Category: Event

by Hla Min

Update : 28th October 2026

Vacation

• Trip to the East Coast of US and parts of Canada
• Took United Airlines from San Francisco International airport
• Flight was delayed for more than two hours because the computer system was down
• Our plane was diverted to Syracuse airport in New York to refuel and to wait there until Newark (New Jersey) airport — which had experienced traffic congestion — could handle the incoming flights
• Ivan Lee (M69) was aware of the flight delay. He picked us up at the airport.
• He would be our host & trip coordinator.
• Selected events from the trip are described below.

July 10

• Ivan took us — Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi, Daw Emma, my spouse & me— on a New York tour.
• We felt like “honored guests” because New York City was lined up with fans — young and old — of the US women’s soccer team which won the World Championship for the third time.

July 11

• Ivan hosted a gathering in honor of Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi and Saya U Soe Paing (EE, UCC).
• Ivan had hosted the RIT-UCC gathering for several years.
• Attendees include Richard Than Se (ChE62, classmate of U Soe Paing), Fred Thegyi (M69), U Tun Aung Gyaw (EC69), Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice, T69), U Toung (Tom, EC69), U Sein Myint (EC76, UCC), Daw Sao Mon Sint (Cindy, UCC), U Mya Aung (UCC), U Soe Myint (UCC) and Ivan’s relatives (who displayed their culinary skills).
• There were six 69ers at the gathering.

July 13 (Windsor)

• Sayagyi U Aung Khin was delighted to see his former students — Ivan Lee & Fred Thetgyi — drive a long way to pay respect to him.
• Ivan provided his Mercedes & gas for the trip.
• Fred drove most of the way to let Ivan have a light load. Fred also took photos of the trip.
• Sayagyi allowed my spouse & I to spend the night at his guest room.
• Sayagyi prepared “pe kyaw ပဲကြော်” and “mohinga မုန့်ဟင်းခါး” for breakfast the next morning for the four of us. He also gave mementos.

July 14 & 15 (Napean)

• Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi hosted his former students for two days.
• Showed us around Toronto
• Took us to the Thousand Islands

July 16 & 17 (Massachusetts)

• Despite being busy working on two projects, U Tun Aung Gyaw took two days off to host his former classmates.
• Took us to MIT and Harvard.
• It has become a tradition to touch the “shining” shoe of Harvard’s statue (and make a wish).
• Fred touched with one hand and made a wish on behalf of his grand kid.

• Ivan touched with both hands saying he needed to make a wish on behalf of his six grand children.

July 18 & 19 (Connecticut)

• U Toung (Tom) and Daw Khin Myint (Kim) were our hosts for the Connecticut leg of our trip.
• A photo was taken by Fred in front of one of the 30+ libraries at Yale University.
• Another photo was taken by a waitress (who has a “FRED” tattoo on her arm in honor of her father) at Table (10) of Frank Pepe’s pizza. Photos of the then young Bill Clinton, who frequented the pizza place, can be seen on the wall. She checked Fred’s ID & agreed to have a picture together.

Miscellaneous

• On the way to Windsor, we stopped to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. On a previous trip, I had seen Niagara Falls from the US side. Many say that the view from the Canadian side is better.

• The speed limit in Canada was lower than that of US. Ivan’s GPS had some hiccup inside Canada. We ended up late arriving at Sayagyi’s U Aung Khin house.
• We just drove around Toronto on our way to Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi’s house. We prefer to be early than late.
• U TAG lives in Shrewbury about 50 miles from Boston. He was working on multiple projects.
• Tom lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. He is retired. He spends time in Hong Kong with his son & grandchild.
• As a side trip, Fred took us to Pennsylvania & Maryland.
  He lives in Philadelphia. We visited Liberty Bell & selected places. U Thein Han is my sole remaining uncle. He lives in Maryland.
• Ivan had two PEs (from New Jersey and New York). He owns some real estate. He loves to cook. He plays accordion and harmonica. He is a Life time Gold member of US Bridge Association. He is a Golden Sponsor of SPZP-2000 and SPZP-2007. He is a major donor to the 69er Health Care Fund.

Related Posts

• 69er
• Dr. Aung Gyi
• U Aung Khin
• SPZP
• Visits

by Hla Min

Update : 25th October 2026

Ko Ohn Khine (M70) gave me a ride to the January 2018 meeting.

