It was the first day of the first class at Architecture Department. Saya U Shwe was teaching Basic Drawing to a class of twenty odd students. We did nothing that day except drew lines free hand. Straight lines, curved lines, lines at an angle, lines with unique character, lines with attitude, lines, lines, and just lines . . . . all day. For those who selected Architecture as their first choice among majors available at RIT, that was fun. For the rest, it was a nightmare and set the tone for what to expect in the next few years as a Student Architect.
In the following days we migrated to drawing plan, elevation, and section of any chosen object. Any object you can see well enough in your minds’ eyes to draw it correctly. One of my classmates, Ko Kyaw Myint, whose family ran a popular café, chose to draw section of a Chinese pao (Pauk-Si) with interesting fillings inside. The class had a good laugh. He is now a successful businessman in Rangoon.
Our batch was a unique one. We were the first batch of the new system at that time (1979). After matriculation, two years of Regional College and a diploma in a technical field, we still had to sit for an entrance exam to get into RIT. Never mind what different technology path you went through during the second year of Regional College, here we were at the famed Institute of Technology in Rangoon.
The process by which raw space is turned into a comfortable living or working environment is a fascinating and difficult one, not entirely dissimilar to the process of becoming an architect. There were moments of great joy punctuated by ones of exhaustion and despair when you can’t seem to get the right configuration for the plan you are working on or can’t quite grasp the combination of mass and void to shape the space you want. But at the end of each day, there was progress, and at the end of many weeks, there was something beautiful and meaningful on the drawing sheets or as a model where form matches function. Our teachers were there to guide us through this process and help us understand what 20th Century Architecture is (Saya U Myo Myint Sein), how form follows function (Saya U Hla Myint), what Urban Design really is (Saya Dr. Kyaw), why less is more (Saya Dr. Lwin Aung), and what it means to be an Architect in Burmese society (Saya U Win Htein).
Classes were not only held in our design studios, Nway-Aye (Warm-Cold), a favorite café on campus, was also used as our satellite class-room from time to time as students and teachers discussed various matters and debated architectural issues endlessly.
Soccer was also a part of our culture though teams selected from much larger talent pool consistently beat up Architecture team. On one occasion, Ma Hlaing Maw Oo (Maw Oo Hoke) promised to dance at the Fresher Welcome dinner if we can score a goal against the team we were playing. The other team cooperated happily so that we get to see her perform. Saya Dr. Koung Nyunt opened up our eyes with his weekly lectures and slide-shows on Landscape Architecture. The department library had limited resources, up-to-date books and technical magazines. We all benefited a lot from Dr. Koung Nyunt’s recent return from Japan to not only share his experience, but his collection of slides and books.
A lot of our Sayas’ homes became our gathering places. These on campus gatherings at Saya Dr. Lwin Aung, Saya U Hla Myint, and Saya Dr. Koung Nyunt’s houses were filled with laughter…. and we learned something from each event. Bonds between student architects and architect-teachers were formed which last for decades. Some went on to form partnerships in architecture practice.
We also had close ties with other departments. Dr. Win Tin (EE) had an electronics club whose members were our close friends: Ko Kyin Shein (EE 81?), the late Ko Myo Aung (EE83), Ko Thu Ta (EE82), and Ko Ye Gaung (EE82, currently in San Jose). Dr. Win Tin’s group provided electronics and acoustic wizardry to campus wide events where our Association of Student Architects usually took care of the transformation of ordinary campus settings into one of festive environment.
During this time some former architecture students had especially close ties to the school and had positive influence on the students’ design philosophy and style. Two Architects stood out among the trend setters at that time: Ko Khun Tha Myint and Ko San Oo, who later joined the faculty. Both are now doing extremely well in Myanmar. Ko Khun Tha as a businessman, and Ko San Oo as the founder of Design 2000. Ko Khun Tha headed up Architects Cooperative (I am sketchy on the exact name of the organization) with Saya U Kyaw Thein who taught fifth year Design Studios and Acoustics.
Architects’ Co-op prospered for many years until the mid-eighties. A lot of former Co-op architects have went on to become quite successful in various parts of the country: Ko Myint Han (81), Ko Sai Yee (82), and Ko Kyaw Than Oo (82) in Mandalay for instance.
After a few years in the private industry, I left Burma for a job in Australia as an architect. I fell in love with CAD while working on the design-build team for an award-winning college complex. I later came to the Grad School of Architecture at UCLA in Los Angeles. That’s where I became a programmer in CAD, and then later in Internet technologies and databases (around 1995). I am now so removed from architecture that the only design I do at work is E-Commerce applications and infrastructure design as I run the E-Commerce and Travel group at Walt Disney Internet Group. But my heart is still in Architecture and Design. I caught up with some of the classmates in Rangoon last year.
Association of Myanmar Architects (AMA) has been in place since 1996, headed up by Saya U Hla Than, Sayama Daw Min Thet Mon, Ko Myo Tun (Bobby), Ko Myint Han, Ko Nay Zin Latt (80) and Ko Nyunt Win Lay (82) among many others. AMA publishes a newsletter regularly, and organizes lectures, tours, and competitions. In the spirit of competition I believe our new blood of student architects are better prepared to take on the world. Recent news of gaining recognition at international level is quite encouraging for the young Burmese architects. Back in November 1999, they were looking to raise funds and find enough talent to form a new private School of Design. I am not sure if AMA has made progress on that front. I hope that we can somehow manage to help this going.
I’d like to second Mr. Ivan Lee’s suggestion. As we juggle our busy professional and personal schedules spending time on the congested freeways/subways, I’d like to urge you to think of how we can work together to take advantage of this tremendous talent and experience pool we have here.
I’d like to think that this reunion is just the beginning of more fruitful endeavors to come and that we’d be able to put together something solid and plan for the future at the reunion.
Editor’s Note:
Many years ago, a teenager boldly challenged me to a game of Junior Mastermind. His father had multiple talents: a bilingual writer, translator, poet with famous pen names such as Mya Zin, Po Yaza, and Epsilon, an MPA from Harvard, Technical Advisor to National Planning, an accomplished Bridge player, a maestro in Vipassana meditation, and the Auctioneer in the “Myanmar Gems Emporium”. His mother was a teacher well liked by her students. That teenager, now married to a famous Myanmar movie actor, is the web master of a prime e-commerce site. The couple will be in town for the Reunion. Despite a busy schedule, Ko Thet Win kept his promise [given several months back] to write a special article for our web site. Ko Thet Win is a Double Architect : first, an Architect for buildings, now, an Architect for Computers. His spouse completed the Los Angeles Marathon. She and her daughter would sing and dance at events.
Due to time & resource constraints, only a fraction of the materials could be described in the book “History of University Engineering Education in Burma/Myanmar”
CD Supplement
U Ohn Khine (M70) and I compiled references, articles in English and photos that were not covered in the book into a CD.
We attempted to cover as much historical data and articles as possible.
Materials for non-Burmese readers
Part 1 of the HMEE book was translated by U Ohn Khine (M 70). Saya Des Rodgers corrected the contextual and usage errors.
Part 2 is not a complete translation of the Burmese text. To avoid duplication of some materials (e.g. lengthy tables), we have chosen to present a summary & overview.
Archives from the SPZPs: SPZP-2000 (San Francisco), SPZP-2002, SPZP-2007 and SPZP-2010 (Singapore), and SPZP-2004 (Yangon)
Photo Albums
From ex-RIT web sites, RIT Alumni Facebook Pages, Sayagyi U Ba Than, Saya U Soe Paing and U Myo Myint (EC67)
History of the Engineering Departments
By Dr. Aung Gyi (Rector), U Min Wun (C), U Aung Khin (M), U Soe Khaw (Min), U Thit (Met), U Myo Myint Sein (A)
Selected Posts
Excerpts from “RIT Alumni International Newsletter Updates” from 1999 – 2012 by U Hla Min (EC 69)
Interviews
Saya U Tin U, Saya U Ba Than and Saya U Khin Aung Kyi gave interviews for HMEE-2012 project.
Proofreaders
Saya U Soe Paing, U Ohn Khine and I proof read HMEE-2012 and provided corrections (e.g. RIT Luyechun list did not contain 1965), but they was not enough time to do all the corrections.
HMEE projects
Saya U Aung Hla Tun is the leader for HMEE-2012 and HMEE-2018 Projects.
HMEE-2018 will cover revisions and extensions to HMEE-2012.
Due to the pandemic and Saya’s demise, HMEE-2018 is in limbo.
Provide service / expertise usually free (with volition)
May receive indirect compensation (e.g experience, appreciation)
The Battle of Alamo in Texas : fought by Davy Crockett and the Volunteers from Tennessee
Peace Corps
UNV (United Nations Volunteers) extended to Online Volunteers
Volunteers for Medical Research
Volunteers for UCC Project
Volunteers for fighting the pandemic Front line medical workers Donors for the prevention and treatment Food (Rice …)
Volunteers for Associations, Foundations …
My Volunteer work
Hla Min
Helping SPHS Librarian (in Fourth Standard)
RIT English Newsletter
RUBC (Treasurer, Vice Captain, Contributing Editor for 90th Anniversary Issue, Memories of RUBC series of articles)
RIT EE Association (Class rep, Joint Secretary, Secretary, Hlyat Sit Sar Saung)
UCC (Lecture Guides, Training Materials, Memories of UCC series of articles)
RU (Golden Jubilee in 1970, Gangaw Myay Tekkatho Yar Pyay, series of articles)
Contributor and/or Editor
Burmese Language Project (National Foreign Language Center)
Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife
RIT Alumni International Newsletter
BAPS Newsletter
Dhammananda Newsletter
Materials for TBSA Summer Dhamma Camp
Editor
Dhamma talks by Sayadaw U Silananda
Three books by Sayadaw U Jotalankara
Two books by Saya U Aung Zaw (Computer)
Contributor
Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for 2002, 2007 and 2010
Swel Daw Yeik Magazine for 2014 (Shwe YaDu)
Computing
Docent, Computer History Museum
Volunteer, SF Bay Area ACM Chapter
Admin / contributor
hlamin.com Life Long Learning RIT Updates Memories
Lectures
BARB / MARB
UCSY
Dawei Nga Gyan Pyan Kyaung
Translator / Interpreter
TMC
Several sayadaws
Several articles
Several Kabyars
____
Overviewof my Post “Volunteer (1999 – present)
Who would appreciate the spouse and family supporting my 26 years as volunteer messenger, editor and organizer for RIT Alumni (e.g. web site, newsletter, Facebook groups, SPZPs)?
