Burmese Freedom Fighter Aung San Suu Kyi Honored with Birthday Celebration in Palo Alto

This year, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is spending her 65th birthday under house arrest again. The imprisoned Nobel Peace Laureate and 2008 Congressional Gold Medal recipient is one of the world’s most renowned freedom fighters and advocates of nonviolence. Members of the Burmese American Women's Alliance called her, a "symbol of peace and democracy and beacon of hope for people all over the world who are suffering under oppression and injustice". They celebrated the occasion of her birthday by giving an award to Burmese HIV/AIDS activist and supporter of the National League for Democracy, Phyu Phyu Thin, at a cultural event in Palo Alto, California.

The day of festivities was co-sponsored by American Muslim Voice and featured traditional and modern Burmese songs and a Burmese harp performance. Burma is an ethnically diverse nation with more than 100 distinct ethnic groups; participants from San Francisco, the East Bay and the Peninsula enjoyed a variety of Burmese ethnic cuisines cooked and served by members of Burma's diaspora living in the Bay Area.

Old friendships were renewed and new alliances formed during balmy weather at the centrally located park.