0:00:08 > 0:00:11APPLAUSE
0:00:13 > 0:00:19On June 16th, 2012, Burmese Opposition Leader, Aung San Suu Kyi,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21was finally able to receive her Nobel prize.
0:00:21 > 0:00:25APPLAUSE CONTINUES
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Often, during my days of house arrest,
0:00:28 > 0:00:33it felt as though I were no longer part of the real world.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36There was a house, which was my world.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40There was a world of others, who also were not free,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43but who were together in prison, as a community.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46And there was the world of the free.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02Every day for 20 years, Aung San Suu Kyi, faced a terrible choice...
0:01:03 > 0:01:06To stay imprisoned in her house in Rangoon,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08or to rejoin her family in Oxford,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12knowing she might never be allowed to return to lead her people.
0:01:14 > 0:01:20We, her family, are denied any contact with her, whatsoever.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24And we know nothing of her condition, except that she's quite alone.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31I would like to have been together with my family.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34I would like to have seen my sons growing up.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38But, I don't have doubts about
0:01:38 > 0:01:44the fact that I had to choose... to stay with my people here.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52After over two decades as the world's most famous
0:01:52 > 0:01:56prisoner of conscience, Suu Kyi has again captured the imagination
0:01:56 > 0:02:00of the world, by choosing to engage with her former captors.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05We can only tell them what our experience has been
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and they can decide for themselves what they think is best.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Why did Nelson Mandela trust de Klerk?
0:02:11 > 0:02:15Why did he decide he was going to engage in a discussion about
0:02:15 > 0:02:20a political transition with the leader of the apartheid regime?
0:02:20 > 0:02:23It's a feel, there's no scientific formula for it.
0:02:23 > 0:02:31But for authentic leaders, such as she is, you have to listen to yourself
0:02:31 > 0:02:35and you have to say, "is this a risk worth taking?"
0:02:35 > 0:02:40And she decided it was and I'm going to give her every bit of support I can.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01CHANTING
0:03:04 > 0:03:07JAUNTY MUSIC
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Alongside North Korea, Burma is one of the most isolated,
0:03:30 > 0:03:33repressive and savage regimes in the world.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Suu Kyi has become the symbol of resistance to a military dictatorship
0:03:39 > 0:03:42that has ruled for over half a century.
0:04:03 > 0:04:0620 years ago, the military crushed the democratic movement
0:04:06 > 0:04:11led by Suu Kyi, killing thousands and imprisoning thousands more.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16Now, these same military leaders are permitting her
0:04:16 > 0:04:18to campaign in a series of by-elections
0:04:18 > 0:04:22to a parliament over which they retain control.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:04:56 > 0:05:00Suu Kyi's decision to participate in the elections has lifted
0:05:00 > 0:05:01decades of fear.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08Her picture, banned for years, is on sale at every street corner.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16We knew that something remarkable was going on.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22We were all aware of the fact that this was a very,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26very unusual time for Burma. This is an extraordinary moment
0:05:26 > 0:05:27for our country.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33Under her patronage, an unofficial film festival
0:05:33 > 0:05:36is staged, at a moment's notice.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42- CAMERAMAN:- Freedom Film Festival, take one. Go!
0:05:51 > 0:05:55CHATTER
0:05:55 > 0:05:59Audiences are hungry for information about decades of repression
0:05:59 > 0:06:02against the opposition and Burma's ethnic minorities.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Years of repression seemed to be coming to an end.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12Hillary Clinton became the first US Secretary of State
0:07:12 > 0:07:15in over 50 years to visit Burma, meeting the
0:07:15 > 0:07:18new reformist president and then Suu Kyi.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27I just felt like I was seeing someone that I had known
0:07:27 > 0:07:33for a very long time and I felt a real sense of elation
0:07:33 > 0:07:38about the moment and it was like talking to a girlfriend.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42I can't describe it any other way. We sat down alone, the two of us
0:07:42 > 0:07:45after, you know, the niceties and the kind of chit-chat
0:07:45 > 0:07:50that the whole group participated in and for three hours, we just talked.
0:07:53 > 0:07:59'And I also deeply admired and empathised with the personal cost
0:07:59 > 0:08:04'of what she has done. She doesn't like to talk about that.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07'She doesn't like to have people feel sorry for her
0:08:07 > 0:08:09'because she made decisions.'
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Suu Kyi has been touched by tragedy all her life.
