Author: Hla Min (Lifelong Learner)

  • Poem — To the Fallen Warrior

    Poem — To the Fallen Warrior

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Poem ကဗျာ

    • Poem to honor Sarsodaws (စာဆိုတော်များ Writers) who struggled for Burma’s Independence
    • Published in Forward Magazine.
    • Bohmu Ba Thaw was Chief Editor. U Sein Hla was Editor.
    • Received Fifteen Kyats.

    Taw Hlan Yay

    (တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့)

    • Celebrated on March 27.
    • Later renamed as Armed Forces Day (to downplay the participation from all walks of life).

    Independence Day

    (လွတ်လပ်ရေးနေ့)

    • Celebrated on January 4.
    • It is not clear why 4:20 AM was chosen to replace the Union Jack with the Union Flag.

    Updates

    • Maung, Ko & U are prefixes for Burmese names.

    Posts

    • Holidays
    • Magazines
    • Poetry
    • Publications
    • Rhyme
  • Allen Htay

    Allen Htay

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Highlights

    • Born in Mandalay
    • Eldest of five siblings
    • Matriculated from Yegyaw Methodist. U Thit was a year senior to him.
    • Some friends call him “Bo Htay” or “Htay Bo Htay”.
    • His mother told him not to apply for State Scholarship before graduation.

    Civil 1958

    C58
    • Graduated in 1958 with Civil Engineering
    • Classmates : Dr. San Hla Aung, Dr. Win Thein, Khin Mg Win (Sid), Oscar Sharazee

    Saya

    • Joined Civil Engg Dept as Assistant Lecturer

    States Scholar

    • Received State Scholarship to study in the USA
    • Masters from Harvard. Also attended some courses at MIT (e.g. “SCHEME” / Lexically scoped Lisp). Programmed his calculator using Reverse Polish Notation
    • Returned to Burma on an ocean liner with U Tin Maung Nyunt, U Soe Paing and U Ko Ko Lay.

    RIT

    • Promoted to Lecturer
    • President, RIT Photography Association
    • Supervised C73 Final Year project, where his students — Dennis Mackey & George Peters — used UCC computer.

    UN Project

    • Advisor in Bengladesh

    USA

    SF Bay Area

    SF Bay Area Alumni Group
    • Leader of SF Bay Area Group, which formed “RIT Alumni International”
    SF Bay Area Alumni
    • Founding member & President of RIT Alumni International
    SPZP-2000 Organizers
    • Core Organizer of SPZP-2000. His article “Brother, can you afford $500 and more?” saved the organizers from U Nyo Win’s Act.

    BAPS

    • Took me to BAPS picnic. Demonstrated “Burmese Goodbye” by taking an hour to greet alumni on the way back to his car.
    • To avoid monotony, he took a different route going out and coming back. He did not mind missing an exit; he would simply make a turn at the next one.

    Mini-gatherings

    • He, Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt, U Ko Ko Aye, Ko Thein Naing (Patrick) and me would meet monthly to have Coffee / Tea & Dosa တိုရှည် and chat.
    • Sometimes, Dr. San Lin would come down from Santa Rosa to see Saya U Soe Khaw. Saya Allen & I would join them for lunch gathering, which extended until dinner.
    With Dr. San Lin

    Interest

    • He has interest in Comparative Religion & Culture. Saya U Aung’s anecdote mentioned Saya’s visit to a mosque & Burmese Buddhist Temple in Singapore.

    Retire & Un-retire

    • He retired twice.
    • Was coaxed by his former students to un-retire twice. Saya U Thein Aung (Met72) requested him to work at the Lawrence Livermore Lab at UC Berkeley. Later, Saya U Myat Htoo (C68) requested him to work as Consultant for CalTrans.
    • Passed away before his final retirement.

    Health

    • Survived two Strokes.
    • Succumbed to the Stroke at the MEHS Reunion in Las Vegas. He accompanied his spouse Daw Mu Mu Kin (MEHS57) to the Reunion.
    • Did not live long enough to see his four grandsons. Two have “Allen” in their names.
    • May he rest in peace.

    Donations

    • In Saya’s memory, Daw Mu Mu Kin donated Sayas’ books to YTU Library. She also offered scholarship to eligible YTU students via NorCal RITAA.
    Two Sayas


    Brief Bio

    • Initial version provided at SPZP-2000
    Saya Allen Htay and Daw Mu Mu Kin
    • Born in Mandalay, attended St. Joseph English Convent and St. Peter’s Boys’ School in Mandalay and the Methodist High School in Rangoon.
    • Graduated B Sc (Engg) in Civil Engineering in 1958 from Rangoon University and joined the Faculty of Engineering as Assistant Lecturer in the same year at the invitation of Prof T Ba Hli, then Dean of Engineering.
    • Awarded the Burmese Government State Scholarship for study in the United States from 1960 to 1963, and the US Government Fulbright Travel Grant.
    • Received the degree of Master of Engineering from Harvard University in 1963, specializing in Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering.
    • Returned to Burma and joined the newly formed Rangoon Institute of Technology in Gyogon.
    • Served as Lecturer in Civil Engineering from 1964 to 1975, except from 1966 to 1968 which was spent on advanced study in Hydraulics Engineering in the Netherlands at Delft Technical University under UNESCO assistance program for Burma.
    • Immigrated to USA in 1975. Currently working at the California Department of Transportation as Project Engineer.
    • Married to Mu Mu Kin in 1971 and have two surviving children, Myo Lynn and Thuzar Kin. Mu Mu works at TIBCO Software Inc in Palo Alto to supplement the family income.

