Su Su Lwin

Su Su Lwin (Burmese: စုစုလွင်‌ [suː suː lwɪ̀ɴ]; born 22 April 1952) is a Burmese politician and former First Lady of Myanmar. She has been the MP for Thongwa Township in the House of Representatives since 2012. She is the wife of Htin Kyaw, the ninth President of Myanmar.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Her Excellency Su Su Lwin MP
စုစုလွင်‌
Member of the House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 May 2012
Preceded by	Myint Maung
Constituency	Thongwa Township
First Lady of Myanmar
In role 30 March 2016 – 21 March 2018
President	Htin Kyaw
Preceded by	Khin Khin Win
Succeeded by	Khin Thet Htay (acting)
Personal details
Born	22 April 1952 Yangon, Burma
Political party	National League for Democracy
Spouse(s)	Htin Kyaw ​ (m. 1973)​
Alma mater	University of Yangon University of Sydney Yangon Institute of Education

Early life and education

Su Su Lwin is the daughter of U Lwin, a veteran and former deputy prime minister of the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) regime as well as the founding member and secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD).[7][8][9] She is the descendant of a prince of the Konbaung dynasty Maung Maung Tin, who was a descendant of Ayodhya princess Kyauk Pwa Saw.[10]

She spent her elementary school years in the United States. She studied at the Rangoon Institute of Education and graduated with a M.A. degree, and holds a post-graduate degree from the University of Sydney.[3]

She married Htin Kyaw in 1973. The couple have no children.[11]

Career

Professional educator

Su Su Lwin worked for over ten years at Burma’s education research bureau after her graduation. She worked for UNICEF from 1990 to 2005 and later served as a freelance consultant for monastic education programs. She founded a local non-profit organization called Hantha Educators in 2006 that partnered with local influential monks and focused on improving traditional monastic education, early childhood care and development programs. Her organization stressed the importance of child-centered teaching and critical thinking.[5]

Political career

Su Su Lwin as MP

Su Su Lwin was elected for a parliamentary seat in the lower house (Pyithu Hluttaw)'s Thongwa Township constituency, in 2012 by-elections and 2015 general election. She helped to draft the controversial National Education Bill, which in 2015 resulted in nationwide student protests. She previously served as Chairperson of the International Relations Committee of the House of Representatives.[5][12]

First Lady

Su Su Lwin with Htin Kyaw during the State visit to India

She became the first lady of Myanmar when her husband became the president.

References

1. "လွှတ်တော်အမတ်များ - ဒေါ်စုစုလွင်". Open Myanmar Initiative. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
2. Aung Hla Tun (10 March 2016). "Presidency beckons for Suu Kyi confidant after two months in party". Reuters News. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
3. "ပြည်သူ့လွှတ်တော်". www.pyithuhluttaw.gov.mm. Archived from the original on 2016-03-27. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
4. "ဒေါ်စုစုလွင် ပြည်သူ့ လွှတ်တော်".
5. "Su Su Lwin: Not 'The' Lady, but Rather Burma's Next 'First' Lady". The Irrawaddy.
6. Htoo Thant, Lun Min Mang (1 April 2016). "First Lady to remain an MP". The Myanmar Times. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
7. Ei Ei Toe Lwin. "Daw Suu eyes foreign minister role".
8. "NLD Dropped a Name List to Lead Its New Government". The Burma Times. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24.
9. "Myanmar Starts New Parliamentarye Era". The Bangkok Post. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
10. "ထိုင်းဘုရင်သွေး မကင်းတဲ့ မြန်မာတွေ". BBC News (in Burmese). 26 October 2017.
11. Ei Ei Toe Lwin. "Who is President U Htin Kyaw?".
12. "Su Su Lwin Concentrates on New Role as Burma's First Lady". The Irrawaddy.