His father observed his birthday by taking eight precepts.
Saya also followed the tradition until his health required taking medicine in the morning, afternoon, evening and night.
U Tin Maung Nyunt
Birthday Soon Kyway
Saya U Ba Than (GBNF), his son U Ye Than and Daw Saw Yu Tint / Alice (T69) pledged Annual Birthday Soon kyway at a specified monastery : Yaw Sayadaw’s monastery, Panditarama Shwe Taung Gone, and Par Chote Sayadaw’s Kyaung .
U Ba Than’s message on his 78th birthday in 2008One of U Ba Than’s Soon Kyway
Before the pandemic, Saya invited former colleagues and students to his Birthday Soon Kwyay on October 2nd at Yaw Sayadaw’s Kyaung.
One of Ko Ye Than’s Soon Kyway
Ye Than (Winner Inn) would celebrate the birthday on January 1 at Shwe Taung Gone Panditarama.
Alice would offer soon at Par Chote Sayadaw’s Kyaung.
Daw Saw Yu Tint and Saya U Soe Paing
Food for thought
I do not know how people born on February 29 celebrate. Do they celebrate once every four years? Do they celebrate on February 28 or March 1? U Ngwe Soe wrote : For the Burmese, they can celebrate using the Burmese Calendar.
Most twins share the birthday, but in some exceptional cases, their birthdays differ. The day, month or even the year may be different. One twin was born near midnight on December 31, 2020 and another was born in the early hour of January 1, 2021. The odds were 1 in two million births.
Some companies and communities celebrate birthdays collectively (e.g those born in a specified month).
Some Oldies do not know the date of birth and/or the time of birth (needed for natal horoscopes). Some were told by the elders that they were born at “Soon Khan Chein ဆွမ်းခံချိိန်”, “Nay Htunn Ta Phyar နေထန်းတဖျား” or “Kon Tin Thin Baw Site ကုန်တင်သင်္ဘောဆိုက်”.
A few sense Samvegha သံဝေဂ that one more year has passed.
Some review their merits and demerits for the year since their last birthday.
Some parents celebrate monthly or quarterly when their toddlers are young and innocent.
Daw Saw Yu Tint’s grandson asked for half-year birthday present.
Some oldies forgot to wish their loved ones. Blame it on Aging and Memory Loss.
In a group of 30+ people, it is highly likely that at least a pair will have the same birth month and day (but not the year). You may refresh your “Probability and Statistics” knowledge.
It will take a few thousand of people (not including twins) to have a pair that have the exact birthday (year, month, day).
U Myint Swe (EP74) and Daw San San (EC74) gave us a ride to iNapa Winery to attend the gathering hosted by U Gordon Kaung (M83) and Daw Lillian Kaung (EC83). Thanks to all four of them.
Attendees
U Aung Soe Win (Consul General) & family
U Kai (Myanmar Gazette) & brother
Saya U Maung Maung / George
Saya U Myat Htoo
U Ko Ko Zin
U Aung Myint Oo
U Nyunt Than
U San Lin
U Myo Aung
Spouses
Daw Mu Mu Khin
Guests (including historian of Atlas Peak).
Activities
U Aung Soe Win presented a Myanmar Flag.
Group photos were taken in front of the flags.
iNapa Wine presented two bottles of Premium Wine:
one for U Aung Soe Win
one for CGLA employees.
The event was reported in Myanmar Gazette.
Photos
Group and Flag
Couple and Flag
U Aung Soe Win conversing with NorCal RITAA members
After reading Saya U Myo Myint Sein’s lively article in Swel Daw Yeik magazine, my mind raced back to the good and happy RIT student days.
I still remember the tall and stout Saya with his famous mustache and boisterous voice. If I can rely on my memory, he taught us (70 batch) Industrial Management in the Fourth year.
He taught us from the Book titled “Parkinson’s Law” written by C. Northcote Parkinson.
Going back again to Saya U Myo Myin Sein’s article on the trip to USSR, I can imagine Saya U Win Kyaing in a very uncomfortable and awkward situation, but still can laugh out loud over the situation.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask belated forgiveness from Saya U Win Kyaing for lovingly calling him “Koung Kee” behind his back. Saya looked somewhat like Nguyễn Cao Kỳ (a Vietnamese leader) .
May his soul rest in peace.
Editor’s Notes
Saya studied at Colorado School of Mines in USA
He headed the Petroleum Production (Sub-department of Mining Engineering)
He is the younger brother of U Wah Kyu (Ko Maurice’s father)
He advised Ko Maurice to study Mechanical Engineering
On behalf of Saya, his spouse Sayama Daw Muriel Tun Gyaw attended SPZP-2000
RU was founded in December 1920 with Rangoon College and Judson College as Constituent Colleges.
