Rangoon's piano-tuners recall the vital part they played in Suu Kyi's struggle

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But while the instrument has inspired both paintings and songs, among them Damien Rice's "Unplayed Piano", what has until now gone undocumented is the role of a close-knit group of men, members not just of the same profession but from the same ethnic group and Rangoon neighbourhood, that over the years stepped in and repaired the piano after the ravages of tropical heat and human frustration, ensuring that it and its owner persevered. "During my years of house arrest I've often wished I were a composer because then I could have spent my time composing," Ms Suu Kyi, 66, said last year. In early 2006, another repairer from Insein, Saw Simon, was contacted by a supporter of Ms Suu Kyi, who at that point had been under house arrest for three years. Ironically, though Ms Suu Kyi is now free and her piano repaired, her work reorganising the National League for Democracy and campaigning for by-elections this Sunday, has left her with little spare time.