McLean Rotary Club Meeting, May 5, 2015

The book is an autobiography, intertwined with Burma's freedom movement; and its development as a free and democratic nation, in both of which the author's Father, M. A. Raschid, had a major role. His father, U Raschid, was a close personal friend, and perhaps the only confidant, of General Aung San, the architect of Burma's freedom; and father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Laureate, and President of the National League for Democracy, the main opposition party of Burma (now called Myanmar). The book also narrates the role Burmese expatriates including the author, in the United States, played in bringing about the change from the fifty plus years of brutal military dictatorship to a freer system of government. It is a story that has never been properly told before.

Bilal Raschid is a Rotarian of 51 years. He received Rotary International's highest award "Service Above Self", and was the first recipient in Rotary District 7610 (Virginia, U.S.A.) in 1978. He has served as the Past President of the former Rotary Club of Rangoon, Burma, 1969-70, and as a Past Assistant Governor in Rotary District 7610, Virginia. Bilal and his wife Tin Tin are members of the Falls Church, Virginia Rotary Club.

The Rotary Club of McLean meets weekly for lunch at 12:00 noon, in the Fellowship Hall of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on the corner of Chain Bridge Road and Westmoreland Street in downtown McLean. Fellow Rotarians, and those interested in learning about Rotary, are invited to attend the weekly meetings. For more information email: mcleanrotary.va@gmail.com.