Suu Kyi Readies for Cyberspace

(Photo: Getty Images)

Burma's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who this week received an Internet connection at her Inya Lake home, said she will use the cyber tool to connect with her supporters without concerning herself with any surveillance by the Burmese military authorities, according to members of her political party.

The 65-year-old democracy icon has never surfed the Internet before, but was connected with an Internet line on Thursday by state-owned Yatanarporn Teleport, said Nyan Win, a spokesman for her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD).

Nyan Win said that Suu Kyi first applied for an Internet service from a private company in Rangoon; but when that was unsuccessful, she applied to Yatanarporn Teleport at a cost of 1,020,000 kyat (US $1020).

Yarzar, an NLD youth leader, said he has expressed concerns to Suu Kyi about the complete lack of security on the Internet in Burma, but the latter said she did not care about it at all.

“I told her the Internet security should be a worry for her. But she said she would not do anything in secret and has nothing to hide from the government.” he said, adding that the Noble Peace Prize Laureate can skillfully operate a computer and can learn the Internet quickly.

“She knows that many Internet websites are banned in this country, but we will teach her how to bypass through proxy websites,” Yarzar said.

During detention, Suu Kyi expressed a desire to use social networking site Twitter to reach out to young people around the world. Since her release, she has even suggested to her political colleagues to communicate with each other by Internet.

But Suu Kyi's idea of becoming politically active via the Web in a country where electricity is so unreliable and infrastructure is so poor, has amused some of her political colleagues.

Siang Chin Thang, an ethnic Chin leader, recently said he was amused when Suu Kyi talked to him and other ethnic leaders just after her release about the possibility of holding discussions with them via the Internet.

“Let alone the use of video conference on the Internet, we don't even have the proper telephone lines,” he said. “Apart from that, the electricity goes on and off. We did not comment on her idea.”

Yarzar said he also doubts about the effectiveness of Internet for Suu Kyi's purposes of communicating with people inside Burma, but said that that it will be easier for her to connect with professionals and young people outside the country.

In the recent past, the Burmese regime has used the Electronics Act in jailing well-known dissidents, such as comedian Zarganar.

Asked if Suu Kyi would risk violating that law when using the Internet, Nyan Win, the party spokesman and her lawyer, said that she has “computer technology advisers.”

Since her release, Suu Kyi has avoided going out of Rangoon and has made no trips to other parts of the country to rally the support of the people—an apparent attempt to avoid confrontation with the regime.

These days, she spends most of her time meeting with her party members and foreign diplomats. She recently said that she no longer has time for her regular meditation sessions.

“She is so tired and worn-out these days. Her health is suffering,” said Nyan Win.

Source : http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=20583