When I walked out of my Rangoon apartment one humid Saturday morning in 1996 to watch Aung San Suu Kyi speak in front of her house, it seemed change was coming to Burma. Since then, not enough has changed. Generals and warlords dominate politics, journalists are still denied visas, and Suu Kyi is again speaking to thousands.
Viewed by many locals as a 'democracy angel' with little real chance of ruling Burma, it's probably too late - 20 years, to be exact - for her to claim the leadership she won in the 1990 election.
Given the cruel power dynamics of her country, and the likelihood of rearrest or plots against her, her best option for now would be to follow the Dalai Lama's example of travelling abroad to raise awareness about people in forgotten lands.
Ask anyone outside media and political circles if they have heard of Suu Kyi, and they will probably say no. The Dalai Lama? Yes. That's because the Dalai Lama has been on tour trying to remind people about the plight of Tibetans. While critics will note that the Dalai Lama has not freed Tibet from China or from poverty, at least he has put the phrase 'Free Tibet' in the minds of people who have never even heard of Myanmar.
Nobody will expect Suu Kyi to become an ambassador for the Burmese generals who are trying to show their trading partners in Asia - especially China - that they are on the road to reform.
Although US President Barack Obama considers her a 'personal hero', he's not likely to put Burma higher up his agenda above nations such as North Korea, Afghanistan and Iraq. But she could at least bring Burma's plight - the extreme poverty, ignorance and irrelevance - to the attention of every campus, parliament or arena she visits.
