by Hla Min

Update : 27th October 2026

Saya’s Suggestions

Ko Hla Min,

I read through your updates  shown in hlamin.com and my suggestions are given below.

I feel that your book should reflect the love of RIT students for their alma mater, the respect and gratitude shown by RIT students towards their respective teachers, the attachment, bond and friendship among RIT students; and the love for their motherland by RIT students. In short, it should reflect what we call “RIT spirit”. You can base the preparation of the book, beginning from the establishment of Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University, on your updates and other relevant sources. The word RIT  includes all different names of Engineering Institutions in Myanmar, past and present.

Having said all of the above, the following headings come to my mind for your proposed book:

1. SPZPs/Reunions  involving all  disciplines  which had taken place in Myanmar and abroad.
2. Establishment of alumni associations abroad and in Myanmar to help RIT and motherland.
3. Establishment of Swe Daw Yeik Foundation.
4. Establishment of healthcare fund for RIT teachers in Myanmar.
5. Fund drive and contributions to upgrade the RIT/YTU library.
6. Various activities/ mini-reunions / get-togethers  among groups of RIT students/teachers which reflect the life and also bond among RIT students/teachers, established in the past ,during RIT days.
7. Other interesting episodes related to RIT.

The above gives you a few thoughts I have for your book. I would like to recommend that you  also get suggestions from others for your book.

Good luck and best wishes.
Aung Gyi

Memories

After attending the 2nd year engineering class from June 1952 to September 1952, I went straight to MIT on a state scholarship to continue my studies . Saya U Min Wun and I went together to MIT and joined the academic session, starting from September 1952. We met Dr Freddie Ba Hli at MIT, who was already studying for his Ph.D in electronics or electrical engineering. He was one of the nicest and helpful persons that I have ever met in my life. He gave us briefings and guidance so that we were able to assimilate into the American education system and American way of life without any difficulty He also helped us with our home works when we had some difficulties in the beginning. I am forever grateful to him for his kind help. I am sure U Min Wun feels the same. Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Sein Hlaing, U Percy Lao, U Win Htein, U Kyaw Min, Robin Aw, U Kyaw Thein, U Aung Kywe, U Aung Myint and U Sein Hla came to MIT for further studies at a later date. U Percy Lao later became Rangoon City Engineer (water and sanitation), U Win Htein who is an architect became a Rangoon City Building Engineer, and the late U Kyaw Min became a free lance architect [and also taught part-time at the Architecture department for some time]. All these three professionals taught some time at RIT. I do not know what happened to Robin Aw. The late U Kyaw Thein was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became a lecturer at the Civil Engineering Department at RIT. U Aung Kywe was a Director (water and sanitation) at the Construction Corporation. U Aung Myint became the Chief Architect at the Construction Corporation. U Sein Hla was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became the Registrar at RIT under Rector U Yone Moe. Later more batches of Burmese students came to MIT when I was no longer there. I am describing all these things to point out the fact that the standard of engineering education in Burma at that time was quite good. None of us had to go through the entrance examination to get into MIT. They trusted our grades and our education standard. Maybe the visiting Professor Horwood from MIT was quite impressed with the Faculty of Engineering and put a good word for us to the MIT admission authorities.

I will not go into details of the activities of all the various students’ associations, societies and clubs, as there were so many of them. But I would like to mention briefly about the hostel life, that I had experienced at that time. Every hostel had what we called a social and reading club . There was an adequate room reserved for this club at the ground floor of the hostel. In general, newspapers, popular magazines, a chess board, a carom board and a table tennis were provided so that the hostel students could read, play chess, play carom board, and play table tennis and socialize to get to know each other well. Even without the social and reading club, all the hostel students ended up knowing each other well sooner or later, as they met each other almost everyday at the hostel and at the dining hall. The hostel students were in general well behaved. I hardly saw the Warden or Hall Tutors at Ava Hall and Prome Hall, as there were very few student problems which needed attention of the Warden or Hall Tutors.

Based upon my experience, I feel that these extra-curricular activities and hostel life gave the opportunities to the students to broaden the knowledge of the different parts of Myanmar; and they also created a better understanding of the different culture, food, habit, dresses, dialects etc of the country. Most of the students developed life-long friendships through these activities which contributed to well-beings of these students throughout their lives. Sport activities also taught the students about hard work, cooperation, team work, competition, winning and losing. The extra-curricular activities also triggered, developed and enhanced the hidden talents of some of the students. These activities therefore formed part of the University education of the students, in addition to the education that they received from the classrooms. Another benefit of these activities was the bonding and a better understanding, which developed between the students and the teachers who were involved in these activities.

After getting my Bachelor degree in Cvil Engineering in 1955 and my Master degree in Civil Engineering in 1956 from MIT, I worked for Engineering Companies for a year, which involved both design and fieldwork in engineering construction projects. I then came back to Rangoon in 1957 to join the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Lecturer. I was promoted to become a Lecturer in 1958 and became also more or less Head of the Civil Engineering Department. The policy in place at the University of Rangoon under the Ministry of Education at that time stated that a teacher/ any person could become a lecturer / professor only if he/ she had a post graduate degree. Sayagyi U Ba Hli was the Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean of the Faculty at the same time. U Aung Khin was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, U Sein Hlaing was Head of the Electrical Engineering Department, U Khin Aung Kyi was Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, U Soon Sein was Head of the Mining Engineering Department, U Thit was Head of the Metallurgy Department, and U Maung Maung Than was Head of the Textile Engineering Department. I think Mr Johnson was Head of the Architecture Department. I do not remember who was the Workshop Superintendent at that time. We were quite happy as we had new facilities near the Prome road in addition to the B.O.C College of Engineering building. These new facilities comprised of a tall administrative building (with offices, conference/meeting rooms, library), classrooms, lecture theaters, laboratories , offices for the teaching staff and a small assembly place under the copper dome roof in the corner of the campus. The dome roof looked like a turtle back, and pretty soon this new campus became known as “turtle dome /leik khone” campus. After our arrival from USA, UK etc, the foreign teachers under contract were let go, as we gradually replaced them, except for a few teachers from UK or USA. I could recall Prof. Neale? in Electrical Engineering Department, Mr Redpath and Mr Skelton in Mechanical Engineering Department and Mr Johnson and Mr Nagler in Architecture Department.

As a young teacher I was surprised and pleased to see a few pioneering female engineering students (not more than ten) at the Leik Khone campus. They and their parents overcame the social uneasiness and they decided to study engineering/architecture to become lady engineers /architects. I do not know exactly when they first joined the 1st year engineering class; but It was one of the important turning points in the history of engineering education.

