by Hla Min

Update : July 2025

Poem ကဗျာ

• Poem to honor Sarsodaws (စာဆိုတော်များ Writers) who struggled for Burma’s Independence
• Published in Forward Magazine.
• Bohmu Ba Thaw was Chief Editor. U Sein Hla was Editor.
• Received Fifteen Kyats.

Taw Hlan Yay

(တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့)

• Celebrated on March 27.
• Later renamed as Armed Forces Day (to downplay the participation from all walks of life).

Independence Day

(လွတ်လပ်ရေးနေ့)

• Celebrated on January 4.
• It is not clear why 4:20 AM was chosen to replace the Union Jack with the Union Flag.

Updates

• Maung, Ko & U are prefixes for Burmese names.

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by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Background

• ဖေဖေ & အဖေ mean “Father”.
• Father’s Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday in June.

Three Generation of Fathers

First Generation

• My beloved father
• He had NDE (Near Death Experience) in his teens. The doctors said that he had three months to live, but thanks to Kadok Sayagyi (ကတုတ်ဆရာကြီး၊ Indigenous Medicine Expert) he lived to be a father of seven and grandfather of eleven.
• He was a Jack of all Trades and Master of Some. He was not an Architect, but he built pagodas and houses (for him and his younger brothers).
• He passed away in his 80s.
• He would be 109 in July 2025.

Second Generation

• Yours truly
• I am a Lifelong Learner.
• I am a former academic and Software Engineer.
• I have two sons and two grandchildren.

Third Generation

• My elder son
• He is an Industrial Engineer.
• He has a daughter & a son. Both are excellent in studies and extra-curricular activities.

Old Poem

Be kind to your father
For when you were young
Who loved you as fondly as he
He caught the first accent that fell from your tongue
And joined in the heavenly glee

Be kind to your father
For now he is old
His hair intermingled with grey
His footsteps are feeble — Once fearless and bold
Your father is passing away

Morals & Manners

We had to study “Morals & Manners” at St. Paul’s High School. Brother Austin rewarded those who could recite poems in the book.

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

To the Fallen Warrior

• Independence Movement & the Warriors
• “Taw Hlan Yay Nay” (တော်လှန်ရေးနေ့ Resistance Day) is celebrated in March. The resistance officially started on March 27, 1945. Bohmu Ba Htoo had started the resistance earlier, but it was made to look like a random sporadic act of defiance. The town which housed the early military training school was named “Ba Htoo Myo ဗထူးမြို့”

• “Lut Latt Yay Nay” (လွတ်လပ်ရေးနေ့ Independence Day) is celebrated in January. The Union Jack was lowered and the Union Flag was flown on January 4, 1948. The time 4:20 AM may have been suggested by an astrologer.
• Many civilians and armed personnel put their lives on the line in their support for a Democratic and Independent Union of Burma.
• Saying “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

Forward Magazine

• My poem “To the fallen warrior” was published in Forward Magazine.
• Bohmu Ba Thaw (Maung Thaw Ka) was Chief Editor.
• U Sein Hla was Assistant Editor.
• I received Fifteen Kyats for my poem.
• The artist who illustrated my poem received Fifty Kyats.

The Phaundaw-u Festival

• I wrote a poem “The Phaungdaw-u Festival” for the Thadinkyut Supplement of Working People’s Daily (WPD).
• I visited Inlay Lake four times.
• My first visit was in the summer of 1965 as Tekkatho Luyechun for the Inlay Khaung Daing Camp.
• My second visit was in October, 1965. I accompanied Ko Aung Kyaw (Peter Pe, SPHS, Movie Star) and Ko Maung Maung Aye (SPHS, IM1, GBNF) to Inlay and Taunggyi. Peter’s cousins (including a medical doctor) live in In Paw Khone in Inlay. Peter’s uncle U Maung Maung Latt was Ah Mat Choke (အမတ်ချုပ်) in Taunggyi. We saw first hand the famous Phaungdaw-u Festival.
• My third visit was in the mid 2010s. We took a tour package (air travel, hotel, car & boat) to Inlay. We stayed at a hotel in Inlay and then visited selected places in a chartered boat. We were sad to see the declining state of Inlay (e.g. water level). We spent some time in Taunggyi and the nearby cave in Ho Pone.
• My fourth visit was in January 2020 as the final leg of the Professional Speakers Association’s tour.

The Ngapali Beach

• My poem “The Ngapali Beach” was published in the Forward Magazine on March 2, 1970.
• I received fifteen kyats for my poem.
• The illustrator received fifty kyats.
• Bohmu Ba Thaw (Maung Thaw Kha) was Chief Editor.
• U Sein Hla was Assistant Editor.

Visits

• My first visit was during my student days. My cousin and friends stayed at the Bungalow owned by U Tha Gyaw Wai and managed by my uncle. At a nearby bungalow was a movie crew by Amyotha Yoke Shin အမျိုးသားရုပ်ရှင် with U San Maung (Gerald, RUBC Gold and Coach). Ko Gerald asked me if I would be interested to join them on the way back via Taung Goke. We were hosted by a cinema owner. He offered the movie audience a free show if they could translate the Burmese titles into English. One submission was “Fly away bitter bird” (Pyan Lay dei Nget Khar ပျံလေတဲ့ငှက်ခါး)
• My second visit was with my beloved spouse and two young sons. We stayed at the Bungalow owned by Amyotha Yoke Shin and managed by U Mya Maung (elder brother of Saya U Tin Htut).
• My third visit was as Guest Lecturer for the Ngapali Luyechun Camp. I spent some time chatting with other Guest Lecturers including Saya U Kyaw Myint (Director of Higher Education, former Professor of Physics at Mandalay).
• Hantha Aye Nylon — the parents of Than Than Yee (T71) and Sann Aung (M74) — also owned a Bungalow.
• The Hotel and Tourist Corporation built the first hotel in Ngapali.
• I know a few people who have taken almost yearly trips to Ngapali.

Our Unity

• My poem “Our Unity” was published in WPD (Working People’s Daily) for Pyidaung Su Nay (Union Day). It was written as a dream.
• Hlaing Phyo is one of my pen names.
• I received fifteen kyats for my poem.
• G Ko Lay (RUBC Gold) was Chief Editor of WPD. His spouse : Daw Nyunt Nyunt Win (Physics, RASU Registrar)
• Former Chief Editors of WPD include U Khin Maung Latt (father of Saya Dr. Khin Maung Win, grand father of Maung Yit and Junior Win) and U Than Saw (grand father of KMZ’s spouse).

Tekkatho Moe War wrote : This is really an amazing verse to read, especially for a poetry lover, be it in any language, so to speak.

Updates

• Several are GBNF. They include Bohmu Ba Thaw, U Ko Lay, U Mya Maung, U San Maung, U Khin Maung Latt, U Than Saw, Than Than Yi & Sann Aung

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