    Work Experience

    • Soils Engineer: Mueser Rutledge Wentworth and Johnston, New York, NY, 1975-1978.
    • Washington DC Metro Subway Project. Civil Engineer: International Engineering Company, Inc, San Francisco, CA, 1978-1983.
    • USAID Bangladesh Fertilizer Warehouses Construction Project.
    • Senior Staff Engineer: Morrison Knudsen Corporation, San Francisco, CA, 1984-1996.
    • DOE Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project.
    • Principal Research Associate: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 1997.
    • DOE Yucca Mountain High Level Radioactive Materials Repository Project.
    • Transportation Engineer: California Department of Transportation, Oakland, CA, 1999-.
    • Toll Bridge Program- Project Development/Project Controls.

    My dear parents gave me birth and brought me up to be a good son. My teachers taught me everything else I know. My land of birth, Myanmar, through the sweat and hard work of its citizens supported and paid for my engineering education and my studies abroad. To each and everyone I am obligated and I give my thanks. For it is narrated in Al-Hadith that one who does not thank one another in this life even for little favors is unworthy to thank the Lord for the big favor.

    Civil 1958 Photo

    • Submitted by Saya Allen Htay
    • Dr. San Hla Aung helped to identify classmates
    • U Khin Maung Win (Sidney Chen) supplied the photo
    Class of C58
    Class of Civil 58

    Sitting: (1) U Pu (2) Dr. Aung Gyi (3) U Min Wun (4) U Ba Hli (5) Mr. Redpath (6) U Ngwe Thein (7) Mr. Eswara (8) Mr. Num Kock

    1st Row: (1) Khin Maung (2) Than Aung (3) Htay Aung (4) Khin Maung Lwin (5) Kyaw Tin (6) Win Thein (7) Chit Pe (8) Shwe Tun Maung (9) Win Maung (10) Thein Lwin (11) Tun Yi (12) Than Pe

    2nd Row: (1) V. Kumar (2) Kyaw Hoe (3) Allen Htay (4) Ba Hnin Chit (5) Kyaw Mya (6) Kyaw Din (7) Irwin Myaing (8) Chit Aye (9) Maung Maung (10) Nolan Wu (11) Morgan Singar

    3rd Row: (1) Patrick George (2) Oscar Shirazee (3) Hla Shwe (4) Aung Par Thein (5) Saw Lwin (6) San Hla Aung (7) Shwe Win (8) Douglas Hoe (9) Sidney Chen

    Notes

    There was a mini-gathering at SPZP-2000. The attendees include

    • Mr. Num Kok (Portland, Oregon)
    • Dr. Aung Gyi (Ottawa, Canada)
    • U Min Wun (Los Angeles, California)
    • U Allen Htay (Mountain View, California)
    • Dr. San Hla Aung (New Orleans, Louisiana)
    • Mr. Oscar Shirazee (Middle East)

    When Sidney Chen’s health was failing, his daughter requested us to let his classmates and friends know that he was eager to regain contact with them. Sadly, he passed away.

    Mr. Oscar and U Aye Win Hlaing used to work in Iran many years ago. Mr. Oscar’s spouse is the sister of U Ngwe Zoe (Peter, SPHS57).

    Due to schedule conflicts, Saya Dr. San Hla Aung could not attend some SPZPs. He retired at the age of 80. He is now free to attend many SPZPs.

    Saya Dr. Win Thein succeeded Saya U Min Wun as Professor and Head of the Department. Except for a warning sign from an early Medical check up, Saya was healthy. He finally passed away in Yangon. His sister has donated Saya’s Garawa money to selected Charities.

    Brother, can you afford Five Hundred Dollars?

    And many weekends spent away from your family as well? If you can then you probably are a member of the RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe organizing committee.

    It all began one day several months ago when we met over lunch at Benny Tan’s home in Hillsborough. Ko Hla Min and Ko Khin Maung Zaw among the lunch party had started the RIT Alumni website and were receiving enthusiastic responses. Hearing that the duo were carrying on the project all by themselves we decided to throw in our moral and financial support to assure its survival, realizing that it was providing a needed service for the RIT alumni to locate and communicate with each other. Every one present, ten of us at that time, took out our checkbooks and wrote out one hundred dollars each, with promises of more as needed. We informally called ourselves the RIT Alumni Bay Area Group. I was asked to be the group leader.

