by Hla Min
Update : 9th November 2026
GBNF
RIP (Rest in Peace)
my dear friend and my name sake.
We remember you saying,
“Sayas, You will realize my values when I am gone.”
Names
- L T Gwan (at St. Paul’s HS)
- Hla Min (at RIT)
- CO (at UCC)
- Pauk Si (Nickname at St. Paul’s)
Highlights
- Attended St. Paul’s High School as a Boarder.
- Matriculated in 1964 along with Aung Myint, Maung Maung Gyi, Win Paing and Myint Sein
- Admitted to 1st BE at RIT in November 1964
- Graduated with Electrical Engineering in 1970
- He joined UCC as Chief Operator.
- Studied for a year in UK.
- He passed away in his mid-30s.
Pauk Si (Nickname)
He was called Pauk Si ပေါက်စီ by his classmates at SPHS (St. Paul’s High School, Rangoon). His father had lent money to a Pauk Si vendor, but the vendor could not pay back the loan. So, at break time, he would go to claim one Pauk Si or more depending on his appetite.
CO (Chief Operator)
He joined UCC as Chief Operator. He was in charge of on-line and off-line operators.
Under the UCC program, he studied for a year in the UK and also found his soulmate Daw Tin Win who was undergoing advanced nursing training.
He taught at Worker’s College.
He was also active in OPA (Old Paulians’ Association)
Health
He was healthy. He would rarely wear the coat/jacket that is mandated for those working in the air conditioned Computer Room. He would often wear a sports shirt.
It was a surprise to learn that CO, after returning from spending as a temporary monk at Taung Pu Lu monastery, fell ill.
He was admitted to RGH where Dr. Min Lwin (Maurice Hla Kyi, 5th in Burma in 1964 from SPHS, cousin of “Lake” Win Maung) examined him and found out a serious problem.
He was afraid of getting hospitalized.
Farewell
His voice had lost intensity during his stay in the hospital. He told us to be good towards the sayas, colleagues, friends and family members. We sensed that it was his farewell message.
Sad to say, he passed away in his mid-thirties. He did not drink or smoke, but he ate (may be a little bit indiscriminately). He presumably had Hepatitis and later “cirrhosis”.
Tone Kyaw
When CO passed away at the tender age, I became a Tone Kyaw.
Some people were not aware that there were two Hla Min who attended SPHS & RIT and worked at UCC. They both have spouses from the medical profession.
It was not surprising when two government departments (Cooperatives Training School and Trade Corporation Training School) where I had given guest lectures inquired UCC where and when they could send wreaths (Lwan Thu Pan Khwe လွမ်းသူ့ပန်းခွေ) for me.
A representative from one department said, “It is said that people laugh a lot before they die. U Hla Min was telling us jokes.”
A person from the second department said, “U Hla Min looks frail and unsteady when he walks. No wonder he passed away.”
To top it all, Ko Moe Hein (Ajala, ChE69) took a day off to send me off. He was RIT Selected for Swimming and Water Polo. He had a loud voice that can drown the voices of ten or so “normal” people. So he became the de facto cheerleader for the RIT Sports Teams. He was working at HIC (Heavy Industries), where my older brother was in charge. At Kyandaw Cemetery. he came down from a bus. When he saw me, he stared at me as if I was a ghost. He explained, “Your brother seemed so calm when we learned that you had passed away. So I look a day off to give you last respects thinking that ‘If your brother does not care about you, there will not be many people at last journey’”. That’s how I became a Tone Kyaw.
Relationship With Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung
CO was partly responsible for the UCC staff members visiting Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung ကမ္ဘာအေးစွန်းလွန်းဂူကျောင်း and then later participating in the Thingyan Su Paung Yahan Khan Pwes.
He and Saya U Soe Paing were temporary monks at the monastery where Sayadaw U Wara (Win Paing, GBNF, ChE70, SPHS 64, younger brother of Saya U Soe Paing) was Taik Oke (second in command).
U Soe Myint (M72, GBNF) and his family (parents and siblings) are devotees.
I visited CO and Saya Paing and later became a devotee and a Donlaba monk in the Thingyan period.
One year, several UCC employees and students became Donlaba (temporary monks) at Kaba Aye Sun Lun Kyaung. The tradition of “UCC Su Paung Yahan Khan စုပေါင်းရဟန်းခံ” carried on at the various monasteries (Chan Myei Yeiktha, Mingun Kyaung, …).
U Aung Myint (GBNF) and U Maung Maung Gyi (GBNF) were his classmates at SPHS. U Soe Win (GBNF) was his classmate at RIT.
U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :
KJ, my advanced and sincerely apology for what I am going to say here. As the Sayadaw U Vinaya has mentioned more than once at the time, “ဂျော်နီ နှိပ်ဆက် very bad”, you were the one who brought us to Kaba Sun Lun Gu Kyaung, to be ordained as Donlabas. The first time, if my re-collection is correct, was on Saturday – eve or day before the eve of Thingyan. The entire HE Engineering gang was there as we were leaving after the weekly Saturday maintenance.
Many of us, excluding me, had their head shaved there, and Ko Aung Myint went back home in E2000. had to tell his wife that he would be in monkhood, collected some essentials and came back to the monastery.
Please don’t get me wrong, I am forever indebted to you for introducing there including the meditation.
U Aung Myint (UCC) wrote :
KJ make sure (taking advance deposit or ‘စရံ ‘ ) that we can’t change our minds or asking excuses. We (Ko Ngwe Soe and myself) we’re shaved ahead our hair before taking our belongings in our homes.
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