Golden Jubilee in 1970
RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Shins took part in the Entertainment Program with “Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint စွယ်တော်ရိပ်အငြိမ့်”, “Htee Yein ထီးယိမ်း” and “Ta Bin Daing Ah Ka တပင်တိုင်အက”. Saya U Moe Aung and Saya U Saw Tun headed the Swel Daw Yeik Troupe.
RIT performers at RU GJ
Saya Dr. Aung Gyi and U Thet Lwin were Chair and Secretary of a Committee. They later reunited as Rector and Registrar of RIT.
I was a volunteer member of “Zay Saing Nay Yar Cha Htar Yay” committee.
Diamond Jubilee in 1995
MERB (Myanmar Education Research Bureau) produced a documentary about RU Sports (Soccer, Track & Field, Weightlifting).
U Tin Nyo was the Producer.
Saya U Nyein (RU Soccer Coach) was the Commentator.
Hemar Nay Win shared memories of her father Collegian Nay Win.
Mra Brithers
U Tun Mra was Captain of RU Track & Field Association. He, his brothers Kyaw Mra & Soe Mra, and Tun Naung competed in the First and Second SEAP Games. They won medals.
2nd SEAP Games
U Myo Nyunt represented Burma in Weightlifting.
RU Centennial in 2020
U Aung Mon, Dr. Nyi Thet Lwin and friends created a Facebook group for the Centennial. I was a Moderator and Contributor.
Saya U Moe Aung and former members of RU Ka Laung Shin Ah Phwe published two Kabyar books.
RU Centennial MagazineCentennial MagazineRU Centennial Book Promotion
“Mya Kyun Nyo Nyo” was sung at the opening ceremony.
Composer Maung Ngwe Hlinne (U Thet Lwin)
Due to the pandemic, there were mostly Virtual Presentations.
Rangoon Institute of Technology
Shwe YaDu in 2014
Renovation of Gyogone Campus
Planting of 50 Swel Daw Bin
Shwe YaDu Lann Kabyar by Tekkatho Moe War Translation by Hla Min
Swel Daw Yeik Magazine Cover by Bagyee Myat Myo Myint
RIT69ers
30th Anniversary in 1999
I reported the event and other news in my e-mails (which became known as RIT Alumni Newsletter).
40th Anniversary in 2009
See Post for Group Photos
EE69ersM69ers at 40th Anniversary (2009)
Shwe YaDu (of Admission) in 2014
2014 Shwe YaDu
50th Anniversary (GJ) in 2019
GJ of 69er Graduation 1GJ of 69er Graduation 2
Ma Tin Tin (EC69, USA) had a Homecoming. She donated to the event and 69er HCF.
Ko Aung Min (M69) & team published a magazine
Rangoon University Boat Club
RUBC was founded in 1923 by Law Professor Sir Arthur Eggar, who pledged a third of his salary for the operating costs.
RU Estate built the Club House with the funds provided by U Nyo.
40th Anniversary in 1963
The Annual Regatta was canceled citing Security concerns.
The Anniversary Dinner was held at a hotel in Kandawgyi.
The Souvenir Magazine was compiled by Sithu U Tin, U Po Zon and U Tin Htoon (A60).
The Souvenir Magazine Committee comprised of U Tin Htoon (A60, Chair), U Myo Myint (EC67, Vice Chair), U Htaik San (Henry, M81, Secretary) and members.
I was a Contributing Editor. I wrote three articles and Prelude for each section.
Centennial in 2023
U Tin U, the Oldest and Most Senior Past Captain, presided at the Opening Ceremony.
Universities’ Computer Center
Golden Jubileein 2021
After several years of preparation (starting from the mid-1960s), the UCC project was approved in 1971.
Sayas U Soe Paing, U Myo Min and U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF) helped Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe (GBNF) found Universities’ Computer Center.
Other Anniversaries
Centennial of First RU Students’ Strike (in 2020)
Centennial of Engineering Education in Burma (in 2024)
For protection against and getting free from sickness and disease
Reference the three occasions when Venerable Mogallana, Venerable Kassapa, and Lord Buddha felt sick but were cured after listening to and contemplating on the “Seven factors of Enlightenment”
This is one of the Suttas that is not only for chanting but also for practice
Bojjhanga Suttas (in Pali Prose) in the Scriptures
Based in part on the compilation of Sayagyi Minthuwun (Eminent Scholar & Laureate Poet)
မြန်မာ့ ပထမဆုံး စံပြ ပုဂ္ဂိုလ်ကျော်များ•
Outstanding Burmese noted for being First in their field
၁။ ပထမဆုံးသမ္မတ=စဝ်ရွှေသိုက် ။
Sao Shwe Thaik served as the first President of the Union of Burma. He was succeeded by Dr. Ba U and Mahn Win Maung. Coup D’etat took place in March 1962 before Sama Duwa Sinwa Naung could take office.
