Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Singapore

Aung San Suu Kyi, chairperson of Myanmar's National League for Democracy, will arrive in Singapore on Friday for a five-day visit, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday. She will meet with Singapore's President Tony Tan Keng Yam, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. Goh will also host her to lunch at the Istana. Suu Kyi will also meet with Halimah Yacob, who is speaker of parliament, and Grace Fu, minister in the Prime Minister's Office and second minister for environment and water resources and second minister for foreign affairs. The democracy icon of Myanmar is now chair of the Lower House Committee for the Rule of Law, Peace and Tranquility. She will also receive a briefing from the Economic Development Board, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau and the Ministry of Education. While in Singapore, she is also scheduled to deliver two speeches, one at the Singapore Summit on Sept. 21, and the other at a public lecture organized by the Singapore Management University on Sept. 22. Singapore media has said earlier that one of the objectives of Suu Kyi's visit to Singapore will be to draw lessons from the growth story of the city state, as Myanmar is in the midst of political transition and national development. She is also expected to reiterate her consistent political message that economic and political transitions must be complementary. Suu Kyi has visited countries like the United States, France and Britain after her release from house arrest in 2010. This will be her first visit to Singapore and her second visit to an ASEAN neighbour. Suu Kyi visited Thailand in 2012.