As young teachers, most of us were struggling to learn how to teach effectively at the beginning. I noticed that we were teaching about 15 to 20 hours per week which included lectures, laboratory and drawing classes. The contact hours of learning for the students remained the same as the time when I was an engineering student i.e. about 30 hours per week. The passing grade for the students also remained the same. i.e. 40% for each subject and 50% average for all the subjects combined. The medium of teaching was still in English. The laboratory and workshop facilities were quite good and adequate for the student population that we had. But the library looked quite small when I compared it with the library that they had in MIT, although it had a few good engineering books and journals. I felt that it needed a lot of investment to become a top notch engineering library.

It was with enthusiasm and hope that most of us were busy trying to build up our respective departments and trying to improve the engineering education in general. While we were busy, Professor and Dean U Ba Hli retired some time around 1961, and in place of U Ba Hli we had a succession of temporary Deans, Professor of Chemistry U Po Tha, Professor of Geology Dr Tha Hla, and Professor of Physics Dr Maung Maung Kha for about 6 months. The Faculty of Engineering also had to move to a new campus in Gyogone in 1961. Before our relocation to Gyogone, the Faculty of Engineering was one of the Faculties of the University of Rangoon. The academic and administrative related policy decisions were made by the Senate and Administrative Council of the University of Rangoon respectively so as to maintain and improve the standard of education of all its Faculties, including the Faculty of Engineering.

As you all know, Gyogone campus was built with the aid of Russia; and I understood that the Government of Burma paid back the cost in rice. I do not know whether it was true or not. In any case it was and still is an impressive looking campus. The buildings accommodated classrooms, laboratories and workshop, big assembly hall with a movie projector, library, offices for the administrative and teaching staff,and student hostels. There were also houses for all the staff, dining and kitchen facilities, small medical clinic, and open space for sport activities. All the buildings, houses etc occupied and still occupy a large area in a compound.

by Hla Min

Update : 19th October 2026

Final Journey

In Memory of Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi

• Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi, former Rector of Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT), passed away peacefully in his sleep on 13th October, 2026.
• Several sayas and alumni — Dr. San Hla Aung (C), U Soe Paing (EE, UCC), Hla Min (EC69), Ivan Lee (M69), U Aung (C70), U Aung Myaing (ChE72), Mg Mar Ga (M72) — have posted Condolences.
• Sayagyi had shared his Memories in RIT Alumni Newsletter and several publications. He wrote an Introduction to HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Education) book, which referenced Saya’s account as RU Student, States Scholar, Educator and Administrator.
• Saya reminded us in his Keynote for SPZP-2000 about the importance of Health and Emotional Intelligence.
• In “Coconut Episode” Saya recalled how Metta, Karuna and Cetana can transform a mischievous student into a volunteer for social activities.

• In 2015, Ivan invited us to visit him and to join a whirlwind trip to Windsor & Napean (in Canada) to pay respect to Saya U Aung Khin and Saya Dr. Aung Gyi.

• We were fortunate to meet Ivan’s special guests — Saya Dr. Aung Gyi and Ma Ma Emma and spend a few days together. Ivan took us to New York.

• A few days late, Saya and Ma Ma Emma hosted Ivan, Fred, my spouse and me for two nights. Saya showed us around the town and took us to see a Thousand Islands. Ma Ma Emma bought a gift for my Myee Oo.

Condolences by Saya Dr. San Hla Aung (C)

Condolences by Saya U Soe Paing (EE, UCC co-founder)

Sad News

• Dr. Aung Gyi passed away peacefully in his sleep on 13th October 2026.
• Saya celebrated his 95th birthday on 2nd October 2026.

(1) Suggestions

Ko Hla Min,

I read through your updates  shown in hlamin.com and my suggestions are given below.

I feel that your book should reflect the love of RIT students for their alma mater, the respect and gratitude shown by RIT students towards their respective teachers, the attachment, bond and friendship among RIT students; and the love for their motherland by RIT students. In short, it should reflect what we call “RIT spirit”. You can base the preparation of the book, beginning from the establishment of Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University, on your updates and other relevant sources. The word RIT  includes all different names of Engineering Institutions in Myanmar, past and present.

Having said all of the above, the following headings come to my mind for your proposed book:

1. SPZPs/Reunions  involving all  disciplines  which had taken place in Myanmar and abroad.
2. Establishment of alumni associations abroad and in Myanmar to help RIT and motherland.
3. Establishment of Swe Daw Yeik Foundation.
4. Establishment of healthcare fund for RIT teachers in Myanmar.
5. Fund drive and contributions to upgrade the RIT/YTU library.
6. Various activities/ mini-reunions / get-togethers  among groups of RIT students/teachers which reflect the life and also bond among RIT students/teachers, established in the past ,during RIT days.
7. Other interesting episodes related to RIT.

The above gives you a few thoughts I have for your book. I would like to recommend that you  also get suggestions from others for your book.

Good luck and best wishes.
Aung Gyi

(2) Keynote from SPZP-2000

Mr. Chairman, my Sayas, my former colleagues, friends, RIT graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I begin to say anything, I would like to request you to take the word “RIT” as to stand not only for Rangoon Institute of Technology but also BOC College of Engineering and Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. I am using RIT only, just for convenience sake.

Having said that, it is with a chestful of emotions that I am standing before you, trying to say a few words appropriate and befitting to this important and joyful occasion. My overwhelming emotion is, needless to say, happiness – happiness which results from seeing my Sayas, my friends, my former colleagues, and RIT graduates alive and well, after so many years. My happiness is also mingled with a certain amount of pride: pride arising from the knowledge that we have fond memories and a sense of belonging and attachment to the good old institution as well as to one another.

We are fortunate that we could all gather here to exchange our life experiences, both good and bad, and to reminisce about our past when we were at RIT. While we are doing that, we all must have noticed that all of us have changed quite a bit since we last saw one another, at least physically, some more so than other. We all now have a few gray and also less hair, we have a few wrinkles on our face; maybe we also lost a few teeth and cannot see or hear as well as we did before. Some of us also lost the memory a bit and become forgetful about lots of things such as forgetting names for example. This, as we all know, is life and nature of things. Everything changes and nothing is permanent. Bur fortunately we still have our values. Our values such as respect and gratitude for the elders and teachers, caring of our respective children and family members, helping our friends, and attachment, and gratitude to the institution which nurtured us to meet the challenges of life, are still with us. They have not changed. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and reunion is a testimony to those values.

