This has been a tough time for many in Yangon with the brutal killing of a highly respected lawyer outside Yangon airport at the weekend.

As he returned from a visit to Indonesia, U Ko Ni, a Muslim lawyer who advised the NLD governing party on constitutional matters, was shot at point blank range and died instantly. A taxi driver who gave chase to the 'shooter' was also shot and killed before police apprehended the assailant.

I saw graphic images on social media here and felt the anger and distress at such a killing by local people especially the Muslim community. Political violence is rare and so this turn of events is troubling for a country experiencing a fragile transition to democracy. It would appear that there are still ruthless and powerful forces in operation here.

Many (but not all, interestingly) newspapers carried the story on the front page. People here are so resilient and tend not to analyse for too long - after all, they have experienced far worse for decades.

I meet with with a group of six Australian women MPs at my office base. They are here as part of a mentoring programme with Myanmar counterparts. I was involved in the proposal writing for this project at my previous organisation, Ahkaya and it's great to see it actually happening.

They too are disturbed at the assassination and I am sure they respect the fortitude of the women leaders who they meet.