0:08:17 > 0:08:21Her father, the founder of independent Burma,
0:08:21 > 0:08:23was assassinated when she was only two.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Now, for the first time in years, Suu Kyi is able to publicly honour
0:08:30 > 0:08:33her father's birthday, which the government recognises
0:08:33 > 0:08:36as National Children's Day.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57General Aung San first fought with the Japanese
0:08:57 > 0:09:00against the British Empire and then switched sides.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06After World War II, he led negotiations for independence.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10My colleagues and I have come to London
0:09:10 > 0:09:14in response to the invitation of His Majesty's Government,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18in order to discuss the constitutional questions of Burma.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22The demand of our people is complete independence.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25Today, children are encouraged to learn the General's speeches
0:09:25 > 0:09:26by heart.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49For all the inspiration of her father, it was her mother,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52an ambassador, who shaped Suu Kyi's world.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57You must remember that I grew up with my mother,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00so I took it for granted that women could do anything,
0:10:00 > 0:10:03because although I always knew about my father
0:10:03 > 0:10:05and I was very proud of him
0:10:05 > 0:10:09and looked up to him, not just as my father, but as the great hero
0:10:09 > 0:10:12of our country, actually, it was my mother who was the head of the
0:10:12 > 0:10:17household and she, as far as I could see, could do anything men could do.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22I don't think she ever expected me to go into politics.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26I think she just wanted me to be,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30erm, well-educated person,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34who was worthy of my father.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Studying at Oxford in the 1960s,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Suu Kyi took little part in radical student politics of the time.
0:10:44 > 0:10:49But she did meet a scholar in Tibetan Studies, Michael Aris, -
0:10:49 > 0:10:53a relationship that would test her commitment to her country.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01He came to see me at Oxford on the pretext
0:11:01 > 0:11:03that he'd come to visit some Tibetan Lamas.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Perhaps this is killing two birds with one stone.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10I think he'd come to see the Lamas and come to see me, as well.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13He didn't catch me that easily.
0:11:13 > 0:11:16It took...it took quite some time!
0:11:16 > 0:11:19So, I'm not quite sure what it was.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23I think it was persistence, probably, that...that got him there.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27- INTERVIEWER:- Was his persistence? - His persistence, of course!
0:11:29 > 0:11:34Marriage to a foreigner was a brave step for the daughter of the hero
0:11:34 > 0:11:36who'd brought Burma independence from Britain.
0:11:39 > 0:11:46She predicted what would happen to us as a couple 20 years ago,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48on the eve of our marriage.
0:11:48 > 0:11:54And it wasn't a flash of intuition or...insight,
0:11:54 > 0:12:00it was a knowledge that she would have to render service to her people
0:12:00 > 0:12:02at some time.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08I wanted to make sure that he knew from the very beginning that, er,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13my country meant a great deal to me and should the necessity arise
0:12:13 > 0:12:15for me to go back to live in Burma,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19he must never try to stand between my country and me.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Over the next 15 years,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28she and Michael settled into Oxford academic life.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31They had two boys - Alexander and Kim.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35I spoke only Burmese to them when they were small.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38I'm afraid I couldn't keep that up once they went to school,
0:12:38 > 0:12:43because their English vocabulary increased so quickly that I couldn't
0:12:43 > 0:12:45keep up and they... Then, of course,
0:12:45 > 0:12:48the fact that Michael didn't speak Burmese did not help.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56My wife and I used to go and stay with them in Oxford
0:12:56 > 0:12:58when they had small children.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01She often talked about that she was
0:13:01 > 0:13:04perfectly content doing the ironing,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07her husband's socks and this sort of thing.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09She was bringing up two small children.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12She was an Oxford housewife.
0:13:12 > 0:13:18She was petite, formidable, fixed you with her eye
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and obviously had a very strong set of principles
0:13:22 > 0:13:26by which she led her life. There is a quality to her
0:13:26 > 0:13:31which is like steel, but not grandstanding, you know.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34She didn't say, "Well, look at me, I'm the daughter of Aung San
0:13:34 > 0:13:35"who founded modern Burma."
0:13:37 > 0:13:41A phone call to their Oxford home on March 31st, 1988
0:13:41 > 0:13:43was to change everything.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52My aunt rang me from Rangoon and said my mother had a stroke
0:13:52 > 0:13:56and that it was quite a bad one and she thought that I should come.
0:13:56 > 0:13:57It was very, very simple,
0:13:57 > 0:14:03the sort of thing that I think goes on every day in this world.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06COCKEREL CROWS
0:14:11 > 0:14:13When Suu Kyi returned to look after her mother,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Burma was known as the Hermit Kingdom.