I must now pause and thank and congratulate the Organizing Committee for their untiring and selfless efforts to make this event possible and successful. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and RIT Alumni reunion is, as far as I know, once-in-a-life-time event. As far as I am concerned it is already a resounding success with the cooperation and great enthusiasm that I have seen. I hope this will be the beginning and not the last of our get-togethers. When my wife and I paid visits to Myanmar in 1996, 1997 and 1999 we had mini get-togethers with RIT Alumni. When I was here a few years ago we also got together with a few RIT Alumni. I understood that Saya U Aung Khin also had one mini get-together here some years ago. But these get-togethers were not on a grand scale as the one that we are having here now. However the spirit of camaraderie and friendliness among RIT Alumni mini get-togethers, was the same as the one that we find here now. If you look around you, you will find that all of us came here from different parts of the world, indicating the great attachment and respect that we all have for our old institution and also for one another.

While I was preparing for this speech, fond memories of the years that I spent as a student, as a teacher and later as Rector at RIT came flashing through my mind. Without going into details, I remember that all my teachers, including Saya Num Kock and Saya U Ba Toke who are here with us, were good inspiring teachers with kind hearts. When I became a teacher and later the Rector at RIT, I noticed that my colleagues were good and dedicated people who tried their best to teach what they had learnt from good Universities and Institutions abroad.

They made conscious efforts to raise the level of education at RIT so much that the students were fully occupied with classes, studies, projects, and homework. I have to mention here that my Sayas and my former colleagues were, and still are honest, compassionate, gentle and kind people. Within this context I would now like to take this opportunity to offer my humble apologies to my Sayas and colleagues for the wrong things that I may have done or said which might have hurt them in any way in the past.

As for the students, I remember that they were good, intelligent, and energetic students in general. Since I was also involved in extracurricular activities of the students, I had more interaction and gained more understanding of their needs and feelings. Like most of the other teachers I tried my best to be helpful to them not only in their studies but also in any other problems that they needed my help. Because of the compassion that I had shown for them they became more communicative, and listened to what I had to say most of the time. Like a breath of fresh air, the first batch of female engineering students were among us, I believe in 1958. So far as I remember they did as well as or some even better than the male students in their studies. I remember that as a teacher I felt very good and satisfied whenever some students did well in their studies or did well in their careers after they left school. These are fond memories that I still have with me about the students at RIT.

As you probably know, I left RIT and Myanmar in 1977 to join UNESCO. I then migrated to Canada to join International Development Research Centre (IRDC) in 1981. For your information, IRDC is a Canadian Agency which funds research projects for development in the developing countries. I retired from IRDC in 1997. Looking back to the past, I must say that I spent the best years of my life at RIT, challenging and troubling at times, but on the whole happy and satisfied with the job that I was doing.

Now please let me take a few minutes of your time to share with you my thoughts, which I believe are some important elements of life. You might not agree with me to what I am going to say. At least, in that case, you might take them as food for your thoughts. If I sound like lecturing to you now, you must remember that the habit of a former teacher dies hard.
When I was young and immature. I had great admiration for people with high I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). I also tended to think in those days that I was quite intelligent. After going through life experiences with ups and downs I became to realize that high Emotional Quotient (E.Q.) or emotional mastery is more important in life than high I.Q., to cope with adversities, disappointments, failures and sometimes even tragedies. No one that I know of, escapes the negative impacts of life in one form or another. If you have emotional mastery you can deal with and overcome these negative impacts and still get ahead in life and be relatively happy. One thing that can help us is to have optimism, hope and courage in life and to minimize the negative thoughts and creeping pessimism. It will be wrong to classify anything in life in opposites either in black or white. One can neither be fully optimistic nor fully pessimistic all the time. There is a gray area which is neither black nor white, and so long as the dominant part of this gray area is optimism, things will turn alright in the end. I read in one of the books long time ago that the Chinese word for “crisis” denotes both risk and chance (opportunity). A pessimistic person would tend to look at the crisis as the big risk and will despair and do nothing, whereas an optimistic person will look at it as a challenge and opportunity and will do something with courage and determination and overcome the crisis. He or she might fail in doing something. But without failures one will not know success. In short, although we will not be able to master the circumstances, and situations in life, we sure can try to master our thoughts and emotions to meet the challenges of life. Here are the spiritual sides of us or our respective religions might be helpful.

Now that I am getting old and getting inflicted with aches and pains here and there, especially when I get up in the morning, I begin to realize that the important part of my life is to keep myself in good health. There are lots of books and doctors telling us how to keep ourselves in good health. The simple gist of the whole message is to have some form of physical exercise or activity to keep our weights down; and to eat nutritious food and avoid or cut down fatty, sweet, salty and high cholesterol food which are harmful to our health. As you know, it is easier said than done. What I know is we do need to make conscious efforts to keep ourselves in good health by taking physical exercises and by eating nutritious and non-fattening food. One thing is for sure, if we are not in food health we will not be able to enjoy our success or good things in life, and we will be, relatively speaking, unhappy.

When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me to get ahead in life I would need luck, brain, and industriousness. She was right of course. But one important element in life that she missed telling me was to develop and have good social relationships will all the people that I would come across in life, including family members. No one can live and get ahead in life alone. Each one of us at some stages of our respective lives needed and got help from someone to move on with our lives. From my personal experience, I noted that one must be non-egoistic, not too aggressive, be polite, be helpful, and tries to understand and respect other person’s points of view, needs and feeling, to develop good social relationships. Here I would like to add that each of us can judge who is good, who is bad, who is untrustworthy, etc. and avoid bad people and associate with good people to the extent that each of us can.

Each one of us had twenty four hours a day and the one who can budget and manage his/her time day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year according to his priorities and short term and long term goals will get ahead in life better. One should use the time and even manipulate it and not waste it to achieve one’s short term and long term goals. One must also be patient if the short term and long term goals are not achieved in budgeted time. So long as the time is used and not wasted, one will reach his/her goads in due course.

I hope everyone present here will agree with me the importance of financial management at the personal or family level as well as at the business level. At the business level there are of course financial plans and budgets for the present as well as for the future. One should likewise have financial plans and budgets at personal/family level for the present and future, to spend, save and invest within one’s available means. As you know money is neutral. If you are wise, money will treat you well; and if you are foolish it will not stay with you for long. Like time, one’s hard-earned money should be used and not wasted.

