
. Visiting Burma in 1990, Kei Nemoto, a Japanese scholar, observed, “There seems to be a big discrepancy between Burmese people's expectations of Suu Kyi and her own image of the future, democratic Burma”: Houtman,
Mental Culture
. . . , p.283, footnote.

10
. This story was believed even by people living in big cities like Rangoon or Taunggyi: Professor Nemoto, “Aung San Suu Kyi, Her Dream and Reality,” 1996, cited by Houtman in
Mental Culture
. . . , p.283, footnote.

11
. “The military has raided more than a dozen monasteries,” the
Washington Post
reported: William Branigin, “Myanmar Crushes Monks' Movement” in
Washington Post
, October 28, 1990.

12
. authority was found in Aung San's writings for the dramatically anti-democratic change of direction dictated by Ne Win: Gustaaf Houtman: “Aung San's
lan-zin
, the Blue Print and the Japanese occupation of Burma” in
Reconsidering the Japanese Military Occupation of Burma
, ed. Kei Nemoto, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 2007. The discussion in this chapter owes much to Gustaaf Houtman's monograph
Mental Culture
. . .

13
.
Ana
and
awza
, just like authority and influence, blend into one another: Houtman,
Mental Culture
. . . , p.169.

14
. Sometimes I didn't have enough money to eat: quoted in Edward Klein, “The Lady Triumphs” in
Vanity Fair
, October.

15
. “I would come down at night,” she told another reporter: Fergal Keane, “The Lady Who Frightens Generals” in
You
magazine, July 14, 1996.

16
. her speech of thanks, delivered by Michael on her behalf: speech given on April 23, 1997, text in St. Hugh's archive.

17
. I started off on the basis that I would have to be very disciplined: Alan Clements, Aung San Suu Kyi,
The Voice of Hope
, p.143.

18
. “Not long before my house arrest in 1989,” Suu wrote later, “I was granted an audience with the venerable U Pandita”: Aung San Suu Kyi,
Letters from Burma
, no. 40, Teachers.

19
. those closer to the goal of
nibbana
or liberation:
nibbana
is the Burmese spelling of Nirvana.

20
. the venal Burmese businessman: U Po Kyin.

21
. This revolutionary idea became the seed of a mass movement, Burma's mass lay-meditation movement: exhaustively explained in Ingrid Jordt,
Burma's Mass Lay Meditation Movement: Buddhism and the Cultural Construction of Power
, Ohio University Research International Studies, 2007.

22
. You were quite surprised when I told you how much we laughed together on the day of Suu's arrest: Alan Clements, Aung San Suu Kyi,
The Voice of Hope
, p.253.

23
. Like many of my Buddhist colleagues, I decided to put my time under detention to good use by practicing meditation: Aung San Suu Kyi,
Letters from Burma
, no. 40.

24
. “There were times when I did more meditation because I was getting better at it,” she said: Alan Clements, Aung San Suu Kyi,
The Voice of Hope
, p.145.

25
. “We want a better democracy, a fuller democracy with compassion and loving kindness,” she was to say years later: Houtman,
Mental Culture
. . . , Appendix 2 (D18).

26
. General Ne Win [ . . . ] . . . was responsible for alienating the army from the people: quoted in Houtman,
Mental Culture
. . . , p.17. See also Part Two, Chapter 7, p.151.

27
. U Pandita spoke of the importance of
samma-vaca
or right speech: Aung San Suu Kyi,
Letters from Burma
, no.40, p.159.

PART FOUR, CHAPTER 4: THE PEACE PRIZE

1
. “When I knew I was going to be free, I didn't know what to think,” she said a few days later: quoted in documentary
Aung San Suu Kyi—Lady of No Fear
.

2
. Archbishop Desmond Tutu exulted: from Archbishop Desmond Tutu's Foreword to the second edition of
Freedom from Fear
, 1995, p.xv.

3
. During the years that I spent under house arrest: ibid.

4
. “What I need,” she said, one month after her release, “is a proper office for our democracy party”: Tim McGirk, “Suu Kyi Keeps Flame of Democracy Alight” in
Independent
, August 21, 1995.

