U Tun Shwe (ChE72) volunteered as the videographer for the Northern California RIT Alumni Association Gathering held at Mudita Shwe Kyaung in Hayward, California
Saya U Maung Maung (ChE66), U Win Maung (T 70), and several other alums took pictures. Saya KC Chiu (Dr. Tin Aung, ChE63) could not attend because of slight fever, but he sent Sayagadaw to the Reunion to accompany U L. Shark Moon (C 67).
Saya U San Tun (M59, former Head of Auto Engg) was the “senior” among the attendees followed by U Myint Lwin (Henry, C63), U King Wong (Victor, C66) and several from the mid-60s.
U Zaw Lwin (M87) was among the youngest attendees. He recalled that the final exams were suspended after two subjects. They had to take the remaining subjects a month or so later.
U Tun Shwe took the video of almost all attendees twice, and made sure they say their name, discipline, and graduation date (if applicable]). Some attendees completed their studies elsewhere (e.g. in the US).
21 sayas and alums agreed to be members of the Steering and Working Committees.
The Executive Committee members (e.g. President, VPs, Secretaries, Treasurers, Auditors) will be elected at the meeting (to be held in a few weeks).
Saya U Maung Maung told the attendees that 2012 SPZP and Grand Reunion will be held on the weekend of December 29 (Saturday) and December 30 (Sunday) and to watch out for details from the Organizing Committee.
U Maurice Chee (M75) talked briefly about the “old” RIT Alumni International that was founded to organize SPZP 2000. He said that he would cook “Danbauk” for the Steering/Working Committee meeting, and others could bring desserts.
U Stanislau Liou (M67, RIT Table Tennis ) mentioned that he had been the President of his [High School] Alumni Association for 6 years. The members like to have 3 or 4 gatherings (such as picnic and dinner) a year.
At the General meeting Saya U Maung Maung was elected President of NorCal RITAA. U Stan Liou was elected Chair of the BOD (Board of Directors).
Some updates
Subsequent Presidents include U Kaung Kaung Oo (Gordon Kaung, M83) and U Aung Myint Oo (EC84)
Saya U Myat Htoo (C68) is the current Chair of BOD.
NorCal RITAA Dinner was held in 2016 and 2019.
NorCal RITAA Summer Picnic was held in 2017 and 2018.
NorCal RITAA has funded scholarships for (a) children of alumni in the US (b) eligible YTU students For details, visit the web site and FB pages.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, there are no major activities in 2020.
Dr. Nyunt Wai commented that Message should be more important than Messenger (e.g. media, format).
Keynote speakers also emphasize on the importance of Message. What is the key take away from the Keynote Speech? Videos, slides, humor … are entertaining, but without a memorable idea to act upon, a speech is usually not memorable.
Story Telling is powerful, informative, aspiring, educational, entertaining …
Books, movies, music, arts, history, archaeology, … leverage the art of Story Telling.
Thanks to my Thin Sayas, Myin Sayas and Kyar Sayas for helping me learn and develop the art of Story Telling.
Worked for Hewlett Packard, Agilent and several US companies before moving to Taiwan to work there.
After retirement, Saya is spending time in California and Taiwan.
Past President, BAPS
Founding Member, RIT Alumni International
Co-chair, Steering Committee for SPZP-2000
Proposed “U Nyo Win Act“. If there are less than the guaranteed number of attendees at SPZP-2000, the core organizers will chip in the costs. Thanks in part to the five Golden Sponsors of SPZP-2000, the Act did not need to be enforced.
Wrote about SPZP-2000 in the Post Reunion series.
Founding Member, NorCal RITAA
Served as BOD (Board of Director).
BAPS
Past President, BAPS
Editor, BAPS Newsletter
Honoring U Nyo Win, Ko Benny and Ko Henry
On November 9, 2000, there was a special dinner at Ming’s seafood restaurant in Sunset, San Francisco to honor Saya U Nyo Win (M65), out-going president of BAPS and to welcome Ko Benny Tan (M70), the in-coming president. There were 30+ attendees. Saya U Nyo Win was presented a plaque in recognition of his leadership and services to BAPS.