The last thing that I would like to point out to you is the danger of complacency. If you own a business and if you are complacent after a certain level of success, your business will suffer, simply because you fail to keep up with the changes in the market conditions and because of the intense competition one faces nowadays. Likewise at the personal level we should be wary of complacency. We should try not to be complacent by improving ourselves and keeping ourselves busy mentally and physically. Life thrives on activity and activity is the proof of our existence. No one is perfect and there is always something that each of us can improve upon. If we do that, at least we will not be bored, and may achieve some fulfillment in life.

With these remarks I now conclude my speech. May you all be successful and happy in life. May you have a pleasant stay in SF.

(3) Memories

After attending the 2nd year engineering class from June 1952 to September 1952, I went straight to MIT on a state scholarship to continue my studies. Saya U Min Wun and I went together to MIT and joined the academic session, starting from September 1952. We met Dr Freddie Ba Hli at MIT, who was already studying for his Ph.D in electronics or electrical engineering. He was one of the nicest and helpful persons that I have ever met in my life. He gave us briefings and guidance so that we were able to assimilate into the American education system and American way of life without any difficulty He also helped us with our home works when we had some difficulties in the beginning. I am forever grateful to him for his kind help. I am sure U Min Wun feels the same. Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Sein Hlaing, U Percy Lao, U Win Htein, U Kyaw Min, Robin Aw, U Kyaw Thein, U Aung Kywe, U Aung Myint and U Sein Hla came to MIT for further studies at a later date. U Percy Lao later became Rangoon City Engineer (water and sanitation), U Win Htein who is an architect became a Rangoon City Building Engineer, and the late U Kyaw Min became a free lance architect [and also taught part-time at the Architecture department for some time]. All these three professionals taught some time at RIT. I do not know what happened to Robin Aw. The late U Kyaw Thein was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became a lecturer at the Civil Engineering Department at RIT. U Aung Kywe was a Director (water and sanitation) at the Construction Corporation. U Aung Myint became the Chief Architect at the Construction Corporation. U Sein Hla was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became the Registrar at RIT under Rector U Yone Moe. Later more batches of Burmese students came to MIT when I was no longer there. I am describing all these things to point out the fact that the standard of engineering education in Burma at that time was quite good. None of us had to go through the entrance examination to get into MIT. They trusted our grades and our education standard. Maybe the visiting Professor Horwood from MIT was quite impressed with the Faculty of Engineering and put a good word for us to the MIT admission authorities.

I will not go into details of the activities of all the various students’ associations, societies and clubs, as there were so many of them. But I would like to mention briefly about the hostel life, that I had experienced at that time. Every hostel had what we called a social and reading club . There was an adequate room reserved for this club at the ground floor of the hostel. In general, newspapers, popular magazines, a chess board, a carom board and a table tennis were provided so that the hostel students could read, play chess, play carom board, and play table tennis and socialize to get to know each other well. Even without the social and reading club, all the hostel students ended up knowing each other well sooner or later, as they met each other almost everyday at the hostel and at the dining hall. The hostel students were in general well behaved. I hardly saw the Warden or Hall Tutors at Ava Hall and Prome Hall, as there were very few student problems which needed attention of the Warden or Hall Tutors.

Based upon my experience, I feel that these extra-curricular activities and hostel life gave the opportunities to the students to broaden the knowledge of the different parts of Myanmar; and they also created a better understanding of the different culture, food, habit, dresses, dialects etc of the country. Most of the students developed life-long friendships through these activities which contributed to well-beings of these students throughout their lives. Sport activities also taught the students about hard work, cooperation, team work, competition, winning and losing. The extra-curricular activities also triggered, developed and enhanced the hidden talents of some of the students. These activities therefore formed part of the University education of the students, in addition to the education that they received from the classrooms. Another benefit of these activities was the bonding and a better understanding, which developed between the students and the teachers who were involved in these activities.

After getting my Bachelor degree in Cvil Engineering in 1955 and my Master degree in Civil Engineering in 1956 from MIT, I worked for Engineering Companies for a year, which involved both design and fieldwork in engineering construction projects. I then came back to Rangoon in 1957 to join the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Lecturer. I was promoted to become a Lecturer in 1958 and became also more or less Head of the Civil Engineering Department. The policy in place at the University of Rangoon under the Ministry of Education at that time stated that a teacher/ any person could become a lecturer / professor only if he/ she had a post graduate degree. Sayagyi U Ba Hli was the Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean of the Faculty at the same time. U Aung Khin was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, U Sein Hlaing was Head of the Electrical Engineering Department, U Khin Aung Kyi was Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, U Soon Sein was Head of the Mining Engineering Department, U Thit was Head of the Metallurgy Department, and U Maung Maung Than was Head of the Textile Engineering Department. I think Mr Johnson was Head of the Architecture Department. I do not remember who was the Workshop Superintendent at that time. We were quite happy as we had new facilities near the Prome road in addition to the B.O.C College of Engineering building. These new facilities comprised of a tall administrative building (with offices, conference/meeting rooms, library), classrooms, lecture theaters, laboratories , offices for the teaching staff and a small assembly place under the copper dome roof in the corner of the campus. The dome roof looked like a turtle back, and pretty soon this new campus became known as “turtle dome /leik khone” campus. After our arrival from USA, UK etc, the foreign teachers under contract were let go, as we gradually replaced them, except for a few teachers from UK or USA. I could recall Prof. Neale? in Electrical Engineering Department, Mr Redpath and Mr Skelton in Mechanical Engineering Department and Mr Johnson and Mr Nagler in Architecture Department.

As a young teacher I was surprised and pleased to see a few pioneering female engineering students (not more than ten) at the Leik Khone campus. They and their parents overcame the social uneasiness and they decided to study engineering/architecture to become lady engineers /architects. I do not know exactly when they first joined the 1st year engineering class; but It was one of the important turning points in the history of engineering education.

As young teachers, most of us were struggling to learn how to teach effectively at the beginning. I noticed that we were teaching about 15 to 20 hours per week which included lectures, laboratory and drawing classes. The contact hours of learning for the students remained the same as the time when I was an engineering student i.e. about 30 hours per week. The passing grade for the students also remained the same. i.e. 40% for each subject and 50% average for all the subjects combined. The medium of teaching was still in English. The laboratory and workshop facilities were quite good and adequate for the student population that we had. But the library looked quite small when I compared it with the library that they had in MIT, although it had a few good engineering books and journals. I felt that it needed a lot of investment to become a top notch engineering library.

