HlaMin

Author: Hla Min (Lifelong Learner)

  • Service to RIT Community

    Service to RIT Community

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    Messenger

    Since April 1999, I have served as a messenger, a story teller and a record keeper of the RIT Community.

    It would not be possible without the support from my beloved spouse. She attended SPZPs and selected gatherings.

    My beloved spouse

    In the beginning

    Full of Excitement

    Many sayas and alumni contributed news, articles, photos, jokes, cartoons, suggestions and comments.

    They were excited to get reconnected electronically and physically.

    Down Memory Lane

    Kogyi Koung

    Several enjoyed walking down memory lane. Kogyi Koung (Dr. Koung Nyunt, A67, GBNF) wrote about several topics. They include

    • Lost songs from RIT : one by Sayagyi U Tha Tun ဦးသာထွန်း, another for Ma Ma Q မမကြူ
    • Letter to Thagyarmin သိကြားမင်း about Naw Louisa Benson
    • Kyaik Hti Yo Development Project ကျိုက်ထီးရိုး

    University Days

    Saya U Aung Khin, U Aw Taik Moh, Saya Dr. Aung Gyi, Saya U Min Wun (GBNF), Saya Dr. San Hla Aung, Saya U Soe Paing, U Tin Htoon, U Myint Khine (Norman), Ko Htay Aung (Victor) and several others wrote about their University Days (Yankin College, Main Campus, BOC College, Leik Khone, Gyogone Campus).

    Photo Contributors

    The following provided Class Photos, Group Photos and other interesting photos.

    • Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (GBNF)
    • Saya Allen Htay (C58, GBNF) & classmates
    • Saya U Htin Paw (EE58, GBNF)
    • Saya U San Tun (M59, GBNF)
    • Saya L. Tin Tun (Chris, M59)
    • Saya Krishna (M59)
    • U Soe Thein (EE60)
    • U Tin Htoon (A60) & classmates
    • Saya U Htun Aung Kyaw (ChE67)
    • U Thein Swe (EE69, GBNF) & classmates
    • U Aung Min (M69) & classmates
    • Benny Tan (M70) & classmates
    • U Kyi Aung (Roland, ChE73)
    • Dr. L Sein Myint (M73) & classmates
    • U Myint Swe (EP74), Daw San San (EC74) & classmates

    We have acknowledged the Contributions in my Newsletter Updates, my Facebook groups and my website.

    Fast forward

    SPZP-2000 Organizers
    • I am the Last Guy Standing from the Organizers of SPZP-2000.
    • Several are spending quality time with their families (especially Myees).
    • The RIT webmasters (Ko Khin Maung Zaw & Ko Wunna Ko Ko) became extremely busy after getting lucrative jobs. The websites became inactive.

    SPZPs

    • There were seven Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2016.
    • SPZP-2020 was canceled due to the pandemic.
    • There will probably be no more RIT Gathering that can equal SPZP-2016 (using any Metric).

    Jara, Byadi & Marana ဇရာ၊ ဗျာဓိ၊ မရဏ

    • Many sayas, organizers, sponsors & donors, alumni are GBNF.
    • 45% of 69ers are GBNF. About 20 passed away in 2020. 18 succumbed to Covid.
    • Not so senior sayas and alumni are having medical problems in the sunset of their lives.
    • Loss of memory & balance are becoming common.

    Pleaded for Help, but …

    • One said he wished he were 30 years younger to help me.
    • Another suggested providing some incentives to interested “New Blood” to keep my project alive and eventually take over.
    • I am hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst.
    • I have categorized and tagged my posts for easier access.
    • I have laid down the foundation for “Memories of our alma mater, mentors and alumni” Project.
    • I am confident that some passionate sayas & alumni will fulfill my Dreams.

    Thanks

    • Kudos to all who have kept the RIT Spirit alive and well.

    Related Posts

    • Memories of 69er, CHM, PBRS, RIT, RUBC, SPHS, SPZPs, Toastmasters, UCC
    • My Beliefs
    • My Passion
    • My Writings
  • Mon Sayadaw မွန်ဆရာတော်

    Mon Sayadaw မွန်ဆရာတော်

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    U Thilawunta (1912 – 2011) ဦးသီလဝန္တ

    Mon Sayadaw
    • Known fondly as “Mon Sayadaw မွန်ဆရာတော်”
    • Dat Paung Zon Sayadaw ဓာတ်ပေါင်းစုံ ဆရာတော် from 1949

    Dat Poung Zon Pagoda

    • In 1948, my father, his siblings and dhamma friends (e.g U Kyaw Myint) built the Dat Paung Zon Pagoda and Monastery.
    My parents
    • My elder brother was ordained as a novice. He volunteered as a Construction Helper.