Thanks for the support and understanding. I have posted the following:
Countdown to the Reunion : 64 posts
Post Reunion : 36 posts
RIT Alumni International Newsletter and Updates (1989 – present)
Micro Reunion and/or PZP
Mini Reunion and/or PZP
Reunion and/or PZP
Grand Reunion and/or PZP
News, articles and photos by Sayas and Alumni
Class of 69
Health Care Funds
Photo Albums (for trips down memory lane
1999 to present
1999 Started “RIT Alumni International Newsletter”
2000 First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in San Francisco, USA Commemorative web pages (thanks to KMZ / U Khin Maung Zaw) 64 Countdown to the Reunion posts 36 Post-Reunion posts Commemorative Issue of the Newsletter by U Hla Min and team with my “SAYA PUZAW PWE” poem on the Front Page
2002 Second RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in Singapore Commemorative Issue of “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung” by Saya U Moe Aung and team Reprinted my “SAYA PUZAW PWE” poem as Back Cover
2004 Third RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in Yangon Mild earthquake did not rattle the attendees
2007 Fourth RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in Singapore Commemorative Issue of “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung” by Saya U Moe Aung and team Contributed a poem titled “SWE DAW YEIK“
2010 Fifth RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in Singapore Commemorative Issue of “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung” by Saya U Moe Aung and team Contributed an article : Sad and short clip — EE sayas
2012 Sixth RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in Yangon True “Home Coming” in the Gyogone Campus Special publication : History of University Engineering Education in Burma/Myanmar by Saya U Aung Hla Tun and team (Ko Ohn Khine and I prepared the supplemental CD for the book) Special publication: Selected RIT Cartoons Commemorative Issue of “Swel Daw Yeik Magazine” by U Saw Lin and team Reprints: Limited number of vintage RIT Annual Magazines
2013 Swel Daw Yeik Foundation Contributions for various projects Health care for the sayas and sayamas “Saya Geha” as long term project
2014 Shwe YaDu 50th Anniversary of the opening of RIT in 1964 Planted 50 Swel Daw Bins Paved Shwe YaDu lane and set up Swel Daw Yeik benches Translated Saya U Moe Aung’s Shwe YaDu Lann poem Commemorative Issue of “Swel Daw Yeik Magazine” by Saya U Moe Aung and team (Contributed an article : “Recollections of a 69er”)
2015 RIT Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles Several follow-up gatherings in San Francisco Bay Area
2016 RIT/YIT/YTU Alumni Association (Known as RITAA) Seventh RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP in Yangon 10000+ attendees Free food and fun (all day and all night long) Platinum Jubilee for the Class of 69 Hosted by some 69ers for their friends (in their sunset) Attended SPZP-2016 and Platinum Jubilee of the Class of 69 Soonkway at Half Moon Bay Monastery (organized by U Maurice Chee) Received Alumni Appreciation Award from alumni worldwide Annual Dinner by Northern California RIT Alumni Association Received plaque signed by Saya U Myat Htoo (Chair, BOD), U Kaung Kaung Oo (Gordon, President), and U Thaung Nyunt (Secretary)
2018 Wrote “Trivia” posts (later dropped “Trivia” in the titles) lifelonglearning140.wordpress.com (Archive / Raw Posts) hlamin.com (Paid Personal Web Site) Attended Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe of ICST/UCSY
2019 Completed two decades as Editor of RIT Alumni International Newsletter and Updates Visit to Singapore and Myanmar Moderator, RU Centennial FB Group Panelist at the 5th Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay Attended Golden Jubilee of Graduation at Gyogone Campus, and the Reunion Dinner / Entertainment organized by U Aung Min and team Attended Arcariya Pu Zaw of ICST/UCSY
2020 Invited as Guest for the PSA (Professional Speakers’ Association) 2020 Tour to Upper Myanmar (Mostly) Stay-at-home due to Pandemic Translated Kabyars for “Poetic Art Series“ Videos broadcast daily (starting August 18, 2020) Countdown to RU Centennial On a sad note, the SPZP was cancelled due to the pandemic. Saya U Ba Than could not invite his former students and colleagues to the Annual Birthday Soon Kway. However, Saya was wished by his siblings and relatives via Zoom meetings. His brother U Tin Htoon (A60) compiled a Photo Album / Book (with the help of Henry Kao / Htaik San) for the Life and Achievements of Saya. The Book was not delivered by the regular Post Office Services. Saya U Tin Htut offered to send the Book via DHL. He also pledged to donate a copy of the Book to YTU Library.
2021
Continue posting two Videos daily
2022 – present
Update posts
Swel Daw
Ideas from Tekkatho Moe War, Maung Sein Win (Padeegone), Maung Nyunt Htay (Ah Htet Min Hla)
You were the victim of a superstitious power monger willing to crush “Pretenders to the Throne” animate and inanimate.
Without a just and fair trial, you were condemned to death.
When one Swel Daw Bin was axed Two magically reappeared
When two Swel Daw Bins were hacked Four appeared to baffle the tormentors
With each atrocious act Swel Daw Bins rebounded and redoubled
The ADHAMMA authorities persisted and ruthlessly rooted all Swel Daw Bins from the Land of the Bearers/Defenders of DHAMMA
Why? Why? Why?
Swel Daws do not have destructive power or desire to exploit They do not have LOBA, DOSA, and MOHA They simply display pristine, beauty and elegance They embody the principles of trust, integrity, and unity of mentors and mentees students, teachers, and Loke Tha’s They provide shade, calm and tranquillity to those seeking rest & peace of mind
With the dawning of the Pwint Linn Era Fifty majestic Swel Daw Bins bloom gallantly along side the famed Shwe YaDu Lann with pleasing Shwe YaDu Benches
There have been tears of sorrow when Swel Daws were banished from the Land
Now there are tears of joy with many artifacts bearing your name
BIT (Burma Institute of Technology) was opened at the Gyogone Campus in 1961.
The degree offered was B.Sc. (Engg).
Saya Dr. Aung Soe (C61), Saya U Maung Maung Win (M61) and Saya Dr. San Tint (EE61) were fledgling sayas at BIT.
Saya Dr. Tin Win (M62), U Aye (62) and Bohmu Myint Thein Lwin (EE62) were some students who attended the Final Year classes at BIT.
BIT was renamed as RIT (Rangoon Institute of Technology). The official name change took place in 1964. The degree was renamed as B.E.
We are not sure if “BIT Rangoon” was considered as an alternative to RIT. IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) has several campuses. The five oldest IIT campuses and their establishment dates are: (a) IIT Kharagpur IITKGP 1951 (b) IIT Bombay IITB 1958 (c) IIT Kanpur IITK 1959 (d) IIT Madras IITM 1959 (e) IIT Delhi IITD 1963 [founded in 1961]
AIT (Asian Institute of Technology) was supposedly started as a school for SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization).
Several states (Massachusetts, Illinois, California, …) in USA are known for their Institutes of Technology. Sayagyi Dr. Freddie Ba Hli received his Sc.D. in EE from MIT. He was an informal adviser to Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi and Sayagyi U Min Wun, who were among the first three engineering undergraduates to be chosen under the “TWINNING PROGRAM” initiated by Sayagyi U Ba Hli, first native Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University.
RIT was renamed as YIT (Yangon Institute of Technology) and then YTU (Yangon Technological University).
During the “Adhamma Era”, classes were relocated to far away places, and “Swel Daw Bins” were decimated. The A to G Halls were “transformed” into make-shift quarters. Wall clocks stopped. Bushes sprang up. A video of that time brought tears and anger, and the notion that “we might not live to see our alma mater in its former glory for decades to come”.
With the dawn of the some-what “Pwint Linn Era”, our alma mater rose from the ashes. Per request from H.E. U Aye Myint (EP 72), the alumni — young and old, near and far — provided physical, monetary, and spiritual support to help the alma mater in every way possible.
The first true “Home Coming” took place in December 2012. There were tears of joy. 3000 copies of the commemorative Swel Daw Yeik Magazine (not just Sar Saung) were sold out in a couple of days. Limited reprints of the 23 RIT Annual Magazines were also sold out. Autographed copies of “Selected RIT Cartoons” were also sold out. Some copies of “History of University Engineering Education in Burma/Myanmar” may still be available.
There were six Annual Magazines published by RUESU (Rangoon University Engineering Student Union). Saya U Moe Aung learned and refined his publication skills as an editor/publisher of the magazine. The student unions and all professional organizations were banned following the coup d’eat in March 1962. Censorship increased with subsequent regimes.
We now have an official alumni association.
The Seventh RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP held in 2016 was grander. Free food and entertainment were provided the whole day.
Thanks to the sayas and alums for keeping the RIT Spirit (Swel Daw Yeik Spirit) alive and well.
Memoriesof SPZP-2000
SPZP-2000 Organizers include
Saya Allen Htay (C58, GBNF) wrote “Brother, can you afford US 500$?”
Ko Benny Tan (M70), Golden Sponsor & co-chair of Working Committee, designed memorabilia : SPZP-2000 Banner, Mug, T-shirt, Calculator/clock
Ko Maurice Chee (M75), co-chair of Working Committee, Financial Controller, Publisher of commemorative issue of “RIT Alumni Newsletter”
Committee members from Northern California & Southern California took care of the planning and execution of the main event and supplementary picnic
Ko Khin Maung Zaw (EC76), designed and implemented htto://www.ex-rit.org; instrumental in getting the sayas and alumni world-wide get reconnected
I wrote 64 “Countdown to the Reunion” and 36 “Post-Reunion” articles for the ex-rit web site and RIT Alumni International Newsletter.
A commemorative issue of RIT Alumni International Newsletter was published with Yours Truly as Chief Editor, Ko Henry Lim and Saya U Thein Aung as Associate Editors.
Saya U Nyo Win (M65), Saya U Myat Htoo (C68), Saya U Thein Aung (Met 72) … made sure that the event was “not out of control”
Hired professionals (Photographers and Videographers) to record the event
[Later] The VHS tape was converted to DVD
Feel free to see the DVDs, the commemorative issue of “RIT Alumni International”, 64 “Count down to the Reunion”, 36 “Post Reunion”, Photo albums …
U Moe Aung (EE63) lost mobility for a while, but has recovered. He is active writing articles & poems, and giving lectures at Electrical Inspectorate.
U Kyaw Sein (M65, GBNF) was active with RIT-related Facebook pages. He passed away in Singapore.
U Ohn Maung (ChE68, GBNF) has a medical condition (e.g. memory loss). He passed away in Singapore.
Swel Daw Yeik Foundation provided annual Garawa money to Sayas U Kyaw Sein & U Ohn Maung for health care.
U Khin MaungTun (T78, SDYF)
U Khin Maung Tun (Right)
He is President of Swel Daw Yeik Foundation
Donated K2000+ Lakhs to SDYF and RIT-related activities
Hosted lunch meetings for SDYF
During his visit to the 2015 RIT Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles, he gave me an MP3 player loaded with dhamma talks
U Myo Myint (Bagyee, M73)
He is retired Dy GM of Burma Railways.
Drew cover designs for the RIT Annual Magazines and the commemorative Swel Daw Yeik Magazines.
Drew Pon Tus of many sayas and sayamas, and selected friends.
Donated proceeds of the paintings from his Gallery at the SPZP to Swel Daw Yeik Foundation and RIT Alumni Association.
U Myint Swe (EP74)
He worked in Singapore and USA.
Founding member of NorCal RITAA.
Served as Secretary & Vice President
U Aung Myint Oo (EC84) & U Tin Maung Win (C86)
U Aung Myint Oo is a founding member and Past President of NorCal RITAA.
U Tin Maung Win is a founding member and President of NorCal RITAA. He and his spouse sponsored scholarship for an eligible YTU student
U Tin Maung Aye Htoo
He and fellow alumni in Nay Pyi Taw raised fund for Alumni Association in general and the YTU Library Project in particular
Handed over the donations to Nan Khin Nwe
U Thant Zin (M82), U Ohn Khine (M70) & U Zaw Winn (Min71)
U Thant Zin is the son of Saya U Sein Shan (GBNF). Volunteer for SPZP, RITAA, HMEE and All-Mechanical. He passed away in a car accident.