0:14:18 > 0:14:2030 years of military rule had turned it
0:14:20 > 0:14:23from one of the richest countries in the region,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26into one of the most backward in the world.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28STREET TRADERS CHATTER
0:14:28 > 0:14:30In the spring of 1988,
0:14:30 > 0:14:33economic hardship had brought demonstrators onto the streets
0:14:33 > 0:14:36of the capital for the first time in decades.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12In response to the unrest, the dictator, General Ne Win,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16stepped down and proposed elections.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19But he made clear this would be done on his terms.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46The threat did nothing to stop the demonstrations.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53GUNFIRE
0:15:53 > 0:15:56CLAMOURING VOICES
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Based in the hospital in central Rangoon, looking after her mother,
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Suu Kyi became a magnet for dissident leaders.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10I don't think that I would have come back
0:16:10 > 0:16:14just to take part in the demonstrations.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18The first bout of shooting started while my mother was
0:16:18 > 0:16:21at the hospital and I was at the hospital. People were going in
0:16:21 > 0:16:25and out all the time, talking about it, running in and out,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and they were all sorts of pamphlets floating around.
0:16:29 > 0:16:30Everything was happening all around me.
0:16:30 > 0:16:34CROWDS CHANT AND SING
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Little was known of the 43-year-old daughter
0:16:39 > 0:16:42of the legendary General Aung San.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44When she agreed to speak at a demonstration,
0:16:44 > 0:16:47to be held at the Shwedagon - the Golden Temple -
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Rangoon came to a standstill.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Her husband, Michael,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58and her children, 11-year-old Kim, and 16-year-old Alexander,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01had to smuggle her through the crowds.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Michael was not there all the time.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13He came when the children's holidays started. He came over with them.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18We talked about my getting involved in politics.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20And he said, he thought I should.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23VOICES CLAMOUR
0:17:50 > 0:17:56There were so many people, and I had to shout...er...
0:17:56 > 0:17:59..and even then, I don't think many could hear me.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Three weeks later, the military declared martial law.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37Troops cleared the streets, killing over 3,000 people.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44At the same time, the military promised elections.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48Suu Kyi and her colleagues formed the NLD -
0:18:48 > 0:18:51The National League for Democracy.
0:19:19 > 0:19:21Overnight, the military stormed her compound,
0:19:21 > 0:19:24imprisoning her in her house.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Few could have imagined how long this would last.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41A housekeeper lived with her
0:19:41 > 0:19:45and most of the time, both were completely cut off from the world.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49The prisons in Burma are terrible
0:19:49 > 0:19:52and life is very hard for political prisoners,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55and other prisoners, as well. But house arrest, well,
0:19:55 > 0:20:00this is my house, it's not the most luxurious place in the world,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03but it's perfectly all right. It's comfortable.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06I had my books around me. I could listen to the radio.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10After locking away the NLD leadership,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15the military allowed elections to go ahead, confident they would now win.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19On polling day, the general responsible for the mass killings
0:20:19 > 0:20:23in 1988 made a rare appearance in front of the cameras.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46The generals were in for a shock.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57DISTANT GUNFIRE
0:21:30 > 0:21:33The generals ignored the landslide for Suu Kyi's Party.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37They continued to rule as before,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40imprisoning nearly all of the newly-elected MPs.
0:21:44 > 0:21:47And they kept Suu Kyi locked away in her house.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50BELLS CHIME
0:22:07 > 0:22:1020 years after the election which caused her house arrest,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13Suu Kyi is back on the campaign trail.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20She's fighting by-elections to a parliament in which the military
0:22:20 > 0:22:22has a huge guaranteed majority.
0:23:02 > 0:23:07She is not a person who wants to just to be pontificating
0:23:07 > 0:23:11from the sidelines. She wants to help make the change.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15She wants to help create a sustainable, democratic,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20political system in her country. And that means rolling up your sleeves,
0:23:20 > 0:23:23running for office and getting into the messy business
0:23:23 > 0:23:27that parliaments have to do to make decisions. Dealing with people
0:23:27 > 0:23:32who she knew had been oppressive, even killers.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Her campaign takes Suu Kyi
0:23:41 > 0:23:44to every corner of the country on a punishing schedule.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48It's a country scarred by decades of military rule,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50where the generals stand accused
0:23:50 > 0:23:53of committing terrible human rights crimes
0:23:53 > 0:23:56and repressing ethnic minorities.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Everywhere, she speaks of reconciliation,
0:24:01 > 0:24:04not confrontation or revenge.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06GENERAL HUBBUB
0:24:09 > 0:24:12They made a concession to Suu in allowing her NLD Party
0:24:12 > 0:24:14to re-open their offices.