    After that fateful event we continue to have regular meetings, hosted in turn at the homes of some among group members: Ko Hla Min, Maurice Chee, Ko Myat Htoo, Ko Thein Aung, and most recently Dr Nyo Win. Did I leave out any one? Ah yes! Ko Myint Swe and San San Swe. All the while the membership continues to grow and our objective keeps on changing from support of the website to some vague dream of a future RIT alumni organization on a global scale and finally settled on a plan for RIT Alumni Grand Reunion at the beginning of the 21st Century. Ko Hla Min broached the idea to include Saya Pu Zaw Pwe as part of the Grand Reunion in keeping with the Myanmar custom of honoring one’s teachers. As our plan jelled we got carried away by our own excitement and started talking about holding the reunion before the end of the Year 2000. After all, ending one millennium successfully augers well for success in the next millennium.

    Before we fully realized what we were up to we have found an ideal site, the Embassy Suites Hotel conference hall near the San Francisco International Airport, and found ourselves making a commitment for a definite date, 28 October 2000 and a attendance fee of fifty dollars, a modest amount to encourage maximum number of Alumni to participate. The minimum capacity of the conference hall is 200 seats and we were required to make down payment and sign a rental and service agreement based on 200 seats. Our most optimistic estimate at the time was 100 attendees. If the attendance is low that means the Bay Area Group, as the Organizing Committee was not in force at the time, will have to make up the short fall. Which could amount to as much as five thousand dollars, or five hundred dollar from each group member. We hesitated a moment to reflect on what that means to us individually in terms of diminished spending power. But, in the end our attachment to RIT and the engineering profession, our sincere desire to meet the Sayas and class mates from whom we were separated for long over came us. We will accept the risks.

    Thus was born the preparations in full swing for the Grand RIT Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe. Others must tell the rest of the story – of struggles, compromises, and elations along the way and from participants themselves what it means to be present at the defining moment in the history of RIT Alumni.

    Allen Htay,
    RIT Alumni International – Bay Area Group
    RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe Organizing Committee


    Appreciation of SPZP-2000

    Hello All:

    Thanks and Congratulations for a well organized and well executed event. I believe we all went to bed early Sunday night irrespective of the change back to Standard Time (from Daylight Savings Time according to the rule “Spring forward, Fall back”) , and no doubt slept soundly and very happy, knowing full well what happened during the past three days is more than what we dared to dream. I for one took the Monday off and forgot lunch because I woke up so late. But what is one missed lunch!

    Allen Htay

    ____

    Dear Ko Maung Maung Than (M79):

    Thanks for your note of appreciation for the RIT Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe. Everybody chipped in: the sayas, organizers, committee members, helpers, supporters like you which we were very fortunate to have, the alumni and general guests and well-wishers. We won’t be able to host an event of this magnitude and importance if any of the components were missing.

    Success belongs to everyone.

    Thanks again for your generous support

    Allen Htay


    Remembering Saya Allen Htay

    From Saya U Thit

    Dear Colleagues and students

    I am very sad to hear that Allen Htay passed away.

    I have known Allen Htay since the early 1950s when we were both students at Methodist High School, Yegyaw, East Yangon. He was one year junior to me.

    We were together again in the late 1950s when we were both Assistant Lecturers at B.O.C. Engineering College. During that time he and I together with Saya Num Kock and Saya U Aung Khin went for an excursion to visit Lawpita Hydroelectric Plant construction site near Loikaw, in Kayah State.

    While I was living on the R.I.T. campus in the early 1960s he moved to a house just across the street from us.

    I will always remember him coming to our house many times in the evenings for a chat with my family.

    The last time I saw him was at the 2004 Saya Puzawpwe in Yangon.

    He will be sadly missed by many of his friends and students.

    May his soul rest in Peace.

    Maung Thit (Metallurgy)
    Melbourne, Australia

    From the alumni in Australia

    By Ko “Henry” Thet Tun

    Our sincere and deepest condolences to Saya U Allen Htay & family for the demise of Saya.

    From the RIT Alumni Australia & Myanmar Engineering Association of Australia Inc.

    From Saya Dr. Tin Win (M62) and Daw Lily (T72)

    Dear Ko Hla Min,

    We are very much saddened by the departure of Saya Allen Htay. Please convey our heartfelt condolences to Daw Mu Mu and family. His good nature and kind demeanor will always live in our memory and that of those who loved him.

    While we will all miss Saya Allen very much, I hope all his loved ones can find some slight comfort in knowing that his suffering has ended.

    Very Sincerely,
    Tin Win and Lily.

    From Ko Kyaw Thu (Dennis Mackey)

    Dear Ko Hla Min,

    Without the RIT Alumnu Updates, I would not have known about the passing of our (me and George Peters) final year thesis supervisor Saya U Allen Htay.

    Thank you for your regular as well as supplement updates.

    Please convey our deepest condolences to Daw Mu Mu and family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time of great loss and sadness.

    Best regards,
    Dennis (Kyaw Thu) (C73) and Alice U

    Editor’s Notes:
    Dennis and Alice have relocated to Canada.

    From Saya U Soe Paing and Daw Saw Yu Tint

    My friend Allen Htay (GBNF)

    Some years ago I wrote an article for the ex-RIT.org about my saya friends at RIT which included Allen Htay.

    I met Allen Htay when I joined the 1st Year BSc (Engg) class at the Faculty of Engineering at Leikkhone in 1958 .Ko San Hla Aung was our drawing instructor for the main majors (Civil, Mechanical, Electrical), and Allen Htay was the instructor for the rest.

