Monday, July 10, 2017

Students’ Union Office signifies 1960s movement



July 9, 2017
The Office of the Yangon University Students’ Union was opened yesterday evening at Theikpan Hall with wall portraits of former chairmen of the Union Ko Aung San (Bogyoke Aung San) and Ko Ba Hein.

At the opening ceremony held amidst fluttering historical red flags portraying the fighting yellow peacock, on the Khuddaung Flag, Union Education Minister quoted State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi as saying, “Look forward and advance towards the nation’s and your better future!” Yangon Region Chief Minister U Phyo Min Thein a veteran of the 88 student movement hailed the office as a sign of the nation on a path of reform.

“The students’ movement broke out while I was a university student” he said. “It is a movement that is a part of the long struggle for democracy and reforms in Myanmar. We took to the streets for the reemergence of a gathering point for students’ at the place where the Students Union once stood. From that stage, we steered the movement into a political activity calling for the national democratization and the adoption of the multiparty democracy system. Now we are on the path to democracy.

“I bow to all the student leaders for their struggles under the Khuddaung Flag for all of us to gather at this place,” he said.
The students’ union currently has 50 members at Yangon University, where 3,000 students are enrolled. “For many years we had been striving for the office. For certain reasons we were not lucky in the past,” said Students’  Union Chairwoman Ma Ei Swe Myat. “Now we have the office where members can do their job in a peace of mind.”
Rector of the university promised the students’ union would enjoy autonomy and independence of action. Plans are being made to rebuild the Students’ Union, which was destroyed amid student protests in 1962.

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar

No comments:

Post a Comment