U Ohn Khine is the founder / moderator of the Google group for “Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65”. During my visits, he provided rides to attend SPZP & HMEE meetings and to selected gatherings. Translated Section One of the HMEE-2012 Book, and summarized Section Two of the book. He and I compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE-2012 Book.
U Zaw Winn (Zinyaw gyi, Min71) is an organizer for the “Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65”.
Photo was taken at the special Reunion and Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe hosted by U Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, EC70)
U Tin Myint (M75, GBNF)
He is seen handing over his donation to Nan Khin Nwe.
Daw Than Yi (EP70)
Pen name : Maubin Ma Shwe Than)
She is an author and publisher
Editor of “Hlyat Sit Sar Saung” published by RIT EE Association along
Blogged about her days at RIT and EPC
She and Dr. San Oo (EP67) reprinted a science fiction by Journal Kyaw Tint Swe (Dr. San Oo’s father). They published a book by William (eldest Myee).
U Myo Aye (M92) & U Tin Latt (M85)
U Myo Oo, U Wynn Htain Oo, U Tin Latt
U Tin Latt headed the Executive Committee of RITAA for the initial period
The torch was passed to U Myo Aye after the First Annual General Meeting and Election
U Wynn Htain Oo is Patron and Fund raiser of RITAA
U Hla Kyi (M62)
Visit 1Visit /
He is a class mate of Saya Dr. Tin Win
His daughter’s spouse is the son of Saya U Hlwan Moe (GBNF) and Sayama Daw Khin Swe Aye (Emily).
Photo (taken during his visit to Southern California) was provided by Saya U Tin Htut (M60).
U Thaung Lwin (EC66)
U Thaung Lwin
He is the younger brother of Saya U Tin U, Saya U Ba Than (GBNF), Dr. Myo Tint (GBNF), U Tin Htoon (A60) & Saya U Myo Min (UCC)
Past Captain and Gold of RUBC like U Tin U, Dr. Myo Tint & U Tin Htoon. U Ba Than & U Myo Min are RUBC Full Green.
Worked for IBM Burma and Chartered Semiconductors in Singapore
69ers
RIT daysBreakfast Gathering
69ers have monthly breakfast gathering (usually at Taw Win Hnin Si)
Also have ad hoc meetings (e.g. Annual Dinner at M3)
Pay homage to Saya U Ba Than on or around October 2nd
U Tin Shein (“Phone Gyi”, Chinlon) and U Pe Han Tun are Khamee Khamet
One photo shows Tin Aung Win (Oscar), Tin Maung Aye, Aye Thein, David Myint Thein, Aye Lwin
U Tun Tin handed over the donation of his friends (some in Australia) to Daw Khin Kyi Foundation
Celebrated the 30th Anniversary of Graduation in 1999, 40th Anniversary of Graduation in 2009, 50th Anniversary of Admission to RIT in 2014, and the True Golden Jubilee (50th Anniversary of Graduation) on December 14, 2019
88 members including Shastri are GBNF
Khamee KhametsTun TinBFFT69 in 2009
U Than Tun (A65, GBNF)
He is the elder brother of U San Maung (A71) and a nephew of Sayadaw U Silananda.
He read the biography of Saya U Tha Tun (pioneer Burmese architect) and co-authored the article with Saya Dr. Koung Nyunt (A67, GBNF).
He visited Saya U Myat Htoo (C68) in Northern California.
U Myat Htoo took him on a lightning trip to Southern California to meet U Tin Htoon (A60) & back to Dhammananda Vihara, Half Moon Bay, Northern California.
U Thar Htay, Benny, U Thant Zin, U Hla Win & U Myint Toe
Steeve’s gathering
Steeve Kay (EC70) requested Benny Tan (M70) to host — on his behalf — a special Reunion & Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe in December 2016.
U Khin Maung Lay (Mutu) served as Master of Ceremonies.
I recounted Steeve’s philanthropy in general and to his alma mater and alumni in general. With the help of U Win Htay, we compiled a booklet including the commemorative issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” for SPZP-2000, and selected news and articles about the “Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65”.
Benny spoke on behalf of the alumni.
Saya U Win Mra (RIT English) spoke on behalf of the sayas.
On behalf of Steeve, the committee members (such as Rosie Mai Khin Nyunt) offered Garawa money of K2 Lakhs to the sayagyis and sayamagyis, and K1 Lakh to the sayas and sayamas.
The attendees include
U Thar Htay (M70) : major donor to the Aariya Pu Zaw Pwes held by the group
Benny Tan (M70) : multiple Golden Sponsor of SPZPs and the class PZPs along with Steeve
U Hla Min (EC69) : Guest speaker at the PZP
U Hla Win (M73) and U Thant Zin (M82) : volunteers with the Steeve and Helen Kay Health Care Fund
U Myint Toe (M71)
U Thein Kyaing (T72)
U Thein Kyaing
He (George, T72) is a classmate of Daw Khin Htar Yee (Lily).
He and his spouse Daw Tin Tin Hlaing (MBBS) gave away their daughter Eileen (MD)
U Tin Oo (M87) & U Kyaw Hlaing (M86)
Tin OoTin Oo
U Tin Oo (Richard, M87) donated to SPZPs, SDYF and RITAA. His company sponsored gift bags for SPZP-2012 and SPZP-2016. He also sponsored Technical and Management Talks. During my visit, he hosted a lunch gathering for me, and he gave me a ride on another occasion to attend a family gathering.
U Kyaw Hlaing (M86) served as Treasurer for SDYF. His group helped the eligible and needy students (who did not receive “full” stipend from NorCal RITAA).
Tazaungdaing
T 1T 2T 3T 4
Daw Myint Myint Than (C71, GBNF) and Daw Tin Aye (C73)!published photos of some Tazaungdaing events.
One event took place in the Gyogone Campus.
One event took place at the Shwe Dagon Pagoda.
Belles in the ’70s
Min Thet Mon (Pamela Myo Min)
Phyu Phyu Latt (Christine)
Than Than Yi (GBNF)
Tin Tin Myint (Emma Myint)
Aye Aye Than (Pauk Pauk)
Aye Aye Tun
Jessie Htwe
Nilar Mya Aung
Mai Khin Nyunt (Rosie)
Sandi Hlaing
Still Belles
At Panda
Rosie
Emma
Christine
Mar Mar Yee
Sayas & Alumni in Singapore
S 1
Saya U Thein Lwin (EE, GBNF) was President of RIT Badminton. He is an alumni of Lehigh University. He retired after teaching at RIT and Singapore Polytechnic. He is the elder brother of U Myo Myint (ChE from US), U Kyi Lwin (George, C67), U Tint Lwin (Daniel, M69) and U Thet Lwin (Henry, EE72).
Sayama Daw May Than Nwe (Joyce, GBNF) stood first in the Physics Honors class in 1962. Her classmates include Dr. Sein Tun, Sayama Daw Emile Ba Aye and Sayama Daw Khin Than Nwe.
Saya and Sayama passed away within a few months of each other. Their daughter is a Professor and a former swimming champion.
Saya U Kyaw Sein (M65, GBNF) was active in RIT-related Facebook pages.
Saya U Tu Myint (Winston) supervised the “Hovercraft” project for the M73 students.
U Nyan Win Shwe (William, M72) chaired SPZP-2007.
U Myint Thin (Peter, M71, GBNF) was a Luyechun. He rowed for RIT.
U Tin Aung Win (M73) is one of the members to greet Saya U Ba Than and send off
Singapore
U Win Naing (Dicky Tan, M69, GBNF) passed away in Singapore.
U Thein Swe (EP69, GBNF) was then working in Singapore.
U Myint Thein (Kabar, M69, GBNF) was then visiting Singapore.
U Tin Swe (ChE66) & Daw Yi Yi Khaing (Vilma, ChE69)
Seniors at MES
MES holds “Thet Kyee Pu Zaw Pwe” for engineers and architects who are 75+ years old.
Sayadaw Dr. Lwin Aung (A59, retired Pro-Rector)
Sayadaw U Bo Gyi (A59, talented pianist, architect for Daw Khin Kyi Mausoleum)
Thet Kyee PZZp
Senior Metallurgists
Sr. Met
Aung Khin & Myo Nyunt
AK & MN
U Aung Khin (A69) & Daw Tin Tin Hla (A70) retired from Botwana and moved to Seattle to be near their daughters and grandchildren.
U Myo Nyunt (C69) & spouse visited their second son (working in Seattle) almost every year. They also made side trips.
Aung Myint
U Aung Myint (Min71) is the younger brother of A1 Than Htut and A1 Thein Htut (twin brothers who won prizes at the Myawadday Photo Contest, and later became movie directors).
He became known as Thamankyar Ko Myint.
He is a good guitarist and vocalist.
Some attendees at SPZP-2000
SPZP-2000
Sai Tun Aye : Canada
Dr. Myo Khin : Japan
U Tin Myint (John) and Lyo : California
Maung Toung (Tom) and Ma Khin Myint (Kim) : Connecticut
U Tint Lwin (Daniel) : Singapore
U Soe Myint Lwin (EP68, GBNF)
Soe Myint Lwin Obituary of Soe Myint Lwin
He served as and Executive Committee Member of RIT EE Association.
He played soccer for the Universities, EPC & Burma.
After retirement, he was active with the Myanmar Soccer Federation.
He received an award for his social work and leadership.
Tin Aung Win (Oscar)
Tin Aung Win
Aung Min
Aung Min
U Aung Min (M69) is Chair of 69er Health Care Fund.
He is a Pho Pho.
Than Htaik & Aung Win
TH & AW
U Than Htike (M70)
U Aung Win (Owen, M71)
Sann Naing’s Soon Kyway at HMB
U San Naing (M83) owns Burma Kitchen.
He and his siblings celebrated their mother’s birthday with a Soon Kyway at Dhammanda Vihara, Hlaf Moon Bay.
Soe Aung & Zaw Win
U Soe Aung (M/Auto70) served as Secretary of RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Ah Thin. He is seen at a Conference.
U Zaw Win (Zin Yaw, Min71) and U Soe Aung are organizers of the “Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 amd 65”. They love writing and giving lectures.
Soe Aung 1Soe Aung 2Soe Aung 3Zaw Win
Shwe Zin Ma
She is a musician, a Zat sayama and Minthamee
SZM
Soon Kyway for Kabar
Stan Liou (M67, UTC)
He was a member of the RIT Table Tennis Team that won the Inter-Institute Trophy along with Maung Maung (“Sin Gyi”) and Win Myint. Saya Mao Toon Siong (M62, Burma Champion, National Coach) managed the team.
Dr. Yan Naing Lwin wrote : Ko Sein Shan was at University of Illinois, U-C in 1959-60. His room mate was Ko Hla Tun (Peter, now in San Jose). He received his MS in Theoretical & Applied Mechanics (TAM) & returned to Burma.
