Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A young female Shan activist received Burma Lifeline’s 2010 Sao Thusandi Leadership Award – created by an Austrian woman who became a Shan princess in the 1950s – in Chiang Mai yesterday.
Recipient Moan Kaein, 27, joined Shan Women’s Action Network (Swan) in 2002 and started to work for the group full-time after completing an internship. She is a co-ordinator of projects that focus on education along the Thailand-Shan State border.Swan co-published Licence to Rape in 2002 with the Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF), which documented the plight of Shan women raped by Burmese troops.
Moan Kaein said: “I really appreciate Burma Lifeline for presenting this award, which shows that our work has been honoured. Without Swan, I would not be here and thanks goes to Swan. I will use the award for the betterment of our Shan community.”
The Sao Thusandi award was created in 2008 by refugee aid organisation Burma Lifeline founder Inge Sargent, who became the last princess of Hsipaw when she married Shan prince Sao Kya Seng. He was a US-trained engineer and leader of the principality in northern Shan State until Ne Win’s coup in 1962, when he was arrested and was never seen again. Sao Kya Seng was one of the Shan princes who in 1947 signed the Panglong Agreement – which guaranteed autonomy for a number of Burmese ethnic minorities – with General Aung San, father of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The annual prize of US$3,000 honours young people from Shan State who have shown commitment to taking leading roles in establishing a democratic, peaceful and thriving Shan State.
Sao Kya Seng met Inge Sargent when he was studying engineering in Colorado, United States. After that, the two were married and sailed to Burma. He had failed to tell Sargent who he was and upon their ship’s arrival at the Rangoon docks, the couple were greeted with great fanfare, and Sao Kya Seng was forced to tell Sargent she was now a princess. The couple were known for their devotion to improving the livelihoods of the people of Hsipaw, particularly in the fields of education, health care and agriculture, but their work came to an abrupt end with the Burmese military coup of 1962 led by General Ne Win. “Sao Thusandi” (Sargent’s title) and her children were placed under house arrest before they were forced to flee the country with the prince, who had been arrested by Burmese soldiers in Taunggyi and was never seen again.
The events are covered in a book by Sargent titled Twilight Over Burma, about her life in the country during the 1950s.
The 86-minute documentary film in German and English, The Last Mahadevi, takes a look at a longer segment of her life, directed by Karin Kaper and Dirk Szuszies and produced by Joachim Puls and the Bilderwerk Munich Film Production company.
The film starts in Austria where she grew up, moves to Colorado where she met Sao Kya Seng, covers her 12-year stay in Burma, and returns to Colorado where she eventually founded Burma Lifeline.
Burma Lifeline’s mission is to raise awareness of issues related to Burma and to raise funds to help refugees from Burma survive in neighbouring countries. It also supports refugees and internally displaced people along Thailand’s border with Shan State.
