In a scene that was repeated throughout Burma, shop owner turned on the TV at his home on Friday when he heard of Aung San Suu Kyi's impending release.
“I turned on the DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] satellite broadcast on Friday evening and on Saturday we watched TV the whole day waiting to see her face,” he said, adding that many people came to his home to watch the event.
Ko Kyaw, a resident of Bogalay Township in the Irrawaddy Delta, said many of Bogalay's residents gathered at local tea shops, restaurants and other roadside shops waiting for news and images of Suu Kyi's release or turned on their shortwave radios to hear the news.
Ordinary citizens and government officials alike could not contain their happiness when they finally saw Suu Kyi appear on TV after 5 p.m on Saturday, he said.
“I feel that she [Aung San Suu Kyi] is a bright star for the future of our country,” he said, adding that people clapped when Suu Kyi finally appeared.
Ma Hnin, another housewife who owns a family tea shop in Bogalay said: “The whole family and many friends came to the tea shop to watch it.”
“ I’m so happy to see she [Suu Kyi] is free,” said Ma Hnin, adding that passers by also gathered at the tea shop to watch and continued to discuss her release long after the broadcast was over.
Other residents in Bogalay confirmed that houses with satellite TV were packed with people watching the news of Suu Kyi's release.
Despite official bans on receiving banned satellite news channels and shortwave radio broadcasts, the military government has been unable to block TV signals and prevent people from watching channels like the Oslo-based DVB.
“I felt hope returning after we had lost it for so many years,” said Ko Kyaw after he finally saw Suu Kyi on TV.
“We had lost sight of her since Depayin massacre,” he said, referring to the notorious incident when an attempt to assassinate Suu Kyi took place on the outskirts of Depayin Township in Sagaing Division, Central Burma, on May 30, 2003.
The attack was launched by pro-junta thugs who were members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association and the Swan Ah Shin militia, who blocked the road to prevent the convoy of vehicles from escaping the ambush.
Though more than 70 of her followers reportedly died in the ambush, Suu Kyi escaped but was arrested later in the day. She remained under house arrest from that day until her release on Saturday.
Bogalay residents said that some of the townspeople went to Rangoon in order to see Suu Kyi on Nov. 12, the day before she was released, and several thousand gathered outside her house from places as far away as Mandalay, 400 miles [640 kilometers] to the north, when she was freed on Nov. 13. Their only aim was to cheer her and support her.
Than Zaw, a Burmese migrant worker in Bangkok, said many migrant workers were delighted and cheered at the news of Suu Kyi's release.
“We hope that she can do better for the country and there will be more improvements,” said.Than Zaw, one of an estimated 2 million Burmese migrants work in Thailand.
“We are willing to return and work in Burma if the economic system in Burma improves,” he said.
In an interview with the BBC, Suu Kyi said the people of Burma want a better life, security and freedom and since her release Suu Kyi has vowed to listen to the voice of the Burmese people and work with all democratic forces.
Ko Kyaw said that if Suu Kyi had not been under house arrest when Cyclone Nargis hit Burma in May 2008, she might have been able to channel significantly more humanitarian aid and relief supplies from the international community freely into the hands of affected civilians.
Bogalay was in one of the hardest-hit areas by Cyclone Nargis, which left more than 130,000 people dead and affected around two million lives. The Burmese government did not permit the immediate entry of international humanitarian aid in the wake of the cyclone.
irrawaddy
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