I am following the noble tradition of honoring pioneers and outstanding people. I am trying my best to present their achievements and contributions. I an privileged to have known many seniors, contemporaries and juniors.
Who’s Who, Twentieth Century Impressions of Burma, Five Minute Biographies တွေ ကို နည်းယူပြီး ကျွန်တော် က Old Burma တုန်းက ထူးချွန်သူ တွေ ကို မှတ်တမ်းတင် ဂုဏ်ပြု နေတဲ့ ရှေ့မှီ နောက်မှီ (ဘေးမှီ) သူတယောက်ပါ။
I volunteered as a Docent at the Computer History Museum (CHM) for two years. CHM’s programs include Hardware & Software Artifacts, Exhibits, Oral History, Lectures, Panels and Award Ceremonies.
The Old Burma Group has posts about History, Notable (Famous as well as Notorious) people. I appreciate the invaluable posts as a reader and contributor.
Old Burma Group ဟာလည်း သမိုင်း နဲ့ ထူးချွန် / ဆိုးသွမ်း (Famous as well as Notorious) ကို မှတ်တမ်း တင် နေ တဲ့ အဖွဲ့ မို့ Contributor တယောက် အနေ နဲ့ ဝမ်းသာ ကြည်နူး မိပါတယ်။
I request the Group Administrator and Moderators to approve my posts.
ကျွန်တော် ရဲ့ posts တွေကို တင်ပြခွင့်ပြုပါ Admin နဲ့ Moderator များ ခင်ဗျာ။
ကျွန်တော် က I am
Founder & Chief Editor of RIT Alumni Newsletter
Owner & Admin of RIT Updates FB Group
Member of HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Education) : အဖွဲ့ဝင်၊
ကံ့ကော်မြေ (တက္ကသိုလ်ရာပြည့်) Former Moderator of RU Centennial Group : Moderator ငြိမ်း၊
U Myo Myint (Retired Deputy General Manager of Burma Railways) is an accomplished Painter, Cover Designer and Cartoonist. He drew Pon Tu’s of selected RIT Sayas, Sayamas, and colleagues. I am honored to receive his present.
ပန်းချီ မြတ်မျိုးမြင့် ရဲ့ လက်ဆောင် မွန် Pon Tu gift from Bagyee Myat Myo Myint / U Myo Myint (M)
Pon Tu
1964 – 65 Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT)
I was admitted to 2nd BE (Bachelor of Engineering) in November 1964.
The photo was taken at the Gyogone campus.
2nd BE student
1964 – 65 ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် ဒုတိယနှစ် သင်တန်းသား 2nd BE Student at Rangoon Institute of Technology
1965 Summer Inlay Luyechun Camp
I was selected as Luyechun (Outstanding Student).
The photo was taken at the Welcome Ceremony by the Head of Shan States.
LYC
1965 နွေရာသီ အင်းလေး ခေါင်တိုင် လူရည်ချွန် စခန်း တက္ကသိုလ် နဲ့ အထက်တန်း လူရည်ချွန်များ Inlay Khaung Daing Luyechun Camp in the Summer of 1965
1969 December Poem for 5th SEAP Games
Burma hosted the 2nd SEAP Games in 1961, and the 5th SEAP Games in 1969.
The photo shows a page from the Forward Magazine. Maung Thaw Ka (Bohmu Ba Thaw, GBNF) was Chief Editor of the magazine.
Forward
Forward မဂ္ဂဇင်း — ဒီဇင်ဘာ 1969 ပဥ္စမ အကြိမ် အရှေ့တောင်အာရှ ကျွန်းဆွယ်ပွဲ အတွက် ကဗျာ စပ်ဆို ခဲ့ Poem about the 5th SEAP Games
Mid 1970s Universities’ Computer Center (UCC), Rangoon
The photo was taken with the Teachers and Students of CPC (Computer Programming Course).
Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) succeeded Dr. Chit Swe (UCC Founder, GBNF) as Director of UCC.