Yan Gyi Aung wrote : – Saya U Sein Shan was my most familiar Maths Saya since BIT period 1961-62. At that time engineering students were only about over 100. Female students were only two, one each at Textile and Chemical Department. He was the President of Point 22-Rifle Club of BIT & I was the Secretary. We usually went to South Okkalapa Shooting Range and practiced. While he was suffering from heart disease at his home in about 1999 in Mayangone, I frequently went to his house and encouraged him. Also when taking treatment at RGH hospital, at Cardiac Hall No 19/20, I went to him carrying boiled rice and some eatables as breakfast. Very remarkable and historic event he did was while Major Subjects (Lines, such as Civil, Chemical, etc) performed paying respect ceremonies to the respective department Sayas, Maths Department had no such ceremony. Maths Department always had no ceremony at that time. So Saya invited all the engineering students in the Daily Newspaper that he would celebrate a friendship dinner to serve all engineering students with Danbauk rice at the Nawarat Hotel in 2000, I think. Very peculiar Saya was!
There have been seven RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwes.
SAYA PUZAW PWE
Background
InvitationSPZP-2000 OrganizersSPZP-2000 Video
In April 1999, I started the “RIT Alumni International Newsletter”.
At the request of Saya U Soe Paing, U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) designed and implemented the first RIT web site : http://www.ex-rit.org. I served as the Content Provider and Editor.
Saya Allen Htay and several alumni — Benny Tan (m70), Maurice Chee (M75) … — decided to support our noble task.
At one of the meetings at Ko Benny’s house, the San Francisco Bay Area Alumni Group decided to establish “RIT Alumni International” with Saya Allen as President and Ko Maurice as Treasurer.
At another meeting, Saya U Aung Khin (who was visiting the San Francisco Bay Area from Canada) gave the Go-ahead for planning the First RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe.
Since the sayas and alumni profess different religions, we chose the term “Saya Pu Zaw Pwe” over “Saya Ga Daw Pwe” (which has a religious connotation).
The primary objective of the Saya Pu Zaw Pwe is to repay the metta and cetana of our mentors.
It allows several core sponsors and organizers to safely participate in SPZP-2000.
SPZP-2000
The First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP (SPZP-2000) was held in San Francisco in October 2000.
It was a two-day event.
The main event was held at the Embassy Suites Hotel. There was a nominal fee to attend the Reunion Dinner and SPZP.
The follow-up event was an optional Brunch Gathering (where the sayas and alumni can bring their families and friends).
There were official and volunteer videographers and photographers.
A three-hour VHS tape was offered for a nominal fee to interested sayas and alumni. A few years back, the VHS tape was converted into a two-set DVD.
Organizers and Sponsors
The core volunteers were willing to hold the event at all costs.
“U Nyo Win Act” said that the core volunteers will have to chip in if there are not enough paid attendees.
Saya Allen Htay wrote an article, “Brother, can you afford US$500 and more?” for my Newsletter and the web site.
A young alumni Sarina Tan (Htay Htay Than) relayed the news to U Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, EC70). Steeve is a close friend of Sarina’s father. Steeve has also provided help while Sarina was pursuing her graduate studies.
Steeve contacted Ko Benny and also sent checks for SPZP-2000.
Ko Benny used Steeve’s seed money to design and order commemorative T-shirts, mugs and calendar clocks. Some mementos were offered to the attending sayas and the core volunteers. The rest were put on sale for “Fund Raising”.
Ko Benny later visited Yangon to organize a mini-SPZP for the sayas and sayamas who could not attend SPZP-2000.
Thanks in part to Saya Allen’s article, five Golden Sponsors and Donors — large and small — U Nyo Win’s Act was not enacted.
RIT Spirit
We thank the Golden Sponsors
U Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, EC70, GBNF)
Tan Yu Beng (Benny Tan, M70)
U Tin Myint (David Ko, M67, GBNF)
U Khin Maung Oo (Ivan Lee, M69)
U Maung Maung Than (M79)
and donors — large and small, young and old, near and far .
SPZP-2000 proved that the RIT Spirit was alive and well all over the world. SPZP-2000 defied the belief that RIT was a dying breed.
My poem “SAYA PUZAW PWE”
S eems like it was only yesterday A t our alma mater in a land far away Y ou taught us to work, play, laugh, even cry A nd coaxed us, forced us to aim for the sky
P roblems in real life, lab, computation, survey U nderstand concepts, design, display, … Z eal, zest, ardor, grit, passion to make it “our day” A rchitects, engineers, we’ve come here to say W e honor your metta, your cetana — we fully can’t repay
P resently we meet, alum from five decades we greet W ith memories true, fond, sweet E cstatic yet sad that the GBNF could not join this memorable fete
My poem was published in the commemorative issue of RIT Alumni International Newsletter and on the web site http://www.ex-rit.org
The poem was reprinted on the back cover of the commemorative issue of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for SPZP-2002 hosted by the Singapore alumni and chaired by Saya U Moe Aung (Tekkatho Moe War).
The poem has been reprinted in several RIT-related magazines.
Seven world wide SPZPs
They include
SPZP-2000 (California, USA)
SPZP-2002 (Singapore)
SPZP-2004 (Yangon)
SPZP-2007 (Singapore)
SPZP-2010 (Singapore)
SPZP-2012 (Yangon) : first true Home Coming
SPZP-2016 (Yangon) : hosted by RITAA; free food and entertainment
USA SPZP
The First RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe was held in the USA in October 2000.
See “Commemorative Issue of RIT Alumni International Newsletter for SPZP-2000”.
Singapore SPZP
Singapore sayas and alumni hosted
SPZP-2002 in December 2002
SPZP-2007 in April 2007
SPZP-2010 in December 2010
See “Commemorative Issues of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for SPZP-2002. SPZP-2007 and SPZP-2010”.
Yangon SPZP
Yangon hosted SPZP-2004, SPZP-2012 and SPZP-2016.
Notes :
Yangon could not host SPZP-2006 due to the political climate and so requested Singapore to host SPZP-2007.
SPZP-2020 was canceled due to the pandemic.
SPZP-2012 : True Home Coming
It brought tears of joy. Many have given up the hope of seeing their beloved alma mater rise again from the trampling of the Adhamma Regime. HE U Aye Myint (EP72) paved the way to have the True Home Coming (Reunion & SPZP) at the Gyogone Campus.
SPZP-2016 : Free all-day event at Gyogone Campus
It was the first SPZP to be held all day at the Gyogone Campus.
Thanks to sponsors and donors of SPZP-2016, free food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) was offered to all attendees.
Thanks
Kudos to the sayas and colleagues for keeping the RIT spirit alive and well.
Thanks to my wonderful family for letting me spend 26 years as a volunteer Editor of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter”.
Mr. Chairman, my Sayas, my former colleagues, friends, RIT graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Before I begin to say anything, I would like to request you to take the word “RIT” as to stand not only for Rangoon Institute of Technology but also BOC College of Engineering and Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. I am using RIT only, just for convenience sake.
Having said that, it is with a chestful of emotions that I am standing before you, trying to say a few words appropriate and befitting to this important and joyful occasion. My overwhelming emotion is, needless to say, happiness – happiness which results from seeing my Sayas, my friends, my former colleagues, and RIT graduates alive and well, after so many years. My happiness is also mingled with a certain amount of pride: pride arising from the knowledge that we have fond memories and a sense of belonging and attachment to the good old institution as well as to one another.
We are fortunate that we could all gather here to exchange our life experiences, both good and bad, and to reminisce about our past when we were at RIT. While we are doing that, we all must have noticed that all of us have changed quite a bit since we last saw one another, at least physically, some more so than other. We all now have a few gray and also less hair, we have a few wrinkles on our face; maybe we also lost a few teeth and cannot see or hear as well as we did before. Some of us also lost the memory a bit and become forgetful about lots of things such as forgetting names for example. This, as we all know, is life and nature of things. Everything changes and nothing is permanent. Bur fortunately we still have our values. Our values such as respect and gratitude for the elders and teachers, caring of our respective children and family members, helping our friends, and attachment, and gratitude to the institution which nurtured us to meet the challenges of life, are still with us. They have not changed. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and reunion is a testimony to those values.
I must now pause and thank and congratulate the Organizing Committee for their untiring and selfless efforts to make this event possible and successful. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and RIT Alumni reunion is, as far as I know, once-in-a-life-time event. As far as I am concerned it is already a resounding success with the cooperation and great enthusiasm that I have seen. I hope this will be the beginning and not the last of our get-togethers. When my wife and I paid visits to Myanmar in 1996, 1997 and 1999 we had mini get-togethers with RIT Alumni. When I was here a few years ago we also got together with a few RIT Alumni. I understood that Saya U Aung Khin also had one mini get-together here some years ago. But these get-togethers were not on a grand scale as the one that we are having here now. However the spirit of camaraderie and friendliness among RIT Alumni mini get-togethers, was the same as the one that we find here now. If you look around you, you will find that all of us came here from different parts of the world, indicating the great attachment and respect that we all have for our old institution and also for one another.
While I was preparing for this speech, fond memories of the years that I spent as a student, as a teacher and later as Rector at RIT came flashing through my mind. Without going into details, I remember that all my teachers, including Saya Num Kock and Saya U Ba Toke who are here with us, were good inspiring teachers with kind hearts. When I became a teacher and later the Rector at RIT, I noticed that my colleagues were good and dedicated people who tried their best to teach what they had learnt from good Universities and Institutions abroad.
They made conscious efforts to raise the level of education at RIT so much that the students were fully occupied with classes, studies, projects, and homework. I have to mention here that my Sayas and my former colleagues were, and still are honest, compassionate, gentle and kind people. Within this context I would now like to take this opportunity to offer my humble apologies to my Sayas and colleagues for the wrong things that I may have done or said which might have hurt them in any way in the past.
As for the students, I remember that they were good, intelligent, and energetic students in general. Since I was also involved in extracurricular activities of the students, I had more interaction and gained more understanding of their needs and feelings. Like most of the other teachers I tried my best to be helpful to them not only in their studies but also in any other problems that they needed my help. Because of the compassion that I had shown for them they became more communicative, and listened to what I had to say most of the time. Like a breath of fresh air, the first batch of female engineering students were among us, I believe in 1958. So far as I remember they did as well as or some even better than the male students in their studies. I remember that as a teacher I felt very good and satisfied whenever some students did well in their studies or did well in their careers after they left school. These are fond memories that I still have with me about the students at RIT.
As you probably know, I left RIT and Myanmar in 1977 to join UNESCO. I then migrated to Canada to join International Development Research Centre (IRDC) in 1981. For your information, IRDC is a Canadian Agency which funds research projects for development in the developing countries. I retired from IRDC in 1997. Looking back to the past, I must say that I spent the best years of my life at RIT, challenging and troubling at times, but on the whole happy and satisfied with the job that I was doing.
