By . Chris Hastings . PUBLISHED: . 22:11 EST, 26 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 22:12 EST, 26 January 2013 . Choice: Aung San Suu Kyi today becomes the first person in the 71-year history of Desert Island Discs to choose a record she has never heard . Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today becomes the first person in the 71-year history of Desert Island Discs to choose a record she has never heard. The human rights activist, who was held under house arrest by Burma’s military junta for almost 15 years, chooses Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones, because her personal assistant loves the 1966 chart-topping single. She says: ‘The next is a piece of music which I’ve never heard before and I am not sure whether I am going to like it or not. ‘I have chosen this for my personal assistant, Dr Tin Mar Aung. I asked her which piece of music she’d like to choose and she said Green, Green Grass Of Home. She explained to me that when she was working as a doctor in England, it used to remind her of Burma.’ She adds: ‘I hope I like it.’ Aung San Suu Kyi, who was married to British academic Dr Michael Aris until his death from prostate cancer in 1999, later tells host Kirsty Young that she likes the song. Young travelled to Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Burma to record the far-reaching interview, aired today on BBC Radio 4. Fan: The human rights activist, chooses Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones, below, because her personal assistant loves the 1966 chart-topping single . The 67-year-old campaigner, who was . first detained in 1989 and finally released in 2010, also picks John . Lennon’s Imagine and Pachelbel’s Canon, which she played on the piano . during her years under house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose politician father was assassinated when she was just two, said her strict upbringing by her mother helped her cope with her years in detention. In tune: Ms Suu Kyi in 1972 with husband Michael . She says: ‘My mother was very disciplined and she was very courageous and she was very strict. I thought at times she was far too strict. But I have to say that when I was in a position of having to cope with things such as imprisonment, I was very grateful for her having brought me up in such a disciplined way.’ She said she had no hesitation in turning down the Burmese government’s offer of release in 1999 so she could return to Britain to care for her dying husband. Asked if she’d had a chance to say goodbye, she said: ‘I spoke to him a number of times on the telephone. He never once reproached me.’
Chooses Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones because her personal assistant loves the 1966 chart-topping single .
By . Chris Hastings . PUBLISHED: . 22:11 EST, 26 January 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 22:12 EST, 26 January 2013 . Choice: Aung San Suu Kyi today becomes the first person in the 71-year history of Desert Island Discs to choose a record she has never heard . Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today becomes the first person in the 71-year history of Desert Island Discs to choose a record she has never heard. The human rights activist, who was held under house arrest by Burma’s military junta for almost 15 years, chooses Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones, because her personal assistant loves the 1966 chart-topping single. She says: ‘The next is a piece of music which I’ve never heard before and I am not sure whether I am going to like it or not. ‘I have chosen this for my personal assistant, Dr Tin Mar Aung. I asked her which piece of music she’d like to choose and she said Green, Green Grass Of Home. She explained to me that when she was working as a doctor in England, it used to remind her of Burma.’ She adds: ‘I hope I like it.’ Aung San Suu Kyi, who was married to British academic Dr Michael Aris until his death from prostate cancer in 1999, later tells host Kirsty Young that she likes the song. Young travelled to Aung San Suu Kyi’s home in Burma to record the far-reaching interview, aired today on BBC Radio 4. Fan: The human rights activist, chooses Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones, below, because her personal assistant loves the 1966 chart-topping single . The 67-year-old campaigner, who was . first detained in 1989 and finally released in 2010, also picks John . Lennon’s Imagine and Pachelbel’s Canon, which she played on the piano . during her years under house arrest. The Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose politician father was assassinated when she was just two, said her strict upbringing by her mother helped her cope with her years in detention. In tune: Ms Suu Kyi in 1972 with husband Michael . She says: ‘My mother was very disciplined and she was very courageous and she was very strict. I thought at times she was far too strict. But I have to say that when I was in a position of having to cope with things such as imprisonment, I was very grateful for her having brought me up in such a disciplined way.’ She said she had no hesitation in turning down the Burmese government’s offer of release in 1999 so she could return to Britain to care for her dying husband. Asked if she’d had a chance to say goodbye, she said: ‘I spoke to him a number of times on the telephone. He never once reproached me.’
chooses Green, Green Grass Of Home by Tom Jones, because her personal assistant loves the 1966 loves the 1966 chart-topping single . The