I almost changed my mind about going when I left the house and heard on the radio that the traffic was jammed around the coliseum. Plus the thought did cross my mind that this would be the perfect opportunity for misanthropes to stage an act of terrorism. While on Spy Run Ave Extended cutting over to Parnell just a mile from the coliseum, three un-markeds blew past with sirens blaring, but by the time I reached the next intersection they were out of sight. I later learned that the St. Joe Center CVS Pharmacy was being robbed. When I walked in I was directed to the upper arena, the floor level seating being reserved for the Burmese and ticket holders. After introductions by Mayor Tom Henry and Senator Dan Coats, Aung San Suu Kyi talked mainly to the Burmese, and actually claimed them as our people in answer to Dan Coat's introduction to his people. She talked about facing adversity and never giving up, about self confidence being the way to success, she admonished the Burmese several times about envy and jealousy. She explained that the Burmese National League for Democracy doesn't have complete control of their government yet, so their democracy is in its infancy, that she's in favor of ethnic groups within Burma retaining their own language and traditions but having Burmese as the national language. She encouraged the Burmese here to retain their language as well as learning English and acknowledged that meant they had to work harder. At no time was she ever critical of the US or our community. She did talk about the Burmese in our community as being "enthusiastic people" and there being clashes between our cultures. The segment with the questions was very long because most of the questions were in Burmese and not all of them were translated. A woman in front shouted out that Aung Saan Suu Kyi should audibly translate the questions and answers and she very politely replied she didn't have time to do that. One of the questions she picked and her response surprised me. The question was in Burmese, but it was one she chose to translate. It asked what parents could do if they couldn't afford to send their children to school, even though it was free- because of all the accompanying fees, book fees, lunches, materials requirements, etc...Aung Saan answered that it was important for the Burmese people not to use their political situation as an excuse. She said it just as sweet as could be, but it still seemed like a mild rebuke.
All in all, it was a very good experience and I'm glad I went, and it's pretty damn impressive that the Burmese were able to plan it and carry it off in such a short amount of time, and only slightly embarrassing that despite Aung San Suu Kyi being a world figure the coliseum wasn't even close to being filled to capacity. At least we had the excuse of it being in the middle of the work week.
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/local/aung-san-suu-kyi-speaks-to-burmese-population-in-fort-wayne
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