A Rose for the 'Unfree'

washingtonpost.com ^ | June 15, 2005 | Vaclav Havel

[LwinAungSoe]

On Sunday Aung San Suu Kyi will celebrate her 60th birthday, which in a Buddhist culture marks an important milestone in one's life. I would like to meet her and give her a rose like the one she is seen holding in a photograph in my study. Such an ordinary wish, however, in the case of such an extraordinary woman as Aung San Suu Kyi may seem a silly idea. The last time I wrote about her in The Post [op-ed, Oct. 12, 2003] was shortly after "unknown" assassins tried to deprive her of her life and Burmese generals put her under house arrest for the third time since 1989. Since then, except for the occasional purge of senior generals, an ever-increasing population of political prisoners and multiplying human rights abuses, nothing in Burma seems to have changed.

[68skylark]

I am a huge fan of Vaclav Havel. I didn't know he was still writing much -- thanks for the post. This man needs a blog -- I'd like to hear more from him than an occasionaly op-ed piece.

[68skylark]

(While I'm a huge fan of Havel, and I agree with all the ideas expressed in this article, the editorial doesn't seem to have his unique voice or his brand of sly humor -- it sounds like it was written by a second-rate public relations person.)