Suu Kyi discusses personal sacrifices

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I just want to start by asking you, firstly, congratulating you on your Nobel Peace Prize, of course, asking you how you feel about being in Europe? Everything has changed since the last time you were out of your country. The Berlin Wall was up back then, and now everything’s changed. How does it seem to you?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: I’ve been trying to find out whether it’s a place that has changed or whether it’s me that has changed. And I think there have been changes in both directions.

 

AMANPOUR: And what is like actually leaving your country for the first time in more than a quarter of a century?

 

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: I’m sorry; could you repeat that question?

 

AMANPOUR: What does it feel like to be out of your country, to be able to leave and travel freely in quarter of a century?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: Well, to begin with, very tiring, but also very, very interesting. And I think it’s beginning to become exciting as well, now that I’m recovering from jet lag.

 

AMANPOUR: That must have been quite something, I know you were slightly unwell a couple of days ago. I hope you’re feeling better. What is the theme of your speech, the theme -- what is the theme of your message to the people of the world when you’ll be receiving your Nobel prize?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: The theme will be about what the Nobel Peace Prize means to me and what peace means to me. I’m trying to find the questions -- the answers to these questions myself. I’m exploring them, and I will be exploring the answers in my lecture.

 

AMANPOUR: As you know, this interview will air sometime after your lecture and it’ll also air next week as well on my program for a second time. I wonder if you could just expand for me for a bit, what is your feeling of peace in the world? What is the theme and the message you have for the world at this time, because, really, the eyes of the world are on you as an icon of democracy.

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: My attitude towards peace is rather based on the Burmese definition of peace. It really means removing all the negative factors that destroy peace in this world. So peace does not mean just putting an end to violence or to war, but to all other factors that could threaten peace, such as discrimination, such as inequality, poverty and other negative factors.

 

 

AMANPOUR: I’m in Cairo, as you know, and it’s right in the middle of the presidential elections. I wonder how it strikes you that not only has Europe changed since you were last there, but the whole of the Arab world as well, and is longing for democracy. Do you -- are you able to sort of take that in, and do you have any thoughts about that?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: Yes, of course, we’ve been keeping track of the Arab Spring. And it really proves that we’re all the same, that we’re all human beings who want peace, who want freedom, who want security, who want to be free from want and free -- and fear. So it makes me feel closer to the rest of the world.

 

AMANPOUR: Do you believe that a spring came to Burma? Is that what happened in your country or was the opening up to democracy a different way?

 

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: The opening is there, but we’ve got to make sure that we are -- we are able to make the best use of this opening. This is just the beginning. There is still a very long way to go and I want to -- everybody to know that there is this long way ahead, and we shouldn’t take everything for granted.

 

AMANPOUR: Indeed, in your most recent comments, you have been in Thailand, and I think you said -- you said to your audience that there shouldn’t be a sort of a state of reckless optimism about what’s happening in your country. What did you mean by that?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: Well, I think if we think of the word "reckless," the meaning will become clear. Recklessness means that you don’t consider all the factors that need to be considered, that you’re not cautious enough. 

 

Optimism, which is -- which does not take into consideration the possible challenges that will have to be met can be dangerous, because you will not be prepared to deal with the obstacles that are going to spring up in all directions as you go down a new road.

 

AMANPOUR: So what are you actually worried about? Because you also did say that investors should have sort of a healthy skepticism about investing immediately or grandly in Burma. What do you mean? What is the most concerning to you at the moment about that?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: I worry about the wrong sort of investments, the kind of investments that empower the wrong sort of circles. 

 

I’ve always said that investments should empower the people and I’ve been talking about democracy-friendly investment, democracy-friendly development growth, which is to say the kind of investments that will empower the people, that will promote transparency and accountability, all the elements that are necessary for good governance. I would be very unhappy about the kind of investments that will -- which will make a few privileged people more and more privileged.

 

AMANPOUR: Do you worry that that puts you at loggerheads with the -- with the president? Do you worry that that might make it more difficult for you?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: Why should I? Why would the president want to make a few privileged people more privileged? I’m not saying don’t come and invest. All I’m saying is please be careful how you invest and please be transparent about where you’re investing and under what terms.

 

AMANPOUR: You did go to the elections. You won a seat in parliament and obviously many want to know whether you want to run for national leadership. Do you see yourself as a future national leader of Burma?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: I think this is a question that the people of Burma must answer. First of all, of course, as things are, I cannot become the leader of the country because the constitution has sections which will make it impossible for me to become the leader of the country. So we cannot, at this moment, speculate on whether or not we -- I can become the national leader. 

 

I think we have to speculate on whether or not we can -- or rather how quickly we can amend the constitution. This is one of the main planks of our party platform, that we have to make amendments to the constitution to make it genuinely democratic.

 

AMANPOUR: May I ask you a personal question, ma’am? You gave up so much. You sacrificed so much for your country and for your people. You were not able to visit your husband before he died. You also were separated for a long time from your children. Can you tell me how that affected you and what you were thinking at those crucial times when you were under house arrest?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: I always considered the fact that I was actually more fortunate than many of my colleagues, who were not only in prison, where conditions were much harsher than conditions in my house, although I was under house arrest, and the fact that their families were always in danger themselves, whereas although my family were separated from me, they were living in a free, democratic country.

 

AMANPOUR: And can you tell me -- I need to ask you just about the political situation there right now. What is your view on the clashes between the Muslims and the Buddhists there? And do you think the Muslim minority there needs to have citizenship?

 

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: Well, I think that the clashes prove that there’s a great need for rule of law in our country. There -- if there were rule of law and if there were clear indications as to how citizenship should be treated and should be approached and what the rights of citizens are and if there were protection for the rights of all citizens, then these problems would not have got out of hand.

 

AMANPOUR: And one last question, how are you going to feel when you go to England for the first time in a long, long time, where you went to university, when you -- where you lived with your family?

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: I hope I shall feel very happy. I expect to feel very happy.

 

AMANPOUR: All right. Thank you so much, Aung San Suu Kyi. I wish I could have met you in person. Thank you so much for being with me.

 

AUNG SAN SUU KYI: Thank you. Perhaps we will meet some day.