Now please let me take a few minutes of your time to share with you my thoughts, which I believe are some important elements of life. You might not agree with me to what I am going to say. At least, in that case, you might take them as food for your thoughts. If I sound like lecturing to you now, you must remember that the habit of a former teacher dies hard. When I was young and immature. I had great admiration for people with high I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). I also tended to think in those days that I was quite intelligent. After going through life experiences with ups and downs I became to realize that high Emotional Quotient (E.Q.) or emotional mastery is more important in life than high I.Q., to cope with adversities, disappointments, failures and sometimes even tragedies. No one that I know of, escapes the negative impacts of life in one form or another. If you have emotional mastery you can deal with and overcome these negative impacts and still get ahead in life and be relatively happy. One thing that can help us is to have optimism, hope and courage in life and to minimize the negative thoughts and creeping pessimism. It will be wrong to classify anything in life in opposites either in black or white. One can neither be fully optimistic nor fully pessimistic all the time. There is a gray area which is neither black nor white, and so long as the dominant part of this gray area is optimism, things will turn alright in the end. I read in one of the books long time ago that the Chinese word for “crisis” denotes both risk and chance (opportunity). A pessimistic person would tend to look at the crisis as the big risk and will despair and do nothing, whereas an optimistic person will look at it as a challenge and opportunity and will do something with courage and determination and overcome the crisis. He or she might fail in doing something. But without failures one will not know success. In short, although we will not be able to master the circumstances, and situations in life, we sure can try to master our thoughts and emotions to meet the challenges of life. Here are the spiritual sides of us or our respective religions might be helpful.
Now that I am getting old and getting inflicted with aches and pains here and there, especially when I get up in the morning, I begin to realize that the important part of my life is to keep myself in good health. There are lots of books and doctors telling us how to keep ourselves in good health. The simple gist of the whole message is to have some form of physical exercise or activity to keep our weights down; and to eat nutritious food and avoid or cut down fatty, sweet, salty and high cholesterol food which are harmful to our health. As you know, it is easier said than done. What I know is we do need to make conscious efforts to keep ourselves in good health by taking physical exercises and by eating nutritious and non-fattening food. One thing is for sure, if we are not in food health we will not be able to enjoy our success or good things in life, and we will be, relatively speaking, unhappy.
When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me to get ahead in life I would need luck, brain, and industriousness. She was right of course. But one important element in life that she missed telling me was to develop and have good social relationships will all the people that I would come across in life, including family members. No one can live and get ahead in life alone. Each one of us at some stages of our respective lives needed and got help from someone to move on with our lives. From my personal experience, I noted that one must be non-egoistic, not too aggressive, be polite, be helpful, and tries to understand and respect other person’s points of view, needs and feeling, to develop good social relationships. Here I would like to add that each of us can judge who is good, who is bad, who is untrustworthy, etc. and avoid bad people and associate with good people to the extent that each of us can.
Each one of us had twenty four hours a day and the one who can budget and manage his/her time day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year according to his priorities and short term and long term goals will get ahead in life better. One should use the time and even manipulate it and not waste it to achieve one’s short term and long term goals. One must also be patient if the short term and long term goals are not achieved in budgeted time. So long as the time is used and not wasted, one will reach his/her goads in due course.
I hope everyone present here will agree with me the importance of financial management at the personal or family level as well as at the business level. At the business level there are of course financial plans and budgets for the present as well as for the future. One should likewise have financial plans and budgets at personal/family level for the present and future, to spend, save and invest within one’s available means. As you know money is neutral. If you are wise, money will treat you well; and if you are foolish it will not stay with you for long. Like time, one’s hard-earned money should be used and not wasted.
The last thing that I would like to point out to you is the danger of complacency. If you own a business and if you are complacent after a certain level of success, your business will suffer, simply because you fail to keep up with the changes in the market conditions and because of the intense competition one faces nowadays. Likewise at the personal level we should be wary of complacency. We should try not to be complacent by improving ourselves and keeping ourselves busy mentally and physically. Life thrives on activity and activity is the proof of our existence. No one is perfect and there is always something that each of us can improve upon. If we do that, at least we will not be bored, and may achieve some fulfillment in life.
With these remarks I now conclude my speech. May you all be successful and happy in life. May you have a pleasant stay in SF.
During our lifetime, we have witnessed many examples of “Technical Obsolescence” and “Disruptive Technologies”.
Typewriters
English Typewriter
Remington produced typewriters for English. There are other typewriter manufacturers, but Remington typewriters were widely used in Burma.
Sholes designed the QWERTY keyboard. The two most common letters in the English alphabet are “e” (for vowel) and “t” (for consonant). The frequency distribution of the characters in a given language is used to break “simple substitution” codes in that language. Several people complained that the QWERTY keyboard is not ergonomic, because it requires one to use the left hand (the weaker hand for most people) and to move the finger up to type “e” and “t”. Some, however, believe that Sholes deliberately placed “e” and “t” so that they minimize the chance of keys being stuck (when one hits keys in rapid succession).
The alternate Keyboard designs (Dvorak …) did not have much support. The key issue is the retraining cost of typists.
Burmese Typewriter
Olympia was commissioned to produce Burmese typewriters. The characters in the Burmese alphabet are non-linear. A word often has ascenders and descenders.
The Burmese typewriter have red and black keys.
Red keys are used to type vowels; the carriage is prevented from going forward.
Black keys are used to type consonants.
Backspacing for half a step is necessary on the standard edition to type “tha gyee”. Manual dexterity is needed to type some “pa sint” characters. the office edition has extra keys.
Note :
In my younger days, we had an old Remington typewriter for typing English documents. My parents gave me a brand new portable Olympic typewriter for typing Burmese documents. I could do touch typing.
Evolution of Typewriters and Word Processors
IBM produced Selectric typewriters. Golf ball-like character sets had to be installed and/or replaced. Hence, a variety of characters (including APL, a language developed by Kenneth Iverson and uses Mathematical Symbols).
Iverson is the thesis supervisor of Brooks, Architect for S/360 & OS/360. He described APL in a book, and explained the use with examples. IBM implemented APL/360 on the System S/360.
Wang Computers provided word processors for various languages. Ko Htay Aung worked at Wang for a while on the Burmese language project. He migrated to Australia.
Burma Research Society (BRS) used transliteration for its publications. For example, “k-o-l” combination represents “ko”. The scheme was used on Macintosh.
Note :
I joined BRS as a student member. I received BRS journals. Sad to say, BRS was “shut down” in the BSPP era. John O’Kell (student of Saya Dr. Hla Pelater Professor at the School of Asian and Oriental Studies) and team used the “BRS Transliteration Style” to implement a Burmese Word Processor on the Macintosh.
Input Techniques
There are various ways to handle characters of non-English languages.
Chinese characters were input on the early systems using (a) large tablets (b) three corner method (c) Romaji, …
UCC Projects
UCC had projects to do Burmese word processing.
Saya U Myo Min supervised a project for Ma San Yu Hlaing for collation (needed for sorting).
Saya TAG and his team (Ko Htay Aung, Ko Soe Myint, …) worked on Cromenco System Three for printing and processing. An EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) was burned/programmed to support the Burmese Character Set.
U Soe Win and team worked on Calcomp graph plotter to draw Burmese characters on the plotter.
Skill Sets
The evolution of Word Processing Systems has seen the proliferation of typeface/font families, keyboard layouts, and Unicode support.
We miss the days when we had type perfectly or reasonably well on typewriters using messy carbons.
Also, planning to cyclostyle double-sided printing (odd numbered pages first, then repeat with even-numbered pages) was a skill.
Changes to Burmese Spelling
Burmese Language Commission bowed to higher authorities to revise the spelling at least two times.
TIT တစ် versus TA တ
The then Number One sent a condolence message for Chou En Lai. The message had “TIT” instead of the more commonly used “TA”.
In English, “TIT” corresponds to one and “TA” corresponds to the indefinite article “a” (before a consonant) and “an” (before a vowel).
The higher authorities “deemed” that “TIT” must be used all the time, and not “TA”. Fines were “imposed” on authors and publishers spelling the “established” way. (e.g. “ta”) instead of the “preferred” way (e.g. “tit”) despite the scholars pointing out the old inscriptions at “Bo ta htaung ဗိုလ်တထောင်” not “Bo tit htaung”) pagoda.
CTK (Children’s Treasury of Knowledge) project was “delayed” to “correct” the spellings.
Censorship
It was not easy to write in those days without facing censorship.
I was requested to contribute a poem or article for the Special Issue of SarSoDaw Nay (Day honoring Poets and Writers). The editor showed me a block (type set of my work), but sadly my work did not appear in the Special Issue. The editor said that some one above ruled that my work quoted “Dhammata” poem (by Ananda Thuriya [A man of infinite valor]). It was a taboo.
It was a crime to write about the setting sun or to use ambiguous terms and references.
MMT (Maung Myint Thein) was the pen name of U Myint Thein (Former Chief Justice of the Union of Burma). His poem was censored, because it had a bird beside a river gazing afar. The higher authorities thought that there was a hidden meaning.
Memories of UCC (39)
UCC Gatherings
Over the years, I attended several mini-gatherings and gatherings hosted by UCC sayas and alumni. They took place in Yangon, Singapore, Australia, and the US.
Gatherings in Yangon Saya Paing and Sayagadaw regular hosts gatherings (usually dinner meeting) at their house in Yangon. Sayagadaw was my classmate at RIT. She is a Textile engineer, but she also drew the design for their house. She also attended CPC course. Ko Thein Oo, Ma Tin May Lwin and several others help organize the gatherings. Ko Thein Oo, Ko Htin Kyaw, Aung Aung (who worked for Microsoft in the US) and several others provide transportation to or from Saya Paing’s house.
Recently, KMD bosses (Ko Thaung Tin & Ma Tin Tin Aye) hosted a surprise gathering at MICT Park for UCC sayas, sayamas and alumni. I missed that event.
There was fun, laughter, songs and dances at UCC’s 40th Anniversary Gathering held a few years back. Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) was represented by Sayagadaw and daughter. Daw Ngwe Tin, Aye Aye Myint and sisters, … reminded us of the good old days at UCC.
On January 14, 2018, I attended the 5th UCSY Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe as “Generation Zero” representative and the “Most Senior” (not by age). Several attendees started their studies and/or careers at UCC. Glad to know Mu Mu Myint is a senior (Shay Hmee Nauk Hmee) Professor at UCSY. Sad to know that she had a senior moment. When I visited UCSY on January 18, 2018 at the invitation of Bo Htay, she told me that she did not have time at the Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe and felt sorry not to have taken a picture with me. She was surprised when I showed the picture of her, another sayama and me.
Gatherings in the US
Dr. Rafiul, Ko Khin Zaw, Ko Aung Myint Oo & Ma Thida Khin, Ko Sein Myint & Cindy hosted UCC gatherings (especially to welcome sayas and alumni visiting US).
Ivan (M69) hosts joint UCC & RIT Gatherings at his house in New Jersey, USA. He timed the gatherings to coincide with the visits by Saya Dr. Aung Gyi and Saya U Soe Paing to the East Coast of USA.
Gatherings in Singapore
In Singapore, Ko Tin Aung Win, Ko Zaw Tun, Ma Pale … organized buffet gathering. Ko Aung Aung & Ma Kyin Mya are regulars at the gatherings.
Some (e.g. Myint Myint Thein [Susan]) have moved back to Yangon.
Ko Win Latt hosted me while he was working in Singapore. He now lives in Bangkok.
Gatherings in Australia
In Australia, Ko Aung Zaw, Ko Sein Myint Maung & Ma Khin Aye Mu Ko Htay Aung & Ma Tin Tin Hlaing organized the gatherings.
I met Ma Thanda Htwe and “Pha Yaung Daing” (one of the Trio of Candles at UCC).
Ko Sein Tin (who used to bring lunch not only for him but also for his UCC buddies) created a short music video during my visit to Sydney, Australia in 2006.
