Yangon (AFP/REUTERS) - Myanmar's Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, democracy hero and one-time political prisoner under military rule, arrived at a polling station in Bahan township, Yangon on Sunday (Oct 8) to cast her vote in the country's first free election in 25 years.

Ms Suu Kyi's car inched through a scrum of news photographers waiting outside the school building, and she was stony-faced as bodyguards shouted at people to move out of the way.

According to Straits Times photojournalist Mark Cheong, her car drove all the way into the school, and she spent about five minutes at the station.

Most in the crowd of well-wishers gathered there were lucky to get a glimpse of the garland on Ms Suu Kyi's hair as she went inside to vote without a smile or a wave.

Ms Suu Kyi, wearing a red top and flowers in her hair, was also mobbed by scores of journalists, while Myanmar voters shouted "victory, victory" as she was ushered from her car into the polling station.