| It
is an honour to receive an honorary Doctor of
Laws degree from a university known for its
liberal values and international outlook. It
is a privilege to deliver the commencement speech
at this assembly. However, what would have been
the greatest joy, that of seeing the faces of
the graduating students, has been denied to
me. There is little that can compare with the
light of hope and anticipation that shines from
those who have satisfactorily completed one
phase of their lives and are about to embark
on another more complete, more challenging phase.
No educational institutional can fully prepare
its pupils to cope with all that they will have
to face during the course of their lives. However,
such values as intellectual freedom, humanitarian
ideals and public service, fostered by American
University, should go a long way towards equipping
young men and young women to make the best of
any environment in which they may find themselves.
Beginning a new life is a challenge that will
put to the test our mental, intellectual, emotional
and spiritual resources. Some are destined to
lead tranquil lives, safe in the security of
a society that guarantees fundamental rights.
Others may find themselves in situations where
they have to strive incessantly for the most
basic of rights, the right to life itself. It
is no simple matter to decide who are the more
fortunate, those to whom life gives all or those
who have to give all to life. A fulfilled life
is not necessarily one constructed strictly
in accordance with one's own blueprint: it can
be a glorious collage of materials that have
come unexpectedly to hand. How wonderful it
is that we do not know what tomorrow will bring.
Of course we all hope that our tomorrow will
be happy. But happiness takes on many forms.
Political prisoners have known the most sublime
moments of perfect communion with their highest
ideals during periods when they were incarcerated
in isolation, cut off from contact with all
that was familiar and dear to them. From where
do those resources spring, if not from an innate
strength at our core, a spiritual strength that
transcends material bounds? My colleagues who
spent years in harsh conditions of Burmese prisons,
and I myself, have had to draw on such inner
resources on many occasions.
Nobody can take away from us the essential and
ultimate freedom of choosing our priorities
in life. We may not be able to control the external
factors that affect our existence but we can
decide how we wish to conduct our inner lives.
We may live in a society that does not grant
freedom of expression but we can decide how
much value we wish to put on the duty to speak
out for our rights. We may not be able to pursue
our beliefs without bringing down on us the
full vengeance of a cruel state mechanism but
we can decide how much we are prepared to sacrifice
for our beliefs. Those of us who decided to
work for democracy in Burma made our choice
in the conviction that the danger of standing
up for basic human rights in a respective society
was preferable to the safety of a quiescent
life in servitude.
Ours is a non-violent movement that depends
on faith in the human predilection for fair
play ind compassion. Some would insist that
man is primarily an economic animal interested
only in his material well being. This is too
narrow a view of a species which has produced
numberless brave men and women who are prepared
to undergo relentless persecution for the sake
of upholding deeply held beliefs and principles.
It is my pride and inspiration that such men
and women exist in my country today.
In Burma it is accepted as a political tradition
that revolutionary changes are brought about
through the active participation of students.
The independence movement of our country was
carried out to a successful conclusion by young
leaders, including my own father, general Aung
San, who began their political careers at Rangoon
University. An institution with such as outstanding
reputation for spirited opposition to established
authority is naturally a prime target for any
authoritarian government. The military regime
which assumed state power in 1962 blasted the
Rangoon University Students' Union building
out of existence within a few months of their
rule and made it illegal for students to form
a union.
In 1988 the people of Burma rose up against
the rule of the Burma Socialist Programme Party,
the civilian cloak of a military dictatorship.
At the vanguard of the nationwide demonstrations
were students who demanded, among other basic
rights, the right to form a union. The response
of the military junta was to shoot them down.
More than eight years and much repression on
the students of Burma have still not relinquished
their quest for an association which would promote
their interests and articulate their aspirations
and grievances. As recently as last month, there
were student demonstrations where the call for
the right to form a union was reiterated. The
security forces used violence to disperse the
demonstrators and a number of young people from
my party, the National League for Democracy,
were arrested on the grounds that they had been
involved in the organization of the demonstrations.
I was accused of having held meetingswith students
and holding discussion with them. Things have
indeed come to a sorry pass in a country if
meetings between politicians and students are
seen as acts of subversion.
My party has never made a secret of our sympathy
for the aspirations of students. We work to
forge close links between the different generations
that a continuity of purpose and endeavour might
not be threaded into the fabric of our nation.
When we are struggling against overwhelming
odds, when we are pitting ourselves against
the combined might of the state apparatus and
military power, we are sometimes subject to
doubts, usually the doubts of those whose belief
in the permanence of an existing order is absolute.
It is amazing how many people still remain convinced
that it is only wisdom to accept the status
quo. We have faith in the power to change what
needs to be changed but we are under no illusion
that the transition from dictatorship to liberal
democracy will be easy, or that democratic government
will mean the end of all our problems. We know
that our greatest challenges lie ahead of us
and that our struggle to establish a stable,
democratic society will continue beyond our
own li fe span. We are aware that much will
be demanded of us and that there will be times
when we are discouraged and disappointed. But
we know that we are not alone.
The cause of liberty and justice finds sympathetic
responses in far reaches of the globe. Thinking
and feeling people everywhere, regardless of
colour or creed, understand the deeply rooted
human need for a meaningful existence that goes
beyond the mere gratification of material desires.
Those fortunate enough to live in societies
where they are entitled to full political rights
can reach out to help their less fortunate brethen
in other parts of our troubled planet. Young
women and young men setting forth to leave their
mark on the world might wish to cast their eyes
beyond their own frontiers towards the shadowlands
of lost rights. You who are gathered here to
celebrate the opening of the doors of hope and
opportunity might wish to assist our fight for
a Burma where young people can know the joys
of hope and opportunity.
Part of our struggle is to make the international
community understand that we are a poor country
not because there is an insufficiency of resources
and investment, but because we are deprived
of the basic institutions and practices that
make for good government. There are multinational
business concerns which have no inhibitions
about dealing with repressive regimes. Their
justification for economic involvement in Burma
is that their presence will actually assist
the process of democratization. Investment that
only goes to enrich an already wealthy elite
bent on monopolizing both economic and political
power cannot contribute towards egality and
justice, the foundation stones for a sound democracy.
I would therefore like to call upon those who
have an interest in expanding their capacity
for promoting intellectual freedom and humanitarian
ideals to take a principled stand against companies
which are doing business with the military regime
of Burma. Please use your liberty to promote
ours.
This honorary degree that you have conferred
on me today constitute a recognition of our
struggle. I would like to conclude by expressing
my sincere thanks to American University and
its Board of Trustees for thus supporting the
cause of democracy and human rights in Burma.
Thank you.
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