    In December1958, I went on State Scholarship to Stanford University. When I returned home after completing my studies, I found myself on the same ship S S Warickshire from Liverpool to Yangon with Allen Htay, Ko Tin Maung Nyunt (Agri Eng) and Ko Ko Lay (UCC). There was also another Myanmar Ko Than Pe, a Chartered Accountant, on the ship. Those days it was customary for the Government to send the returning scholars by ship.

    We normally had our meals together seated at the Chief engineer’s table. After dinner we would play bridge to spend the time. Ko Ko Lay partnered with Ko Tin Maung Nyunt and Allen Htay and Ko Than Pe took turns as my partner against them. We played almost every night after dinner and all of us became very good friends.

    We got back to Yangon in October 1963. Allen Htay rejoined RIT. I was posted to RIT in January 1964 and Ko Tin Maung Nyunt in March 1964 and so we were together again. When I got married and moved into the RIT staff quarters I was at 16F, Allen Htay at 16E and Ko Tin Maung at 16D. We visited each others house very often. We also became friendly with Allen Htay’s brothers and sisters.

    I have attached a photo taken during Thingyan 1966 with Allen Htay (2nd from left) and his youngest brother (extreme right).

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is saya-allen-thingyan.jpg

    I left RIT for UCC and the UN, and Allen Htay and Ko Tin Maung Nyunt went to the United States. All of us met gain in the Bay Area in 1985, 2001 and 2010. I saw Allen Htay at the RIT reunions in 2004 (Yangon), 2007 and 2010 (Singapore).

    He could not make it to the 2012 reunion in Yangon because of his health. He was a mild mannered soft spoken gentleman and we will all miss him. May he rest in peace.

    Daw Mu Mu Kin (Saya’s Spouse)

    “Let me count the ways [to love]” by Elizabeth Browning is a poem present by Ma Ma Mu to Saya Allen.


    Donations in Saya Allen’s Memory

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is saya-allen-3.jpg

    In memory of Saya, Daw Mu Mu Kin

    • donated Saya’s books to YTU Library
    • provided cabinets for Saya’s books
    • sponsored scholarships for eligible YTU students

    Maurice Chee (M75) coordinated the donation of books.

    NorCal RITAA and some volunteer alumni from Yangon coordinated the selection of scholarship recipients.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-1.jpg
    Daw Mu Mu Kin (Saya’s spouse)
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-2.jpg
    Meeting
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-4.jpg
    Donation 1
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-5-1.jpg
    Donation 2
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-6.jpg
    Donation 3
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-7.jpg
    Donation 4
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Saya-Allen-8.jpg
    Donation 5

    Updates

    • Several sayas and alumni mentioned in the post are GBNF. They include Saya H Num Kok, Saya U Min Wun, Saya Allen Htay, Saya Dr. Win Thein, Saya U Thit, U Khin Maung Win, U Ngwe Zoe.

    Posts

    • C58
    • Civil Engineering
    • RIT Alumni International
    • RIT Sayas
    • SF Bay Area Alumni
    • SPZPs
  • Myanmar Names

    Myanmar Names

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Length of name

    • One word : e.g Nu နု၊ Thant သန့်
    U Thant
    • Two words : e.g Khin Khin ခင်ခင်၊ Thein Han သိန်းဟန်
    • Three words : e.g Aung Gyi Shwe အောင်ကြီးရွှေ၊ Kyi Kyi Htay ကြည်ကြည်ဌေး Tun Aung Gyaw ထွန်းအောင်ကျော်
    Aung Gyi Shwe
    • Four words : e.g Khin Maung Maung Than ခင်မောင်မောင်သန်း၊ Tin Maung Maung Than တင်မောင်မောင်
    • Five or more : e.g Khin Maung Thet Cho Oo ခင်မောင်သက်ချိုဦး

    Mixed Names

    J A Maung Gyi
    • J A Maung Gyi (Joseph Augustus, Governor) J A မောင်ကြီး
    • M A Maung Gyi (Master of Arts; Diplomat) M A မောင်ကြီး
    • April
      April Chit Khin (Vocalist) April ချစ်ခင်
      April Khine (Lecturer) April ခိုင်
    • May
      May Saw Lwin (Professor) မေစောလွင်
      May Win Maung (Actor) မေဝင်းမောင်
      Maymyo မေမြို့ (Named after Colonel James May) : Pyin Oo Lwin ပြင်ဦးလွင်
    • June
      June Khine (Two Doctors) June ခိုင်

    Based on Saying

    • ကြံတိုင်းအောင်
    • ဆောင်တိုင်းမြောက်
    • လိုတိုင်းရ
    • တတိုင်းမွှေး
    • ထင်တိုင်းပေါက်