It was with enthusiasm and hope that most of us were busy trying to build up our respective departments and trying to improve the engineering education in general. While we were busy, Professor and Dean U Ba Hli retired some time around 1961, and in place of U Ba Hli we had a succession of temporary Deans, Professor of Chemistry U Po Tha, Professor of Geology Dr Tha Hla, and Professor of Physics Dr Maung Maung Kha for about 6 months. The Faculty of Engineering also had to move to a new campus in Gyogone in 1961. Before our relocation to Gyogone, the Faculty of Engineering was one of the Faculties of the University of Rangoon. The academic and administrative related policy decisions were made by the Senate and Administrative Council of the University of Rangoon respectively so as to maintain and improve the standard of education of all its Faculties, including the Faculty of Engineering.

As you all know, Gyogone campus was built with the aid of Russia; and I understood that the Government of Burma paid back the cost in rice. I do not know whether it was true or not. In any case it was and still is an impressive looking campus. The buildings accommodated classrooms, laboratories and workshop, big assembly hall with a movie projector, library, offices for the administrative and teaching staff,and student hostels. There were also houses for all the staff, dining and kitchen facilities, small medical clinic, and open space for sport activities. All the buildings, houses etc occupied and still occupy a large area in a compound.

by Hla Min

Update : 14th October 2026

In Memory of Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi

Sad News

• Dr. Aung Gyi passed away peacefully in his sleep on 13th October 2026.
• Saya celebrated his 95th birthday on 2nd October 2026.

(1) Suggestions

Ko Hla Min,

I read through your updates  shown in hlamin.com and my suggestions are given below.

I feel that your book should reflect the love of RIT students for their alma mater, the respect and gratitude shown by RIT students towards their respective teachers, the attachment, bond and friendship among RIT students; and the love for their motherland by RIT students. In short, it should reflect what we call “RIT spirit”. You can base the preparation of the book, beginning from the establishment of Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University, on your updates and other relevant sources. The word RIT  includes all different names of Engineering Institutions in Myanmar, past and present.

Having said all of the above, the following headings come to my mind for your proposed book:

1. SPZPs/Reunions  involving all  disciplines  which had taken place in Myanmar and abroad.
2. Establishment of alumni associations abroad and in Myanmar to help RIT and motherland.
3. Establishment of Swe Daw Yeik Foundation.
4. Establishment of healthcare fund for RIT teachers in Myanmar.
5. Fund drive and contributions to upgrade the RIT/YTU library.
6. Various activities/ mini-reunions / get-togethers  among groups of RIT students/teachers which reflect the life and also bond among RIT students/teachers, established in the past ,during RIT days.
7. Other interesting episodes related to RIT.

The above gives you a few thoughts I have for your book. I would like to recommend that you  also get suggestions from others for your book.

Good luck and best wishes.
Aung Gyi

(2) Keynote from SPZP-2000

Mr. Chairman, my Sayas, my former colleagues, friends, RIT graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I begin to say anything, I would like to request you to take the word “RIT” as to stand not only for Rangoon Institute of Technology but also BOC College of Engineering and Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. I am using RIT only, just for convenience sake.

Having said that, it is with a chestful of emotions that I am standing before you, trying to say a few words appropriate and befitting to this important and joyful occasion. My overwhelming emotion is, needless to say, happiness – happiness which results from seeing my Sayas, my friends, my former colleagues, and RIT graduates alive and well, after so many years. My happiness is also mingled with a certain amount of pride: pride arising from the knowledge that we have fond memories and a sense of belonging and attachment to the good old institution as well as to one another.

We are fortunate that we could all gather here to exchange our life experiences, both good and bad, and to reminisce about our past when we were at RIT. While we are doing that, we all must have noticed that all of us have changed quite a bit since we last saw one another, at least physically, some more so than other. We all now have a few gray and also less hair, we have a few wrinkles on our face; maybe we also lost a few teeth and cannot see or hear as well as we did before. Some of us also lost the memory a bit and become forgetful about lots of things such as forgetting names for example. This, as we all know, is life and nature of things. Everything changes and nothing is permanent. Bur fortunately we still have our values. Our values such as respect and gratitude for the elders and teachers, caring of our respective children and family members, helping our friends, and attachment, and gratitude to the institution which nurtured us to meet the challenges of life, are still with us. They have not changed. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and reunion is a testimony to those values.

I must now pause and thank and congratulate the Organizing Committee for their untiring and selfless efforts to make this event possible and successful. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and RIT Alumni reunion is, as far as I know, once-in-a-life-time event. As far as I am concerned it is already a resounding success with the cooperation and great enthusiasm that I have seen. I hope this will be the beginning and not the last of our get-togethers. When my wife and I paid visits to Myanmar in 1996, 1997 and 1999 we had mini get-togethers with RIT Alumni. When I was here a few years ago we also got together with a few RIT Alumni. I understood that Saya U Aung Khin also had one mini get-together here some years ago. But these get-togethers were not on a grand scale as the one that we are having here now. However the spirit of camaraderie and friendliness among RIT Alumni mini get-togethers, was the same as the one that we find here now. If you look around you, you will find that all of us came here from different parts of the world, indicating the great attachment and respect that we all have for our old institution and also for one another.

While I was preparing for this speech, fond memories of the years that I spent as a student, as a teacher and later as Rector at RIT came flashing through my mind. Without going into details, I remember that all my teachers, including Saya Num Kock and Saya U Ba Toke who are here with us, were good inspiring teachers with kind hearts. When I became a teacher and later the Rector at RIT, I noticed that my colleagues were good and dedicated people who tried their best to teach what they had learnt from good Universities and Institutions abroad.

They made conscious efforts to raise the level of education at RIT so much that the students were fully occupied with classes, studies, projects, and homework. I have to mention here that my Sayas and my former colleagues were, and still are honest, compassionate, gentle and kind people. Within this context I would now like to take this opportunity to offer my humble apologies to my Sayas and colleagues for the wrong things that I may have done or said which might have hurt them in any way in the past.

As for the students, I remember that they were good, intelligent, and energetic students in general. Since I was also involved in extracurricular activities of the students, I had more interaction and gained more understanding of their needs and feelings. Like most of the other teachers I tried my best to be helpful to them not only in their studies but also in any other problems that they needed my help. Because of the compassion that I had shown for them they became more communicative, and listened to what I had to say most of the time. Like a breath of fresh air, the first batch of female engineering students were among us, I believe in 1958. So far as I remember they did as well as or some even better than the male students in their studies. I remember that as a teacher I felt very good and satisfied whenever some students did well in their studies or did well in their careers after they left school. These are fond memories that I still have with me about the students at RIT.

