I was privileged to hear globally renowned physician, writer and  human rights defender Ma Thida at the Centre for Human Rights Education organised by PEN Perth and the Centre for Stories recently.

She spent six years in Burma’s Insein Prison in the late 1990’s for her pro democracy activism. Available in English, her prison memoir Prisoner of Conscience: My steps through Insein is one of 26 books she has written.

Ma Thida described the hardest thing for her in prison was not being able to read or write. She reflected on reading today and urged us all to read actively and not passively scroll our way through life. She said we must read “voraciously” to stay informed, an idea I have long advocated.

During her time in prison she turned to the Buddhist mediation technique of Vipassana which she said was the key to her survival. She was released when her health declined and because of the ongoing advocacy of Amnesty and PEN. Ma Thida said her time in prison helped her writing gain more recognition and she developed an even stronger understanding of the importance of speaking truth in dangerous times. She now lives in exile in Germany. 

It was important to hear about the current situation in Burma with minority groups and activists still being persecuted and killed by the Burmese government, but it also made me think of other forgotten wars, not just Burma. While our whole focus is on the Middle East (and rightly so) don’t forget other areas around the world such as Sudan, Ukraine, Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan and others which are experiencing conflict, invasion and persecution.

I urge you to take Ma Thida’s advice to read voraciously and speak truth in dangerous times.