    Based on Astrology ဗေဒင်

    Especially Monk Names

    • Sunday born တနင်္ဂနွေ သား — အ
    • Monday born တနင်္လာ သား — က၊ ခ၊ ဂ၊ ဃ၊ င
    • Tuesday born အင်္ဂါ သား — စ၊ ဆ၊ ဇ၊ စျ၊ ည
    • Wednesday born ဗုဒ္ဓဟူး သား — လ၊ ဝ၊ ယ၊ ရ
    • Thursday born ကြာသာပတေး သား — ပ၊ ဖ၊ ဗ၊ ဘ၊ မ
    • Friday born သောကြာ သား — သ၊ ဟ
    • Saturday born စနေ သား — တ၊ ထ၊ ဒ၊ ဓ၊ န

    Father’s Name ဖခင်ရဲ့အမည်

    at the back နောက်မှာ

    • မျိုးပိုင်၊ စိုးပိုင်၊ ဝင်းပိုင်၊ ကျော်ပိုင် — ဦးပိုင် ရဲ့ သားများ

    at the front

    • မောင်မောင်ကြည်၊ မောင်မောင်ခန့်၊ မောင်မောင်သန့်၊ မောင်မောင်မြင့်၊ မောင်မောင်စန်း — ဦးမောင်မောင် ရဲ့ သားများ

    does not appear

    • in most Burmese names — မ ပါ

    Posts

    • Meaning of names နာမည် ရဲ့ အဓိပ္ပါယ်
    • Naming Conventions နာမည် မှဲ့ ပုံ မှဲ့ နည်း
  • Engineering Library

    Engineering Library

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Faculty of Engineering အင်ဂျင်နီယာမဟာဌာန

    Dr. Maung Maung Kha (Interim Dean) asked U Ba Than to help with the Engineering Library.

    U Ba Than

    RIT Library ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ်စာကြည့်တိုက်

    Daw Myint Myint Khin

    Daw Myint Myint Khin was Assistant Librarian at the Faculty of Social Science Library. She became Librarian at the Rangoon Institute of Technology.

    The Library was located on the Ground Floor.

    Several years later, the Library was relocated to a two-storey building near A Block.

    Sadly, it was not maintained well.

    YTU Library

    The YTU Library Upgrading / Modernization Project was initiated as a Requirement for Accreditation of YTU.

    Alumni worldwide donated for the project.

    Daw Myint Myint ဒေါ်မြင့်မြင့်

    • Donated K150 Lakhs
    Daw Myint Myint (C69)

    Dr. Myo Khin & Daw Mya Nwe ဒေါက်တာမျိုးခင် နှင့် ဒေါ်မြနွယ်

    • Donated K100 Lakhs
    Saya Dr. Myo Khin (C) & Daw Mya Nwe

    Training Component စာကြည့်တိုက်မှူးများသင်တန်းတက်ရောက်ရန်

    • Saya George (U Mg Mg) provided $500 as seed money
    • Saya U Myat Thwin, Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt and others donated
    • Total : $3000+
    Saya U Maung Maung (George, ChE)
    Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt (M)

    Other Donations

    • BASES — Members & Friends
    • NorCal RITAA
    • Many individuals
    • Several groups
    • See posts by Wynn Htain Oo & Nan Khin Nwe
  • Fond Memories

    Fond Memories

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Saya U Aung Khin

    2015

    Saya U Aung Khin
    Windsor
    • In July 2015, Ivan Lee (M69) provided car & gas for the trip to Canada and East Coast of USA.
    • Fred Thetgyi (M69) drove most of the way. Also took photos.
    • Visited Saya U Aung Khin (Former Professor of Mechanical Engineering)
    • Saya not only prepared breakfast for us but also gave us mementos.
    • Saya stays fit by playing Tennis and Golf

    Saya Allen Htay

    Donations by Ma Ma Mu

    Saya Allen & Daw Mu Mu Kin
    • Founder and President of RIT Alumni International, which hosted SPZP-2000. See posts : Saya’s articles
    • In memory of Saya Allen, Daw Mu Mu Kin donated saya’s books to YTU Library. She also provided financial assistance to eligible YTU students.

    Saya U Aung Hla Tun

    U Aung Hla Tun
    • Chief Editor of RIT Annual Magazine
    • Associate Professor of Metallurgical Engineering
    • Resident Elder of the Church of Holy Christ
    • Leader of HMEE project
    U Aung Hla Tun donating HMEE books to RU Central Library
    • Published two books. He won National Literature Award for the first book.
    • Despite failing health, he completed the second book and most of his three-year plan.
    • In his memory, Saya U Nyunt Htay (Met73) & team published a book.

    My Souvenirs

    • Some displayed on my desk
    Souvenirs

    Alumni Appreciation Awards

    Award 1
    • Misplaced the award received at SPZP-2000
    • Second award received in August 2026 from Alumni Worldwide
    • Third award received in September 2016 from NorCal RIT Alumni Association
    Award 2

    SPHS63

    SPHS63
    Hla Min
    • Scholarship Winners
    • Award ceremony at SPHS
    • Invited to attend OPA (Old Paulians’ Association) Annual Dinner
    Invitation from OPA

    Toastmasters International

    • DTM Award & Triple Crown received in 2017
    DTM 1
    DTM 2

    Electronic Greeting Card

    • Printed by Maurice Chee
    • Given to me at the Soon Kwyay gathering at Dhammananda Vihara, Half Moon Bay, California

    Gifts from my Myees

    Myee 1
    Myee 2
    • Photo Mug
    • Hand printed cards
    • Father’s Day Gifts

    Present from KMZ

    • for GJ
  • Geography

    Geography

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Sayas

    L Dudley Stamp

    • Taught at LSE & RU
    • Author

    Dr. Daw Thin Kyi

    • Early Professor
    Daw Thin Kyi

    Dr. Tin Htoo

    Dr. Tin Htoo
    • Professor

    U Tun Hla Aung

    U Tun Hla Aung
    • Principal

    RU Geography Dept

    • Old Group Photo of Sayas & Sayamas
    Geography Dept

    U Kyaw

    • Rector, Institute of Education
    • Principal, Workers’ College
    • Children : Myo Nyunt (SPHS), San San Kyaw (UCC), …
    U Kyaw

    Dr. U Win

    • Attended UCC courses
    • Doctorate from USA
    • Water Resources
    • GIS
    Dr. U Win

    U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :

    U Kyaw – father of Daw San San Kyaw, ex-UCC.

    Dr. U Win – first met him when he attended six-month class at UCC. We frequently hang out at the canteens at RASU. Rekindle our friendship here in US, talked to him on the logins several times, yet to meet him face-to-face, hopefully some day soon.

    Updates

    • There are several posts about Geography sayas & students in the RU Centennial FB group
    • U Win also posted blogs
  • Some Buddhist Monks

    Some Buddhist Monks

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    U Lokanatha (Italian Buddhist Monk)

    A book changed his life

    U Lokanatha
    • Mr. Salvitore was working as a Chemist in the USA.
    • Received a book as Christmas present from his supervisor. A chapter was “Dhammapada”.
      After reading it, Samvega (sense of urgency) crept in.
    • Quit his job. Left for Burma to be ordained as a Buddhist monk. Became “U Lokanatha”.
    • Wrote “I became a Buddhist. My supervisor remained a Christian.”
    • Was from a devout Catholic family. Elder brother was a Priest.
    • My paternal grand mother offered a monastery for U Lokanatha in Bawdigone (Windermere), Rangoon.
    • Practiced Dhutanga. Preached & took Dhamma Dhuta missions to India and Ceylon.
    • Passed away in Maymyo in 1966.

    Ashin Ananda

    (Latvian monk)

    Fled Communist Rule

    • Rev. Friedrich V. Lustig’s mentor was the Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia and Lithuania. When the Communists invaded their country, they sought refuge in Burma. The government provided them a monastery in the “Ah Le Pyit Sa Yan” of Shwe Dagon Pagoda.

    Moke Seit

    • Known as “Moke Seit Phone Gyi” for his beard. Came for alms to our parent’s house in Windermere Road.
    • After his mentor’s demise, he became Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia & Lithuania.

    Ashin Ananda

    • Shaved his beard
    • Ordained as a Theravada monk with the title “Ashin Ananda”
    • Laureate Poet & Translator.
      Wrote poems in English.
      Translated selected Burmese poems into English.
    • In July 1969, he gave my poem “Men on the Moon” to Mr. Hall (USIS) to be forwarded to Apollo 11 astronauts. Gave a copy to the Guardian newspaper for publication.
    Men on the Moon

    U Thilawuntha (Mon Sayadaw)

    Built pagodas worldwide

    Dat Poung Zon Sayadaw
    Mon Sayada
    • Dat Paung Zon Aung Min Gaung Sayadaw U Thilawunta (fondly known as “Mon Sayadaw”) built pagodas in Burma/Myanmar, USA, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and several other countries.
    • In the ’50s, Sayadaw visited the United Nations and U Thant. He built the first Burmese pagoda in the Allegheny mountains near New York.
    First pagoda in USA
    • During his visit to California, Sayadaw would spend time with his devotees such as Russell Wolfe (Santa Cruz) and U Aung Myint (Donald, Milpitas).

    Sayadaw U Zeya

    Monastery in Las Vegas

    • Las Vegas has some monasteries including Thai monasteries supported by members of the Royal Family.
    • Sayadaw resided at a Thai monastery and rose up in the ranks. Gave dhamma talks in Thai, English & Burmese.
      Several devotees offered him a monastery.
    • In May 2013, several dhamma friends in the Bay Area rented a van to attend “Htee Tin Pwe” of the pagoda inside U Zeya’s monastery compound.
    • Donated for two Nagas at the Las Vegas Monastery in memory of our parents and in-laws.

    Engineers & Architects

    Dr. Lwin Aung (A59)

    Dr. Lwin Aung
    • Entered monk-hood after retirement
    • Was Professor of Architecture and Pro-Rector of YTU
    • Volunteered as a Consulting Architect for the construction of dhamma buildings
    • Due to health, he left monk-hood after several vassa.

    U Bo Gyi (A59)

    U Bo Gyi
    • Founded “Architect Incorporated” with U Tin Htoon (A60) & U Aung Kyee Myint (A60)
    • Later joined PWD along with his partners
    • Designed Mausoleum for Daw Khin Kyi, and was shunned by the higher authorities.
    • Hobbies : music (piano) and modeling (sculpture)
    • He is now GBNF.

