Category: Concept

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

by Hla Min

Updated : 6th October 2026

• Chief Librarian, Rangoon University Library ရန်ကုန်တက္ကသိုလ်စာကြည့်တိုက်
• Founder & Director, Burma Broadcasting Service မြန်မာ့အသံ
• Author : Pen name “K” ကလောင်
• Book — Burma in my Lifetime; စာအုပ် For the Reprint, the Censor Board demanded the Title Change

• Collaboration : For Maung Khwe (Burmese Nursery Rhymes)

by Hla Min

Updated : 6th October 2026

Analog Photos

• Before the advent of digital cameras and smart phones, it was not simple and cheap to take photos (let alone process them).

Black & White Photos

• In my younger days, I had a Box Camera, and later Yashica Mat.
• Unlike my uncle and a cousin brother who are experts in developing films (in a dark room), I had to pay 25 to 50 pyas per print at a Studio (e.g. Ahuja).

Photographers

• Later, there emerged freelance & professional photographers (e.g. Maung Maung Nhyat & his brothers, Dat Pone San Aung, Dhatu Kyaw Lynn, Maung Maung Soe).
• Only those who won contracts had permission to take official photos at the Convocations. It was not compulsory to take and pay for the photos. Some, who did not order the photos, found their photos being displayed as examples of “Do not walk like this” and similar fun messages.

Captions

• During our younger days, SPHS had Annual Photo Shoots.
• A Group Photo cost One Kyat (without Captions) and K 1.50 (with Captions).
• It is not easy to identify people in photos without captions.
• In most FB Groups, there are individual photos and group photos (e.g. fresher welcome, farewell, graduation, newspaper clippings). Only a fraction has captions and dates.
• Some photos serve as a reminder of those that are Gone But Not Forgotten (GBNF).

Color Photos

• In the early days, Color photos had to be sent abroad for processing.
• Our wedding photos in 1973 were taken with the color film bought by my elder brother during his trip overseas. The film was sent (for processing ) to a friend who was studying in Australia.
• The color photos fade over time.

Advances in Technology

• Kodak (an Industry Leader in Film Technology) went bankrupt.
• Most phones have one or more cameras. Even children can take reasonably good photos. The photos can be edited (e.g. crop, color-adjusted).
• Warning : Some unscrupulous people have doctored photos and presented them as evidence of news.

Htein Win

It took a long time for him to publish books about the Dark Moments in Burma.

First Book

• Took photos of the U Thant Ah Yay Ah Khin mostly from a saya’s house in the Main Campus. Gave photos to some friends and to an organization overseas (for storage).
• With the Pwint Linn era, he was able to get back the archived photos from overseas. Managed to get articles from some of the participants in the Ah Yay Ah Khin. He published the book about the Ah Yay Ah Khin.
• Ko Khin Maung Zaw bought a copy of the book from Myanmar and then mailed it to me.

Second Book

• In November 2019. I was invited to attend the 5th Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay. Met Ko Htein Win who had a book stall at the Festival. He gave me an autographed copy of the book about 8-8-88.

by Hla Min

Updated : 6th October 2026

RUBC

• Rangoon University Boat Club (RUBC) used to maintain logs.
• Every crew lists the boat used, time in & out, the name of the members, and message (e.g. leak).
• The Color Award Team meets after the Monsoon Regatta and Annual Regatta to consider candidates for Half Green and Full Green based on the results at the Regatta and the entries in the Log.
• Winners and Runner Up of events such as Senior Novice and Junior Novice are prime candidates, but persistent members are also rewarded.

Maths

• In Mathematics, log stands for logarithm.
• In our high school days, we had to buy books containing logarithms, anti-logarithms, and trigonometric functions.
  The standard version provides 4 digits. The advanced version provides 5 – 7 digits.
• For the Matriculation exam, logarithm books were provided.
• In Lighter vein :
  At one school, the invigilator ordered to take the logarithm books back. Asked why, she replied, “We had to learn them by heart”.

Slide Rule

• It used the logarithmic scale.
• The multiplication of two numbers is done by adding their logarithms.

• Cartoon Aung Myint has a joke about Slide Rule.

RIT student : Aba, I have bought a slide rule.
Aba : Son, can you add two numbers with it?
Son : Sorry, I can’t.
Aba: Throw away your useless ruler.

Usage

• Some use wooden logs for fire.
• Some fire places simulate wooden logs using electricity & electronics.

by Hla Min

Update : 5th October 2026

Traffic accidents often result in injury and death.

Types of accidents

• Fender bender
• Multi-car crash
• Head-on collision
• Tumble & roll-over
• Car hitting pedestrians

Causes

Accidents can be caused by

• Roads which are not designed properly
• Roads which are not maintained
• Inclement weather
• Drivers not obeying traffic rules (e.g. texting while driving)
• Sleep deprived drivers
• DUI : Driving under the influence of alcohol
• Road rage
• Engine and mechanical failure
• Vehicles that are not land-worthy
• Unsafe tires
• Medical emergency to the driver (e.g. heart attack)
• Tail gating

Practice

• Many countries employ the “STOP” sign and the letters “STOP” printed on the road. The majority of drivers obey them. The minority are cautioned with citations.
• Automobile associations and the volunteers for Public Safety give refresher courses for “Safe Driving”.
• U Thein Tun Aung (Dennis) gave a seminar in Yangon on “Traffic control (e.g. how to design monitor and synchronize traffic lights).”

by Hla Min

Updated : 5th October 2026

Analog Photos

• Before the advent of digital cameras and smart phones, it was not simple and cheap to take photos (let alone process them).

