LETTERS FROM BURMA

For the last decade of Burma's traumatic history, Aung San Suu Kyi -winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize - has been the inspirational leaderof attempts to restore democracy to her country. In these fifty-twopieces, originally written for a Japanese newspaper and begun soon afterher release from house arrest, she paints a vivid, poignant yetfundamentally optimistic picture of her native land. She evokes thecountry's seasons and scenery, customs and festivities, and describes aninspirational pilgrimage to the Buddhist abbot of Thamanya. She celebratesthe courageous army officers, academics and actors who have supported theNational League for Democracy, often at great personal risk, and she setsout a comprehensive programme for economic reform. A passionate advocateof better health care and education, and the need for ethical foreigninvestment in Burma's future, Aung San Suu Kyi reveals an acute insightinto the impact of political decisions on ordinary people's lives. Sheexamines the terrible traumas inflicted on children of imprisoneddissidents - children allowed to see their parents for fifteen minutesevery fortnight - the effect of inflation on the national diet and ofstate repression on traditions of hospitality. One woman's vision,humanity and commitment to political and ethnic harmony won her party anoverwhelming victory in the elections of May 1990; every facet of herpersonality is powerfully displayed here. These letters were awarded theprestigious Japanese Newspaper Association's Award for 1996. They areillustrated with pencil drawings by the Burmese artist Heinn Htet.