Attendees

Ko Ohn Khine (M)

• Moderator, Google Group
• Member, HMEE : Compiled CD Supplement for the HMEE book; Translated Section 1 and Paraphrased Section 2 of the book
• Organizer of SPZP, SDYF and Alumni Association

Ko Win Aung (M)

• High school Luyechun from TTC Practicing School) for the Ngapali Shwe Wah Chaung Camp in 1964
• RIT selection for Swimming & Water Polo
• Secretary of RIT Swimming & Water Polo (in the Final Year)
• Has 4 children and 7 grand children
• He remembered beating the IM(1) Water Polo Team led by Ko Lynn Aung Thet to get into the Finals, but lost to RASU led by Ko Nanda Kyaw Swa (Burma Champion)

Sai Thein Maung (C)

• RIT Goalkeeper for six years (from 1st BE to Final Year)
• Track and Field Champion

Ko Zaw Winn (Min)

• Bilingual author
• Pen name : “Zin Yaw Gyi”

Ko Soe Aung (M/Auto)

• Served as Secretary of RIT Ah Nu Pyinna Ah Thin
• Wrote several articles including the “Ah Nyeint and Htee Yein at the RU Golden Jubilee”

Ko Khin Maung Than (M)

• Served as Secretary of RIT Mechanical Association
• Served as Editor of RIT Annual Magazine

Ko Wynn Htay

• Provider of space for the monthly meeting
• Publisher of the Sar Saung of the group’s Acariya Pu Zaw Pwes

Ko Soe Khine (M)

• Helped with the logistics for the Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe

Naw Than Yee

• Collector of the “donations” from the attendees and “fines” from the absentees

Ma Lei Lei Chit

• RIT selection for Track and Field
• Volunteer for the SPZPs

Ma Rosie Tin Mg (Tin Myint Oo)

• Poet
• Vocalist
• Dancer

Ma Kyi Kyi Sein (Bei Oo)

• RIT selection for Badminton
• Hiking & Mountaineering

Ko Aung Than

• Nickname : Saya San

Ko Cho Aye (M, GBNF)

• Top student
• Hiking and mountaineering

Ko Khin Maung Maung (A)

• Organizer, Architecture Gatherings

Absentees

Ko Khin Maung Lay

• RIT soccer
• Master of Ceremony for the group’s Acariya Puzaw Pwe

Ko Tha Kyaw Zan

• He is not an Arakanese (Rakhine)

Ma Victoria Simons

• Retired Professor, Metallurgy Department
• Daughter of Saya Simons (Workshop Superintendent)

Uncertain

Not sure if the following did not attend the meeting or were among a few late comers

• Ko Thet Tun
• Ko Than Win
• Ko Kyaw Maung
• Ko Than Htwe
• Ko Zaw Win (not “Zin Yaw Gyi”)

by Hla Min

Update : 25th October 2026

1970

Rangoon University Golden Jubilee

• Rangoon University ရန်ကုန်တက္ကသိုလ် celebrated the Golden Jubilee ရွှေရတု in 1970.
• RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Shins အနုပညာရှင်များ debuted the “Swel Daw Yeik Troupe” with “Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint စွယ်တော်ရိပ်အငြိမ့်” , “Htee Yein ထီးယိမ်း” & “Ta Bin Daing Ah Ka တပင်တိုင်အက”.

• The terms “Swel Daw”, “Swel Daw Bin” and “Swel Daw Yeik” became the official synonyms for RIT and its predecessors.
• I had a minor role as Volunteer for the “Zay Nay Yar Cha Htar Yay Committee စျေးနေရာချထားရေးကော်မတီ”.
• Dr. Aung Gyi (then, Professor of Civil Engineering) was Chair and U Thet Lwin (then at Eco) was Secretary of one of the main Committees. They reunited later as Rector and Registrar of RIT.

1999

30th Anniversary of 69ers

• The celebration took place in Yangon.
• It led to the founding of the “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” by me, ex-rit web site by KMZ, and SPZP-2000 in the USA by SF Bay Area RIT Alumni.

2009

40th Anniversary of 69ers

Group photos from the event have been posted in the RIT 69ers, RIT Update pages, and hlamin.com

2014

Shwe YaDu

Golden Jubilee of the Education System introduced in November 1964.

Pseudo Golden Jubilee of 69ers

• It was the Golden Jubilee for Admission to the first ever 2nd BE at RIT in November 1964.

2019

True Golden Jubilee of 69ers

• Dec 19 Morning : Reunion & PZP at Gyogone Campus
• Dec 19 Evening : Dinner & entertainment at Ko Aung Min’s old office in PWD kCompound.
• Close to ninety of our former classmates are GBNF.
• Several seniors are 75+ years young but are physically and mentally strong as ever.

2020

U Ba Toke

• Sayagyi was a Phwa Bet Taw of “RU” and “First RU Student Strike” (honored as “Ah Myotha Aung Pwe Nay”) in December 1920.
• Rangoon University was established on December 1, 1920 with Rangoon College and Judson College as the Constituent Colleges,
• 13 Kyaung Tha Gyis led the first RU Students Strike on December 5, 1920. The Strike contributed to the reform of the RU Act of 1920.
• Saya was born on Dec 26, 1920. He passed away on Dec 2, 2020.

RU Centennial

• RU kicked off the Pre-Centennial celebrations in Dec 2019.
• There were commemorative publications and exhibitions leading to the Centennial celebrations in Dec 2020.
• Due to pandemic, several events had limited attendance; they were broadcast on TV for the public.

