AJA announces Suu Kyi, Pakistani activist as Asians of 2012

Aung San Suu Kyi Myanmar’s democracy leader

The Asia Journalist Association (AJA) has selected Aung San Suu Kyi and Malala Yousafzai as its Asians of 2012.

In a Friday press release, the Seoul-based association wrote, “The two female winners are proof that the new era demands female leadership.”

Suu Kyi is well known for being a decades-long advocate for democracy in Myanmar. Her activities saw her under house arrest for almost 15 years between 1989 and 2010 when the military regime there was finally dissolved. In April this year, she won a seat in her nation’s parliament.

In congratulating her, Norila Daud, vice president of the AJA said, “She is a very dedicated and dynamic leader as she believes what she feels the right way to contribute and help Myanmar grow and prosper like the neighboring ASEAN countries.”

Malala Yousafzai Pakistani student activist

Yousafzai, 15, is a student activist from Pakistan where the Taliban has prevented girls from attending school. Her blog on life under Taliban rule in 2009 made her an instant celebrity, successfully drawing international attention criticizing the Taliban.

In October this year, Yousafzai was shot in her head and neck in an assassination attempt by Taliban gunmen. She is now in the United Kingdom for intensive rehabilitation, which motivated former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is now the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education, to further the U.N. policy of universal primary education for all children by the end of 2015.

Among other nominees were Xi Jinping, new leader of China, Psy, an entertainer from South Korea, Kim Jong-un, leader of North Korea, Ban Ki-moon, secretary-general of the United Nations, Mo Yan, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature this year, and Park Geun-hye, South Korea’s President-elect. <The Korea Times/Kim Se-jeong>