၂။ ပထမဆုံး၀န်ကြီးချုပ်=ဦးနု ။
U Nu served as the first Prime Minister of the Union of Burma. He was also the last Prime Minister before the fateful Coup D’etat on March 2, 1962.
၃။ ပထမဆုံး အနောက်တိုင်း ဆေးဒေါက်တာ=ရှောလူး ။
Dr. Shaw Loo was the first doctor to study medicine in the West.
Saygyi U Razak (Arzani) was one of the first to graduate from Ah Myo Tha College (National College). He served as Principal of the National School in Mandalay. He was Minister of Education in Bogyoke Aung San’s Cabinet.
၇။ ပထမဆုံးအင်ဂျင်နီယာ=ဖန်ချက်၀န် ဦးရွှေအိုး ။
Phan Chet Wun U Shwe Oh was the first Burmese engineer.
Phwa Oo Zun (Mandalay native) was the first Burmese female to provide Social Service for the public. She established the Home for the Aged. Details can be found in Ludu Daw Ah Mar’s book “Mandalay Thar & Mandalay Thu”.
၁၀။ ပထမဆုံး ရုပ်ရှင်သရုပ်ဆောင်=ဦးညီပု ။
U Nyi Pu (brother of A1 U Tin Nwe, U Maung Maung Soe / U Tin Pe & A1 U Tin Maung) was the first leading male actor in a Burmese movie. He founded Maha Weikzahto Film. The four brothers and their extended families founded several film companies.
Professor U Pe Maung Tin was the first Principal of the University of Rangoon.
Note: He was Professor of Oriental Studies (including Pali). He proposed to have a separate Department for Burmese. The early graduates ICS U Sein Tin (Theikpan Maung Wa), U Thein Han (Zawgyi) and U Wun (Minthuwun) founded the “Khit San Sar Pay” movement.
Dr. Tin Maung served as the first Rector of ICST (Institute of Computer Science and Technology).
Note: Dr Chit Swe founded UCC (Universities’ Computer Center) with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min and Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF) and served as the Founding Director of UCC. Dr. Chit Swe, who retired as Rector of Rangoon Arts and Science University, was succeeded by Dr. Tin Maung. During Dr. Tin Maung’s tenure, DCS (Department of Computer Science) and IST were established.
Hajeema Pyinmana Daw Pu was the first female to win Lu Hmu Htoo Chun Su Pathama Sint (First Class for Distinguished Social Service).
Note: She donated for the founding of some hospitals. She is the mother-in-law of Saya U Ba Than Haq (Retired Professor of Geology & Pro-Rector of RASU)
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was the first Burmese to receive the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize.
ဆရာ မင်းသု၀ဏ်စီစဉ်သည်
Compiled by Saya Minthuwun (U Wun, Retired Professor of Burmese; Head of the Translation Department; Compiler of the Myanmar Abhidan; Co-compiler of the Japanese-Burmese Dictionary; Visiting Professor of Burma at Osaka University at the invitation of Professor Harada (“Chit Mann Nwe”); Laureate Poet …). Saya is the father of U Htin Kyaw (former President of Myanmar).
ဗဟုသုတ မှတ်စု
————————————————
*** Some more interesting facts about the pioneers and/or record holders:
Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe founded UCC (Universities’ Computer Center) with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min, and Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF). They also led TOSS (Team Of System Specialists), which helped with the computerization of various government departments and organizations,
Sayagyi was succeeded by Saya Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) as Director of UCC. During Saya Dr. Tin Maung’s tenure, DCS (Department of Computer Science) and ICST (Institute of Computer Science and Technology) were opened. Saya served as the Rector of ICST.
*** Some more interesting facts about the pioneers and/or record holders:
Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe founded UCC (Universities’ Computer Center) with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min, and Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF). They also led TOSS (Team Of System Specialists), which helped with the computerization of various government departments and organizations,
Sayagyi was succeeded by Saya Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) as Director of UCC. During Saya Dr. Tin Maung’s tenure, DCS (Department of Computer Science) and ICST (Institute of Computer Science and Technology) were opened. Saya served as the Rector of ICST.
Saya U Soe Paing wrote “Computer Ah Sa UCC Ga” in a computer magazine in Myanmar. It was re-posed in “Mandalay Gazette”, a publication based in Los Angeles.
m Mee Bone Byan U Kyaw Yin is the father of “Ka Sa” (Cartoonist U Kyaw San). We learned about U Kyaw Yin in a middle school text book.