A plaque was also awarded to Henry Lim (RIT Alumni) for his services as Editor of the BAPS newsletter. It grew from a 4 pager to a 20 pager.
BEA to BAPS
The first ever RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP did not happen out of the blue. One of the first seeds was sown with the founding of Burmese Engineers Association (BEA). The presidents Saya U Htin Paw (EE58), Saya U San Tun (M59) and Saya U KC Chiu (ChE63) — with the able support of Daw Khin Hta Yee (Lily Win, T72) — organized mini-reunions and reunions in the Bay Area. At the welcome party for Saya U Aung Khin, the idea of merging BEA with a younger association BASTS to become BAPS (Burmese American Professional Society) was proposed and overwhelmingly approved.
BAPS Picnic to RIT Alumni International
At one of the BAPS picnics, several EC members — Saya Allen Htay, Saya U Nyo Win, Saya KC Chiu, Saya U Maung Maung, Ko Benny Tan, Ko Maurice Chee, — held an impromptu meeting with me and asked how they could support Ko Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ) and me regarding the ex-rit web site in general and other activities [such as Grand Reunion] in general.
Later, at Ko Benny’s house, the Bay Area Alumni Group was formed. The rest is history.
U Nyo Win
According to the bye-laws of BAPS, a President can serve for at most two terms. Saya U Nyo Win served two terms. Saya also chaired the meetings by the Organizing Committee of the RIT Reunion and SPZP. His colorful meeting minutes are enjoyable to read.
He is an outstanding writer and an excellent speech giver. Saya wears two hats: BAPS for the Bay Area activities and RIT Alumni International for activities related to his alma mater world-wide. Our kudos to you, Saya.
After Dinner
We went to Ko Aye Tun (Anthony Ng, M76)’s house, which is within walking distance from the restaurant. A preview of the raw / semi-edited copy of the video taken at the RIT Reunion dinner and SPZP took place. The 2+ hour footage caught several viewers by surprise. The “Waing gyi putt putt du way way” dance — started by Diana (Myint Myint Sein, M70) and Richard Chao (Htin Aung, M70) — was joined by Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Min Wun, and several alums.
It was close to two o’clock in the morning when I got back home.
RIT Alumni International __________________________________________________
Founding Member
Core Organizer, SPZP-2000
Wrote “Appreciation of SPZP-2000” for Post Reunion
Article for Post Reunion (SPZP-2000)
After the Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pu (SPZP), I feel like most of us still excited but completely deflated. I just have enough energy left to think about it and talk about it, but not enough to write about it. But with Ko Hla Min’s call for the end of the post reunion article at number 36, I want to catch this last chance to write a few words before the close of the book, so to say.
First, as the one of the co-chairmen of the Steering Committee, I’d like to add a few words to U Myat Htoo’s article on the apology and thanks to the all the sayagyis, sayas, and fellow alumni. We’d planned and tried to make the Reunion and SPZP a success. I agree with U Myat Htoo that there were areas of deficiencies that we overlooked and were unable to cover. Let me mention a few that we could have done better to run the program more smoothly. It may also be helpful hindsight to pass on to 2002 reunion team.
The reception area was too crowded. We expected 300 plus people would be converging on to the narrow aisle at about 5 O’clock. We tried to arrange two tables in parallel to allow more people to check-in, sign the book, receive the gifts and be directed to the appropriate tables. The crowd was larger than expected. Our seating plan didn’t help. It was designed to group people according to their requests of having close friends together. Unfortunately, the attendees’ names were not listed in alphabetical order with table number assigned. It was very time consuming to locate the table number for the guest. This resulted in people congregating in the check-in area in spite of the ushers’ effort to help.
We under estimated the time for picture taking. It turned out it was the most exciting event. We had group photos of every combination one could imagine. Getting everyone to follow the program for the number of pictures taken was not possible. It ended up a half hour photo session was three times longer. The good thing was, everyone liked it and everyone wanted it. In order to keep the program moving in a reasonable time, our MC U Myat Htoo had to exercise some crowd control. I hope everyone share U Myat Htoo’s difficulty for so doing.