As you probably know, I left RIT and Myanmar in 1977 to join UNESCO. I then migrated to Canada to join International Development Research Centre (IRDC) in 1981. For your information, IRDC is a Canadian Agency which funds research projects for development in the developing countries. I retired from IRDC in 1997. Looking back to the past, I must say that I spent the best years of my life at RIT, challenging and troubling at times, but on the whole happy and satisfied with the job that I was doing.

Now please let me take a few minutes of your time to share with you my thoughts, which I believe are some important elements of life. You might not agree with me to what I am going to say. At least, in that case, you might take them as food for your thoughts. If I sound like lecturing to you now, you must remember that the habit of a former teacher dies hard.
When I was young and immature. I had great admiration for people with high I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). I also tended to think in those days that I was quite intelligent. After going through life experiences with ups and downs I became to realize that high Emotional Quotient (E.Q.) or emotional mastery is more important in life than high I.Q., to cope with adversities, disappointments, failures and sometimes even tragedies. No one that I know of, escapes the negative impacts of life in one form or another. If you have emotional mastery you can deal with and overcome these negative impacts and still get ahead in life and be relatively happy. One thing that can help us is to have optimism, hope and courage in life and to minimize the negative thoughts and creeping pessimism. It will be wrong to classify anything in life in opposites either in black or white. One can neither be fully optimistic nor fully pessimistic all the time. There is a gray area which is neither black nor white, and so long as the dominant part of this gray area is optimism, things will turn alright in the end. I read in one of the books long time ago that the Chinese word for “crisis” denotes both risk and chance (opportunity). A pessimistic person would tend to look at the crisis as the big risk and will despair and do nothing, whereas an optimistic person will look at it as a challenge and opportunity and will do something with courage and determination and overcome the crisis. He or she might fail in doing something. But without failures one will not know success. In short, although we will not be able to master the circumstances, and situations in life, we sure can try to master our thoughts and emotions to meet the challenges of life. Here are the spiritual sides of us or our respective religions might be helpful.

Now that I am getting old and getting inflicted with aches and pains here and there, especially when I get up in the morning, I begin to realize that the important part of my life is to keep myself in good health. There are lots of books and doctors telling us how to keep ourselves in good health. The simple gist of the whole message is to have some form of physical exercise or activity to keep our weights down; and to eat nutritious food and avoid or cut down fatty, sweet, salty and high cholesterol food which are harmful to our health. As you know, it is easier said than done. What I know is we do need to make conscious efforts to keep ourselves in good health by taking physical exercises and by eating nutritious and non-fattening food. One thing is for sure, if we are not in food health we will not be able to enjoy our success or good things in life, and we will be, relatively speaking, unhappy.

When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me to get ahead in life I would need luck, brain, and industriousness. She was right of course. But one important element in life that she missed telling me was to develop and have good social relationships will all the people that I would come across in life, including family members. No one can live and get ahead in life alone. Each one of us at some stages of our respective lives needed and got help from someone to move on with our lives. From my personal experience, I noted that one must be non-egoistic, not too aggressive, be polite, be helpful, and tries to understand and respect other person’s points of view, needs and feeling, to develop good social relationships. Here I would like to add that each of us can judge who is good, who is bad, who is untrustworthy, etc. and avoid bad people and associate with good people to the extent that each of us can.

Each one of us had twenty four hours a day and the one who can budget and manage his/her time day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year according to his priorities and short term and long term goals will get ahead in life better. One should use the time and even manipulate it and not waste it to achieve one’s short term and long term goals. One must also be patient if the short term and long term goals are not achieved in budgeted time. So long as the time is used and not wasted, one will reach his/her goads in due course.

I hope everyone present here will agree with me the importance of financial management at the personal or family level as well as at the business level. At the business level there are of course financial plans and budgets for the present as well as for the future. One should likewise have financial plans and budgets at personal/family level for the present and future, to spend, save and invest within one’s available means. As you know money is neutral. If you are wise, money will treat you well; and if you are foolish it will not stay with you for long. Like time, one’s hard-earned money should be used and not wasted.

The last thing that I would like to point out to you is the danger of complacency. If you own a business and if you are complacent after a certain level of success, your business will suffer, simply because you fail to keep up with the changes in the market conditions and because of the intense competition one faces nowadays. Likewise at the personal level we should be wary of complacency. We should try not to be complacent by improving ourselves and keeping ourselves busy mentally and physically. Life thrives on activity and activity is the proof of our existence. No one is perfect and there is always something that each of us can improve upon. If we do that, at least we will not be bored, and may achieve some fulfillment in life.

With these remarks I now conclude my speech. May you all be successful and happy in life. May you have a pleasant stay in SF.

(3) Memories

After attending the 2nd year engineering class from June 1952 to September 1952, I went straight to MIT on a state scholarship to continue my studies. Saya U Min Wun and I went together to MIT and joined the academic session, starting from September 1952. We met Dr Freddie Ba Hli at MIT, who was already studying for his Ph.D in electronics or electrical engineering. He was one of the nicest and helpful persons that I have ever met in my life. He gave us briefings and guidance so that we were able to assimilate into the American education system and American way of life without any difficulty He also helped us with our home works when we had some difficulties in the beginning. I am forever grateful to him for his kind help. I am sure U Min Wun feels the same. Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Sein Hlaing, U Percy Lao, U Win Htein, U Kyaw Min, Robin Aw, U Kyaw Thein, U Aung Kywe, U Aung Myint and U Sein Hla came to MIT for further studies at a later date. U Percy Lao later became Rangoon City Engineer (water and sanitation), U Win Htein who is an architect became a Rangoon City Building Engineer, and the late U Kyaw Min became a free lance architect [and also taught part-time at the Architecture department for some time]. All these three professionals taught some time at RIT. I do not know what happened to Robin Aw. The late U Kyaw Thein was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became a lecturer at the Civil Engineering Department at RIT. U Aung Kywe was a Director (water and sanitation) at the Construction Corporation. U Aung Myint became the Chief Architect at the Construction Corporation. U Sein Hla was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became the Registrar at RIT under Rector U Yone Moe. Later more batches of Burmese students came to MIT when I was no longer there. I am describing all these things to point out the fact that the standard of engineering education in Burma at that time was quite good. None of us had to go through the entrance examination to get into MIT. They trusted our grades and our education standard. Maybe the visiting Professor Horwood from MIT was quite impressed with the Faculty of Engineering and put a good word for us to the MIT admission authorities.

