THE SMALL, elegant woman with fresh flowers in her hair beamed as she took her seat in a Dublin auditorium late yesterday afternoon. At first sight of the Burmese pro- democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, the 2,000-strong crowd – gathered for the Electric Burma concert in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre – rose to their feet, cheering and applauding. This was a celebration of her freedom, a heartfelt tribute to a woman who had been under house arrest or in prison in Burma for 15 of 24 years until her release last November.
Last night people in Dublin came to pay homage to a hero, and in return she smiled.
Featuring an eclectic mix of dance, music, song and the spoken word, not to mention a trapeze and hip-hop acts, the Amnesty International-backed concert had the feel of the ultimate variety show, albeit one shot through with the poetic majesty of Seamus Heaney, who sat to Suu Kyi’s right.
Bob Geldof read from Heaney’s Cure of Troy but not before commiserating with Suu Kyi for having to spend the day with Bono, who was sitting on the other side of the Nobel laureate. After a day with the U2 singer, he suggested, she might have felt she wanted to be put back under house arrest.
Against the backdrop of a stage set made from dozens of birdcages, homegrown talent was showcased along with stirring speeches from human right activists such as Wu’er Kaixi, the exiled leader of the Tiananmen Square protest, who reminded the audience of all the political prisoners across the world still behind bars.
Actors Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Redgrave read more Heaney and Damien Rice reprised Unplayed Piano, a song he wrote for the Burmese dissident’s 60th birthday seven years ago.
Suu Kyi turns 67 today and she was serenaded with the birthday song by the thousands who gathered at a free open-air concert at Grand Canal Dock later in the evening.
On her short visit to Dublin she was received by President Michael D Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin and received an honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin. She also received the Freedom of the City of Dublin, which she was awarded in 2000 when still under house arrest.
When Bono took to the stage last night to present Suu Kyi with the Ambassador of Conscience Award he said it was one of the great ironies that because of her confinement “the world has become your home . . . so fáilte abhaile, welcome home”.
Rising to accept her award, Suu Kyi said the reception she had been given on this short European tour, which takes in Norway, Ireland and Britain, was “totally unexpected. I have discovered how much more people care,” she said. “This has come as a surprise to me and a very moving one.” She said that the British often referred to the Burmese as “the Irish of the east” and said she felt ‘very proud” tonight to be “your eastern counterpart”.
Later Bono and Damien Rice sang Walk On, the song the U2 singer wrote for Suu Kyi; One; and the most apt song of the night for a finale featuring all the participants, I Shall Be Released. The whole cast also did a stirring rendition of Bob Marley’s Get Up Stand Up, one of Suu Kyi’s favourite songs.
It was an emotion-filled evening, but for the 400-strong Burmese community in Ireland last night had even greater resonance. Three Burmese colleagues at the Ballynahinch Castle Hotel in Connemara had made the pilgrimage to the theatre, saying it was an event they could not have missed.
“In Burma we call her Mother Suu. She is our last great hope,” said Taikwin, known to his Irish friends as Sammy. He wore a T-shirt bearing the image of a woman he called “the greatest lady in the world. She believes in freedom and in justice; she does things that no other people want to do. Every night I pray for Mother Suu.”
It was all about her last night. The small woman with a big smile on her face and fresh flowers in her hair.
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