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This morning I spent quite a lot of time watching and listening to the acceptance speech Aung San Suu Kyi made before the Nobel Prize Committee, the King and Queen of Norway and other dignitaries in Oslo. It was one of the most moving and sincere speeches I have heard for a long time and I have replayed the video of it several times. Her words should be read and heard by all - politicians especially - throughout the world.
One thing stood out way to the front in everything Aung San Suu Kyi said, was the fact that in spite of being confined to house arrest for most of the past 20-years there was not a sign of bitterness or anger or regret in any of her words. It would have been so easy for someone in her position to lash out at those who tried to silence her over the years and who refused to allow her to visit her dying husband in England or to grant him a visa to visit her before he died, but still there was not a trace of anger or bitterness in anything she said. She was more than gracious but firm in everything she said.
This month of June in the year 2012, has seen two remarkable women honoured. One is Aung San Suu Kyi and the other is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but here I shall concentrate on Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the years I have been fascinated and inspired by her and her struggle for her country to be free. No one has ever heard her complain about the restrictions placed upon her by the then government of Myanmar (Burma) even when some dumb foreigner thoughtlessly invaded her home. He was later returned free to his country (saying he had no regrets doing what he did) even though Aung San Suu Kyi had her house arrest restrictions continued for a further year thanks to his thoughtless actions - but she never complained. When my partner and I visited Myanmar recently, it was only too obvious that for the general public there, Aung San Suu Kyi was a huge icon for democracy and freedom. It is now equally obvious that she will not let them down.
In her acceptance speech Aung San Suu Kyi told the assembled V.I.P's what it meant to her to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time it was awarded, she had been under house arrest for some time, and would continue to be so for many years. When she learned she had been awarded the prize, she said she felt then that she was not forgotten - something that could be so easily felt when someone is "kept apart" from society and the things they have known all their life. To me it was a most moving part of her speech. She told the audience that in her recent visit to Thailand, she met with refugees from Burma who had not been able to return to their country for many years, and as she left them, they said "Please do not forget us". That, she said was a plea from their hearts and something she could not forget. She pledged that she would work for their return to their homeland and their freedom - and we can be sure she will.
The world, and for western people especially, life is ultra busy and it is so easy to forget those who are less fortunate, those who are felt to be "unnecessary", those who are no longer of immediate use due to age or health problems, or those who get in the way of business. But as the Nobel Laureate said in her speech in Oslo, these people cannot be forgotten by the world. She is right.
There are refugees in and from almost every country, but most are regarded as a nuisance so we forget them. There are poor in every country, but they too can be a nuisance, so we forget them. These things happen in every walk of life - it happens in the churches too. In my time as a full-time priest I have seen many instances where people have been forgotten by their churches because they are no longer (for some reason) able to take an active part in church events. I have known Bishops who lost all interest in formerly active clergy in their diocese, simply because they felt they were no longer "relevant". One could go on and on and on with such examples for there are many in all walks of life unfortunately.
However, Aung San Suu Kyi is an example to all and indeed there are other unsung heroes who do not forget also, and their examples must be brought to the fore. We who are fortunate and live a comfortable life, cannot forget the victims of war throughout the world just because they are far away from where we live or because they are of a different race or religion. We cannot forget those who have been displaced because they belong to a particular ethnic group or are of a different sexual orientation. We cannot dismiss as useless and a nuisance those poor who live among us just because they are poor through no fault of their own. We have to hear all their cries of "Please do not forget us".