0:24:14 > 0:24:20Concession to allow her to contend local elections. So she is free,
0:24:20 > 0:24:23but the legacy of brutality, the legacy of the number of people
0:24:23 > 0:24:26who have been in prison, the legacy of the number of people
0:24:26 > 0:24:29who have lost their lives, the legacy of the relationship between
0:24:29 > 0:24:34the ethnic groups and the majority of Burmans, is a poisonous one.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38I mean, it's an extremely difficult legacy to step into.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41So, if you're looking to a future for Burma,
0:24:41 > 0:24:45there's an awful lot of unfinished business. And central to that
0:24:45 > 0:24:48unfinished business are the generals who have actually run Burma
0:24:48 > 0:24:49all these years.
0:24:52 > 0:24:53As election day approaches,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57foreign journalists are allowed into the country en masse
0:24:57 > 0:25:00for the first time in decades.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Suu Kyi invites the press to the garden of the house
0:25:03 > 0:25:05that was her prison for so long.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17CROWD CHATTERS
0:25:33 > 0:25:36- PRESS:- The military continues to commit
0:25:36 > 0:25:41some terrible human rights abuses, use of child soldiers, kidnapping,
0:25:41 > 0:25:42rape as a weapon of war.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Given that situation, what kind of compromises are you going to have
0:25:47 > 0:25:51to make to bring the military on board, while at the same time
0:25:51 > 0:25:56having to address these very grave human rights issues?
0:25:56 > 0:26:00What the military will learn, I am sure, is to realise
0:26:00 > 0:26:07that the future of this country, is their future and that reform
0:26:07 > 0:26:11in this country means reform for them as well. And why all these abuses
0:26:11 > 0:26:16that you mention have been going on, these are because there has been
0:26:16 > 0:26:22no genuine reform in the situation, in the system of this country.
0:26:22 > 0:26:23We hope to win the military over,
0:26:23 > 0:26:26to understand that we have to work together.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29BELLS CHIME
0:26:31 > 0:26:35These are the same military leaders who, 20 years ago, locked her away
0:26:35 > 0:26:38and then deliberately set out to exploit
0:26:38 > 0:26:42what they thought was her weak link - her family.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45The parting of the ways, as it were,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49came when I was placed under house arrest. Then, of course, I knew
0:26:49 > 0:26:52that my relationship with the family
0:26:52 > 0:26:56was going to change considerably, because we would not be able
0:26:56 > 0:26:58to be in touch with each other.
0:26:58 > 0:27:02The first Christmas after I was placed under house arrest,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04Michael was allowed to come to see me,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06but they wouldn't let the children come.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16She is in good health and in very good spirits.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19She's completely isolated from the world
0:27:19 > 0:27:21by the presence of armed guards.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24It's very difficult to tell what will happen from now on,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27because of the lack of contact.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32There are things that you do together that you don't do with other people.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35It's very special. A family is very special.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39So when a family splits up, it's not good, it's never good.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42He became a very dear friend
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and someone I had an immense admiration and friendship
0:27:45 > 0:27:47and love for.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50I helped him with letters and, you know,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54the sort of tides of Burma's struggle ebbed to his door
0:27:54 > 0:27:58in Park Town and, you know, he carried on a very brave,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01very lonely, very courageous,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04you know, struggle to bring up his children in an air of normality,
0:28:04 > 0:28:07to do what he could for Suu.
0:28:12 > 0:28:13He's an academic.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16But he had a dry sense of humour...
0:28:18 > 0:28:22..and very sort of broad-minded,
0:28:22 > 0:28:23having lived in Bhutan for five years
0:28:23 > 0:28:29and taught the Royal Family there. And obviously being married
0:28:29 > 0:28:32to my mother, he had to be pretty flexible.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37- INTERVIEWER: - Flexible, in what way?
0:28:37 > 0:28:41Well, allowing her to get on with what she needed to do.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44And supporting her and looking after us and...
0:28:46 > 0:28:48..keeping his own work going.
0:28:50 > 0:28:51It's a lot on his plate, really.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57APPLAUSE
0:28:57 > 0:29:00Michael's tireless work to keep Suu Kyi in the public eye
0:29:00 > 0:29:02was rewarded in 1991.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08Father and brother Kim looked on as 18-year-old Alexander
0:29:08 > 0:29:11accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his mother.