5
. “Dear Suu,” read the letter from Rachel Trickett: St. Hugh's College archive.

6
. “Alexander was extraordinary,” he said: interview with author.

7
. In the short term, however, the ascent of General Than Shwe to the chairmanship of SLORC in Saw Maung's place was a boon for Suu and her family: this discussion of Than Shwe is heavily indebted to Benedict Rogers,
Than Shwe: Unmasking Burma's Tyrant
, Silkworm Books, 2010.

8
. The comments of those who had dealings with him are uniformly unflattering: quoted in Benedict Rogers,
Than Shwe: Unmasking the Tyrant
.

9
. another “obdurate and unimaginative” soldier according to a retired British diplomat: the source of this quote requested anonymity.

10
. whence they had fled to escape waves of brutal sectarian persecution by the Burmese Army: the Rohingya are the worst persecuted of all Burma's mistreated ethnic minorities, partly on account of their being Muslim rather than Buddhist. To escape persecution and seek a better life, many have crossed the border contiguous with Arakan state, where they are concentrated, into Bangladesh, but although Bangladesh is a majority Muslim state they have been treated like pariahs there as well, confined to improvised refugee camps in appalling conditions. Their sufferings continue today.

11
. Instead she agreed that she would indeed do as he proposed and leave Burma—on four conditions: announced, with a sardonic twinkle in his eye, to a press conference by Michael Aris; see documentary
Aung San Suu Kyi—Lady of No Fear
.

12
. Both the empty “dialogue” and Suu's release nine months later reveal the importance of Japan's influence on the regime: Gustaaf Houtman, in
Mental Culture
. . . and in conversation, contributed and clarified several ideas in this discussion.

13
. A British diplomat who served in Rangoon from 1996: interview with author. The retired diplomat asked not to be named.

14
. The military's primary provision from the inception of the process: Steinberg,
Burma/Myanmar: What Everyone Needs to Know
, p.142.

15
. “Aung San Suu Kyi's initial intention,” he wrote, “appeared to have been to visit a monk greatly respected by both the people”: Houtman, “Sacralising or Demonising Democracy” in
Burma at the Turn of the 21st Century
, p.148.

16
. “In contrast to the aggressive, destructive quality of hatred,” wrote Sayadaw U Pandita, “metta, loving-kindness, wishes the welfare and happiness of others”: Sayadaw U Pandita,
In This Very Life
, Wisdom Publications, 2002, p.190.

17
. It is metta. Rest assured that if we should lose this metta, the whole democratic party would disintegrate: Houtman, “Sacralising or Demonising Democracy,” op. cit.

18
. There is a special charm to journeys undertaken before daybreak in hot lands: Aung San Suu Kyi,
Letters from Burma
, no. 1: The Road to Thamanya (1).

19
. The road had become worse as we traveled further and further away from Rangoon: ibid., p.4.

20
. As we approached Thamanya, the quiet seemed to deepen: ibid., no. 2, p.17.

21
. No project could be successfully implemented without the willing cooperation of those concerned: ibid., no.4, p.17.

22
. Suu, as Houtman sees it, gave the regime two choices: Houtman, “Sacralizing or Demonizing Democracy,” op. cit.

PART FOUR, CHAPTER 5: HEROES AND TRAITORS

1
. “a follower they [i.e. the West] had raised,” they said, but SLORC would “never accept the leadership of a person under foreign influence who will dance to the tune of a foreign power”: “Voice of Myanmar” radio broadcast, January 27, 1992, quoted in Charney, p.176.

2
. “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar”: lines from Matthew Arnold, “Dover Beach.”

3
. the country will be in ruins: Khin Nyunt, quoted in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, “Khin Nyunt addresses lawyers on their defects and why a woman should not lead,” February 3, 1992.

4
. For six weeks I had been holed up in a hotel room in Rangoon waiting for a telephone call from Aung San Suu Kyi's office: Alan Clements, Aung San Suu Kyi,
The Voice of Hope
, p.22.

5
. He's upstairs gathering medicines: Alan Clements, Aung San Suu Kyi,
The Voice of Hope
, p.22.

6
. Suu had argued that it was “not yet time to invest” in Burma: Aung San Suu Kyi,
Letters from Burma
, no. 11, A Note on Economic Policy.

7
. When she began telling foreign investors to stay away, I told her that it would hurt the people, who need jobs. She replied, “People will just have to tighten their belts.” I said, “There are no more notches”: interview with author, March 2010.

8
. The point of no return came when the Indian writer Amitav Ghosh quoted the “no more notches” line in a piece about Burma published by the
New Yorker
in August 1996: collected in Amitav Ghosh,
Incendiary Circumstances: A Chronicle of the Turmoil of Our Times
, p.183.

9
. “Khin Nyunt's man worked on Ma Ma Thanegi successfully,” he said: this Burmese source, who requested anonymity, has good contacts on both sides of Burma's political divide.

10
. “All political matters were under the control of Counter-Intelligence Department,” he wrote in an e-mail: e-mail correspondence with author, 2011.

11
. Just because [these governments] have decided on a policy of constructive engagement, there is no need for us to think of them as our enemies: collected in Amitav Ghosh,
Incendiary Circumstances
, p.185.

12
. Burma gets only 1.4 percent of the number of tourists who visit Thailand, 200,000 compared to its neighbor's 14 million:
Irrawaddy
, June 2011.

13
. “We want people to come to Burma,” he said: Kenneth Denby, “Let People See Our Suffering” in
The Times
, November 4, 2010.

14
. individuals coming in to see the country, to study the situation in the country, might be a good idea: Phoebe Kennedy, “Welcome to Burma” in
Independent
, February 21, 2011.

15
. will ultimately help open Burma to travelers: ibid.

16
. “If the army really wants to kill me, they can do it without any problems at all, so there is no point in making elaborate security arrangements,” she told
The Times
: quoted in Wintle,
Perfect Hostage
, p.382.

17
. The refusal to allow Aung San Suu Kyi to hold roadside talks . . . meant that a great tension settled upon Rangoon in the latter part of 1996: Monique Skidmore,
Karaoke Fascism: Burma and the Politics of Fear
, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004, p.7.

18
. It took several weeks: quoted in ibid., p.9.

19
. Generals are not content to control only the flow of information in the public domain: ibid., p.14.

20
. he insisted on staying on in “the only place he could ever regard as home,” as Michael Aris later put it: Dr. Michael Aris, “A Tribute to James Leander Nichols,” St. Hugh's archive London, July 23, 1996.

21
. The glaring light of adversity: Aung San Suu Kyi,
Letters from Burma
, no. 33, p.131.

22
. According to the teachings of Buddhism: ibid, p.133.

23
. He was “her knight in shining armor,” said one friend, “the one who was defending and fighting for her and trying to slay the dragon for her”: Suzanne Hoelgaard (quoted) in the documentary
Aung San Suu Kyi—Lady of No Fear
.

24
. In the first twenty years of their marriage: Carey quoted in
Aung San Suu Kyi—Lady of No Fear
.

25
. Michael stayed with me once in Bangkok after the house arrest started: interview with author.

26
. He was overly cautious: interview with author.

27
. the warm encouragement of the Prince of Wales: Prince Charles and Michael Aris became friends after the latter gave the Prince a detailed briefing on court etiquette and many other questions before the Prince's first visit to Bhutan. In the last weeks of Michael's illness Prince Charles invited him to Highgrove, where he agreed to become Patron of Michael's putative Foundation. Anthony Aris added, “The Rausing family secured the prosperity of Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at Oxford with a magnificent donation of $200,000 just before Michael's death.”

28
. “I don't think Suu ever realized how much he did,” she said: interview with author.

29
. He was offered this teaching fellowship in Sanskrit at Harvard: interview with author.

30
. A western diplomat: the source of this quote wishes to remain anonymous.

31
. I arrived as a memorial ceremony to Michael was in progress: interview with author.

PART FIVE, CHAPTER 1: MEETING SUU

1
. “He was a fascinating figure,” he said, “much more approachable than the other top generals”: interview with author.