HMEE-2018

• Saya U Aung Hla Tun headed the HMEE-2012 team which published the History book for SPZP-2012. Due to resource constraints, several topics and articles were deferred.
• Saya is also head of the HMEE-2018 team, which is preparing to revise the HMEE-2012 book and compile books on Engineering & Industry in Myanmar.
• Due to the pandemic and Saya’s demise, the project is in limbo.

Miscellaneous

Jubilees

• RU Silver Jubilee was delayed due to the War.
• RU Diamond Jubilee was held in 1995

Centennial Celebrations

• St. Paul’s High School in 1960
• Bogyoke Aung San in 2015

• U Thant

• U Thein Han (Zawgyi)
• U Wun (Minthuwun)
• U Khin Maung Latt
• Daw Khin Myo Chit
• Dr. Maung Maung Kha
• U San Tha Aung
• Burmese / Myanmar Movies in 2020
• RUBC in 2023

by Hla Min

Update : 24th October 2026

Vacation

• Trip to the East Coast of US and parts of Canada
• Took United Airlines from San Francisco International airport
• Flight was delayed for more than two hours because the computer system was down
• Our plane was diverted to Syracuse airport in New York to refuel and to wait there until Newark (New Jersey) airport — which had experienced traffic congestion — could handle the incoming flights
• Ivan Lee (M69) was aware of the flight delay. He picked us up at the airport.
• He would be our host & trip coordinator.
• Selected events from the trip are described below.

July 10

• Ivan took us — Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi, Daw Emma, my spouse & me— on a New York tour.
• We felt like “honored guests” because New York City was lined up with fans — young and old — of the US women’s soccer team which won the World Championship for the third time.

July 11

• Ivan hosted a gathering in honor of Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi and Saya U Soe Paing (EE, UCC).
• Ivan had hosted the RIT-UCC gathering for several years.
• Attendees include Richard Than Se (ChE62, classmate of U Soe Paing), Fred Thegyi (M69), U Tun Aung Gyaw (EC69), Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice, T69), U Toung (Tom, EC69), U Sein Myint (EC76, UCC), Daw Sao Mon Sint (Cindy, UCC), U Mya Aung (UCC), U Soe Myint (UCC) and Ivan’s relatives (who displayed their culinary skills).
• There were six 69ers at the gathering.

July 13 (Windsor)

• Sayagyi U Aung Khin was delighted to see his former students — Ivan Lee & Fred Thetgyi — drive a long way to pay respect to him.
• Ivan provided his Mercedes & gas for the trip.
• Fred drove most of the way to let Ivan have a light load. Fred also took photos of the trip.
• Sayagyi allowed my spouse & I to spend the night at his guest room.
• Sayagyi prepared “pe kyaw ပဲကြော်” and “mohinga မုန့်ဟင်းခါး” for breakfast the next morning for the four of us. He also gave mementos.

July 14 & 15 (Napean)

• Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi hosted his former students for two days.
• Showed us around Toronto
• Took us to the Thousand Islands

July 16 & 17 (Massachusetts)

• Despite being busy working on two projects, U Tun Aung Gyaw took two days off to host his former classmates.
• Took us to MIT and Harvard.
• It has become a tradition to touch the “shining” shoe of Harvard’s statue (and make a wish).
• Fred touched with one hand and made a wish on behalf of his grand kid.

• Ivan touched with both hands saying he needed to make a wish on behalf of his six grand children.

July 18 & 19 (Connecticut)

• U Toung (Tom) and Daw Khin Myint (Kim) were our hosts for the Connecticut leg of our trip.
• A photo was taken by Fred in front of one of the 30+ libraries at Yale University.
• Another photo was taken by a waitress (who has a “FRED” tattoo on her arm in honor of her father) at Table (10) of Frank Pepe’s pizza. Photos of the then young Bill Clinton, who frequented the pizza place, can be seen on the wall. She checked Fred’s ID & agreed to have a picture together.

Miscellaneous

• On the way to Windsor, we stopped to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. On a previous trip, I had seen Niagara Falls from the US side. Many say that the view from the Canadian side is better.

• The speed limit in Canada was lower than that of US. Ivan’s GPS had some hiccup inside Canada. We ended up late arriving at Sayagyi’s U Aung Khin house.
• We just drove around Toronto on our way to Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi’s house. We prefer to be early than late.
• U TAG lives in Shrewbury about 50 miles from Boston. He was working on multiple projects.
• Tom lives in Trumbull, Connecticut. He is retired. He spends time in Hong Kong with his son & grandchild.
• As a side trip, Fred took us to Pennsylvania & Maryland.
  He lives in Philadelphia. We visited Liberty Bell & selected places. U Thein Han is my sole remaining uncle. He lives in Maryland.
• Ivan had two PEs (from New Jersey and New York). He owns some real estate. He loves to cook. He plays accordion and harmonica. He is a Life time Gold member of US Bridge Association. He is a Golden Sponsor of SPZP-2000 and SPZP-2007. He is a major donor to the 69er Health Care Fund.

Update

• Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi passed away peacefully in sleep recently.