From SEASIA-L@LIST.MSU.EDU Sun Feb 20 06:09:01 2000
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Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2000 22:36:50 -1000
Sender: Southeast Asia Discussion List <SEASIA-L@LIST.MSU.EDU>
From: Vincent K Pollard <pollard@HAWAII.EDU>
Subject: Burma/Myanmar <fwd>
To: SEASIA-L@LIST.MSU.EDU
Extract from an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi
Feminist Theory & Gender Studies, [24 October 2006]
Below is an excerpt from a recent interview with Burmese Nobel Prize winner and National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi:
Q. Do you think membership in the Association of South East Asian nations is having a positive or negative impact on Burma?
A. ASEAN is not having any positive impact on Burma. Two years ago, before they admitted Burma as a permanent member, they made the point that once Burma was a member of ASEAN it would be more reasonable and they would be in a better position to influence Burma and guide it along the right lines.
We argued that we did not think this was the case. What we thought was that once Burma had been made a full member of ASEAN, which is what they wanted, then they wouldn’t try any more to be good boys—they would be more oppressive, and they would just go ahead and do what they wanted and they wouldn’t really listen to any advice from the members of ASEAN, and I think that this turned out to be absolutely true.
They have turned out to be most oppressive between 1998 and now. The oppression increased noticeably after they became a member of ASEAN