After one year in power, Aung San Suu Kyi has gone all but missing from the public ear. Her voice, long known for inspiring her people, is heard in only a handful of public appearances or daily private meetings with officials and foreign dignitaries, while there is nearly no interaction with the media.
When she does occasionally address a public audience, she repeats abstract concepts such as "national reconciliation," "rule of law" and "peace." But what is even more noticeable in her speeches is a commanding and pedagogical rhetorical style underpinned by a puritanical political ideology. The latter shows a world view that values individual fulfillment of ta-wun (duties or responsibilities) rather than exercise of akwin-ahyeh (rights or entitlements).