UCC
တက္ကသိုလ်များ ကွန်ပျူတာ ဌာန က ပို့ချတဲ့ သင်တန်း တခု Computer Course at Universities’ Computer Center (UCC), Thamaing College Campus
1999 Aprilto 2025 Chief Editor of RIT Alumni International Newsletter
2005++ Paying Homage to Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa
U Silananda
ဆရာတော် ဦးသီလာနန္ဒာဘိဝံသ (ပါချုပ်ဆရာတော်) အထိမ်းအမှတ် မော်ကွန်းစာစောင်အတွက် အဖွဲ့ဝင် & စာတည်း Contributing Editor for the Book published in memory of Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa
2010 December Saya Pu Zaw Pwe in Singapore
SDY Sar Saung
2010 စင်ကာပူ မှာ ကျင်းပတဲ့ စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် ဆရာပူဇော်ပွဲ အထိမ်း အမှတ် စွယ်တော်ရိပ်စာစောင် Wrote an article “A Sad and Short Clip: EE Sayas” for the Commemorative Issue of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for SPZP-2010 in Singapore
HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Project) HMEE Book published in 2012
HMEE
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အင်ဂျင်နီယာ ပညာရေး သမိုင်း ပြုစု တဲ့ အဖွဲ့ Member of HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Education) U Ohn Khine (M70) and I compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE Book published in 2012 Copies of the Book were donated to Libraries
CD
2012 နှစ် မှာ ထုတ်ဝေခဲ့တဲ့ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အင်ဂျင်နီယာပညာရေး သမိုင်း စာအုပ် ရဲ့ နောက်ဆက်တွဲ စီဒီ CD Supplement for the HMEE Book Photos and articles (in English) to supplement the articles (in Burmese) in the HMEE Book
ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် ရွှေရတု အထိမ်းအမှတ်စွယ်တော်ရိပ် မဂ္ဂဇင်း (2014) Wrote an article “Memories of a 69er” for the Commemorative Issue of Swel Daw Yeik Magazine for Shwe YaDu 2014
2016 September Alumni Appreciation Award
Award
2019 December RUBC 96th Anniversary Regatta
Regatta
RUBC 96th Anniversary & Regatta (2019) U Tin Myint (GBNF), U Sein Htoon, U Khin Maung Latt, U Hla Min
2019 December Golden Jubilee of Graduation of RIT 69ers
GJ
2019 — 1969 နှစ် ဘွဲ့ရ အင်ဂျင်နီယာများ ရဲ့ ရွှေရတု မနက်ပိုင်း — ကြို့ကုန်း မှာ ဆရာပူဇော်ပွဲ 2019 — Golden Jubilee of Graduation for RIT 69ers Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe at Gyogone Campus
SPHS
Std VI (D)
Saya U Pe Tin’s Class
Saya U Pe Tin was a Subject Teacher in Std. V(D) and our Class Teacher in Std. VI(D). He gave out three awards (a) for highest marks (b) for best handwriting (c) for စာရိတ္တ
Ms. Amelia Kyi / Miss Hong Kong taught us English in Std. VI(D) and Std. VII(D). She would fine 50 pyas for failing in her tests and exams. My daily allowance was 25 pyas. She would often reward 50 pyas to those who scored well in her tests.
Associate Dean at Oxford University for four years.
Due to the lax rules and denial of his request for PPE at his Department, he became an early casualty of Covid-19.
Passed away on April 13, 2020. The day marked the beginning of Thingyan (Water Throwing Festival). In 2020, the day was “Easter Monday”.
He is Gone But Not Forgotten (GBNF).
I chronicled the period from early April to late May 2020. It covers news, photos, articles (from the UK Newspapers) and memories (by his family members, relatives, friends and colleagues).
Award by Nuerology Academy
Peter Tun AwardAward 2
Condolences
From Dr. Johnny Kyaw Myint (SPHS60, Australia)
Very proud of Peter that will be honored like this.
From Dr Wilbert Ho (SPHS60, UK)
Hi Dexter, thanks for sharing the news about the Peter Tun Neurology Award.
I am very proud on behalf of his family and as a friend and fellow Myanmar. Best wishes, Wilbert.
From U Thaung Lwin (Dexter, Peter’s uncle)
Both Johnny and Wilbert are my class mates in St Paul’s since 5th standard.
From Hussein Ariff
Dexter thank you very much for sharing.
May God rest his soul in eternal peace.
Amen.
Memories
He is the eldest of three siblings.
