Category: Concept

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Stamps

• For Postal Service
• For Legal Documents
• For commemorating Events

Sample Stamps

Notes

• After Independence, Burma transitioned from the use of Rupee to Kyat.
• Before inflation, small value notes — K1, K5 & K10 — were used in daily transactions (e.g shopping).
• After hyper-inflation, large value notes — K5000, K10000 — are needed in daily transactions.
• A hospital bill or even a restaurant bill may show several Lakhs .

Fees

• During our student days and even in our early working days, we had to sign and affix a fifteen-pya stamp to a receipt.
• Some legal documents need stamps of Two Kyats (or more).

School Feed

• School fees was 15 Kyats or less per month.
• At RIT, we had to pay 30 Kyats every two months. Since I received Collegiate Scholarship of 75 Kyats per month, I had 60 Kyats pocket money every month.
• That changed slightly, when we we asked to buy “Thuda Padetha Magazine” for 5 Kyats.Still, it was good enough.

Cost of Lunch

• We would collectively order food. Without voracious eaters, each person would pay about one kyat.
• Lime juice costs 15 – 20 pyas.
• Butheegyaw 5 – 10 pyas.
• Banana one for 15 pyas; two for 25 pyas.

A Decade Ago

• My elder sister took me on a pilgrimage trip to Upper Burma.
• There were different kinds of fees : bridge tolls, fees to enter a town.
• The price depends upon the type of car. In one instance, the fee was K400. We gave a K500 note and got back a “tha-gya-lone” (သကြားလုံး candy supposedly worth K100).

Decline of Purchasing Power

• I received 15 to 50 kyats for my writings — poem, article, translation
• How things have changed.
• Sad to note the declining worth of money and disappearance of Bogyoke Aung San’s picture (during the Adhamma Era) and signatures of Maung Kaung & San Lin to guarantee the notes.

Exchange rates

• When we were young, 1 US$ was exchanged at 5 – 6 kyats. We bought books (text books & magazines) at the rate of 6 Kyats.
• In the late 80s, one $ was exchanged at 50+ kyats.
• The exchange rate ballooned to several thousand kyats.

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

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 : June 2025

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.

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.

Me

• I am fortunate to have parents who lived beyond 80.
• I am not fortunate enough to have them around to see my Hmees, 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.