0:29:12 > 0:29:14Speaking as her son,
0:29:14 > 0:29:19I personally believe that, by her own dedication
0:29:19 > 0:29:25and personal sacrifice, she has come to be a worthy symbol, through whom
0:29:25 > 0:29:28the plight of all the people of Burma may be recognised.
0:29:31 > 0:29:38'He's not acknowledged as much as he should be in the role he played.'
0:29:38 > 0:29:43Getting support for my mother from people overseas...
0:29:44 > 0:29:52..and promoting her to be a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and whatnot,
0:29:52 > 0:29:57and always...just being there to support her and saying,
0:29:57 > 0:29:59"You go for it."
0:30:02 > 0:30:08Looking after us. Allowing her to do that.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11BIRDSONG
0:30:11 > 0:30:15PIANO PLAYS
0:30:22 > 0:30:28It takes me to a different place. If I'm absorbed in trying to play
0:30:28 > 0:30:33something as well as possible, it's a challenge because I'm bad at it.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37So I have to work very hard at it. And it's also joy, because sometimes
0:30:37 > 0:30:40you find I, your fingers going the way you think they should
0:30:40 > 0:30:44and not the way THEY think they should! And then you enjoy it.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04I listened to the BBC Burmese language service assiduously.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07I think, in some ways I was better informed about what was going on in
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Burma than many people who were not under house arrest, because they had
0:31:11 > 0:31:16no time to listen to the news. You hear, er, about every little thing
0:31:16 > 0:31:20that here seemed to be going on in the country. And then, of course,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23there are lots and lots of interviews with, er, not just with
0:31:23 > 0:31:27the politicians, but with social workers, with artists,
0:31:27 > 0:31:28with professionals.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47I meditated regularly. I still meditate regularly.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51I think it...it's to develop a sense of calm and a sense of awareness
0:31:51 > 0:31:53and that certainly helps a lot.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13In September 1994, she was seen for the first time for five years,
0:32:13 > 0:32:18shown on TV, meeting the head of the military junta, Than Shwe.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22- NEWSCASTER:- 'The Chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council
0:32:22 > 0:32:25'and commander-in-chief of the defence services, Than Shwe,
0:32:25 > 0:32:29'met Aung San Suu Kyi this morning at the number one
0:32:29 > 0:32:31'defence services guest house.'
0:32:55 > 0:32:59One should never forget that she was in Burma all this time
0:32:59 > 0:33:01at her insistence, not theirs.
0:33:02 > 0:33:04She refused to leave.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08They wanted her to leave and then they wouldn't let her back.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12So all these years of house arrest and everything,
0:33:12 > 0:33:18everything else, this was, this was her decision to remain.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25The people of Rangoon became used to the fact that The Lady,
0:33:25 > 0:33:29as she was known, was sitting locked away in her house.
0:33:29 > 0:33:35Then suddenly after six years, she was released with no explanation.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39The gate of her compound immediately became a regular meeting place
0:33:39 > 0:33:42for opposition supporters.
0:33:42 > 0:33:46CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:33:53 > 0:33:56Michael and Kim were allowed to visit
0:33:56 > 0:34:00their now-famous wife and mother for the first time in years.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04She had now become a favourite of the world's media.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06- ROBIN WARE: - Oh, we're back here again.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Yes, that's fine. What do you want me to do?
0:34:09 > 0:34:12- ROBIN WARE:- I want you to sit in this chair...- Yes.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15..like this and put your hands here like this and we'll work out
0:34:15 > 0:34:19- something comfortable with your hands and then...- OK.
0:34:21 > 0:34:22Yeah, that's great.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25I like this...very much.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38INAUDIBLE CHATTER
0:34:55 > 0:34:58Do you want to take a black and white? Does that feel good?
0:35:03 > 0:35:04You've grown your hair!
0:35:04 > 0:35:08I'm Robin Ware. We've, er, communicated once before.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12THEY SPEAKS BURMESE
0:35:17 > 0:35:18Thank you very much.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22You've grown again.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25'He brought his music with him. He had all these little tapes'
0:35:25 > 0:35:30and he would say, "Now, do you know who that is, Mummy?" And I'd say,
0:35:30 > 0:35:34well, at first, of course, I'd get it all wrong, but later, I began to
0:35:34 > 0:35:39learn who was...who was who. He plays a lot of Bob Marley,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42so I learned to like Bob Marley.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46"Stand up, stand up for your rights." Perfect for us!
