Aung San Suu Kyi's supporters strive to set world record to honor her 80th birthday

Thousands of supporters of Myanmar's jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi celebrated her 80th birthday Thursday by attempting to set a world record for the most birthday greeting videos, while others took to the streets in demonstrations against the military government that ousted her.
Kalo Say Htoo, an organizer of the birthday video campaign, said the original goal was to collect 80,000 greeting videos to honor Suu Kyi and achieve a recognized Guinness World Record.
The number of videos collected surpassed 103,000 on Thursday, tripling the current record of 32,207 achieved in 2017, organizers said.
Suu Kyi was arrested in February 2021 when the military seized power from her democratically elected government. She was convicted on more than a dozen charges for offenses that her supporters say were concocted to keep her out of politics. She remains regarded by many in Myanmar as the country's legitimate leader while serving a 27-year prison term.
Kim Aris, Suu Kyi's son living in London, said in a statement on Facebook Thursday that the campaign is a powerful testament to his mother's global support.
'It's my hope this achievement brings urgent attention to her plight and that of the people of Burma,' said Aris, using the country's former name. 'Her voice may be silenced, but her flame will never be extinguished.'
Aris planned to run 80 kilometers (49.7 miles) to honor his mother's birthday, while encouraging others to show support with the numerical theme, such as walking for 80 minutes or making 80 recipes.
More than 6,800 civilians are estimated to have been killed by security forces during a widespread armed struggle against military rule that began after generals seized power from Suu Kyi's elected government, according to figures compiled by nongovernmental organizations.
Pro-democracy street protests in Suu Kyi's honor were held Thursday in areas that are not under military control including northern Kachin state, the central regions of Mandalay, Sagaing and Magway and in Tanintharyi in the South.
Photos on social media showed demonstrators carrying flowers, birthday cakes and posters of Suu Kyi, as well as banners reading 'Happy Birthday' and urging supporters to strive for "the liberation of the entire nation, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.'
The military government's supporters posted calls for the arrest of protesters.
Several Western embassies posted pictures and illustrations on social media of red roses, with some issuing statements calling for Suu Kyi and all other political prisoners to be released.
The Suu Foundation, a nonprofit humanitarian organization, and the law firm Zimeray & Finelle said in a joint statement Thursday that Suu Kyi was thought to have suffered an injury to her left arm during the 7.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the country in March.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

The Independent

15 hours ago

• The Independent

Barack Obama warns that US is ‘dangerously close' to becoming an autocracy

Barack Obama issued a stark warning that the United States is "dangerously close" to losing its democracy. Speaking at the Connecticut Forum, Obama appeared to criticize the administration of President Donald Trump. He stated that current events are "consistent with autocracies," citing Victor Orban 's Hungary as an example. Obama cautioned that America is nearing the normalization of behavior seen in non-democratic systems. Watch the video in full above.

The Independent

16 hours ago

• The Independent

Barack Obama issues democracy warning to Americans

Barack Obama has issued a stark warning to Americans, stating that the US is "dangerously close' to losing its democracy. Speaking at the Connecticut Forum on Tuesday (17 June), the former president appeared to criticise the Trump administration, saying that 'what we're seeing right now is consistent with autocracies'. Citing Victor Orban's Hungary as an example of a country that holds elections but 'otherwise does not observe what we think of [as] a fair system', Mr Obama said America is going down a similar path. 'We're not there yet completely, but I think that we are dangerously close to normalizing behavior like that,' he added.

Reuters

17 hours ago

• Reuters

Russia signs investment deal with Myanmar, sees offshore oil and gas prospects

ST PETERSBURG, June 20 (Reuters) - Russia signed an investment agreement with Myanmar on Friday that it said could open up new opportunities for Russian energy companies in the south Asian country. "We especially note the readiness of the Myanmar side to attract Russian companies to the development of offshore oil and gas fields," Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said after signing the agreement in St Petersburg with Kan Zaw, Myanmar's minister of investment and foreign economic relations. Russia said the deal would help accelerate projects including in Myanmar's Dawei special economic zone, where a 660 MW coal-fired thermal power plant is being developed. Russia has been building closer ties with Myanmar's military junta, which seized power in 2021 by toppling the elected government of Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The country is struggling with internal conflict, an economy in tatters, widespread hunger and a third of the nation's 55 million people in need of aid, according to the United Nations. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met Russian President Vladimir Putin in March and signed an agreement on construction of a small-scale nuclear plant in Myanmar. A month earlier, the two countries signed a memorandum on construction of a port and oil refinery in the Dawei economic zone. Friday's agreement will also facilitate cooperation in areas including transport infrastructure, metallurgy, agriculture and telecommunications, the Russian government said.