I will not go into details of the activities of all the various students’ associations, societies and clubs, as there were so many of them. But I would like to mention briefly about the hostel life, that I had experienced at that time. Every hostel had what we called a social and reading club . There was an adequate room reserved for this club at the ground floor of the hostel. In general, newspapers, popular magazines, a chess board, a carom board and a table tennis were provided so that the hostel students could read, play chess, play carom board, and play table tennis and socialize to get to know each other well. Even without the social and reading club, all the hostel students ended up knowing each other well sooner or later, as they met each other almost everyday at the hostel and at the dining hall. The hostel students were in general well behaved. I hardly saw the Warden or Hall Tutors at Ava Hall and Prome Hall, as there were very few student problems which needed attention of the Warden or Hall Tutors.

Based upon my experience, I feel that these extra-curricular activities and hostel life gave the opportunities to the students to broaden the knowledge of the different parts of Myanmar; and they also created a better understanding of the different culture, food, habit, dresses, dialects etc of the country. Most of the students developed life-long friendships through these activities which contributed to well-beings of these students throughout their lives. Sport activities also taught the students about hard work, cooperation, team work, competition, winning and losing. The extra-curricular activities also triggered, developed and enhanced the hidden talents of some of the students. These activities therefore formed part of the University education of the students, in addition to the education that they received from the classrooms. Another benefit of these activities was the bonding and a better understanding, which developed between the students and the teachers who were involved in these activities.

After getting my Bachelor degree in Cvil Engineering in 1955 and my Master degree in Civil Engineering in 1956 from MIT, I worked for Engineering Companies for a year, which involved both design and fieldwork in engineering construction projects. I then came back to Rangoon in 1957 to join the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Lecturer. I was promoted to become a Lecturer in 1958 and became also more or less Head of the Civil Engineering Department. The policy in place at the University of Rangoon under the Ministry of Education at that time stated that a teacher/ any person could become a lecturer / professor only if he/ she had a post graduate degree. Sayagyi U Ba Hli was the Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean of the Faculty at the same time. U Aung Khin was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, U Sein Hlaing was Head of the Electrical Engineering Department, U Khin Aung Kyi was Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, U Soon Sein was Head of the Mining Engineering Department, U Thit was Head of the Metallurgy Department, and U Maung Maung Than was Head of the Textile Engineering Department. I think Mr Johnson was Head of the Architecture Department. I do not remember who was the Workshop Superintendent at that time. We were quite happy as we had new facilities near the Prome road in addition to the B.O.C College of Engineering building. These new facilities comprised of a tall administrative building (with offices, conference/meeting rooms, library), classrooms, lecture theaters, laboratories , offices for the teaching staff and a small assembly place under the copper dome roof in the corner of the campus. The dome roof looked like a turtle back, and pretty soon this new campus became known as “turtle dome /leik khone” campus. After our arrival from USA, UK etc, the foreign teachers under contract were let go, as we gradually replaced them, except for a few teachers from UK or USA. I could recall Prof. Neale? in Electrical Engineering Department, Mr Redpath and Mr Skelton in Mechanical Engineering Department and Mr Johnson and Mr Nagler in Architecture Department.

As a young teacher I was surprised and pleased to see a few pioneering female engineering students (not more than ten) at the Leik Khone campus. They and their parents overcame the social uneasiness and they decided to study engineering/architecture to become lady engineers /architects. I do not know exactly when they first joined the 1st year engineering class; but It was one of the important turning points in the history of engineering education.

As young teachers, most of us were struggling to learn how to teach effectively at the beginning. I noticed that we were teaching about 15 to 20 hours per week which included lectures, laboratory and drawing classes. The contact hours of learning for the students remained the same as the time when I was an engineering student i.e. about 30 hours per week. The passing grade for the students also remained the same. i.e. 40% for each subject and 50% average for all the subjects combined. The medium of teaching was still in English. The laboratory and workshop facilities were quite good and adequate for the student population that we had. But the library looked quite small when I compared it with the library that they had in MIT, although it had a few good engineering books and journals. I felt that it needed a lot of investment to become a top notch engineering library.

It was with enthusiasm and hope that most of us were busy trying to build up our respective departments and trying to improve the engineering education in general. While we were busy, Professor and Dean U Ba Hli retired some time around 1961, and in place of U Ba Hli we had a succession of temporary Deans, Professor of Chemistry U Po Tha, Professor of Geology Dr Tha Hla, and Professor of Physics Dr Maung Maung Kha for about 6 months. The Faculty of Engineering also had to move to a new campus in Gyogone in 1961. Before our relocation to Gyogone, the Faculty of Engineering was one of the Faculties of the University of Rangoon. The academic and administrative related policy decisions were made by the Senate and Administrative Council of the University of Rangoon respectively so as to maintain and improve the standard of education of all its Faculties, including the Faculty of Engineering.

As you all know, Gyogone campus was built with the aid of Russia; and I understood that the Government of Burma paid back the cost in rice. I do not know whether it was true or not. In any case it was and still is an impressive looking campus. The buildings accommodated classrooms, laboratories and workshop, big assembly hall with a movie projector, library, offices for the administrative and teaching staff,and student hostels. There were also houses for all the staff, dining and kitchen facilities, small medical clinic, and open space for sport activities. All the buildings, houses etc occupied and still occupy a large area in a compound.

By Des Rodgers

On the lighter side

I need to linger awhile and talk a bit about some delightful and noteworthy events and persons. On the lighter side, I couldn’t help but chortle at Ko Ohn Khine’s and Ko Zaw Min’s reference to their pastime of ogling the your lady-students passing by the canteen on their way to G Hall at the lunch breaks and after classes.

Let it be known that Sayas Tony, U Khin, U Kyaw Lwin Hla and myself, no strangers to the female attractions of either the sayamas or the students, would lunch almost daily in the canteen seeking out the fringe benefits attached to our jobs, and to having lunch in that ideally situated viewpoint location. Sayas Joe Ba Maung and U Win Mra graced these occasions with their presence from time to time, and while waiting for our htamin net hin or si kyet khauk swe, we always amused ourselves watching Saya Kyaw Lwin Hla go through his ritual of asking for hot water to wash his plate, spoon and fork before eating. His explanation was that his 5 years of living in Australia (his father had been Burma’s ambassador to Australia) had more or less robbed him of his immunity to gastrointestinal bacterial attacks, and he feared developing ailments resulting from his use of non-sterilized utensils. We laughed then, but I later understood his apprehension after my son fell sick from the same kind of problem in Mandalay during our trip to Burma in 2007.