The program was overloaded. Our program called for speeches from sayagyis, sayas, and the alums; opportunity for the audience to contribute to fun, entertainments, singing and jokes. Everyone appeared to be so happy and excited. All of us had so much to talk about, so much fun to have and so much joy to share that hardly anyone could concentrate and follow the program allocated time. But, isn’t that the expectation everyone had of the reunion and SPZP?
We did not allocate sufficient time to meet and thank everybody. Of course, it was not easy to walk around and talk to everybody throughout the event. Again, in hindsight, one possibility would have been to have Organizing Committee representatives go around the tables during dinner time to meet and thank everybody.
I want to reiterate, like everyone else, that this great event was a resounding success in spite of a few glitches. The success was due to the support given to the event from all those who attended and from those who were unable to attend but whole-heartedly supporting and encouraging us. The success was due to those who generously donated to the SPZP Fund so that we could make the best use of it for the event. The success was due to those who helped out with the event, and most of all, due to the hard working Executive Committee members under the leadership of Co-chairmen Benny Tan and Maurice Chee.
I would like to give a couple of examples of how dedicated the two co-chairs, Benny and Maurice, were. In the morning on the day of the Reunion, I was at Benny’s house. Benny showed me the 25-foot RIT Reunion and SPZP banner undergoing the final touch. I learned from Benny that the contractor was unable to deliver the banner on time as promised. But we must have it for the great event! Benny, with the help of his nephew, decided to make one themselves just the night before the Grand Reunion. They bought the canvas, the paint, and the brush; they designed the RIT logo and the characters; they rolled up their sleeves and succeeded in finishing the banner in time for the great event.
In the afternoon when I was at the Embassy Suite making the final arrangement for the arrival of the guests, I got a call from Maurice. He told me that he would be a little late coming to the hotel. I learned from him that, not being able to get a print shop to do the job on time and as desired, he was printing the name tags for the guests with his own computer.
This very special event brought us excitement and great emotion. We shared the joy and the happy moment. But I would think that the feelings of each of us must be different and unique. For me, at time I felt that I was back in the good old days of teaching at RIT. I saw Rector Dr. Aung Gyi, Mechanical Engineering Department Head Saya U Aung Khin, Chemical Engineering Department Head [and Rector] U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Nam Kock, other sayas, colleagues and students. At time I felt that I was still one of the students attending the classes.
My most memorable year at RIT was actually the first and the only BIT year, 1962. We had very few students in First Year. In fact, there weren’t that many engineering students altogether at BIT that year. Among my contemporaries were U Kyaw Aye (Shakoor), who is still in Burma and U Hla Myint (Charlie), who is now in Australia. We were the lucky ones who survived First Year Heat Engine taught by Saya U Aung Khin. I can assure you for those who’d never taken Heat Engine from Saya U Aung Khin how low the yield was from that class. Decades later, in the mid of this great reunion, seeing all the sayagyis, former colleagues, former students and new RIT graduates whom I had never met, I felt like I was in a dream.
Now that the great event is over, we are looking forward to meeting again in Singapore, Year 2002. I agree with Saya U Aung Khin, and let me quote from his article, that “we keep up with the changing situation in our home country regarding secondary technical education and decide on how inclusive we should be so that continuity can be maintained by embracing an expanding fraternity of engineers.” We all witnessed the group with exceptional talent gathering at the night of the reunion. Benny Tan in his article suggested the idea of harnessing the brainpower and energy of the group. I would think that the Year 2000 reunion was reminiscing of the past and sharing of the present, the Year 2002 reunion should in large part be the bridging of the present and the future. As to how, let’s start tapping on our talent pool now.
Sayagyi is the father of Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (GBNF) and grandfather of Daw Tin Tin Hlaing (UCC), U Tha Hlaing (EC83) and Ko Min Thet Tun (GBNF). He was the first Burmese native to serve as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. He is credited for proposing the “Twinning” of Rangoon University with prestigious universities in the US.
Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli wrote about his father in the commemorative issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” for the First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP. Sayagyi U Aung Khin wrote the introduction.
U Tha Tun
Saya U Tha Tun served as Acting Head of Architecture at BIT/RIT.
He was described by Saya Dr. Koung Nyunt in his article, “Two famous songs from RIT Architecture”. U Than Tun was the co-author.
Early students
Architecture courses were first offered at the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University in 1954.
The first batch including Saya U Myo Myint Sein graduated in 1958.
The second batch including Saya Dr. Lwin Aung and U Bo Gyi in 1959. Both entered monkhood after retirement.
The third batch which graduated in 1960 included
U Khin Maung Yin (Modern art proponent, film director, GBNF)
U Aung Kyee Myint (Retired head of architecture at PWD)
U Tin Htoon (A 60, RUBC Captain/Gold, ARAE Champion, SEAP medallist in yachting, co-founder, Triple Gem Publications)
U Victor Pe Win (Retired in Texas)
U Koon Yin Chu (First in Burma in 54 Matriculation, gold medalist in Final Year Architecture) …
Miss S. Begum was the earliest known female engineering/architecture student, but she left for India before graduation. Her classmates are from the third batch.
Group Picture
Architecture
The Group Picture shows Architecture Students (who were then in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th/Final years of the old system). In the new Education system, they would be from the 4th to 6th B.Arch.
The picture without captions was first sent by U Victor Pe Win to U Tin Htoon, who asked his dhamma friend Ko “Henry” Htaik San ( RUBC Gold, Secretary of Southern California Burmese Associations, photographer, videographer, …) to touch up the picture.
Per U Tin Htoon’s request, U Victor Pe Win annotated the “touched-up” photo as follows:
First Row L to R:- U Kin Mg Tint, U Tha Tun, Mr. H. A. Eswara, Mr. R. K. H. Johnson (Head of Arch. Dept.), U Ba Hli (Dean of Faculty of Engineering), Mr. O. Nagler, U Aung Myint, Miss S. Begum (2nd Yr)
Second Row:- Myint San (Final), Htun Lwin (3rd), Kyaw Zaw (Final), Bo Gyi (3rd), Tin Tun Kin (Final), T. T. Kiat (2nd), Mg Mg Gyi (Final), Mg Mg Ohn (2rd), Myint Tun (3rd)
Third Row:– Jack Min (3rd), Htay Ngwe (Final), Pe Win (2nd), V. Leong (3rd), Tham.T.Yu (2nd), K.Y.Chu (2nd), H.Hla Myint (2nd), Aung Kyee Myint (2nd), S.Hsiang Wu (2nd)
Fourth Row:- Myo Myint Sein (Final), Tin Mg Yin (Final), Aung Thin (Final), Myint Thein (Final), Tin Htoon (2nd ), Tun Than (Final), Kin Mg Yin (2nd) Hla Kyi (2nd)
Absentee:– Lwin Aung (3rd.)
Editor’s Notes:
If someone has a copy of the photo, please share it with me. Since many photos in my album do not have recognizable names, it takes some time to find them. Right now, I am in the process of updating the contents.
Saya is an early native Professor of Mathematics at the University of Rangoon.
Wrote musical notes for Burmese songs.
Spouse : Daw May Than (distinguished vocalist)
Son : Mya Than (Lead Guitarist)
U Kar
Senior lecturer of Mathematics at the University of Rangoon
Served as Minister of Education in the Caretaker Government
Later, Rector of the University of Rangoon
Sons : Dr. Thein Maung (EENT), Dr. Tin Maung (UCC, DCS, ICST).
U Ba Toke
U Ba Toke
Phwa Bet Taw of Rangoon University and the First RU Student Strike in December 1920.
Studied at Mandalay University and Harvard University.
Joined the faculty at the University of Rangoon
Taught Mathematics to Science and Engineering students
Professor of Mathematics at RASU
Rector at MASU.
Voluntarily requested transfer to RIT as Professor of Mathematics.