Final Remarks
I belong to several circles. In addition to the UCC Gathering and mini-PZP (Pu Zaw Pwe for Saya Chit and Saya Ba Hli), I attended the RIT Alumni Annual Dinner and the Old Paulians Lunch Gathering in Olympic Park (used for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games) during my visit to Sydney, Australia in 2006.
Memories of UCC (40)
Museum
Saya U Soe Paing e-mailed me some photos of the historic ICL computer system and mentioned that Ko Thein Oo is willing to contribute to the ICL Museum project.
BCM and CHM
At an ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) meeting in Silicon Valley, I met Gwen Bell (then spouse of Gordon Bell, VAX architect), who founded BCM (Boston Computer Museum).
Gordon brought back artifacts that he had collected while co-authoring the book “Computer Structures” with Alan Newell (known for his contributions to Multi-disciplinary research) during his sabbatical at CMU (Carnegie Mellon University). Gwen developed an exhibit at the DEC office in Boston, Massachusetts. It became known as BCM.
Gwen introduced me to Karen, then Vice President of CHM (Computer History Museum). I volunteered to be a Docent.
When Microsoft bought the division of DEC (where Gordon & his team worked), Gwen had to think fast. Only a limited number of artifacts were accepted for display at the Science Museum. The rest of the artifacts were air-freighted to Moffett Field in Mountain View, California with the hope that the “Computer Museum” will be revived. For several years, the artifacts were displayed at the makeshift Museum in Moffett Field. A group of enthusiasts bought a building on Shoreline Boulevard, Mountain View that was owned by SGI (Silicon Graphics Incorporated, which under-estimated the challenge of reasonably priced GPUs [Graphical Processing Units]) and offered it to be a permanent home for CHM.
In the early days, only ten per cent or so of the artifacts could be displayed at a given time for public viewing. The display items had to be moved back from the Visible Storage to the storage house.
As a Docent, I had to show the visitors and explain [if requested] about the artifacts displayed in Visible Storage. In those days, only ten percent (or so) could be displayed for a period before rolling them out.
Thanks in part to the “Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation”, CHM could now exhibit 20 sections (from pre-computer era to the Internet age).
In addition, there are special exhibits (e.g. autonomous vehicles, computer chess, Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine, …)
Retired engineers from IBM, DEC … worked on the “Restoration of Computers” Project.
They restored three old computers using the original specifications and genuine parts (as much as possible). They are on display in working order.
Final Remarks
Having “ICL Museum” will be a significant step towards recording and preserving the History of IT (Information Technology).
Memories of UCC (41)
History
I am glad to learn that several people felt young and remembered the Good Old Days at UCC.
Some read all my posts and even commented on some of them.
I love history (History of Computing, History of University Engineering Education in Burma/Myanmar, …).
Professor Harry D. Huskey used us as beta testers of his draft on the History of Computing. I became hooked and later volunteered as Docent at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, USA.
I was a member of the team that compiled and published “History of Myanmar Engineering Education” in December, 2012 just before the celebration of SPZP-2012. Ko Ohn Khine (M70) and I compiled a CD for the book supplement.
Why should we study History? Dr. Than Tun said, “So that one would not be stupid or dumb.” There’s an old adage, “History repeats itself”.
A historian presents facts. He should not give his opinion. The historian from Smithsonian said, “There is no single correct history. There are often multiple competing histories.”
Meeting Sayas and Librarians
I first met Dr. Than Tun at the Recreation Center of Rangoon University. I was in High School, but my uncle Eric Than Lwin (Lecturer in Economics & Librarian for Social Science Library) took me to the Main Campus many times. Daw Myint Myint Khin was an Assistant Librarian. She later transferred to RIT as Librarian. U Thaw Kaung, another Assistant Librarian, became Chief Librarian of the Rangoon University Central Library (RUCL).
The early librarians of RUCL include BBS U Khin Zaw (“K”, father of Ko Wint Khin Zaw) and U Thein Han (Saya Zaw Gyi, co-founder of “Khit Sann Sar Pay”).
Sayagyi U Ba Than, Saya U Soe Paing, and Saya U Thaw Kaung supported the HMEE Project.
Thanks
I am grateful to my spouse, who said “You should pay back to your alma mater and your country.”
Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt (M60) said that I should record my oral stories and put them to print for posterity. Sayamagyi Dr. Mie Mie Thet Thwin (Rector of UCSY) asked me if I could help for a commemorative issue of the 30th Anniversary of ICST/UCSY.
My beloved parents said, “Anything that’s worth doing is worth doing well”.
I hope that the readers can help “fill in the blanks” with details and correct errors and inconsistencies in my posts. Collectively, we can turn the posts into a reasonably good document worthy of printing (or at least publish as an eBook). The readers can suggest topics that I should add or elaborate.
Memories of UCC (42)
Epilog
Computer Science & Technology is continually evolving.
There are two (or more) early definitions of Computer Science. (1) It is the study of phenomena surrounding Computing. (2) It is the study of Algorithms and Data Structures.
The first definition has the same flavor as a definition of Physics. It says, “Physics is the study of natural phenomena.” It is general.
The second definition sounds restrictive, but it covers a lot of topics and application.
There is a book called “Program = Algorithms + Data Structures”. Professor Donald Knuth (Stanford University) thought that he could finish his 7-volume book “The Art Of Computer Programming” in a couple of years. It was an underestimate of the growth of Computers, Computer Science and Applications. It took over two decades to complete and revise the first three volumes and part of the fourth volume. One reason was that his book contributed to the growth of the Design and Analysis of Algorithms.
I Am Imperfectly Perfect
I have covered some topics in the early days of Computing in general and UCC in particular.
I missed out several people in my original posts. I have added names of the staff and students in my revised posts, but it would not be exhaustive.
I did not cover in-depth the PDP-11 configuration and use, the introduction of PCs (e.g. Cromemco System Thee, IBM PCs, Osborne Portable Computer), and robots (e.g. Hero).
It would take a long time and I would not be able to fill in all the blanks.
Jules Verne is attributed for the saying, “If one can dream, others can fulfill”.
I have a personal experience. In 1999, I started “RIT International Newsletter” and dreamed that Sayas and alumni will get reconnected electronically and physically. With the help of five Golden Sponsors, donors, volunteers, supporters and well-wishers, the First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP (Saya Pu Zaw Pwe) was held in San Francisco in October 2000. The world-wide SPZPs were subsequently held in Singapore in 2002, 2007 and 2010, and in Yangon in 2004, 2012 and 2016. I havepaid back to RIT . I am now paying back to UCC.
Thanks to my family members for supporting me in the endeavors to pay back to the institutions and my mentors that helped me develop to where I am today.
I am confident that sayas and alumni of UCC, ICST & UCSY will enhance my posts into a reference document that historians will envy.
In the early days, there were no computers in Burma. IBM (International Business Machines) based in the USA and ICL (International Computers Limited) based in the UK had presence in Burma. Both companies were not ready to introduce computers to Burma. They were supposedly content with leasing unit-record equipment (calculators, tabulators, …) using punched cards (which were “reused” as wrappers of “zee thee htokes”). The companies maintained the machines with their staff. U Aung Khin was the IBM representative in Burma. U Kyaw Tha was the ICL representative in Burma. They were highly paid compared to the Government employees. Due to the policies then in place, IBM might not have “incentives” to introduce computers and computing technology to Burma.
In the early sixties, Saw McCarthy Gyaw (Burma Railways) wanted to “upgrade” to an ICL computer, but the Coup d’etat in 1962 and subsequent restriction of foreign currency exchange (and budget planning rules) “effectively derailed” the idea of “computerization in Burma”.
In the mid sixties, Saya Chit (Dr. Chit Swe) was Head of the Mathematics Department at IE (Institute of Economics). Saya Chit proposed the need of a computer for teaching and research to Saya Nyi Nyi (Dr. Nyi Nyi, then Secretary [Deputy Minister] of Education). Saya Nyi Nyi suggested the scope to be “extended” for a computer to serve the staff and selected students of the Universities and Institutes. Thus, the UCC Project was conceived”. Saya Chit later became Professor at Mathematics at RASU. Saya offered space at the Mathematics Department for the early volunteers of the UCC Project. Saya later obtained permission to use Mandalay Hall for use by the UCC Project before the UCC Building could be completed in Thamaing College Campus.
Saya Chit served as the Founder/Director of UCC. He initiated the academic and training programs. He stressed the importance of technology transfer, leapfrogging technology, knowledge sharing (internally and externally), and challenging the staff and students to try their best. Saya Chit requested Saya Paing (U Soe Paing) to help design and implement the UCC project. Saya Chit also inquired the mother of Saya Myo (U Myo Min), who was working at IBM UK after completing his CA (Chartered Accountant) if Saya Myo would be interested to come back to Burma and help with the UCC project. Saya Paing “recruited” his friend Saya Lay (U Ko Ko Lay, GBNF) to help with the UCC project in general and with the UCC Building Design and Implementation in particular.
It took a long time for UCC up and running. UNDP would be the Funding Agency. UNESCO would be the Executing Agency. Saya Paing’s articles can be downloaded from SCRIB-D.
Note : For several years, Saya Paing tried to recruit his top students — including my cousin U Thaung Lwin (EC66) — to help with the project and become the pioneer computer engineers.
U Thaung Lwin, who was “Top of his class”, received an offer to join IBM BURMA. It was Good News and Bad News. The Good News was that he was offered a reasonably high salary (based on the then salary of engineers joining the Government Departments). The Bad News was that he would have to wait a long time until the first computer was purchased and installed at the CSO Computer Section, He had to maintain the “leased” Unit Record Machines for several years.
Saya TAG (Dr. Tun Aung Gyaw, EC69) was the first and longest volunteer for the UCC Project. Saya Paing transferred from the Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) at RIT to UCC as Manager of the Systems Division. Saya Lay transferred from PWD to UCC. Saya Myo joined UCC. The three served as Managers for Systems, Operations, Applications (Scientific, Business …) .
I was fortunate enough to be a member of GENERATION ZERO along with my mentors and Saya TAG. Saya Paing left UCC in the eighties to pursue a career as Technical Adviser and Consultant for the UN projects in several countries. Saya has documented his experiences from the early States Scholarship in the USA to the UN assignments.
Since there are blanks to be filled in the history of UCC, DCS ICST (Institute of Computer Science and Technology) and UCSY (University of Computer Studies Yangon), several people asked me to take the challenge or at the very least motivate others to share their experience and journey regarding IT in Burma. Relying on (a) my memory, which is reasonably good but imperfect, (b) my story telling skills which I inherited from my father, “THIN SAYA”, “MYIN SAYA”, and “KYAR SAYA”, (c) my training in “Communication and Leadership” from Toastmasters International to become a DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster), (d) my experience as a freelance writer, editor, translator, editor, coach, mentor, I have tried my best to prepare material in the form of readable chunks. I am confident that other interested sayas and alumni will help enhance the document with photos and anecdotes.
GBNF
The following is a partial list of GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten) from UCC. Some descriptions are brief. Some entries have been covered in detail in other posts.
Dr. Chit Swe — Founder-Director of UCC; Saya passed away in Sydney Australia in 2019
Dr. Chit Swe
Dr. Tin Maung — Succeeded Saya Chit as Director of UCC; During his tenure, Department of Computer Science & Institute of Computer Science and Technology (ICST) with Saya as Rector were established.