    DPZ Sayadaw

    • He served as the Chief Abbot of the Dat Paung p Aung Min Gaung monastery on Windermere Road, Rangoon, Burma from 1949.

    Trip to USA

    Pagoda in Allegheny
    • At the invitation of U Thant, Sayadaw traveled to the US (via the ocean liner – predating the days of air travel) and built a pagoda on the Allegheny Mountains.

    Ananda Bodhi

    • In 1958, Leslie Dawson, Canadian of Irish and Scottish descent, asked Mon Sayadaw to be his mentor.
    • Dawson traveled to Bodh Gaya, India to rejoin the Sayadaw and received ordination as a samanera (novice monk).
    • He continued on to Burma where he was ordained as Anandabodhi bhikkhu at the Shwedagon temple, Rangoon (21 Dec 1958).
    • Ananda Bodhi had followers in Canada and New Zealand, most of whom have visited Sayadaw and the Dat Paung Zon pagoda. Two of them also ordained as Buddhist monks with Mon Sayadaw as preceptor.
    • Ananda Bodhi became a Tibetan Master with the name Namgyal Rinpoche in 1971, but continued to preach dhamma from Theravada, …

    Pagodas around the world

    Mon Sayadaw built pagodas in the several countries including USA, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa.

    DPZ 1
    DPZ 2
    DPZ 3
    DPZ 4
    DPZ 5
    DPZ 6

    Suggested Reading

    Details of Sayadaw’s dhamma duta missions can be found in the official biography (in Burmese and English) and the web pages of his disciples (e.g Dr. Steven K H Aung).

  • Names — San Lin စံလင်း

    Names — San Lin စံလင်း

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    San Lin

    • Signed Currency Notes of the Union Bank of Burma

    San Lin, Dr. (C62)

    Dr. San Lin (Center)
    • Taught part time at RIT Civil
    • Worked for EPC
    • Worked for UN projects in Thailand
    • Spouse : Dr. Thynn Thynn founded Sae Taw Win 2 Dhamma Center

    San Lin (C69)

    • Passed away on April 5, 2018
    • 69er GBNF #82
    San Lin (C69)

    San Lin (EC73)

    San Lin (EC73, Left)
    • aka Robert
    • Studied M.Sc (CS) at UCC
    • Worked for TI in Singapore
    • Moved to Texas, USA
    • Spouse : Daw Hla Myint (Marina, EC73)

    San Lin (M87)

    Maung Lu Pay (Right)
    • Founding member of NorCal RITAA
    • Author : Maung Lu Pay မောင်လူပေ
  • My name

    My name

    by Hla Min

    Update : 10th October 2026

    Hla Min
    Hla Min (Lifelong Learner)

    Introduction

    I introduce myself to non-Burmese as follows:

    • My name is HLA MIN (လှမင်း)
    • Hla (လှ) means “handsome” and Min (မင်း) means “king”.

    Misspelled & Mispronounced

    My name has two words and six letters.

    It is interesting to note that my name has been misspelled and mispronounced in several ways.

    They include

    • HAL
      It is an American name. It is also the name of a rouge computer in science fiction. The letters precede those of IBM (International Business Machines) by a position.
    • HALAL
      It means “clean food” for Muslims.
    • LA
      It is a musical tone.
    • LAH
      It is Singlish (Singaporean English)
    • MINH
      It is a common name for Vietnamese.
    • MING
      It is a Chinese name (e.g. Ming Dynasty)

    Speeches on names

    I gave a series of speeches:

    • Meaning of names
    • Naming conventions
    • Names of people
    • Names of places
    • Names of companies
    • …

    At Toastmasters meetings, I asked the attendees if they know the meaning of their names. Several tried to Google their names.

    Remembering names

    One way to remember names is to register them with an association.

    Examples:

    • Stein means a rock. Einstein means “one rock”.
    • Peter means “the rock”. Variations include Bedr, Pedro and Peta.
    • Deep means “light” and “wisdom”. Deepavali (or Diwali) is the Festival of Lights.
      Deepak is an Indian name.
    • San is a prefix for male saints.
      San Francisco and San Jose are the Spanish names for St. Francis and St. Joseph.
    • Santa is a prefix for female saints. Examples include Santa Anna, Santa Barbara and Santa Clara.
    • Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) and Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) are names of cities in California and Texas.
  • RIT — East Coast Reunion in 2009

    RIT — East Coast Reunion in 2009

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    East Coast Reunion

    Organizers

    The first East Coast Reunion took place in Virginia in 2009.