0:35:48 > 0:35:51# Get up, stand up Don't give up the fight #
0:35:51 > 0:35:54Suu Kyi was not allowed out of Rangoon
0:35:54 > 0:35:58and was attacked when she tried to test her restrictions.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02# I know you don't know
0:36:02 > 0:36:05# What life is really worth
0:36:05 > 0:36:08# Is that all that glitter is gold
0:36:08 > 0:36:12# Half the story has never been told
0:36:12 > 0:36:13# So now you see the light
0:36:13 > 0:36:20# Hey, stand up for your rights Come on! Get up, stand up... #
0:36:20 > 0:36:25They kept, barricading off the street and then they'd open it up again
0:36:25 > 0:36:27and the street was, it was just going like this,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29open, shut, open shut, open, shut.
0:36:29 > 0:36:35# Get up, stand up Stand up for your rights... #
0:36:35 > 0:36:39On one occasion, she was blocked by the military on a bridge
0:36:39 > 0:36:43for five days. But no amount of defiance got her through.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50When she's angry, she can be really quite ferocious.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54You could see her eyes flashing, you know, and, and, er, no wonder
0:36:54 > 0:37:00she was held in such awe and dread, I think, by the generals
0:37:00 > 0:37:04and she was, sort of, depicted as endowed with some sort of
0:37:04 > 0:37:08supernatural power - that she cast spells, you know,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11over the country, as a whole.
0:37:13 > 0:37:19Today, she is no longer exactly a prisoner in her house
0:37:19 > 0:37:24after six years of house arrest, she was released from the prison
0:37:24 > 0:37:29that was her home into the prison that is her country.
0:37:29 > 0:37:33All the while, her husband Michael travelled the world,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36ensuring Suu Kyi, and Burma, remained in the news.
0:37:38 > 0:37:43- INTERVIEWER:- Did his commitment to the cause mean he often wasn't available to you?
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Well, it wasn't just the cause. It was his own work, as well.
0:37:46 > 0:37:53And I think fathers aren't as... motherly, are they? So...
0:37:55 > 0:38:00I don't think it was necessarily just the cause that, sort of,
0:38:00 > 0:38:04put distance between us. It was just a father and son relationship,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07rather than a mother and son relationship.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21And it was, I think, on the 6th of January or so,
0:38:21 > 0:38:26when Michael called me, saying, "Can you come and help me?
0:38:26 > 0:38:27"I'm ill."
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Michael said, "Well I've got two pieces of news for you, Peter.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34"One good, one bad. The bad thing is that I got cancer and the good thing
0:38:34 > 0:38:35"is, I'm going to beat it."
0:38:35 > 0:38:42Michael kept telling both us and Suu
0:38:42 > 0:38:46that he is going to overcome the disease. That he will beat it.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51I don't quite know whether he genuinely believed in it.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56And I think that, you know, that the cancer and its very swift path
0:38:56 > 0:39:00was to some extent, in my mind, linked to the very lonely road
0:39:00 > 0:39:05he'd had to take, you know, in the '80-...in the '90s
0:39:05 > 0:39:09as the standard-bearer, the white knight, for Suu.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12They refused a visa for Michael
0:39:12 > 0:39:14and then piled on extra,
0:39:14 > 0:39:17sort of, psychological torment in the media,
0:39:17 > 0:39:21by saying, what a bad wife she was, not to do the decent thing
0:39:21 > 0:39:25that all wives would have done in her situation and go to the bedside
0:39:25 > 0:39:30of her dying husband. And just to rub salt into the wound,
0:39:30 > 0:39:34they then said, "Of course, this sort of calumny that she's not going
0:39:34 > 0:39:37"because she's worried she might not be allowed back in
0:39:37 > 0:39:39"is complete fabrication.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42"We give our word that she would be allowed in."
0:39:42 > 0:39:46The only message that was conveyed to me was that if I wished to leave,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48they would provide me with passport.
0:39:48 > 0:39:51- INTERVIEWER:- And what was your response to that?
0:39:51 > 0:39:52I said, "No, thank you."
0:39:54 > 0:39:56She and Michael were talking every day.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00And they discussed it at great length.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02And it was Michael's insistence
0:40:02 > 0:40:05that she must stay, in the circumstances.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10And the circumstances were, then,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13that if she had left and not been able to come back...
0:40:15 > 0:40:17..a great many people would have been rounded up.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19How were you able to communicate with him?
0:40:19 > 0:40:23Er, I spoke to him on the phone, several times.
0:40:24 > 0:40:25From here, from...?
