MFA Spokesman's Comments in response to media queries that the Singapore Ambassador to Myanmar Mr Robert Chua was among 3 Ambassadors invited to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on 20 May 2009 in Yangon

In response to media queries that the Singapore Ambassador to Myanmar Mr Robert Chua was among three Ambassadors invited to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on 20 May 2009 in Yangon, the MFA Spokesman said:

The Myanmar Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) had today invited members of the diplomatic community to observe the ongoing trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Insein Prison in Yangon. The Myanmar MOFA also invited the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, currently the Singapore Ambassador, as well as a representative of Thailand as the ASEAN Chair and a representative from Russia, as the current President of the United Nations Security Council, to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after the adjournment of her trial this afternoon.

Our Ambassador in Yangon Mr Robert Chua has reported that the meeting took place at a guest house within Insein Prison. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi informed the diplomatic representatives that she and her two housekeepers are well and being well treated by the Myanmar authorities. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi also informed the three diplomatic representatives that there could be many opportunities for national reconciliation if all parties so wished, and that she did not wish to use the intrusion into her home as a way to get at the Myanmar authorities. She also expressed the view that it was not too late for something good to come out of this unfortunate incident. As Dean and on behalf of the diplomatic corps, Ambassador Chua expressed the hope that there would be peaceful national reconciliation and that representatives of the diplomatic corps would be able to meet both Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar leaders regularly.

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
20 MAY 2009