Page 84 - Phonebox Magazine August 2011

An evening
with
Zoya Phan
An observation by Steve Clark
The Brighton Festival is an annual event which has become the cultural highlight of the city since its inception in 1966. This years festival ran from 7th – 29th May, with an estimated 150,000 people attending the wide range of events on offer. In recent years the festival has had a policy of nominating guest artistic directors including visual artist Anish Kapoor in 2009, and musician Brian Eno in 2010. This year the festival staged its own coup by getting the agreement of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi to be its guest artistic director. Aung San Suu Kyi has fought passionately for over two decades for democracy and human rights, and is the leader of the National League for Democracy in Burma. In 1989 she was put under house arrest for the first time. During this period of detention, the NLD won a landslide victory in the 1990 elections, securing 81% of the parliamentary seats. The ruling military junta refused to recognise the outcome of the election and stayed in power, a situation which has continued to this day. Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released on 13th November last year, just 6 days after rigged elections for a pointless and powerless new Parliament in a rather cynical bid to convince the outside world that the authorities have an interest in democracy. However, some 2,100 political prisoners remain in custody, where many are subjected to torture.
With Aung San Suu Kyi as the guest artistic director, it is not surprising to note that there was a strong theme about the situation in Burma throughout the Brighton Festival this year. I decided to attend an event held on Friday 20th May which featured Zoya Phan, Campaign Manager at Burma Campaign UK, discussing her extraordinary life with human rights investigative journalist Sue Lloyd Roberts. I reviewed Zoya’s book in the January 2011 issue of the “Phonebox Magazine” and described it as the most inspirational book I had ever read. It was thus not surprising that I travelled down to Brighton with very high expectations of this event.
Mary Hla with Zoya Phan
The evening was relaxed and informal, with Zoya and her colleagues from Burma Campaign UK happy to mingle with the audience before and after the main event. Zoya introduced me to Mary Hla, who was to read an extract
from “Little Daughter” during the proceedings. Although the event was essentially a sell-out, my early arrival meant that I managed to get a front- row seat in the auditorium. Eventually the lights began to dim and we were shown a short film about the ongoing atrocities being carried out by the Burmese authorities. This was followed by the extract from Zoya’s remarkable book. It is difficult to read through much of the book without getting extremely emotional, but hearing Mary reading the extract was very powerful indeed.
Sue Lloyd Roberts with Zoya Phan
The discussion that followed between Zoya and Sue Lloyd Roberts was truly remarkable. I had not appreciated just how deep Sue’s understanding of the situation in Burma was. At one point Sue shared with the audience her own experience of visiting the border area of Eastern Burma. The majority of the discussion centred on the events in Zoya’s dramatic life as documented in the book, but also included some of the lighter moments as well. It is really heart warming, considering all that Zoya and her people have suffered, to hear her talking about hope and reconciliation rather than hate and revenge.
The main discussion was followed by a brief question and answer session, with members of the audience keen to understand what they could do to help. After this, the audience were invited to partake of some rather pleasant green tea, whilst many patiently waited in line to buy a signed copy of “Little Daughter”.
Zoya Phan with Steve Clark
84 Phonebox Magazine
Zoya is amazingly eloquent and articulate, speaking with intense passion about the cause that has become the focus of her life. She commands the respect of senior politicians across the civilised world in a remorseless campaign to persuade the international community to act against the abuse of human rights in Burma. The brutal and illegal regime in Burma continues in a relentless military campaign to destroy the homes of hundreds of