0:40:25 > 0:40:27No, I couldn't, because my phone was cut off,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31so I would go to friends' to get in touch with him.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33She would come round to the residence,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36not the embassy, as such, but the residence,
0:40:36 > 0:40:42and she would have her conversation with Michael, completely privately,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44and then, after that, you know,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47sometimes my wife would need to, sort of, comfort her a bit.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52I remember her saying,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55"Karma, there must be something we can do.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57"There must be."
0:40:57 > 0:41:01Was there a point at which you thought of going home?
0:41:01 > 0:41:04No, no, there never was a point when I thought of going.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07I knew that I wouldn't go. And he knew, too.
0:41:09 > 0:41:15In his final day, I remember he said,
0:41:15 > 0:41:19"Karma, tell Suu we have done our best."
0:41:27 > 0:41:31A few days before Michael died in March, 1999,
0:41:31 > 0:41:34Suu Kyi was filmed at an NLD meeting.
0:43:52 > 0:43:57'I immediately went to Burma, to be with Suu.'
0:43:57 > 0:43:58I think there was a sense...
0:44:00 > 0:44:06..that that chapter of my life is over,
0:44:06 > 0:44:07is closed.
0:44:09 > 0:44:14I will now focus totally...
0:44:14 > 0:44:18on the future and my country.
0:44:22 > 0:44:27The generals tightened and loosened their control on her at will.
0:44:27 > 0:44:32Then, in 2003, for the first time in a decade,
0:44:32 > 0:44:35they allowed her to travel the country.
0:44:35 > 0:44:39Her trip turned into an almost regal progress.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44VOICE OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI:
0:45:02 > 0:45:05APPLAUSE AND CHEERING
0:45:08 > 0:45:10The more people responded,
0:45:10 > 0:45:13the greater the provocation from the government.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Until one evening, in May 2003, her convoy was attacked
0:45:17 > 0:45:19when she stopped to talk to some monks.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27TRANSLATION:
0:45:39 > 0:45:42TRANSLATION:
0:45:51 > 0:45:54TRANSLATION:
0:45:59 > 0:46:03TRANSLATION:
0:46:21 > 0:46:24You start calculating, you start thinking...
0:46:24 > 0:46:26what you should do?
0:46:26 > 0:46:30You know, what should you do and what could happen if you do this,
0:46:30 > 0:46:31or what could happen if you do that?
0:46:38 > 0:46:41TRANSLATION:
0:46:49 > 0:46:53TRANSLATION:
0:47:00 > 0:47:04TRANSLATION:
0:47:12 > 0:47:14That night in Depayin
0:47:14 > 0:47:18was seen by her colleagues as a clear attempt to kill Suu Kyi -
0:47:18 > 0:47:22an attack that left four of her party members
0:47:22 > 0:47:24and an unknown number of local villagers dead.
0:47:26 > 0:47:28When they reached the nearest town,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31Suu Kyi and those who had escaped were arrested.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35TRANSLATION:
0:48:22 > 0:48:23With Suu Kyi still alive,
0:48:23 > 0:48:28the military leaders simply put her back under house arrest,
0:48:28 > 0:48:30ignoring international outrage
0:48:30 > 0:48:34and continuing to rule their isolated kingdom as they chose.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06'Crush all internal and external destructive elements
0:49:06 > 0:49:08'as the common enemy.'
0:49:10 > 0:49:15Any dissent, whether from monks or minorities seeking independence,
0:49:15 > 0:49:19was crushed with the same ferocity used in 1988,
0:49:19 > 0:49:23driving millions of Burmese into exile in Thailand.
0:49:23 > 0:49:25RUMBLING
0:49:26 > 0:49:30Even when cyclone Nargis hit the country in 2008,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34leaving millions homeless and over 100,000 dead,
0:49:34 > 0:49:38the military refused to accept international aid for weeks.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52CHEERING
0:49:52 > 0:49:55When Suu Kyi was once again released,
0:49:55 > 0:49:57her 20 years of stubborn resistance to the generals
0:49:57 > 0:49:59seemed to have achieved little,
0:49:59 > 0:50:01except bring international attention.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28Her son, Kim, now in his 30s
0:50:28 > 0:50:31and divorced, with two children she had never met,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34was allowed to visit her.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05'Of course, I regret not having been able to spend time with my family.'
0:51:05 > 0:51:07One wants to be together with one's family.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09That's what families are about.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Of course, I have regrets about that,
0:51:11 > 0:51:13personal regrets.
0:51:13 > 0:51:15I would like to have, er...
0:51:15 > 0:51:17been together with my family,
0:51:17 > 0:51:20I would like to have seen my sons growing up.