U Nyi Pu founded his own film company called “Weikkzado Films”. His elder brother U Tin Nwe and his youngest brother U Tin Maung founded “A1 Film”. His younger brother U Maung Maung Soe founded “Maung Maung Soe Film”.
British Burma U Nay Win and U Kyaw Zaw were some of the scholars who studied cinematography in US.
Dr. Tun Naung (DDS, Luyechun) often played the mandolin placed on his back. Other Stereo musicians included Accordion Ohn Kyaw, Min Min Latt, and former BBS “Local Talent” stars.
Sayagyi U Pe Maung Tin served as the first Principal of Rangoon University. Sayagyi earlier proposed the founding of “Burmese Department” at Rangoon University. He served as the first Professor. Three of his students : Sayagyi U Thein Han (“Zawgyi”), Sayagyi U Wun (“Minthuwun”), and ICS U Sein Tin (“Theikpan Maung Wa”) founded the “Khit San Sar Pay” movement.
Sayadaw U Vicittacara is the first Burmese to appear in the “Guiness Book of World Records” for his phenomenal memory. Sayadaw recited 8000+ pages of Tipitaka : Vinaya (Monastic rules of conduct), Sutta (Discourses), and Abhidhamma (Ultimate Reality) atthe Sixth Buddhist Council held at KabaAye in the 50’s.
Lexicographers include (1) Judson and his team (2) U Tun Nyein (3) Dr. Ba Han (4) U Hoke Sein (Pali, English, Burmese).
Sao Shwe Thaik (Yawnshwe Saophalong/Sawbwa) is the first President of the “Union of Burma”. He was succeeded by Dr. Ba U and Mahn Win Maung. Sama Duwa Sinawa Naung was to be the 4th President, but a 17-man Revolutionary Council staged a coup d’etat on March 2, 1962. Sao Shwe Thaik lost his son in the [supposedly] bloodless coup.
BMRI (Burma Medical Research Institute) was founded by Dr. Mya Tu. His successors include Dr. Aung Than Ba Tu, Dr. Khin Maung Tin, Dr. Daw May May Yi, Dr. Myint Lwin …
Details of the early and/or prominent doctors/educators can be added by Saya Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint.
Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (Sc.D) was the first Director General of UBARI (Union of Burma Applied Research Institute). Saya also taught part-time at the Electrical Engineering Department. Saya later served as a Board Member for UCC.
Sayagyi U Ba Hli was the first native Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. He also taught Civil Engineering courses. Sayagyi proposed the “Twinning Program” with prestigious universities in US and UK.
Before becoming the 3rd Secretary General of United Nations, U Thant was the Permanent Representative of the Burmese Mission to the UN. He was preceded and succeeded by Mr. James Barrington.
U Thant was the unanimous choice following the Soviet Union’s veto of Dr. Ralph Bunche (prominent Black diplomat) and the USA’s veto of the “Trioka” proposed by USSR.
U Nu was the first, third and last Prime Minister of the “Union of Burma”. Dawei U Ba Swe was Prime Minister for some time after U Nu’s first term. There was also a soft Coup in 1958.
Saya Dr. Maung Maung Kha (Physics), Saya Dr. Hla Myint (Economics), Saya Dr. Tha Hla (Geology), … replaced the non-Burmese [mostly British and some Indian] professors from Rangoon University.
Prominent cartoonists include U Ba Gyan, U Heng Soon, U Pe Thein, U Aung Shein, U Kyaw San, U Sein, U Ba Htwe, …
Cartoons are displayed along U Ba Gyan Street during the Tazaungdaing Festival.
There have been adaptations as well as “direct translation” of works from English to Burmese.
Saya Shwe Oo Daung’s U San Shar & U Thein Maung are the [Burmanized] counterparts of Sherlock Holmes & Dr. Watson.
U Zaw Weik was the first Burmese to compete in Olympics. He was a member of the British India team.
U Aung Gyi (flyweight) was the first Burmese weight lifter to set/break an Olympic record.
Ko Tun Mra won 100 meters relay Gold); Ko Kyaw Mra won 110 meter hurdles Silver and Ko Soe Mra won Pole vault Gold) at the 2nd SEAP Games held in Rangoon, Burma. Their younger brothers Ko Win Mra, Ko Maung Maung Mra and Ko Aung Mra also won medals for Pole Vault.
Ko Kyaw Mra became National Coach for Track & Field.
Young alumni (including U Wynn Htain Oo (M72) and U Tin Latt (M85) founded RIT-YIT-YTU Alumni Association (also known as RITAA). Since there was a length limitation for naming, BIT (which was technically a renaming of the “Faculty of Engineering” of the University of Rangoon) was left out of the name. Under the then New Education System, RIT became an autonomous Institute in 1964.