U Ko Ko Lay — Co-founder of UCC; Saya served as Operations Manager, Scientific Applications Manager, Professor at DCS and ICST
U Aung Zaw — Wrote lecture guides and manuals with Saya Paing and me; Taught at UCC, CSO, Asssumption Univeristy and Sydney; Passed away in Sydney, Australia in 2021.
U Mya Thein — Transferred from the Department of Commerce, Institute of Economics to UCC as Business Applications Programmer; Retired as Business Applications Manager; Taught at UCC, DCS and ICST, but also at ITBMU (International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University).
U Kyaw Nyein — Scientific Applications Programmer; Taught Numerical Methods and/or Numerical Analysis; Joined UN; During a UN assignment, his team was relocated due to war/conflict in the area.
U Win Naing — Science Scholar; 1st batch of M.Sc. (CS) with Systems Option; Scientific Applications
U Hla Min (EP70) — Chief Operator; Attended post-graduate course in UK, where he met his beloved; Early casualty (passed away at the tender age of 30+).
U Soe Myint (M72) — Retired as Pro-Rector of ICST
U Khin Maung Aye (M73) — 1st batch of M.Sc. (CS) with Applications Option; Railways
U Myint Aung (Admin) — Would often drive the E-2000 ferry.
Daw Khin Lay Myint (Admin) — Joined UCC as Secretary; Became BC.
U Shein Soe Myint (EC83) — Served in various capacities (Engineering, Teaching …); Passed away in Singapore while doing his Ph.D.
U Thein Tan — Attended M.Sc.; Close friend of U Zaw Tun.
U Aung Aung Thein — served in various capacities at UCC (Engineering, Teaching)
Daw Kyu Kyu Lwin — Ad hoc Tutor for Mathematics; Operator / Job Assembler; Transferred to SSB (Social Security Board) Computer Section.
Daw Win May Thaung — Operator / Job Assembler; Cousin: Ronnie Hla Maung (SPHS)
Daw Khin Mya Swe — M.Sc. (CS); Passed away in Lesotho
Daw Khin Toe Nyein — M.Sc. (CS); Classmate: Daw Pale (Pearl) Shein.
Daw Khin San Hlaing (Cynthia) — UCC Librarian.; M.Sc. (CS); Worked at (or attended) AIT; Passed away in Australia
Daw Nge Ma Than — Taught at UCC, DCS and ICST; Prisoner of Conscience; Spouse : U Myint Swe.
Daw Aye Aye Kyi — Operator / Job Assembler;Spouse: U Han Nyunt (SPHS)
U Maung Maung Gyi — Chief Operator
U Maung Maung Lay — Computer Operator
U Aung Myint — Computer Engineer
U Soe Thein — Business Applications Programmer
Courses at UCC
UCC Course
Saya Chit was Founder/Director of UCC and Professor of Mathematics Department at RASU. Saya Chit arranged UCC to conduct degree and post-graduate diploma courses under the aegis of the Department of Mathematics, RASU. UCC also conducted training courses for computer users. Several distinguished Professors from US, UK and Europe lectured at UCC as part of the “UCC Project”.
Saya Chit was succeeded as Director of UCC by Dr. Tin Maung (son of U Kar).
Academic courses
The courses given under the aegis of Department of Mathematics include :
M.Sc. (CS)
DAC
Courses for computer users
COC (Computer Orientation Course)
CPC (Computer Programming Course)
Elective for Honors and Post-graduate in other disciplines
Intensive training (e.g. for the Population Census Data Processing)
Special training (e.g. for those selected as State Scholars)
Planning (e.g. for departments intending to purchase computers)
Three Win Myint
There were three people at UCC (Universities’ Computer Center) named Win Myint.
Win Myint (1)
U Win Myint and U Maung Maung Lay
He was a High School Luyechun from Beik (Mergui). He was caught off guard when the then new Education System used the ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate) to determine the admission to the Universities and Institutes. He found himself studying Philosophy along with others who supposedly had “low” ILA scores.
Instead of using the marks directly, the ILA uses a “distribution” of the marks for each subject and gives a score from 1 to 20. The ILA system helped students with balanced marks. By having marks in the top tier for each subject, a student can get a good score.
But a student with low marks in a subject (e.g. Burmese or English) would be penalized by the ILA system.
Philosophy is derived from Phil (love of) and Sophy (Wisdom). The highest degree is called Ph.D (Doctorate of Philosophy). It is ironic that students with low ILA scores were forced to major in Philosophy.
Ko Win Myint is an exception. He was determined to pursue a challenging career. Since he wanted to learn and work with computers, he enhanced his typing skills for both English and Burmese. It was a requirement for the position of Secretary at the newly formed UCC.
Grapevine says that his interview at PSC (Public Services Commission) was fast and smooth. When he said, “I am Bet Thar (or similar meaning ‘I am from Beik (Mergui)’”, the PSC Chairman who was from Beik validated Ko Win Myint’s appointment as Secretary.
He not only typed very fast, but he learned Computer Science and Applications quickly and proficiently. He became a programmer.
Win Myint (2)
He majored in Mathematics and received Masters.
He was from SLR Settlement and Land Record dept.
He got appointment in UCC as programmer and then got UNV post at PG.
Win Myint (3)
He operated the cyclostyle (Gestener). The lecture guides were printed mostly on Sittaung paper and some on the Ye Ni paper.
Lecture Guides
“Introduction to Computers”, “Introduction to Computer Programming” and several Guide Books were written by Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Aung Zaw and me. We thank Ko Win Myint (1) and Ko Win Myint (3) for the production.
Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :
I had a different story about getting a job. I had only done 8 month internship, one of the tutors in medicine was transferred out. When Saya U Ba Than asked whom the professors wanted to replace her, they asked for me. I was called in by the Rector about posting me as tutor. When I told him I could not join not having finished my internship, he was so upset that “You want to erase with your feet, what I has written by hand”. I was made to report for duty. I went back and with the professor’s permission, I returned to finish my internship to get my medical registration.
Soon, my friends and I had to go for interview with PSC. The Chairman of PSC was U Khin Maung Phyu. Both he and Dr U Ba Than were classmates with my father. As I went in U Ba Than said to U Khin Maung Phyu, “Ko Khin Maung Phyu, he is Ko Kyaw Myint’s son and I have already posted him to Department of Medicine.” U Khin Maung Phyu said, “How is your father?” I replied that my father was good. Then he said that I could go !!! Must be the shortest interview in PSC.
History
I love history including History of Computing and History of Myanmar Engineering Education.
Why should we study History? Dr. Than Tun said, “So that one would not be stupid or dumb.” There’s an old adage, “History repeats itself”.
A historian presents facts. He should not give his opinion.
The historian from Smithsonian said, “There is no single correct history. There are often multiple competing histories.”
I am grateful to my spouse, who said “You should pay back to your alma mater and your country.”
Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt (M60) said that I should record my oral stories and put them to print for posterity. UCSY sayamas requested me to write for 30th Anniversary of ICST/UCSY.
My beloved parents said, “Any thing that’s worth doing is worth doing well”.
I have shared my memories about the early days of Computing in Burma.
I am revising the posts.
I hope that the readers will help “fill in the blanks” and correct errors and inconsistencies. Collectively, we can turn the posts into a reasonably good document worthy of printing (or at least publish as an e-book).
Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :
When we conducted the Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Study, the data analysis was from me at UCC. Ko Ronnie Myo Min and many UCC staff helped us with the data analysis.
Dr. TOKM added :
The next project we did was “Risk Approach in Delivery of MCH Care”. We did a prospective study on the risk of mothers dying during pregnancy and child birth. As the outcome was measured by “relative risk” and “absolute risk” it was much easier to analyse the data.
Our team used 1MB handheld Sinclair computer for our study. Our team did not have monitors nor printers. Your nephew Peter (Khin Tun) worked out RR and AR on Sinclair, read the result on Saya U Tin U’s old TV and copied out the results by hand. Peter still had a copy of the final report. I left my copy at home and got lost.
UCC Gatherings
Over the years, I attended several mini-gatherings and gatherings hosted by UCC sayas and alumni.
Yangon
Saya U Soe Paing regular hosts gatherings (usually dinner meeting) at his house. Sayagadaw Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice, T69) was my class mate. She also attended CPC course.
U Thein Oo, Daw Than Than Tint, Daw Tin May Lwin and several others help organize the gatherings.
U Thein Oo, U Htin Kyaw, U Aung Aung and several others provided us transportation to or from Saya Paing’s house.
UCC 40th Anniversary Gathering
It was the Reunion of Staff, Teachers (Past and Present) and Students.
Daw Ngwe Tin, Aye Aye Myint and sisters, Maung Myint, who maintained the UCC building rooms were among the attendees.
Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) was represented by Sayagadaw and Saya’s daughter.
There was fun and laughter, music and dances, and good old memories.
Daw Khin Lay Myint joined UCC as Secretary and then worked as Administrator Officer. She is now GBNF.
U Soe Myint (M72) joined UCC as Operator. He served as Shift Lead, expert in Mechanical Drawing and AutoCAD, and retired as Pro-Rector of ICST. He is also GBNF.
UCSY Gathering
In January 14, 2018, I attended the 5th UCSY Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe as “Generation Zero” representative and the “Most Senior” (not by age). Several attendees started their studies and/or careers at UCC.
Sao Yan Naing, son of Dr. Saw Naing (SPHS59), gave me a ride to the Pu Zaw Pwe. He is a nephew of Dr Myo Khin & a cousin of Soe Lin Maung (UCC).
Sydney in 2006
During my visit to Sydney in 2006, I met several UCC alumni.
Saya U Aung Zaw (GBNF) and Daw Kyawt organized a Reunion and mini-PZP for Saya Dr. F Ba Hla (GBNF) & Saya Dr. Chit Swe (GBNF). They were helped by U Sein Myint Maung & Daw Khin Aye Mu, U Htay Aung (Victor) & Daw Tin Tin Hlaing to name a few. I met Daw Thanda Htwe and “UCC Pha Yaung Daing”.
U Sein Tin hosted a dinner and also created a short music video.
USA
Dr. Raiful Ahad (Fremont), U Khin Zaw (Cupertino), U Aung Myint Oo (EC84) and Daw Thida Khin (Fremont), U Sein Myint (EC76) & Daw Sao Mon Sint (New Jersey) and U Toung (EC69, Connecticut) hosted UCC gatherings (especially to welcome and alumni visiting US).
Ivan Lee (M69) hosts an annual joint gathering for UCC and RIT sayas and alumni at his home in New Jersey.
Singapore
U Tin Aung Win (C80), U Zaw Tun and Daw Pale Shein organized buffet gathering. U Aung Aung, & Daw Kyin Mya are regulars at the gatherings.
U Shein Soe Myint (EC83) is GBNF.
Some (e.g. U Win Latt, Daw Myint Myint Thein) have moved from Singapore.
Activities
Table Tennis (Ping Pong)
U Saung Tin (CSO) and U Thein Oo are excellent players.
Volleyball
Rafiul Ahad (who was 3rd in Burma in Hurdles) hurt his knee. Daw Nwe Nwe Win (Judy) is often the sixth member of an all-male team.