0:51:20 > 0:51:22But I don't have doubts
0:51:22 > 0:51:28about the fact that I had to choose, er...
0:51:28 > 0:51:30to stay with my people here.
0:51:30 > 0:51:33I think she's genuinely strong.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36And, you know, even if she's sad at something,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39she knows she's got to get on with things.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42She's not going to waste time crying about it.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57She knows I drink whisky and stuff, anyway.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00Kim has become a regular visitor.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03His older brother, Alexander, now living in America,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07has chosen not to visit his mother, though he speaks to her weekly.
0:52:14 > 0:52:17The first hint that things might be changing
0:52:17 > 0:52:20came when the regime approached Suu Kyi,
0:52:20 > 0:52:23inviting her back into the political process.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30TRANSLATION:
0:53:03 > 0:53:06Within weeks, Suu Kyi met the new president,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09himself a former leading general.
0:53:09 > 0:53:12He proposed her party contest a limited number of seats
0:53:12 > 0:53:16for a parliament still completely under military control.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21There was a promise of real democratic reform to follow.
0:53:21 > 0:53:22It went well.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25I thought he was somebody who could be trusted
0:53:25 > 0:53:28and that he was genuine about wishing to...
0:53:28 > 0:53:30bring reform to the country.
0:53:32 > 0:53:33'We've said very, very openly
0:53:33 > 0:53:36'that the military needs to be behind the reform process,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39'if it's to be irreversible.'
0:53:39 > 0:53:41I would not have thought of it as a reckoning,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44I would think of it as a co-operative effort.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53As in 1988, 1996 and 2003,
0:53:53 > 0:53:57Suu Kyi was rapturously received wherever she went.
0:53:58 > 0:54:03On the campaign trail, she repeated that this was just the beginning,
0:54:03 > 0:54:07that dialogue, not revolution, will bring change.
0:54:47 > 0:54:50'I think she's taken a gamble. There's no doubt about it.'
0:54:50 > 0:54:53But I think she had to do that
0:54:53 > 0:54:58if she wanted to test the sincerity and to support the reform efforts.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01She knows what the alternative is.
0:55:01 > 0:55:04The alternative is more of the same.
0:55:05 > 0:55:08A new generation of military leaders
0:55:08 > 0:55:11take over from the outgoing generation
0:55:11 > 0:55:15and there's no development of the country,
0:55:15 > 0:55:16there's no opening up.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18There's no real path
0:55:18 > 0:55:20that is going to lead to a better future.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22She understands that, completely.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34When given the opportunity, as in 1990,
0:55:34 > 0:55:37the Burmese seized their chance to vote.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43For those who had sacrificed their lives to the cause,
0:55:43 > 0:55:46this compromise with the regime is a risk,
0:55:46 > 0:55:48after 20 years of principled resistance.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54TRANSLATION:
0:56:37 > 0:56:41The NLD celebrated victory in almost every seat up for election.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53Across town, Suu Kyi remained alone...
0:56:53 > 0:56:55in the house where she'd spent
0:56:55 > 0:56:58so many of the past 20 years locked away.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04Even if this a false dawn in Burma,
0:57:04 > 0:57:08the fact that Suu has actually been there, done it,
0:57:08 > 0:57:11and maybe she dies in prison,
0:57:11 > 0:57:15you know, I mean, everything doesn't come to a happy ending,
0:57:15 > 0:57:19it's still a very important example which is set.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23And, you know, that's there as a beacon on the hill
0:57:23 > 0:57:25for a future generation.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33On May 2, 2012, Suu Kyi joined
0:57:33 > 0:57:36her new colleagues in Burma's parliament.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40Everywhere, she remains a symbol of hope and change.
0:57:40 > 0:57:45But this dissident-turned-politician now has to try to reform
0:57:45 > 0:57:48one of the most intransigent regimes in the world.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56Some of our warriors fell at their post.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Some deserted us.
0:57:59 > 0:58:03But a dedicated core remains strong and committed.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06At times, when I think of the years that have passed,
0:58:06 > 0:58:11I'm amazed that so many remain staunch,
0:58:11 > 0:58:13under the most trying circumstances.
0:58:13 > 0:58:17Their faith in our cause is not blind.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21It is based on a clear-eyed assessment
0:58:21 > 0:58:23of their own powers of endurance
0:58:23 > 0:58:27and a profound respect for the aspirations of our people.
0:58:27 > 0:58:31EXCITED SHOUTS AND CHATTER
0:59:04 > 0:59:07Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd