Category: Concept

by Hla Min

Update : 18th October 2026

At Ma Cherry’s Wedding Reception

• Aunts
• Cousins

Cousins — like Siblings

Children of my Maternal Uncle and my Paternal Aunt

• U Tin U — lived to 96+; Matriculated from St. John’s Dio in 1946; Represented RUBC at 1948 Independence Day Regatta at Kandawgyi; BSCE from Oregon State; MSCE from Yale; Director of Clark & Grieg, Interkiln; Advisor PWD Architecture 2 Group; Oldest & Most Senior Past Captain of RUBC; Past Captain of RGC; Survived kidnapping by former employee
• U Ba Than — lived to 94+; Collegiate Scholarship winner in 1947 from St. John’s Dio; Gold medal in 1949 for highest marks in I.Sc; B.Sc (Special) and M.Sc from Imperial College, London University; Retired Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Early supporter of HMEE; Donated back Garawa money
• Dr. Daw Win Hlaing / Ruby — lived to 94+; MBBS
• Daw Myint Thwe / Betty — lived to 91+; B. Com
• Dr. Myo Tint — succumbed to Covid at the age of 85; 3rd in Burma in 1952 Matric from TTC; Past Captain of RUBC; Won races as Stroke, Bow and Cox
• U Tin Htoon — SPHS54; A60; Co-founded Architects Incorporated; Architect, Bagan Thiri Pyit Saya Hotel; Architect, Burmese Buddhist Temple, Singapore; Past Captain & Gold, RUBC; ARAE Champion in 1958 and 1960; Silver medalist, SEAP Yachting
• U Myo Min — SPHS58; Gold medals for I. Com in 1960 and B. Com (Accounting) in 1962; Chartered Accountant from UK; Systems Analyst, IBM UK; UCC co-founder & Manager of Applications Division; M.Sc in Systems Engineering from Lancaster; Senior Lecturer, NTI (later NTU), Singapore; Principal, Seagate & Connor, USA; Passed သဂြိုဟ် exam
• U Thaung Lwin — SPHS60; 17th in Burma; Collegiate Scholarship; RUBC Captain & Gold; Top student in EC66; IBM Burma; Chartered Semi, Singapore
• Daw Cho Cho Hlaing — SJC64; Chemistry; German Diploma; CRO

by Hla Min

Update : 10th October 2026

Timothy Hla’s Post on June 21, 2020

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

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

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

Ivan Lee (M69)

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

Me

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

by Hla Min

Updated : 10th October 2026

It is sad to learn about disasters happening around the world.

Several are natural disasters. A few are man-made disasters.

Despite advantages in technology, there is no reliable and cost-effective system yet to predict and/or prevent disasters.

There are general predictions like “the coming of Doom’s Day”.

Some are serious about “nuclear wars” (and similar scenarios of “Apocalypse”) and spend exorbitant money to order or build underground hideouts in remote places and also extensive “evacuation plans”.

There are some predictions based on past data. e.g. “The next big earthquake is due. You should take extra care since you are living on a fault line.”

A few could not and would not leave their homes even when the authorities issued “mandatory evacuation”. Some evacuated, but they when they returned they found their houses missing or being vandalized.

Disaster recovery is not simple.
The countless lives lost to Cyclone Nargis and its aftermath could have been minimized with proper planning and mobilization of the rescue teams.

Kudos to the individuals and organizations that offer “disaster relief funds”. But, disaster relief is at the tail end.

U Khin Maung Zaw (EC76) added :

Disasters, by nature or man – made, happen all over the world, more so as the so-called climate change and population explosion exacerbated the conditions.

In the US, several governmental, NGO and private/public organizations are stepping up their efforts to educate, prepare, assist and mitigate the people impacted by all forms of disasters.

I just opened up my disaster backpack this morning, in the process of inspecting, refreshing and refilling the contents in there.

There are several websites, ready.gov/kit, Red​cross, FEMA Apps which will explain what items you would need in this emergency kit, survival and medical supplies, food among others.

Some years back, there was a website called threefoldthreeway, explaining these items as well. They initially thought you would need at least three days with off supplies & food before the rescue folks contact you.

Some disasters in the past decade taught us that three days may not be enough in many circumstances, and now recommend to have two-weeks worth of supplies and food.

The region that I live has been overdue for severe, 8.0+, earthquake by the experts.

I do have enough supplies of food and water but I need to collect toilet facilities, like cardboard toilet, shower facilities among several items.

Update

Some Disasters

• Cyclone Nargis
• Earthquake — Sagaing & Mandalay
• Wild Fires — Southern California

by Hla Min

Updated : 10th October 2026

• 24th letter of the English Alphabet
• Roman Numeral with the value Ten
• Unknown, e.g. X-ray
• Check Mark
• In Red written by a teacher means “Incorrect” or “Wrong”
• X and O are symbols used in Tic-Tac-Toe.
• Planet X could mean the Tenth Planet or Unknown Planet
• XL — Extra Large
• XML — eXtensible Markup Language
• XP — eXtreme Programming; Windows Operating System
• XS — Extra Small
• XSL — eXtensible Style Language
• XSLT — XSL Transform
• XXL — Extra Extra Large
• XXS – Extra Extra Small

U Maung Maung wrote :
Madam X

U Khin Maung Zaw (EC76) wrote :
There was a joke from one comedian when the movie ‘Malcolm X’ came out. [Malcolm X was an American Muslim minister famous in the 1950s and 1960s and was assassinated Feb 21, 1965.] The joke was that he, the comedian, has been away from the movies for quite some time, he did not know and therefore missed the Malcolm I through IX.

by Hla Min

Updated : 9th October 2026

Academic Year

• Usually spans two calendar years e.g. 1968 – 69

• We will say Class of 69 (or just 69) instead of Class of 1968 – 69
  e.g. M69 stands for Mechanical 1968 – 69

Alumni

• Student
• Need not be a graduate
• In the old days, there were four Latin terms — alumnus, alumna, alumni, alumnae — to distinguish the Gender (male, female) and Number (singular, plural).
• Nowadays, alumni is a generic term to cover all four cases.
• Universities usually have Alumni Association, Alumni Building, Alumni Office / Department for Alumni Affairs

BIT

• BIT stands for Burma Institute of Technology
• The engineering school moved to the Gyogone Campus in 1961.
• BIT was still under the aegis of Rangoon University.
• U Yone Mo was Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. He became Rector of RIT.

Class

• Class refers to the expected year of graduation.
• The Class of 69 refers to the alumni from the academic year 1968 – 69. Most graduated in 1969.
• The Class of 69 includes those who took sabbatical and graduated later.

Faculty

• Rangoon University had Faculties and Deans
• U Ba Hla was the first native Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University.
• Other Faculties include Arts, Science, Social Science, Law & Medicine.

GBNF

• Gone But Not Forgotten

• GBNF for 69ers is maintained by U Aung Min & team

HCF (Health Care Fund)

There are several Health Care Funds. They include :

• Steeve and Helen Kay Heath Care Fund for RIT Sayas and Sayamas

• U Khin Maung Tun’s Family’s Eye-care for RIT Sayas and Sayamas

• Swel Daw Yeik Foundation (SDYF)
  which now also handles the two funds described above

• Class-wide HCFs
  Example :
  Class of 69 (69er HCF, EE69er HCF)
  Class of 70 & 71
  Class of 72
  Class of 75
  Intake of 83

There may be changes to the Health Care of Sayas and Sayamas.

• Hospitalization has the highest priority.
• Case-by-case consideration for sayas & sayamas who have to visit clinics many times
• Eligible sayas and sayamas (age 60+) can have medical check ups
• If funds are available, spouses of eligible sayas and sayamas can also have medical check ups.

Intake

• Intake refers to the year when the group was admitted to RIT, YIT, or YTU.
• Intake usually means “1st BE Intake“.
• Most from the 1st BE Intake of 64 graduated in 1970.
  Most from the 1st BE Intake of 65 graduated in 1971.
  The Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65 has held Reunion and Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe for nearly two decades.
• There were three Intakes in November 2964.
  460+ students were admitted to 1st BE
  320+ students were admitted to 2nd BE
  Aout 200 students were admitted to 3rd BE
• Some Intakes unfortunately lost three years of their schooling, since the institute was closed for three years (from 1988 – 1990).
  Example : Intake of 1983 graduated in 1992 (instead of 1989).

RIT

• BIT was renamed as Rangoon Institute of Technology in 1964.
• Under the then New Education System, RIT became an independent Institute with its own Rector and Registrar.
  U Yone Moe was the first Rector.
  U Soe Thein was the first Registrar.
• Not sure why it was not named as BIT (Rangoon Campus)

RITAA

• Alumni Association of RIT/YIT/YTU
• Helped host SPZP-2016
• Provides “Saya’s Corner“
  Tea and coffee are served
  Wheel chairs are stored for use by needy sayas
• Coordinated the “Library Modernization Project”

SPZP

• Saya Pu Zaw Pwe
• Preferred to “Saya Gadawt Pwe” which has religious connotation
• Allows alumni with different religious beliefs to pay back the Metta and Cetana of their mentors

Swel Daw / Swel Daw Yeik

• Synonym for RIT and the engineering schools preceding and succeeding it.
• The term became established at the RU Golden Jubilee
  Celebrations in 1970, when the RIT Ah Nu Pyinnyar Shins of performed as “Swel Daw Yeik Troupe”.
  “Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint“, “Htee Yein” and “Ta Bin Daing Ah Ka” were hits.
• During the Adhamma Era, Swel Daw Bins were razed from the compound.
• With the dawning of the Pwint Linn Era, 50 Swel Daw Bins were planted to commemorate the Shwe YaDu (in 2014).
• There are many artifacts with “Swel Daw Yeik” in their name. They include :
  Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint
  Swel Daw Yeik Foundation (SDYF)
  Swel Daw Yeik Magazine
  Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung

Thabon Kyaung

• Disparaging term used by authorities in the Adhamma Era

Thamudaya Kyaung

• Poem by Maung Sein Win (Padeegone)
• Music Video by Khin Maung Toe (Vocalist) and Myizzima Hlaing

TU

• Technological University
• Opened indiscriminately during the Adhamma Era

YIT

• RIT was renamed as Yangon Institute of Technology
• Name change per the Naming Policy (to refrain from using names from the Colonial Era).
• Note: The Naming Policy did not have a grandfather clause. Some classic books could not be re-published without the name change. For example, “Trials in Burma” by Maurice Collis was forced to be re-titled “Trials in Myanmar”.

YTU

• Yangon Technological University
• Name change to sound similar to NTU (in Singapore, which was earlier called NTI)

Posts

• Associations
• Calendar
• Names
• RIT Spirit

by Hla Min

Updated : 8th October 2026

Top Matriculates in 1958

• Dr. Soe Win (First in Burma)
• Robert Sein (Second)

Alumni

• John Tin Win : Co-op Training School
• Khin Maung Htun : OTS; Pearl & Fisheries; OPA
• Dr. Khin Maung Wint : Ph. D in Chemistry
• Myint Kyu Pe : Timber Exec
• Myo Min : UCC cofounder
• Robert Sein : Second in Burma
• Dr. Soe Win : First in Burma; Ph. D in Chemistry; Rector, YUFL
• Tin Win : Entrepreneur

Dr. Soe Win (First in Burma in 1958)

Reunion of SPHS58 & some spouses

Myo Min (UCC cofounder)

by Hla Min

Update : 6th October 2026

Good and Bad Habits

• Good habits allow us to perform things in auto-pilot mode.
• Bad habits (e.g. addiction) are easy to develop, but difficult to quit.
• With patience and practice, we can modify and substitute the bad components in the habit with good ones. The triggers may remain the same, but good actions can yield satisfactory results.

My Experience

• I spent a lot of time playing the Solitaire Card Games. I received a sense of gratification with the awards : Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond and Perfect.
• I stopped playing Solitaire and spent more time writing and sharing my knowledge and experience via my Posts. I now receive a sense of gratification with the “kind words” by my readers.

Smoking

• My uncle smoke two packs of cigarettes every day. He successfully quit smoking partly due to his doctor’s advice and partly due to his determination to live a long, healthy life. He lived to his 80s.
  It could have been more if he did not have a fall. There was no immediate signs of danger, but he passed away a few days later.
• My teacher tried to quit smoking. His buddies and students offered him cigarettes to keep them company. He also tried the substitution method using Chewing Gums. He added one more addiction. It would take some time before he kicked both habits.

Habitual Kamma

• Habitual Kamma (e.g. meditating every day) is important.
• U Po Sa would recite “Mora Sutta” မောရသုတ် (Daung Min Payeik) before going for a daily morning walk along Inya Road with his friends. Knowing U Po Sa’s habit, the kidnappers waited in the early morning and kidnapped him. U Po Sa got free. Some attributed U Po Sa’s release to Habitual Kamma (e.g. recital of the Mora Sutta).

Books

• “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey is a Best Seller.
• Covey also wrote another book on the Eighth Habit.
• “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg is another Best Seller. Duhigg points out where to “break” the cycle in a habit.
• Many books are available as e-Book and Audio book.
• If one just wants to have teasers or summaries before buying a book, one can subscribe to Blinkist.com