Soccer
UCC team (including Saya U Ko Ko Lay & U Kyaw Nyein) played against other teams in and around Hlaing Campus.
UCC Dobat
U Win Hlaing played the Dobat. Others (e.g. Maung Myint, U Hla Pe) would play Wah Let Khote (bamboo clapper) and Ya Gwin.
Donlaba
UCC used to celebrate Thingyan and Su Paung Donlaba.
Dr. Chit Swe, Win Maung, Hla Min, Tun Aung Gyaw, Soe Myint, Khin Maung Aye, Daw Khin Khin Latt
UCC had a Su Paung Donlaba for several years at Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung and other monasteries.
The Donlaba monks would be offered Soon at the UCC Thingyan.
There would also be Water Throwing and occasionally “Ye Pet Khan” to selected mandats.
Ad Hoc Trips
U Aung Zaw led some trips (e.g. to Maw Tin Zun).
Soul Mates
Some found their soul mates while working or studying at UCC.
Aung Aung & Kyin Mya
Aung Myint Oo & Thida Khin
Boe Ba Shan & Phyu Phyu Win
Kyaw Zwa Than (Jaws) & Khin Khin Kyu (K-cube)
Htay Aung & Tin Tin Hlaing
Myint Oo & Tin Tin Hla
Myint Swe & Nge Ma Ma Than
Myint Zaw & Nwe Nwe Win (Judy)
Sein Myint (Bei Gyi) & Sao Mon Sint (Cindy)
Sein Myint Maung & Khin Aye Mu
Soe Than & Wai Wai Than
Than Maung Maung & Khin Si Thoung
Thaung Tin & Tin Tin Aye
Thein Oo & Than Than Tint
Win Hlaing & Thida Kyi
Win Myint & Nu Nu Aung
Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ) wrote :
Ko Soe Myint Gyi was one of the very humble people I have ever known. He spoke very soft, never see him angry nor heard him raise his voice. Even though I am some years junior to him (he’s M72 and me EC76) he always treated me with dignity and respect. I really miss him, may his beautiful soul rest in peace.
Anniversary Soon Kway
U Thein Oo and Daw Than Than Tint Soon Kway at Yaw Sayadaw’s Kayung Daik.
Attendees include
Saya U Soe Paing and Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice, T69)
U Myint Swe
Daw Tin Moe We (Sweetie)
Daw Myint Myint Thein (Susan)
Soon Kyway
Dr. Htay Lwin Nyo (GBNF)
He matriculated from SPHS in 1968. Hewas admitted as Roll Number One to 1st BE. He was selected RIT Luyechun.
He graduated among the top of the EP74 class.
He studied Computer Science at UCC.
He received a Ph.D. in EE from Syaracuse University, New York.
His final job was as Part Time Professor at San Jose State University (SJSU).
He used the spare time for his hobbies : (a) Tinkering old cars (b) Painting (c) Cooking (d) Stock Market (e) Writing movie scripts
He did not miss a class. When he did not show up for a few classes, the students were alarmed and requested SJSU authorities to check his home. They found the doors locked. After a few days, they broke in to find him lifeless on his bed. Postmortem indicated an aneurysm.
Since he was single and had no next-o-kin in the USA, SJSU asked the Burmese Community to help. Members of the “RIT Alumni International” and BAPS helped with the fund raising for the final journey of HLN.
I was honored to push the incinerator, and later to scatter the ashes in the ocean. There was no next-of-kin of HLN in the USA. KMZ remembered that Kyaw Swa Than (Jaws, UCC) was HLN’s cousin. The missing link was supplied by some alumni (including Ko Ko Kyi). KMZ set up special web page for HLN. My poem was also posted there. I wrote about HLN’s Sea Burial for BAPS Newsletter.
HLN Memorial Pages
U Khin Maung Zaw (EC76, KMZ) set up the “HLN Memorial Pages” in the ex-RIT web site (which is now defunct). I wrote a poem “HTAY LWIN NYO“.
BAPS Newsletter
I also wrote “A Sea Burial for Professor Htay Lwin Nyo” for the BAPS Newsletter and the RIT web site.
Ko Ko Kyi (EC72) wrote :
Ko Hla Min, sad to read about Htay Lwin Nyo’s sea burial. I played a small part in notifying his first cousin Myo San Than in Toronto, when my brother called me from Birmingham, UK and informed me about HLN’s demise. Apparently, someone from California had contacted a friend of my brother’s and asked him to inform me, as he knew that HLN had a cousin living in Toronto. I informed HLN’s cousin Myo San Than, who called his elder brother living in Winnipeg, Canada. Subsequently, this cousin went to the US for HLN’s funeral. HLN was a good friend of mine, although he was two years my junior at RIT.
Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :
I was actually a former classmate of HLN’s younger brother Aung Lwin Nyo in St. Paul’s High School [SPHS (6) Botataung]. All their brothers were OPs, HLN was 2 years senior to us, Old Paulians. I did not know HLN that well until we met again, the third time, at UCC. Of course he was part of our rival group while at RIT. Both of us ended up in US, he was several years earlier than me.
We met again when he moved to West Coast, namely San Jose, California while I was in Seattle. We visited him in San Jose, went Yosemite among other places, he visited us in Seattle, went up to Vancouver, Canada. Couple of years moved, he became upset with me for a reason unknown to me at the time, refused to take my calls. I eventually met him on one of my visits to California, forced him to tell me why he did not want to talk to me any longer. According to him, there were some rumors back in Yangon about his demise, his parents were very upset and he surmise that it could have been me who spread these rumors. I had to swear to him that those were nothing to do with me at all, as I lost contact with everyone, family and friends, back in Burma at that time.
So one could imagine my despair when I received a call, a year or so later, from Maurice Chee (M75) that HLN was found dead in his apartment, asking me if I knew him and also requested me to make an announcement on www,ex-rit,org site. I had to explain Maurice the background story, told him I would not do so until I have a solid information. I ended up calling HLN’s head of department at SJSU, San Jose State University. She assured me that they went to HLN’s apartment, broke it inside with the help of the Police. Sad news indeed. While Maurice Chee, Ko Banny Tan (M70), U Hla Min and RIT Alumni at BAPS, Bay Area alumni group, started working on the funeral, I called a friend, HLN’s cousin, in Manitoba, Canada, Kyaw Zwa Than (ex-UCC), to get the contact of HLN’s family back in Rangoon. I finally spoke with the elder brother, Ko Kyaw Lwin Nyo, who requested us to proceed with the funeral.
PS: I met HLN’s elder brother for the first time, this passed November 2018, at the OPA, Old Paulians’ Association, dinner. My OP friends told me that Aung Lwin Nyo met similar fate, passed away while in his bed some years back. Myo San Than (as mentioned in U Ko Ko Kyi’s comment) is the younger brother of Kyaw Zwa Than. KZT’s family : KZT, his wife KCube (Khin Khin Kyi) and their two sons, Alex and Nicholas, have since moved to Denver, Colorado, USA.
Daw Nge Ma Ma Than (GBNF)
Ma Nge (Theresa, GBNF) is the youngest child of U Aung Than (brother of Boyoke Aung San & Arzanee U Ba Win).
She matriculated from MEHS.
She graduated from RASU.
She studied and taught at UCC, DCS and ICST.
At UCC, she and Judy (Nwe Nwe Win) were considered as “UCC Twins”. Grapevine says that some guy approached them and gave each a copy of his “Yee Zar Sar” (love letter).
She found her love life U Myint Swe (ex-UCC).
During the Adhamma Era, she, her brother and U Myint Swe were detained by the higher authorities.
She became a Prisoner of Conscience.
I last met her at the 5th Acariya Puzaw Pwe of ICST.
Her health declined, but she kept on smiling. She did not complain about the aches and pains.
U Myint Swe reported the journal of her hospitalization and medical treatment.
Even in her final days, her thoughts were with former Prisoners of Conscience.
Ma Nge at the hospitalMa Nge and her cousin
U Soe Myint (M72, GBNF)
M72 friends call him “Phone Gyi Soe Myint”. At UCC, he is known as “Sunlun Soe Myint”.
His father U Thein Nyunt (Retired Secretary of Religious Affairs) was a friend and an early devotee of Sayadaw U Vinaya. U Soe Myint also served as Kappiya from his younger days.
He came to see me during my last visit and shared his knowledge about U Lokanatha (Italian American monk) and how he provided financial support to buy the land for Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung. He gave me a “Chone Hte” (for monk) to take back to the US.
On a subsequent visit to Yangon, we were sad to learn of his untimely demise.
On the fateful day, he made two trips to the Kaba Aye Sunlun Gu Kyaung monastery, because he forgot his donation on his first trip. He also visited his nephew & niece who were having dialysis treatment. May be because of his karma or because of the trips he took that day, he passed away around 3 AM.
Four Decade Old Photo
Win Hlaing
Henry Maung Maung (Census, GBNF)
Kyu Kyu Lwin (GBNF)
Khin Si Thoung (Busi Baung – USA)
Khin Khin Win (Five Star Line – USA)
Phyu Phyu Win (Singapore)
Win May Thaung (GBNF)
Tin Tin Yi (Port Authority)
Hla Hla Win (Wa – GBNF)
Aung Myint (AM, GBNF)
Soe Myint (Sunlun, M72, GBNF)
Seven of the eleven in the photo are GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten)
Annotation by KMZ, AM, Judy, Sweetie
Epilog
Computer Science and Technology is continually evolving.
There are two (or more) early definitions of Computer Science.
Computer Science is the study of phenomena surrounding Computing.
Computer Science is the study of Algorithms and Data Structures.
The first definition has the same flavor as a definition of Physics. It is general to say, “Physics is the study of natural phenomena.”
The second definition might sound restrictive, but it still covers a lot of topics and application.
There is a book called “PROGRAM = ALGORITHMS + DATA STRUCTURES”.
Professor Donald Knuth (Stanford University) thought that he could finish his 7-volume book “THE ART OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING” in a couple of years. It was an under-estimate of the growth of Computers, Computer Science and Applications. It took over two decades to complete and revise the first three volumes and part of the fourth volume. One reason was that his book contributed to the growth of the Design and Analysis of Algorithms.
I have covered some topics in the early days of Computing in general and UCC in particular.
I missed out several people. I mentioned many names, but did not elaborate on some of them.
I did not cover in-depth the PDP configuration and use, the introduction of PCs, and robots.
It would take a long time and I would not be able to fill in all the blanks.
I believe an idea that characterizes Jules Verne. “If one can dream, others can fulfill”.
I had a personal experience to support that idea. In 1999, I started “RIT International Newsletter” and dreamed that sayas and alumni will get reconnected electronically and physically. With the help of sponsors (including five Golden Sponsors), able and dedicated sayas and alumni, volunteers, supporters and well-wishers, the First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP (Saya Pu Zaw Pwe) was held in San Francisco in October 2000. The world-wide SPZPs were subsequently held in Singapore in 2002, 2007 and 2010, and in Yangon in 2004, 2012 and 2016.
I have paid back to RIT.
I am now paying back to UCC, DCS and ICST.
Thanks to my family members for supporting me in the endeavors to pay back to the institutions and my mentors that helped me develop to where I am today.
I am confident that sayas and alumni of UCC, ICST & UCSY will enhance my posts into a document that historians will envy.
HlaMin 