Aung San Suu Kyi Leadership
Aung San Suu Kyi (1945- )
Nobel peace prize winning fighter for democracy in her native Burma against its brutal
military dictatorship.
She (pictured right) is the hero of millions worldwide including U2’s Bono, who wrote a song
about her.
Why is she a great
leader?
1. Principles
She has become a global icon because of her fervent belief in freedom and
democracy for her people.
She is inspired by her father. General Aung San (pictured right), the leader of Burma’s
struggle for independence from Britain, who was assassinated in 1947.
2. Non-violent resistance
Like Gandhi and
Martin Luther King (pictured right), she
- supports non- violent resistance (a hunger strike led to heart problems and her hair
falling out)
- believes that progress will only come from changing people’s hearts and minds.
3. Courage
Her Buddhist faith
- kept her calm and courageous in opposing Burma’s dictatorship.
- reinforces her belief in non-violent resistance (see point 3).
4. Sacrifice
After studying at Oxford University, she married a lecturer there, Michael Aris (pictured
right at their wedding), and raised two sons.
But she had to leave them behind in Britain after returning to Burma to nurse her sick mother and then leading
the campaign for democracy.
She even didn’t visit her husband, when he was dying of cancer in 1999, because she feared she
wouldn’t be allowed back into Burma.
She suffered imprisonment, solitary confinement and permanent house arrest in her fight for democracy.
Key quotes on
freedom
“Real freedom is freedom from fear”.
Key quotes on
success
You must try to do what you can. I believe in action.
Key quote on fear
It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge
of power corrupts those who are subject to it.
Key quote on
women
The education and empowerment of women cannot fail to result in a more caring, tolerant, just and peaceful life
for all.
Key quote on
empowerment
My very top priority is for people to understand that they have the power to change things themselves.
Key quote on
change
The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change
in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation's development.
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