Category: Event

Dear U Hla Min

This is with reference (Update Sept 5, 2012) to your emotional feelings about not being a Saya at RIT and people being not aware of you as a Post Master and an Editor.

It is very natural that with the generation gap growing wider and wider with each passing decade, the middle-aged or the younger people will definitely not- or not wish to- know who their preceding generations are and how they fared or are faring.

Only with the exception of a few who possess strong desires to master some language (e.g. English, Burmese) and to acquire in-depth knowledge and writing skills to become a writer or poet, I believe that not many wish to take up interest in these fields. Please correct me if my viewpoint is wrong. Since we are living in a modern hi-tech world, especially in capitalist countries, most people tend to chase after monetary gains first and place others last.

But, people who know you will not hesitate to shower their praise on you, because they acknowledge that you have sacrificed a vast portion of your time and energy throughout the years to get RITians connected and feel at home. If I were sitting near or at the same dinner table as you, I am sure I would have done the same thing like Saya Dr Myo Khin and Saya Dr Soe Thein did. Since I did not see you at the SPZP 2007 dinner night, I thought that it was my duty to call on you the next day and that was why I saw you off at the Airport with Ko Tin Aung Win (TAW) at the wheel. I remembered that day because it was raining heavily and I was soaked.

For me, U Hla Min, you deserve to be deemed a writer and a poet, because you don’t need to write hundreds to become one. There were instances of some famous poets who wrote only a few poems in their lifetime.

My memory doesn’t permit me to recall distinctly but only vaguely the ones you wrote. During that period I myself wrote some poems in English and they got published in “The Guardian” Magazine.

We all know you were a Saya at UCC, DCS and ICST and I would like to take this opportunity to mention that my brother-in-law Ko Hla Min (same name) was your former pupil. The last time when you visited Singapore, I heard Ko Hla Min went to meet you.

Well, U Hla Min, this is Life! and whatever will be, will be (Que Sera Sera). But as you mentioned, let us share our memories of our beloved Swel Daw Yeik with never ending love and passion.

Let us Embrace SPZP 2012 Yangon together!

Regards
[Saya U] Moe Aung

Editor’s notes

• Thanks Saya for your kind words. Things have changed since SPZP-2007.
• RIT Alumni International and NorCal RITAA presented me “Appreciation Awards”.
• During my visit to Canada, Sayagyi U Aung Khin and Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi hosted us.
• I was invited to the 5th Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe of UCSY. Even though I could not attend the UCC/ICST/UCSY Thetkyi Pu Zaw Pwe, the organizers reserved “Garawa money” for me. Sayama Daw Mu Mu Myint asked her husband to drive a long way to give me the Garawa money.

• Saya U Moe Aung is a Laureate Poet and a distinguished writer, editor and publisher. His mentors include the famed Sayagyi Daung Nwe Swe.
• In his student days and later as a faculty member, Saya not only served as the [Chief] Editor, but also supervised the printing of the Sar Saungs and Magazines.
• Saya has published poems in both Burmese and English.
• Saya’s contributions include Chair of SPZP-2002 and SPZP-2010, and the Chief Editor and/or Publisher of the commemorative issues of the “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung” and “Swel Daw Yeik Magazine”.
• Saya is a Patron of Swel Daw Yeik Foundation.
• During my visits to Singapore and Yangon, Saya gave me books and vintage magazines.
• Sayagyi U Kyaw Tun (GBNF), Saya U Myo Kyi, and Saya U Moe Aung taught “Principles of Electrical Engineering” to non-Electrical engineering students.

RIT Poet Laureate Ko Hla Min:

I must admit that I was suffering from a Monday morning “hangover”, having been intoxicated with emotional overdose over the reunion weekend [in October 2000].

Judging from the post-reunion emails I read, I am not alone. What a reunion!

By all measures, it was a success and did satisfy the alumni’s tremendous pent-up desire to reconnect with each other after many decades of separation. The dedication of the members of the organizing committee is second to none.

With the assistance of his lovely wife, Benny Tan devoted practically full-time to this project for several months. I had a first-hand experience to see how meticulous he was when he was designing the RIT T-shirt. It came out a winner!

I do appreciate the sensitivity the organizing committee displayed in making this event non-religious and non-political. Otherwise, it would have been very difficult for me to attend. The only regret is that I failed to locate the whereabouts of my buddy Ko Aung Min of Taunggyi (M70). I heard he went to Singapore, but so far my search has ended in “no find”.

Now that the grand reunion is over, everybody is slowly recovering from the “hangover”. The big question is who would go to Singapore in 2002, and how do we go about doing it?

With best regards,
Steeve Kay (Ko Thaung Sein)

Editor’s notes

• Ko Thaung Sein (EC70) is a multiple Golden Sponsor of SPZPs. He donated $20000+ to RIT-related projects and events.

• He attended GTI for a while before joining the first ever 1st BE class in 1964.
• Received MSEE from Stanford University and MBA from Pepperdine University.
• At the request of his sister, who is a medical doctor who had patents for processing “disability” claims, Steve decided to transform from a successful electronics designer to the Chief Executive Officer of QTC Management.
• After private investors showed interest in his company, he retired, but continued to lead a multiple-purpose fourth career: (a) visiting the places of the world’s leading religions
  (b) incubating the projects of young professionals
  (c) supporting education (e.g. as trustee of University of California at Irvine)
  (d) maintaining [diverse] business portfolio
  (e) helping those in need (via CABA)
  (f) continue paying back the metta and cetana of his mentors — as Golden Sponsor of RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwes, Helen and Steeve Kay Health Care Fund for the RIT Sayas and Sayamas.

Editorial

Team

• Saya U Moe Aung (Tekkatho Moe War) & team published the commemorative issue.
• They printed my article “A Short and Sad Clip: EE Sayas” (renamed by Saya). The article will be re-posted separately.