Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi visited the United Nations on Friday and received a new award as she paid tribune to unknown fighters for democracy in her country.
“Tonight I must pay tribute to my colleagues whose names are unknown to the world,” said Suu Kyi as she received the this year Global Citizen Award from the Atlantic Council, a think tank that promotes constructive US leadership and engagement in international affairs.
“Those unknown soldiers are so much bigger than others like me who are known and who had been given so many honours,” she added.
The award was presented to her by Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, at a dinner at New York’s Plaza Hotel.
“I don’t get intimidated easily: politics, money, power, economy, crisis,” said the IMF chief. “But I tell you something, when it’s resilience in the face of adversity, when it’s simplicity in the face of success, when it is kindness, when it is spirituality, I get unbelievably intimidated ... I’m intimidated to introduce tonight Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Mentioning years spent by Suu Kyi under house arrest and her determination to carry on her fight for Myanmar democracy, Lagarde said that Suu Kyi’s life was “our message.”
Myanmar was ruled by an iron-fisted junta for decades but, since taking office last year, a reformist government under former general Thein Sein has freed political prisoners and allowed Suu Kyi’s party into electoral politics.