    U Nyein Min (C79), Dr. L Sein Myint (M73) and the alumni in East Coast organized the Reunion.

    Attendees

    Most attendees were from the East Coast (Virginia, W Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut).

    Some sayas and alumni who are not from the East Coast include

    • U Hla Min (EC69) from Northern California
    • Saya U Tin Htut (M69) from Southern California
    • U San Myint Thane (Sammy, EC79) from Texas
    • U Kyaw Than (ex-UBA, GBNF) & Daw Rosemary Than, U Tha Aung (M) & Daw Kinsa Maw Naing (ChE) from Canada

    Hosts

    During my trip, Dr. L Sein Myint, U Wynn Myint Aung (EC76, GBNF), U Htin Linn (ex-PTC) and my uncle U Thein Han hosted me.

    Dr. Win Aung (M62, iNEER) and spouse hosted a dinner for us.

    Memories

    U Min Han (ChE77) took most of the pictures.

    East Coast 8
    East Coast 7
    East Coast 6
    East Coast 5
    East Coast 4
    East Coast 3
    East Coast 2
    East Coast 1

    Update

    • Wynn Myint Aung (EC76) is GBNF
  • Dr. Nandamalabhivamsa ဒေါက်တာနန္ဒမာလာဘိဝံသ

    Dr. Nandamalabhivamsa ဒေါက်တာနန္ဒမာလာဘိဝံသ

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    Dr. Nandamalabhivansa
    • Succeeded Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa as Rector of ITBMU (International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University).
    • He represented ITBMU at the Last Journey of Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa.
    • Gave courses and sermons.
      Many are available as MP3.
    • Taught Abhidhamma in Myanmar and beyond.
    • Fundamental Abhidhamma Part I was first taught in 1997 at Maryland, USA. The book was edited by Dr. Khin Maung U (First in Burma in the Matric exam of 1963). The second edition was published by the Center of Buddhist Studies (CBS), Sagaing Hills in 2005.
    • Fundamental Abhidhamma Part II was published by the Center of Buddhist Studies (CBS), Sagaing Hills in 2007.

    Fundamental Abhidhamma Part I

    • By Dr. Nandamalabhivamsa
    • First edition : June 1997
    • Editor : Dr. Khin Maung U
    • Myanmar-Buddhist Meditation Society, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
    • Second, extended edition : January 2005
    • revised : November 2005
    • Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS), Sagaing Hills, Sagaing, Myanmar

    Contents

    The History of Abhidhamma

    (1) Why is it called Abhidhamma?
    (2) Who is the author?
    …
    (8) The role of Abhidhammattha sangaha
    (9) The role of Vibhavani
    (10) Ledi Sayadaw
    (11) Paramatthadipani, the critic of Vibhavani

    Abhidhamma Part I

    The Fundamental of Abhidhamma

    Chapter 1 : Citta
    Chapter 2 : Cetasika
    Chapter 3 : Rup (Matter)
    Chapter 4 : Pikinnaka (Miscellaneous)
    Chapter 5 : Vithi : Mental Process

    Fundamental Abhidhamma Part II

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is abhidhmma-2.jpg
    Part Two
    • By Dr. Nandamalabhivamsa
    • Version Dec 2007
    • Center for Buddhist Studies (CBS)
    • Mahadubodhayon Monastery, Sagaing Hills, Sagaing, Myanmar

    Contents

    • Chapter 5 : Vithi
      Mental Process
    • Chapter 6 : Vithimutta
      Passive Mental Process
    • Chapter 7 : Paccayasangaha
      Compendium of Causality
    • Chapter 8 : Kammatthana Sangaha
      Meditation Subject

    Pathan Myat Dethana

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is book-4.jpg
    Pathan
    • “Pathan Myat Dethana” by Dr. Nandamalabhivamsa (Rector of ITBMU).
    • U Ye Sint (TBSA) gave me the book as Dhamma Dana.
  • Dhajagga Sutta ဓဇဂ်သုတ်

    Dhajagga Sutta ဓဇဂ်သုတ်

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    Paritta

    Dhajagga ဓဇဂ္ဂ

    Dhajagga stands for Banner / “Ta Gun”