His grandfather, father & Peter are the “First son”
Peter 1Peter 2
Peter served Mezaligone & nearby villages as the Lone Doctor.
Peter, Win Mar and elder son (Min Ko)
He made annual visits to his parents. He and his mom are January born. They perform Birthday Dana together.
He invited us to Min Ko’s Engagement Party at Winner Inn and follow-up at their parents’ home
Peter 3
U Tin Htoon sent a Photo Card. He later compiled a Photo Album for Peter.
Photo Card for Peter
Updates
Peter’s name was read in the song by “London Symphony”
Peter was nominated for a Posthumous FRCP
Min Ko (Peter’s elder son) was “First son (for the 4th Generation)” in his family. He has two daughters. Not sure if another “First son (for the 5th Generation)” will appear.
U Tin Htoon (Peter’s uncle) has shared the first set of photos.
He is planning a Photo Album / Book for Peter, who left this world unexpectedly on April 13, 2020.
He has compiled and published Photo Albums not only for himself, but also as birthday presents for his elder brothers U Tin U and U Ba Than.
Peter is the eldest child of my cousin U Tin U and Dr. Khin Kyi Nyunt (Cherry Tin Gyi, GBNF). U Tin U is the eldest among his siblings. Ma Cherry is the youngest among her siblings.
Peter shares the honor of being the eldest son of the eldest son of the eldest son. He received a special present that was handed over by his paternal great grand father.
Ma Cherry and Peter share January as the birth month. For several years, Peter flew from UK in January to celebrate his mom’s birthday. They usually perform dana together at Chan Myay Yeik Tha.
Photos
The photos show a handsome boy with his proud parents.
A few photos were taken with Peter in a pram.
Tragedies
Ma Cherry passed away in late 2019 a few months before her 89th birthday.
U Tin U was shocked when Peter passed away in April 2020. He refused to go out to the front lawn in the evenings (where he would relax and take his daily “medicine”),
The family endured a third tragedy when Ko Tin Tun (Aye Aye Khin’s spouse) passed away in May 2020.
U Tin U, Ma Cherry & PeterBaby Peter 1Baby Peter 2Baby Peter 3Baby Peter 4Baby Peter 5
There have been several complaints to NHS particularly about the shortage of PPE and the accountability over the guidelines.
NHS Secretary Matt Hancock says he feels ‘deep sense of duty’ to those infected while at work. He announced 60,000 Pounds payout to families of health staff who die of coronavirus.
Min Ko’s response :
There needs to be accountability over the guidelines. I would rather have my Dad than money, absolutely, 100%
Britain holds minute’s silence in tribute to coronavirus dead
Politicians and public across UK remember key workers who have died during pandemic
Good News about Win Mar
Peter, Win Mar & Min Ko
Min Ko (Michael Tun) wrote :
Just spoke to May May. It looks like they will be able to send her home tomorrow. Also there was a 1 minute silence for NHS workers who lost their lives and doctors and nurses came into May May’s room to pay tribute and do the 1 minute silence with her.
Dr. Ye Myint wrote :
We spoke to Ma Win Mar few minutes ago. She is well. Her voice is stronger and can eat reasonably well. No fever for the last few days. Not required for O2 today. There was one minute silence for National heroes who paid their lives working in hospitals ( NHS). Many doctors and nurses ( including Ko Ko’s ward nurses), came to her room and many people had to stand outside her room along the corridors for 1 minute silence to honour Ko Ko ( Peter). Ma Win Mar will go home about 10 am tomorrow morning.
Updates
Min Ko is now a proud father of two daughters.
Win Mar, family and friends helped rebuild houses for the earthquake victims in Myanmar.
I picked her up this morning. She’s home now. She’s missing PePe but in good spirit all things considered. The hospital gave us a wheelchair to keep for a while in case she needs it. She’s eating as well which is good. Aunty Theingi ordered some delicious food for May May. I’m dealing with pensions and other major admin at the moment. Ye Lay is home and I will go back later this afternoon also.
Mezaligone Days
Peter spent eleven years at Mezaligone.
He opened a clinic and treated the villagers often free of charge.
He even paid a few to have surgery at a hospital.
He shared the water from his 180-ft deep well with his neighbors.