Camp Commander of a Lu Ye Camp
Member of the RU Sports Council
Leader of the Burma Olympic Team.
His life journey is recorded in the book by Maung Thin Char (Dr. Khin Maung Swe).
Passed away on December 2, 2020.
Dr. Chit Swe
Dr. Chit Swe
Studied at Mandalay University, University of London (for B.Sc. Special), University of Glasgow (for M.Sc.) and University of Liverpool (for Ph.D. In Mathematical Statistics).
Founded Universities’ Computer Center (UCC) with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min and Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF).
During the planning stage, the volunteers of the UCC project had to use some rooms at the Department of Mathematics in RASU, and conducted orientation and training courses at Mandalay Hall.
Allowed me to work on several of his projects : High School Mathematics, Children’s Treasury of Knowledge (CTK) and Team of System Specialists (TOSS).
Passed away in Sydney Australia in November 2019
Rangoon Institute of Technology
Mathematics teachers at RIT include
U Aung (Alphoso)
U Hla Myint
U Hlaing Oo
Daw Khin Lay Myint
Daw Khin Nwe Yee
Daw Khine Nyan
U Ko Gyi
Daw Myint Nyan
U Sein Shan (Lecturer and Head of the RIT Mathematics)
U Shwe Hlaing (Chemical Engineer, Mathematician, Taught Engineering Mechanics)
U Thein Han (Burma Basketball Selected)
U Tun Shein
Note : There are many sayas who taught Mathematics at RIT after we graduated.
Sayagyi U Ba Toke (GBNF, Professor)
Daw Myint Myint (GBNF, Head of Department)
Dr. Saw Tin (GBNF, Head of Department)
Mandalay University
U Net (Professor) Daughter : Khin Ma Mar Grand son : Wunna Ko Ko
Dr. Ba Kyi He and Saya Chit were two sayas with Maths doctorates in the mid 1960s
U Ba Min (SPHS56) Masters at the University of California at Berkeley Taught Mathematics and Astronomy at RASU and MASU Due to medical reasons, he resigned when he was transferred to Myitkyina College Opened a shop in Mandalay Zay Cho. One day, some Japanese students visited their shop. They were surprised that U Ba Min was a classmate of their professor. They took photos to show them to their professor.
Sayas from various Departments
Met several sayas from RASU (Rangoon Arts and Science University and its affiliated Colleges), Institute of Education, Institute of Economics, BERB (Burma Education Research Bureau) and worked with some of them. They include
U Aung Sein Holds the record for highest marks in Honors exam Brother : Dr. Maung Di
U Hla Myint
Daw Khin Ma Ma Spouse : U Soe Nyunt
Dr. Khin Maung Swe (Maung Thin Char) Spouse : Myint Myint Khaing
Dr. Khin Maung Win
U Ko Lay
Dr. Kyaw Nyunt
Dr. Kyaw Thein
U Maung Maung Tin
Dr. Min Oo (SPHS63) Second in the Matriculation examination in 1963 Lu Ye Chun in 1965 Later a Staff saya at a Lu Ye Chun Camp Received two doctorates in Mathematics from Germany Taught in Canada, Germany and as Visiting Professor in USA.
Daw Myint Myint
Daw Myint Myint Khaing Father : Arzani Mahan Ba Khaing Spouse : Dr. Khin Maung Swe
Dr. Pyke Tin
Dr. Saw Tin
U Sein Min
Dr. Sein Win (Doctorate from Germany) Father : Arzani U Ba Win
U Sein Win (Astronomy)
U Soe Min
U Soe Naing
U Soe Nyunt Spouse : Khin Ma Ma
Dr. Thein Myint
U Tin Hlaing
Dr. Zaw Win (from Nyaung Oo) Second in the Matriculation examination in the early 70s. Doctorate from the same school as Min Oo.
Curriculum Committee
Members of the Mathematics Curriculum Committee include
U Ba Shan
U Myint Than
U Myint Thein (now Dr.)
U Kyaw Soe (now Dr.)
