Tone Kyaw

by Hla Min

Updated : July 2025

U Han Sein (C69)

• He is a senior, but he is physically & mentally active.
• Represented RIT in Swimming, Water Polo, Diving & Basketball.

• In 1999, the 69ers organized a Reunion and mini-SPZP for the 30th Anniversary of Graduation. The organizers compiled an address / phone book for the 69ers and also listed GBNF. He was inadvertently listed as GBNF.
• Only close friends knew that he was whisked away by Adhamma authorities and sentenced to 20 years in a kangaroo court for his involvement in 8-8-88 related activities. He was released after 17 years when “Lut Nyein Chan Thar Kwint လွတ်ငြိမ်းချမ်းသာခွင့်” was proclaimed.
• He was a Tone Kyaw. He suffered losses & relations during and after his imprisonment.
• He did not lose heart. He attended 69er gatherings regularly and served as photographer. He tried out camera tricks (e.g. creating twins) and posts the photos on the RIT69ers FB page.
• He is active as Leader (“A Pho Gyi အဖိုးကြီး”) for the social & religious activities in the Latha လသာ area.
• His birthday is on May 24.
• He succumbed to Covid in 2020.

Dr. Tin Hlaing (M63)

• Joined Mechanical Engineering Department in 1963.
• His friends called him “Byte” Tin Hlaing or “R” Tin Hlaing, since there was a senior Saya U Tin Hlaing (M59, GBNF) who headed the Agri Engineering sub-Department.
• The elder saya passed away untimely because he could not get access to the two dialysis machines (reserved for VIP) and he could not get passport / visa in time to get medical treatment abroad. Those were the days.
• Dr. Tin Hlaing moved to Singapore. He co-chaired SPZP-2002.
• A few years ago, he became a Tone Kyaw. Another Dr. Tin Hlaing (Marine Technology) passed away in Singapore. A few alumni sent condolences to Saya.

Hla Min

• My name sake matriculated from St Paul’s High School in 1964 and graduated with EE in 1970. He was one year junior to me at SPHS and RIT. He joined UCC as Chief Operator (CO). He taught Programming at Worker’s College.
• He appeared healthy and strong, but unfortunately he passed away at the tender age of 30+.
• During his hospitalization, he was taken care of by his former classmate Dr. Min Lwin (SPHS64).
• Many were not aware that there were two Hla Min (Old Paulian, RIT alumni, UCC employee/saya).
• Two government departments — Coop သမဝါယမ Training School, Trade ကုန်သွယ်ရေး Training School, where I had given guest lectures — inquired UCC how they can send “Lwan Thuu Pann Khwe လွမ်းသူ့ပန်းခွေ wreath) for me.
• We went to Kyandaw ကြံတော Cemetery for Ko Pauk Si’s Last Journey. He earned the nickname at SPHS, because he would eat Pauk Si ပေါက်စီ from the vendor who had borrowed money from his father and did not pay back in cash.
• Moe Hein (Ajala, ChE69, who represented RIT in swimming & water polo) looked at me as if I was a Ghost. He said, “I had taken the day off to bid you farewell. I did not hear any news from your brother (who worked at DI/HIC) and felt sorry for you. If I don’t show up, there might not be people at your funeral.”
• Those who are young might not have heard about the Nigerian rabble-rouser / trouble maker named Ajala.
  Moe Hein, with his loud voice, can overwhelm supporters from other teams in the Inter-Institute tournaments.

Tin Tun & Tin Htoon

• This is not a case of Tone Kyaw. It caused some confusion.
• A Burmese name may be spelled differently in English. e.g Tun, Htun & Htoon for ထွန်း
• Ko Tin Tun, who married U Tin Htoon’s niece (Aye Aye Khin), passed away in Yangon on the morning of May 22, 2020.
• Saya U Thein Tan (C64) and Ko Sann Tun Ni (Sushi owner) asked for clarification. They were relieved to find out that it was not U Tin Htoon (Past Captain and Gold of RUBC, Goenka’s devotee / organizer).