    U Han Nyo (Met60)

    • He helped conduct meditation retreats in Southern California and Mexico.

    U Myo Tun (A69)

    U Myo Tun
    • Ashin Pannagavesaka
    • Won prizes for essays under the name “Errol Than Tun”
    • Made dhamma duta mission to Vietnam
    • Was Dhamma Librarian for Moulmein Pa Auk Tawya Monastery
    • Edited Pa Auk Sayadaw’s books
    • Taught English to Dhammacariya Sayadaws

    U Aung Chaw (C69, SPHS63)

    U Aung Chaw
    • Ashin Ukkamsa
    • Resided in Sagaing
    • Later moved to the Irrawaddy Delta region
    • Met him in 2018 when he came to Yangon. Attended some breakfast gatherings by the 69ers. Kyaw Win (SPHS63) offered soon to Sayadaw at Shwe Ba Htamin Saing, and also offered Nawakamma.

    U Wara (Win Paing, ChE70, SPHS64)

    U Wara
    • Younger brother of Saya U Soe Paing (EE, UCC)
    • Entered monkhood after the Final Year ChE exam
    • Chief Resident Sayadaw, KabaAye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung
    • Was Taik Oke Sayadaw for Sayadaw U Vinaya
    • He is now GBNF

    U Jotika (EE73)

    • Prolific writer and an outstanding Dhamma Lecturer
    • Spent vasa at Taung Pu Lu Kaba Aye monastery in Boulder Creek
    • Revisited US about a decade ago
    • Frequently visited Singapore and other neighboring countries

    Ashin Pannobhasa (M91)

    • Met him in SF Bay Area with his mentor (Sayadaw from Myanmar).
    • Born in April 1966 Thursday (2nd Waning day of Kason 1328 BE) in Pyapon, Irrawaddy Division.
    • After finishing his Mechanical Engineering degree from Yangon (Rangoon) Institute of Technology he received higher ordination as a Bhikkhu or a monk at the age of 24 in the Ordination Hall, Pyapon Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha under the preceptor of Venerable U Vannita, Pyapon Mahasi Sayadaw, Pyapon Mahasi Sasana Yeiktha on 27th July 1991.
    • Chief Resident Monk at a monastery in Seattle, Washington
  • UCC

    UCC

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Video Broadcast

    • Wrote 40+ posts on “Memories of UCC”.
    • A summary was published in the Magazine for the 30th Anniversary of the founding of ICST.

    Founders

    • Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe founded Universities’ Computer Center with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min, and Saya U Ko Ko Lay
    • They led TOSS (Team Of System Specialists), which assisted the computerization of government departments and organizations.

    Dr. Chit Swe

    Dr. Chit Swe
    • My mentor at UCC
    • Alumnus of Mandalay University; Imperial College, London University; University of Glasgow; University of Liverpool
    • Head of Maths Department at the Institute of Economics when he proposed the UCC project
    • Became Professor of Maths at RASU and Founder-Director of UCC
    • Retired as Rector of RASU
    • Continued teaching and supervising research in Thailand and Australia.
    • Passed away in Sydney Australia in late 2019.
    Obituary

    U Soe Paing

    U Soe Paing
    • My mentor at RIT & UCC
    • Matriculated from St. Paul’s High School in 1956. He stood 13th in the whole of Burma and won Collegiate Scholarship
    • In the RU Convocation in 1958, he won two medals: one for highest score for combined I.Sc. (A) and I.Sc.(B), and another for joint highest score for Mathematics in combined I.Sc.(A) and I.Sc.(B).
    • While attending classes at the Faculty of Engineering, he was awarded a Government Scholarship to study BSEE and MSEE at Stanford University.
    • In 1964, he joined EE Department at RIT as Assistant Lecturer.
    • Helped with the UCC Project.
      In April 1971, Saya transferred to UCC as Manager of Systems Division.
    • M.Sc. (CS) from University of Southampton, UK
    • Wrote “Computer Ah Sa UCC Ga” in a computer magazine in Myanmar. It was re-posted in “Mandalay Gazette”
    • Retired from UN after working on UN projects in several countries.
    • In July 2020, he gave an interview to MASTAA.

    U Myo Min

    U Myo Min
    • Matriculated as a top student from SPHS in 1958.
    • Won a Gold medal in 1960 for standing first among the I.Com students.
    • Won another Gold medal in 1962 for standing first among the B.Com (Accounting) students.
    • Chartered Account
    • Worked for IBM UK
    • Returned to Burma
    • Joined UCC as Manager of Applications
    • Masters in System Engineering from the University of Lancaster, UK
    • Later worked in Singapore and USA

    U Ko Ko Lay

    U Ko Ko Lay
    • Classmate of U Soe Paing at SPHS and Stanford University.
    • While attending classes at the Faculty of Engineering, he was awarded a Government Scholarship to study BSCE and MSCE at Stanford University.
    • Joined PWD as an assistant engineer.
    • Dr. Chit Swe & U Soe Paing recruited him to help with the UCC project.
    • In April 1971, Saya transferred to UCC as Manager of Operations Division
    • Masters in System Engineering from the University of Lancaster, UK
    • Later served as Manager for Scientific Applications at UCC, Professor of Computer Science at DCS, and Professor of Information Systems at ICST.
    • He is GBNF.

    Posts

    • Computer Science, Technology and Applications
    • Computing Pioneers in Burma
    • Memories of UCC — Series of articles
    • Paying back to my alma mater
    • UCC Founders
    • @hmin3664 — to access my videos
    YouTube Channel for my videos
  • First in Burma (Matric)

    First in Burma (Matric)

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Pre-war စစ်ကြို

    U Kyaw Myint

    U Kyaw Myint ဦးကျော်မြင့်

    • Matriculated from Government High School with Distinction in all subjects
    • Former Supreme Court Justice
    • Chair of Tribunal to try ဂဠုန်ဦးစော Galon U Saw
    • Dean of Law
    • Head of Law Firm
    • Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote a series of articles about his father

    U Ba Khin ဦးဘခင်

    U Ba Khin
    • Matriculated from St. Paul’s High School; First in the whole of Burma
    • First native Auditor General
    • Headed four Government Departments
    • ဝိပဿနာ တရားပြ Vipassana Teacher (of Ledi Lineage)
    • His mentor : Saya Thet
    • His mentee : S N Goenka

    1951 – 1965

    • George Chapman (St. Paul’s) — 1951
    • Nyunt Tin ညွန့်တင် (St. Paul’s) — 1952
    • Hla Shwe လှရွှေ (Yegyaw Methodist) — 1953
    • Koon Yin Chu (St. Paul’s) — 1954
    • Lily Hwang (Methodist English) — 1955
    • Ye Myint ရဲမြင့် (St. Peter’s) — 1956
    • Htin Kyaw ထင်ကျော် (Sacred Heart) — 1957
    Dr. Soe Win
    • Soe Win စိုးဝင်း (St. Paul’s) — 1958
    • Frankie Ohn အုန်း (St. Paul’s) — 1959
    • Austin Kyan (English Methodist) — 1960
    • Lina Ong (English Methodist) — 1961
    SPHS63
    • Khin Maung Uခင်မောင်ဦး (St. Paul’s) — 1963
    • Cherry Hlaing လှိုင် (St. John’s Convent) & Lyn Aung Thet လင်းအောင်သက် (English Methodist)— 1964
    Bernard Khaw
    • Bernard Khaw (St. Paul’s) — 1965

    အထွေထွေ General

    First ရတဲ့ ကျောင်းများ Schools

    • St. Paul’s High School — Prewar, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1965
    • English Methodist — 1954, 1960, 1961, 1964
    • ရေကျော် Yegyaw Methodist — 1953
    • St. Peter’s — 1955
    • Sacred Heart — 1956
    • St. John’s Convent — 1964
    • Government High School — Prewar

    ဘာသာရပ် / Profession

    • Architecture – 1954
    • Audit – Prewar
    • Chemical Engineering – 1965
    • Chemistry – 1958, 1965
    • Law – Prewar
    • Medicine / Surgery – 1952, 1955, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964
    • Physics – 1953, 1956, 1959
    • Unspecified – 1951

    1964

    • New Education System ပညာရေးစနစ်သစ်
    • တက္ကသိုလ်ဝင်ခွင့် အတွက် ILA စသုံး

    1965

    • ကျောင်းများ ပြည်သူပိုင်သိမ်း Nationalization of schools on April 1

    Updates

    • Some are GBNF. They include U Kyaw Myint, U Ba Khin, Dr. Nyunt Tin, Dr. Ye Myint & Dr. Lina Ong.
    • SPHS has a Roll of Honor. It is on display at the SPHS Museum.
    Roll of Honor
  • Myo Khin, Dr.

    Myo Khin, Dr.

    by Hla Min

    Update : July 2025

    Highlights

    Dr. Myo Khin 1
    • Paulian
    • Past Secretary, RIT Civil Engineering Association
    Past Secy of RIT Civil
    • Graduated from RIT in 1970 with Civil Engineering
    • Received Masters and Doctorate from Japan
    • Retired as Professor from a Japanese University.
    • Consultant for selected Japanese companies.
    • Helped Civil Engg grads from Myanmar get internship and/or job in Japan
    • In 2017, Saya and Daw Mya Nwe (Winsome, C73) donated K100 Lakhs to the YTU Modernization Project.
    Donation
    • He had a Stroke.
    • Praying for a speedy recovery.

    Dr. Myo Khin wrote :

    Dear U Hla Min, Thank you very much for your kind and favorable phrases for my donation to the RIT library. This is the token of my feeling to my home university. Up till now I have helped around 50 grads from RIT and other TUs in Myanmar with respectable engineering jobs in Japan. Moreover this is totally free of any charges or obligations. Only one request I made is “please try hard and prove yourself” and this will lead to the next recruitment for your juniors back in Myanmar.

    Updates

    • After treatment & rehab, he recovered from the Stroke reported in the post.
    • We had frequent conversation.
    • He had another Stroke.
    • He is happy to become a father-in-law.
    Pon Tu by Bagyee Myat Myo Myint