U Yan Naing
UCC Connection
U Aung Zaw Transferred to UCC as Systems Programmer. MSc (Computer Science), University of Southampton in the UK. Training at the University of California at Santa Cruz Taught at UCC before moving to CSO Taught at Assumption University in Bangkok and in Sydney, Australia Wrote two books : “Bawa and Dhamma” and “Cetana Thi Thar Kan“.
ICST Rectors
Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) Succeeded Dr, Chit Swe as Director of UCC. During his tenure, DCS and ICST were established. First Rector of ICST
Dr. Kyaw Thein (GBNF) Conducted tutorial classes for our I.Sc.(A) class. Succeeded Dr. Tin Maung as Rector.
Dr. Pyke Tin Taught Computational Mathematics at ICST. Succeeded Dr. Kyaw Thein as Rector of ICST.
Magazine and Book
Dr. Khin Maung Swe (Maung Thin Char, GBNF) and U Soe Naing (Geometry and Puzzles) were Editors and/or Publishers of the Thin Char Sar Saung.
Dr. Khin Maung Swe interviewed Sayagyi U Ba Toke and wrote a book about Sayagyi’s life journey.
His spouse Daw Myint Myint Khaing (daughter of Arzani Mahn Ba Khainf) transcribed the interviews.
The book was sponsored by the RU Thin Char Mi Thar Su and was published to commemorate Sayagyi’s 90th birthday.
Mercury Project for single astronaut We Seven (book by the seven astronauts) The Right Stuff (book and movie)
Gemini Project for two astronauts
Apollo Project for three astronauts
Apollo 1 Fire due to electrical system failure caused the deaths of three astronauts) Needed time to rethink safety measures
Apollo 6 and Apollo 7 after the program restarted
Apollo 8 Orbit the moon and return to earth in December 1968
Apollo 9 Tested the start/stop of Lunar Module engine
Apollo 10 Flew Lunar Module to a specified height above the moon
Apollo 11 Landing on the Moon in July 1969 Neil Armstrong (Mission Commander) Michael Collins (Command Module Pilot) Buzz Aldrin (Lunar Module Pilot) My poem sent to NASA Also published in the Guardian newspaper
Apollo 12 Longer stay on the Moon
Apollo 13 Power failure in Command Module Devised plan to use the power from Lunar Module to return safely to Earth Movie
Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16, Apollo 17 Use of rover Extensive collection of lunar rocks One Geologist/Astronaut
Lawrence Dudley Stamp Served as Professor of Geology and Professor of Geography at Rangoon University.
Dr. Tha Hla Professor Of Geology Rector of Rangoon University Retired from UN Anecdotes Defending his protege for States Scholar Two incidents with Director Thar Du (Censor Board, Academy Award) Led students by example (Protests, Ajala) Equal treatment to his visitor (Pro, Anti) Provided drinks (whiskey …) to those who heeded his “guidelines on drinking”
Dr. Nyi Nyi Deputy Minister of Education Supported UCC Project Established the then new Education System (including some controversial issues such as ILA) Author (Ok Aw) Retired from UN
U Ba Than Haq Pro Rector, RASU RU Sports Council
Dr. Maung Thein Professor Told students (e.g. Soe Myint) about applying for courses at UCC Invited Soe Myint and me to give lecture / seminar during the vacation at MASU Some sayas were not delighted with the idea Invited UCC to give a short course on Computers at RASU
U Ba Maw Senior Lecturer He and his students discovered items related to Ramapithicus Higher authorities “warned” him for letting a young US researcher take photos of Ramapithicus and reporting in a US magazine
Miscellaneous
Minor subject for early Civil Engineering students
Option for early Science Scholars
Diploma in Applied Geology (DAG)
Specialization in Gems
NASA astronauts (especially for the Lunar Missions) had to study Geology
Apollo 17 had Dr. H Schmidt (Geologist/ Astronaut, later became a US Senator)
An essay for a test / competition may have a length limitation (e.g. maximum number of words)
Presentation style can vary
Descriptive
Narrative
Argumentative (Logical reasoning)
Abstract
I once wrote “My life as a fighter bomber” (trying to bomb the Nazi forces).
