On June 16, Burmese opposition leader and newly elected lawmaker Aung San Suu Kyi finally got a chance to deliver her acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. Suu Kyi was awarded the prize back in 1991, when she was under house arrest in Burma. Back then, she chose not to travel to Norway to receive the prize as she feared that she would never be allowed to return home.
As we celebrate this victory for democracy and human rights, you might find it interesting to look back at the absurdity of the former Burmese authoritarian regime through the eyes of Canadian animator Guy Delisle. In 2005, he spent one year in Burma with his wife, administrator for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), and their son Luis. Based on his experiences, he created Burma Chronicles, a highly informative yet entertaining travelogue/memoir of their time there during the former regime.
Burma Chronicles is a unique black and white graphic novel. The art is beautiful and detailed, conveying a real sense of place, culture and people. The graphic novel is an interesting combination of a personal memoir with political and social commentary. Delisle describes his everyday life as a stay-at-home dad, from taking care of his young son and making friends to his observations about Burmese life, culture and customs. Equally, he provides an enlightening portrait of a country under oppressive military rule. He depicts his encounters with governmental censorship and difficulties of getting travel permits for humanitarian work, and he repeatedly mentions the prolonged house arrest of the leader of Burma's pro-democracy movement, Aung San Suu Kyi. Highly recommended.
Note: Since 1989 the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state; however the US Government did not adopt the name.