Black & White Photos

• In my younger days, I had a Box Camera, and later Yashica Mat.
• Unlike my uncle and a cousin brother who are experts in developing films (in a dark room), I had to pay 25 to 50 pyas per print at a Studio (e.g. Ahuja).

Photographers

• Later, there emerged freelance & professional photographers (e.g. Maung Maung Nhyat & his brothers, Dat Pone San Aung, Dhatu Kyaw Lynn, Maung Maung Soe).
• Only those who won contracts had permission to take official photos at the Convocations. It was not compulsory to take and pay for the photos. Some, who did not order the photos, found their photos being displayed as examples of “Do not walk like this” and similar fun messages.

Captions

• During our younger days, SPHS had Annual Photo Shoots.
• A Group Photo cost One Kyat (without Captions) and K 1.50 (with Captions).
• It is not easy to identify people in photos without captions.
• In most FB Groups, there are individual photos and group photos (e.g. fresher welcome, farewell, graduation, newspaper clippings). Only a fraction has captions and dates.
• Some photos serve as a reminder of those that are Gone But Not Forgotten (GBNF).

Color Photos

• In the early days, Color photos had to be sent abroad for processing.
• Our wedding photos in 1973 were taken with the color film bought by my elder brother during his trip overseas. The film was sent (for processing ) to a friend who was studying in Australia.
• The color photos fade over time.

Advances in Technology

• Kodak (an Industry Leader in Film Technology) went bankrupt.
• Most phones have one or more cameras. Even children can take reasonably good photos. The photos can be edited (e.g. crop, color-adjusted).
• Warning : Some unscrupulous people have doctored photos and presented them as evidence of news.

Htein Win

It took a long time for him to publish books about the Dark Moments in Burma.

First Book

• Took photos of the U Thant Ah Yay Ah Khin mostly from a saya’s house in the Main Campus. Gave photos to some friends and to an organization overseas (for storage).
• With the Pwint Linn era, he was able to get back the archived photos from overseas. Managed to get articles from some of the participants in the Ah Yay Ah Khin. He published the book about the Ah Yay Ah Khin.
• Ko Khin Maung Zaw bought a copy of the book from Myanmar and then mailed it to me.

Second Book

• In November 2019. I was invited to attend the 5th Irrawaddy Literary Festival in Mandalay. Met Ko Htein Win who had a book stall at the Festival. He gave me an autographed copy of the book about 8-8-88.

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Alumni

• In Latin, there are four terms :
  alumnus for “male student”
  almuna for “female student”
  alumni for “male students”
  alumnae for “female students”.
• In modern usage, the term “alumni” applies to all students.

Days of Month

• According to “Ripley’s Believe it or not”, a graveyard inscription has February 30th.
• Grapevine says that Followers of two Carsars took away a day each from February to make July (named after Julius Caesar) and August (named after Augustus Caesar) to have 31 days instead of 30.

February became the shortest month of the calendar year with 28 days. It was given back an extra day on a leap year.

The earth takes about 365.2422 days to revolve round the sun, so the discrepancy became 0.9688 day every four years (or 97 days in 4 centuries).

In Gregorian calendar, a leap year is defined as a non-century year that is divisible by 4, and a century year that is divisible by 400.

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Top Paulian Matriculates

Peter Wun

SPHS63

IM (2) Students

Half Moon Bay

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Grandma

February

• According to “Ripley’s Believe it or not”, a graveyard inscription had February 30th.
• Julius Caesar’s followers took a day from February to make July (named in his honor) have 31 days instead of 30.
• Augustus Caesar’s followers took a day from February to make August (named in his honor) to have 31 days instead of 30.
• February became the shortest month of the calendar year with 28 days. It was given back an extra day on a leap year.
• The earth takes about 365.2422 days to revolve round the sun, so the discrepancy between a solar year and the calendar year became 0.9688 day every four years (or 97 days in 4 centuries). The first correction was to designate a year divisible by 4 as a Leap Year.
• In Gregorian calendar, a leap year is defined as a non-century year that is divisible by 4, and a century year that is divisible by 400. This is more accurate than the first correction.

Latin terms for student

• Alumnus : male student
• Almuna : female student
• Alumni : male students
• Alumnae : female students

• In modern usage, “alumni” applies to all students.
• We sometimes use alum as a short form for alumni.

Synonym

• Synonyms are words which have almost the same meaning for the given context.
• Since some words have multiple meanings, one must specify the meaning associated with a synonym.
• For example, Dictionary, Thesaurus, Lexicon and Vocabulary are synonyms.
  Their usage depends on the context. In general, Lexicon is a body of knowledge (or dictionary) of Latin and Greek.
  At one time, Lexicon is a card game where players create words and score points. It was superseded by Scrabble.

Antonym

• Antonyms are words which have almost the opposite meaning for the given context.
• Since some words have multiple meanings, one must specify the meaning associated with an antonym.
• For example, Love and Hate are antonyms.
• In Pali, the antonyms of Lobha (Greed), Dosa (Anger or Hatred) and Moha (Ignorance of Delusion) are Alobha (Non-greed), Adosa (Non-hatred) and Amoha (Non-ignorance or Wisdom).

Homonym

• Homonyms are words which sound the same.
• Examples
  rain, rein, reign
  air, heir
  throne, thrown
• A puzzle based on homonyms :
  “What is the difference between the Prince of Wales and a cricket ball?” The Prince of Wales is HEIR to the THRONE. A cricket ball is THROWN to the AIR.