Politically Correct?
One writer (some attributed to Sir Winston Churchill) wrote:
An essay should be like a lady’s skirt Long enough to cover the subject Short enough to be interesting
In the early days, there was no “political correctness” and “gender sensitivity”.
To lighten the atmosphere, I quoted the tongue-in-cheek definition described above in the “Count Down to the Union” series for SPZP-2000.
A brilliant Sayama Lay (with a foreign doctorate) accused that I was irresponsible and had made fun of women.
Ashin Pannagaveska (Bobby, Myo Tun, A69) wrote :
I remember my sixth standard English teacher, our beloved Headmaster Mr.(later Reverend) Booth’s wife, entered me and a few others into the Essay Writing Competition held by the St. John’s Diocesan Boys’ School + St. Mary’s Diocesan Girls’ School Association. I chose the topic “A Visit to the Zoo” and, to my surprise, won the first prize in the middle school category! Two hardback books, one on Quotations and the other on Synonyms, were awarded in a ceremony held at the Judson Church on Prome Road.Pleasant and proud memories!Another vivid memory is of the essay I chose to write in the GCE ’O’ level English Language exam paper taken at Clifton College in the UK in 1960. The title chosen was “A Book or a Film Read or Seen Recently”. I had a great time writing on my favorite author John Steinbeck’s “Sweet Thursday”, which incidentally, I’ve read at least six or seven times since then!
“Chamber’s Cyclopaedia” was one of the earliest encyclopedias. It covered 40+ subjects.
In our younger days, we had “Pear’s Soap” and “Pear’s Cyclopaedia”. The company was probably building its brand name by supporting the publication of an encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia Britannica
My uncle had a set of “Encyclopedia Britannica”. It covers many topics written by SME (Subject Matter Experts). Yearly supplements were published. The final supplement came out a couple of years ago. There will no longer be printed editions. There will only be on-line subscription.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a collection of encyclopedias in multiple languages.
The English edition of the Wikipedia is the largest.
The accuracy of the Wikipedia is comparable to that of the “Encyclopedia” thanks to the countless volunteer contributors and editors.
I was a volunteer to correct discrepancies (mostly entries on Burmese/Myanmar). For example, a young author wrote that St. Paul’s High School was the first among the De La Salle Schools in Burma. He was unaware that St. Patrick’s High School in Mawlamyaing was the first (and was established a few months earlier than St. Paul’s).
No Absolute Perfection
There is a slight chance that there are errors in an encyclopedia (or an equivalent “book of knowledge”). One author was unaware that Rajiv Gandhi was the elder son of Indira Gandhi. He was a pilot and entered politics only when his younger brother Sanjay Gandhi (touted as Indira’s confidante and successor) died in a plane crash.
Collaboration
The advent of Internet and the rise of “Collaborative Work” have lowered the time and cost to maintain encyclopedias.
A few years back, I received a call to submit entries to “Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife”. I emailed to the editors that I was willing to help them on the Burmese section. They sent me four samples and asked me to send back one short article (not exceeding 500 words and with two or more references) on a chosen Head Word (e.g. Burmese American Festivals). They reviewed my article and accepted me. The remuneration was $10. I replied that I would like to have a copy of the 2-volume encyclopedia. A deal was struck. They would give me the encyclopedia if I submit at least 8 articles. Nine articles were accepted. Two articles were merged with the work of other authors. One author was a Burmese College Professor. Another was probably a graduate student, who inserted the wrong date for Martyr’s Day. The Editors promised to correct his error in another edition. I received a 3-volume encyclopedia (initially projected to be 2-volume) and an additional $10.
Google Books
Some are not aware of “Google Books”.
If one goes to “Google Books” and search for my name, one can find the nine articles.
Burmese Encyclopedia
In my younger days, my parents bought me “Myanmar Swel Sone Kyan” (Burmese Encyclopedia).
I heard that the “Myanmar Swel Sone Kyan” is under re-development with the help of SME (Subject Matter Experts).
HlaMin 