He invited them once a month to have Mohinga or some other treat.
He had to order tablets to purify the drinking water. Still he head to treat patients for dysentery and diarrhea.
Miscellaneous
We hear about : Quarantine, Lock down, Shelter / Stay at home, Circuit breaker, Social distancing, Cancelled events and flights, …
During the Pandemic, several health workers lost their lives in the line of duty. Not so young people with underlying medical conditions passed away with or without COVID-19 infections.
U Kyaw Sein (former saya at RIT Mechanical Department) passed away in Singapore.
Daw Molly Khoo (former sayama at St. Philomena’s convent, co-founder of TBSA) passed away in California.
Brenda Gyi (retiree from UN) passed away in New York.
Dr. Myint Win (65 Matriculate) and Dr. Soe Aung (SPHS67) passed away in UK.
Sayadaw U Ottara Nyana likened the pandemic as the 21st Century World War against an invisible enemy.
Memories by Ye Lay (Live)
“Pe Pe Ko Chit Tae“. [ I love Dad]
Ye Lay thanked his father Peter for the wonderful things that he had learned. In particular, the chanting “I take refuge in the Triple Gems”. He recited to Peter at the hospital.
He sang an old Scottish ballad “Loch Lomond“. He remembered Peter taking Chan Myei Sayadaw to Loch Lomond.
By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond Where we two have passed so many blithesome days On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
[Refrain] O ye’ll take the high road and I’ll take the low road And I’ll be in Scotland afore ye But me and my true love will never meet again On the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond
I mind where we parted on yon shady glen On the steep, steep side o’ Ben Lomond Where in purple hue, the Heiland hills we view And the moon shinin’ out from the gloamin’
Ye Lay studied at St Andrew’s in Scotland for his second Masters. His parents attended his graduation.
He ended by reciting
“Buddham saranam gaccha mi. [I take refuge in the Buddha]. Dhammam saranan gaccha mi. [I take refuge in the Dhamma]. Sangham saranam gaccha mi. [I take refuge in the Sangha].
Memories by Dr. Ye Myint (Recording)
Dr. Ye Myint & Dr. Peter Tun
Firstly I would like to thank you all for being here.
Thanks to all those who shared their good memories of my beloved brother. The family appreciates your kind thoughts and prayers.
It is a great honour to be able to share my memories, and talk about my big brother Peter, who will forever remain in our hearts.
My kindhearted brother spent his life caring not only for patients, but relatives, friends and acquaintances. He gave up his life in the line of duty. He will be missed by all.
Peter, my sister and I were very privileged to grow up together in one large family estate. We were very close sharing the same room and being together daily.
He set a high bar for us intellectually and socially. Due to his high intellect, he got double promotion twice and skipped 2 years.
He matriculated with four distinctions. He stood 23rd in the whole of Burma and was awarded a University Scholarship. He was admitted to the Rangoon University of Medicine, which I also attended. He supported me to become a good compassionate doctor like himself.
He stayed fit by taking part in many sports : football, badminton, cycling and rowing. He was the university selected athlete for Shot put and Discus throwing.
He started cooking as a teenager and learnt many recipes from our mother and continued this lifelong hobby. He was a very good artist and created large paintings as well as water coloured Christmas cards. He was also a very keen gardener and read various books. He had great general knowledge and many called him a walking encyclopaedia.
After he qualified as a doctor, he worked as a UNICEF research officer for mother and child health in Hlegu where he met his future wife Ma Win Mar. After they fell in love he decided to move to Mezligone. I accompanied him on this trip there and helped to set up a new medical clinic. He worked there daily for 11 years where he was relied upon by his patients even out of hours.
I sponsored him to move to UK in 1994 to help progress his medical career. He lived with us until he got his first job in Burton-on-Trent. He got his second job in Pontefract and arranged for his family to relocate to the UK to join him. We were lucky to live only 20 minutes drive away so had nice weekly reunions which made our families even closer.
He then moved to London for rehabilitation medicine training after he passed his MRCP examinations and then moved to Reading 21 years ago working as an associate specialist. Peter has helped many Doctors coming to the UK for further studies where he gave valuable advice and treated them to his home cooking. He always enjoyed entertaining and cooking for family and friends.
