June 12, 2020
State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi wrote on her Facebook page yesterday that just as there was nothing as wide-ranging as COVID, there was also nothing as narrow in scope as COVID. Just as it was related to everyone and everything, it was also related to each individual person. This was what she wrote:
When we make arrangements to have video discussions, the first thing we have to do is to choose a topic. We have to ask questions such as: what issues are important for the prevention of the disease? What are the people interested in; what do they wish to know? What do we need to inform them to get their participation? Sometimes, I think, what else do I wish to tell them?
Just as there is nothing as wide-ranging as COVID, there is also nothing as narrow in scope as COVID. Just as it was related to everyone and everything, it was also related to each individual person. Just as there are so many things we need to know about COVID prevention, there are a lot of things that the people wish to know. As half-baked fake news float around all over the place, as far as possible we try to discuss from many points of view. Getting people’s participation needs to be based on their understanding and comprehension, only then will it have potency.
When I think of all the things I want to say, there are so many. My father said this in one of his speeches. He said that there were so many things he wanted to say about politics. He said, “There are so many in my stomach. I am full of it.” When I read this, I thought, oh, he must have had a lot to say as it was the time he was struggling for independence. Now I fully understand that there would always be a great deal to say about politics.
This COVID issue is also politics. It concerns the whole country. It is a huge issue for the country. We cannot compartmentalize and think this is health, this is social affairs, and this is economics. We need to view all of these things like politics, as a huge political challenge. We need a lot of cooperation.
Just as my father concluded one of his speeches in the tone of a monastic schoolboy using Pali with Burmese translation: “All of you in the audience — please remember this well with seriousness and vigilance”. (Translated by Kyaw Myaing)
