87-year-old Myanmar voter hopes country will finally move forward
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Yangon (dpa) - Shwe Tint has voted in every Myanmar election since 1947, a time when the country, then known as Burma, was still a colony under British rule.
"I was only 18 when I voted in that first election," said Shwe Tint. The April 1947 poll was a key part of the deal between Britain and Burmese nationalist leader Aung San, in an agreement that saw Burma become an independent nation the following year.
Now 87 and a grandmother of 10, Shwe Tint voted at the same polling station in the Yangon township of Bahan as Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of Aung San.
Flanked by her children and grandchildren, Shwe Tint has remained optimistic about the democratic process despite living through military coups, disqualified polls, assassinations and crackdowns.
"I continue to vote because I think an ordinary citizen like me have no other way to contribute to democracy in this country," she said.
The family entered the polling station together to cast their ballot before quietly making their exit - all the while glancing curiously at the horde of journalists waiting for Suu Kyi's arrival.
"Every time I vote, I hope that good will happen in our country," she said, before departing.
"Now I am turning 88, but the country is still at a crossroads."