    Dhajagga Sutta ဓဇဂ်သုတ်

    • 7th Sutta in Paritta Pali (Protective Verses)
    • Exhortation from Cakka (“Thakyar Min” သိကြားမင်း) to his soldiers preparing for the battle with the Asuras အသူရာ
      “If you have fear or trepidation, try to catch the sight of my banner (if that’s possible) or that of the other Deva-Kings: Pajapati, Varuna, and Isana. For when you have caught sight of the banners, whatever fear, or trepidation there is will disappear.”
    • Buddha ဗုဒ္ဓ said,
      “Because of the Lobha လောဘ Dosa ဒေါသ and Moha မောဟ in the Deva-Kings, fear or trepidation may not disappear. So, monks, if you feel fear and trepidation in the wilderness, … or an empty building, you should recollect the following: Nine qualities of the Buddha, Six qualities of the Dhamma, Nine qualities of the Sangha

    Pali (in Burmese Script)

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pp-20-21.jpg
    Script 1
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pp-22-23.jpg
    Script 2
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pp-24-25.jpg
    Script 3
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is pp-26-27.jpg
    Script 4
  • C. Ping Lee

    C. Ping Lee

    by U Htin Paw (EE58) & Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    C Ping Lee (Bottom Right)

    Message from U Htin Paw (EE58)

    I was very sad to read the news of Saya C. Ping Lee in Ex-RIT web site. Ko Win Aung (M62, NSF) wrote: “Please add the name of my late father, Saya C. Ping Lee, Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, BOC College. He passed away in Berkeley, CA in 1987. He was a contemporary of the late Dean U Ba Hli and late Saya U Kyaw Tun. His former students included the late Saya U Sein Hlaing”.

    At our first Burmese Engineers Association in the Bay Area, he was named the first honorary member of the association.

    When I was a first year student at BOC College, I heard he had left the BOC College of engineering for the position of the Director of Technical Education at Insein Technical Institute (GTI). Though he left the BOC College, people at the Engineering Lab mentioned so much of their fond memory of him. The words then was that he left BOC College to take up a position as an educator in the engineering arena, GTI. He was one of the most outstanding scholars in electrical engineering in Burma of his time. He was a good teacher and a compassionate one. Most of his pupils could attest to that.

    He had groomed many outstanding pupils like, U Mya Than (EE 53) a contemporary of Prof. U Sein Hlaing, and U Jimmy Sein, to head several of the branch facilities in Insein and Mandalay. Although he has departed, he left behind his legacies for all his pupils to cherish and treasure. Mr. U Taik Moh (C54), one of his top name pupils, said many good things of Saya C. Ping Lee. I am sure his contributions to Technical Education in Burma will remain in the forefront for years to come.

    I would like to encourage his former pupils like Mr. Aw Taik Moh to write their thoughts and their fond memory of Saya C. Ping Lee for the posterity. If anyone who should meet U Mya Than B.Sc.Engg. (EE 53), M.S.E (Mich) (Ex-Principal, GTI, Insein), in the New York area, please let him know about this short note.

    Ko Win Aung, please accept my sympathy and I would to put this on record in the ex-rit web site for all as my tribute to your Dad, Saya C. Ping Lee.

    Sabbe purentu samma sankappa Mettacittena

    (Maung H[tin] Paw – E58)

    Update

    by Hla Min

    • Saya U Htin Paw is Past President of BEA and TBSA. He attended SPZP-2000. He is now GBNF. His only son Dr. Barry Paw passed away mid-air on a flight from Sydney to USA.
    U Htin Paw
    • U Than Aung (Minister of Education) recruited Saya C. Ping Lee (his student at SPHS) to be Director of Technical & Vocational Education. U Than Aung is the father of Ko Nge / Alphonso and Ko Cho / Charlie.
    • Dr. Win Aung (M62) worked for NSF and as Secretary General of iNeer. He hosted a Dinner Gathering following the RIT Alumni Reunion in East Coast in 2009.
    Dr. Win Aung (2nd from Right)
  • Myo San မျိုးဆန်း

    Myo San မျိုးဆန်း

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 10th October 2026

    Roll of Honor
    • Aka as Freddie Ba San
    • Oldest of three siblings
    Three BA SAN Siblings
    • My classmate in Std VIII (A), IX (A) and X (A) at St. Paul’s High School, Rangoon.
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is viiia.jpg
    Myo San (3rd row, 5th from left)
    • Stood third in Burma in the Matric of 1963 and won Collegiate Scholarship.
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is sphs-63-c.jpg
    Myo San (Seated right)
    • Mastered phonetics and read lots of English books.
    • One would not be surprised that he scored distinctions in English, Maths, Physics and Chemistry.
    • A little bit older than me and that might have given him an advantage.
    • Gave me a quiz. “How do you pronounce GHOTI?” I gave an answer which he corrected as “FISH”. He had read George Bernard Shaw, who posed the quiz as a lesson on the eccentricity of English.