We had regular family reunions and memorable family holidays together in Devon, Italy, Burma and most recently in New Zealand. We will cherish these lovely memories together. He had such a great sense of humour and always made those around him happy with his personality and big smiles. He was remarkable in many different ways. He lived an enjoyable successful life and treated all family members, relatives and friends with loving kindness. He touched so many people as evident by the countless tributes, messages, cards and donations.
I am sure you are in a much better place, Ko Ko, after doing so many good deeds throughout your life. We will miss you greatly and always remember you with love. Thank you so much for being a loving big brother, a great Uncle to Aye Sanda, a best friend, mentor and teacher.
Lighting six candles followed by Reflection
Six candles were lit : One for Peter Three for attendees of the service near and far One for Doctors and Nurses One for people around the world
All stood up for a moment of Reflection.
Reflection following the Candle Lighting
Memories of Min Ko
Min Ko shared Dr. Peter’s wonderful, precious life in Meizaligone, a village in Henzada District, Irrawaddy Division.
Since the clinic was at the house, the family members were woken up early by villagers lining up to get water from the tube well.
Peter’s clinic opened from 6AM to late at night seven days a week.
Peter treated sick villagers with CETANA, some free of charge, and some were given cash assistance to go to Hospital in Big Towns.
Once a month Peter invited neighbors to have meals in the house. Peter had an old car and learned how to do repairs.
Min Ko then read a letter written to his father and had to pause occasionally to wipe the tears. He promised to take care of the family.
Song before closing the curtain
“What a wonderful world” by Louis Armstrong
Message by relatives
Dr. Myo Tint (uncle) wrote :
Dear Win Mar, Min Ko and Ye Lay, The Funeral Service. was very touching. The speeches bring out what a wonderful, philanthropic, generous, well learned gentleman Peter was. May he Rest In Peace.
Dr. Khin Tun (Peter) passed away on April 13, 2020.
He was laid to rest on April 30, 2020.
His immediate family and a few friends attended the service physically.
Many relatives and friends joined the telecast.
Oxford Sayadaw U Dhammasami
Dakagyi Dr Peter Khin Tun,
From now on, it will not be my priority to remember that you lived 62 years, but rather how many thousands of life you have touched and nurtured. People are remembered for what they did for others, not how long they live. Ultimately, it is your exemplary selfless service to the many that will be inscribed in many hearts. Since we came to know each other in London in 1996, you have watched proudly your two boys grow up and achieve some standing of their own. As you always wished, I will take care of them spiritually so they can serve many souls as you have. Have a good rebirth.
Nick (Artist / Teacher) drew Peter’s portrait with the message :
RIP Peter Tun, associate specialist in neurorehabilitation at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading
Min Ko commented :
Oh wow! That’s my dad! That’s amazing!
Nick Prolix replied :
So pleased to be able to do something in tribute to the amazing work of folks like your dad none of whom should have lost their lives doing their jobs. Lovely to know he was an artist himself and thank you again for reaching out
Dr. Khin Tun (Peter) passed away on April 13, 2020.
He was laid to rest on April 30, 2020.
His immediate family and a few friends attended the service.
Life cut short by misguided Policies
Peter’s grand mother lived up to 94.
Peter’s father celebrated his 90th birthday in 2019. He used to sit in the garden every evening talking with someone and taking his daily dose of medicine. After learning about Peter’s untimely demise, he was devastated for three days. He no longer feel sitting out in the garden.
Peter’s mother passed away a few months short of her 89th birthday. She and Peter are both January born. Peter would fly back to Yangon almost every year (for the past decade) in time for his mother’s birthday. They would perform dana together mostly at Chan Myei Yeiktha.
Three uncles and two aunts are in their 80s.
Relatives and friends mourn the loss of Peter and miss his compassion, help and smiles.
Due to misguided Policies and Guidelines, Peter lost his life at the tender age of 62.
We cannot get Peter back, but we hope other medical staff in the front line fighting the invisible enemy would not have to suffer the same fate as Peter.
Archives
Myo Kyawswar (Peter’s cousin) recorded and shared the Audio files.
Thin Thiri Tun (Peter’s niece) recorded and shared the Video.
