On Tuesday I drew attention to an influence of Egypt's example in Zimbabwe, and suggested the thought 'So why not us?' as having a bearing on the geographical range of applicability of the ideas of freedom and democracy. A column in the Times tells of another country's interest in current developments in the Arab world. Aung San Suu Kyi has been reflecting on their relevance to Burma (£):
She said Burma's military government had attempted to block coverage of events in the Middle East - including the current crisis in Libya - from reaching ordinary people in the southeast Asian country without much success.
The 65-year-old pro-democracy advocate said the ousting of governments in Tunisia and Egypt - and importantly the confrontation between supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and anti-government protesters - were being closely followed in Burma.
"They are comparing what's happening there with what happened in Burma in 1988, and one of the things they have noticed is that in Tunisia and in Egypt the army did not fire on its people, whereas in Libya it is different," Ms Suu Kyi said.
"The outcome also seems to be much more complicated and much worse in Libya than in Tunisia and Egypt. Everybody is waiting around to see with great interest what transpires because people were impressed with what happened, particularly in Egypt."
.....
"The people have stood in Burma before, as you know, and in those instances they were fired upon by the army and I think that makes a great difference," she said. "Now the situation in Libya is that the army itself appears divided in regard to how the situation should be handled. In Burma I don't think there [were] any noticeable divisions with regards to the policies of the military."
If Egypt, Tunisia and Libya are being watched from Burma, it appears that people in Libya had for their part been watching Egypt and Tunisia. As reported in The Age, a 24-year-old teaching assistant involved in organizing a demonstration there says:
"What made us brave? First we watched the revolution in Tunisia. Then Egypt. So then we said, 'What about us?'"
There you go. Obvious, I know, but why not celebrate the obvious for once? Let's all just agree, shall we, that people living in unfreedom as a rule prefer not to be.