    GH is phonetically equivalent to F as in ROUGH.
    O is phonetically equivalent to I as in WOMAN.
    TI is phonetically equivalent to SH as in ATTENTION.
    Thus, GHOTI is phonetically equivalent to FISH.

    Frank, Freddie, KMU, Amy, TOKM
    • Became a surgeon
    • Stress caused him to take early retirement.
    • He had mini-reunion with SPHS63 classmates. In the photo, the three (seated) — Freddie, Alan and Tin Tun — are now GBNF.
    Myo San (Seated Left)

    Related Posts

    • GBNF
    • Old Paulians
    • Scholarship
    • St. Paul’s High School
    • SPHS63
  • Three Parents

    Three Parents

    by Hla Min

    Update : 10th October 2026

    Timothy Hla’s Post on June 21, 2020

    Dr. PR Mohan & Dr. Daw Hnin Yee

    Tribute to his parents Dr. PR Mohan and Dr. Daw Hnin Yee

    Today is a special day for me and my family. First and foremost, we celebrate my Mom’s birthday. Even though we cannot be with her physically in Seattle, she enjoys the company and excellent care by my sister Mona T. Han and is showered by love from all family members and her friends and former students in the Institute of Medicine 1, University of Rangoon. In addition to raising four children, taking care of her husband and running a busy household, she was a career woman who was able to balance a successful career (she became the Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine) and a busy life with grace and charm.

    Second, today is father’s day. I am enjoying my family (wife Jeanne Wadsworth-Hla, and grown children Hilary May, Jon Matthew and Audrey Hla who will be here to have dinner. Very grateful for them to be here to celebrate my fatherhood. It is one of the happiest aspects of my life and I am most grateful. I also remember and honor the memory of my Dad (PR Mohan) who passed away over 15 years ago. He was an orphan who grew up in poverty with 9 siblings in Burma, overcame lots of obstacles to get an MBBS degree in 1939, worked as a military doctor during the WW2 with the allied forces for which received many medals and citations, used his pension from the army to get trained as a Cardiologist in London (Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart Institute) with the famous Cardiologist Paul Wood, returned to Burma to give back to his native land despite various lucrative job offers in the UK, and served honorably by establishing the first Cardiac Department at the Rangoon General Hospital, established the first coronary care unit and brought cutting edge cardiology care to Burma. He also trained a cadre of younger physicians. I even came across an article he wrote about congenital heart diseases in the local medical journal in 1955 in PubMed. Many of his colleagues and students remember him as a no-nonsense Physician with a rough exterior but with a kind heart. My fondest memories of him were his love and dedication to his family and friends. He also introduced me to his love of various music genres of the world, and appreciation of fine food and libations.

    Ivan Lee (M69)

    Ivan
    • Youngest in the family
    • His father passed away when he was a few years old.
    • His mother raised the family, and also lived long to have great grand children.
    • He e-mailed us when his mother turned 100. It showed the birthday card sent to his mother from the 43rd US President George W. Bush.
    • He e-mailed again when his mother turned 101. It showed the birthday card sent to his mother from the 44th US President Barack Obama.
    • His mother passed away at the tender age of 102. She was alert until the final days. It could be because she played two hours of Mah Jong daily.
    • On a bright note, he has two loving daughters and six grandchildren.

    Me

    My beloved parents
    My father
    Grandkids
    • I am fortunate to have parents who lived beyond 80.
    • I am not fortunate enough to have them around to see my Myees, who are excellent in their studies and in their hobbies.
    • They would have smiled to hear my grand daughter say, “Are you at home? Who’s your doctor? What happened?” after I returned from the colonoscopy screening. She added, “I’ll take care of you. I love you.” She must have inherited the loving kindness of her great grand parents.
    • They would be delighted to see her awards including “Super Reader” and a top student of her class.
    • They would be impressed to see my grand son dribbling a standard basketball for 30+ seconds, scoring goals in a competitive tournament and learn that he is also a top student of his class.