Our wait for the food was well worth it though, especially as we could enjoy the spectacle of watching Saya U Khin “wolfing down” 3 to 4 helpings of Si Kyet Khauk Swe in double quick time. Given his slim build, I could never figure out where he stored all the food that he ate.

During these waits, we also utilized our time well by discreetly “monitoring” the flow of traffic to and from G Hall, the ladies’ residence. It was our way of recharging our energy and relaxing our minds before returning to the heavy duty of teaching Reading, Writing, and Speaking. This practice of traffic observation got to be quite addictive, for when I played soccer on the sayas’ team, I’m sure while Sayas U Maung Maung Win, U Soe Paing, and the rest of the team were practically dripping ‘blood, sweat and tears’ in their effort to get a win, I was nonchalantly content to “play for the pleasure of the game” (read) the cheers and applause coming from G Hall, which overlooked the football field. Life, you understand, requires a balance in all things.

Saya Win Mra and I

On a more serious note, Saya U Win Mra and I, from early on, were earnestly determined to make something of our lives by eventually serving in the Burmese Foreign Service. I was, at that time, reasonably steeped in the knowledge of politics, history, and economics, and as he was a product of a career service family with a father enjoying the position of Secretary to the Prime Minister, it was quite natural that we would find common ground in purpose, and a meeting of the minds.

Our RIT discussion and debate locale was Ma Tin Aye’s shop just outside the RIT premises, where we would spend a great deal of time over dinner discussing world affairs, historic events, and foreign policy of the more powerful countries in the world. My younger friend (Mra) flattered me by according me the position of mentor, as we prepared ourselves for the forthcoming FS exams.

To trim this story, as the day of the exams approached, I discovered some disturbing trends in my thinking. Something had not been sitting well with me and had been bothering me for some time. I agonized over this unknown factor for about 10 days before the exams. As the exams drew nearer, I slowly realized that I was not sure I wanted to take the them, or to join the Foreign Service. I was slowly becoming convinced that I could not serve a calling in which I had lost my faith in the system, and my ability to give of myself 100%. After more soul-searching, I told Saya Win Mra that I wasn’t going to go through with our plan, and that I was seriously making up my mind to leave the country. To his credit, he stayed the course, disciplinarian that he is, exercising far more determination and an unshakeable grip on his dream, for which I’ve complimented him over the years.

Pagan

With my major decision out of the way, Saya Win Mra and I decided it would be a good idea to make a final journey to Pagan for posterity. We prepared ourselves well for the trip, reading up on all we could about this historic abode of early Burmese royalty. We decided to backpack our way through this emotional journey to make it more meaningful, which would not only cement our close friendship, but tie us more closely in spirit to the land of our mother country. We tramped around on foot for miles, taking in all the major historical sites, and shared information and knowledge about each edifice over our evening meals. These discussions continued after our evening bath in the Irrawaddy and our preparation for our night’s rest, which often took the form of spending the night in any one of the neglected and untended pagodas. The spectacular sunsets and the cool quiet dawns were surreal and created an unforgettable canvas in which these memorable events have been indelibly etched for us.

My trip to Pagan in 2007 brought mist to my eyes, and that wasn’t just because of Mother Nature’s cool mornings and evenings. It would have been difficult to remain unemotional on seeing the shimmering rays of a setting sun on the mighty Irrawaddy. I’ve often asked myself if it has been worth leaving my homeland, and I don’t doubt that every Burmese expat living in foreign lands is constantly reminded of the price he has had to pay in giving up his country on principle.

My former colleagues

Well, where are all my English Department colleagues now?

In 2000, my family and were invited to visit and spend time with Saya U Win Mra and his wife in the Burmese Embassy in Westchester, New York. After 30 long years, I was delighted to see my closest friend who was then Burma’s Ambassador or Permanent Representative to the United Nations. They welcomed us joyously, and the first words U Win Mra uttered were: “If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t be here today”. I took this as a compliment, not knowing if there was a downside to this comment. We spent time going over our memorable moments over traditional Burmese dinners and complemented by one of my favorite Bordeaux French red wines – Saint Emilion! During my stay, I must have depleted the embassy’s stock considerably, as this happened to be my favorite week-end dinner Merlot. We chatted about how he had risen in the Foreign Service ranks, and in which countries he had served as ambassador. I had occasion to read some of his speeches, but I could find no grammar errors as they had all been impeccably written. This memorable trip culminated in lunch at the UN, where he introduced me to a few other foreign emissaries.

Our meeting up in Rangoon in 2007 was no less momentous, with dinner at his residence, followed by a jam session of playing and singing some of our favs of times gone by when we did the BBS and Rangoon nightclub circuit. After a good stint at the Foreign Ministry as Director General, U Win Mra is currently heading Burma’s Human Rights Commission as its new Chairman. Much water it seems, has flowed under the bridge.

Sayama Muriel is happily married to a Mr. [Alphonso] Rivers, and teaches English in Cheng Mai, Thailand.

Saya U Khin left Burma after being transferred to Mandalay University, and is now engaged in freelance work as a legal consultant in Taipei, Taiwan. He’s still a bachelor, and for the rest, you can fill in the blanks.

Saya Joe Ba Maung is retired, having left RIT while I was still there, to work for the Burma Railways. He married his ever loyal lady love Nyi Ma Lay, and looked a healthy, happy man in 2007.

Sayama Toni, unfortunately lost her husband – Burma’s ambassador to S. Korea early in the last decade, and returned to Burma, where she teaches, along with her daughter Aye Aye – U Win Mra’s daughter-in-law, at a private school in Rangoon. She is still very attractive and has the same walking or gliding gait that one usually associates with a model – or a very graceful bird.

Sayama Daw Khin Saw Tint was widowed some years ago, and lives in retirement in Rangoon. All my attempts to see her in 2007 failed, but I still hope to see her one day.

Saya U Kyaw Lwin Hla, who made most of my entertainment arrangements, and arm-twisted my friends to attend my brunch at Traders in Rangoon in 2007, is well and working as a Director for the Myanmar Investment Bank (name ?) on Merchant Street in Rangoon. He also took me and my family to a sumptuous Thai dinner at a restaurant on the Royal Lakes. His previous work at the UN has not only enhanced his resumé but also showcases his smooth interactive skills with people.

Since 1967, I have lived a successful life in Canada, one beyond my expectations, and one that has brought me recognition by the Canadian government, industry, and the field of education for my contributions to specialized language training for professionals. For all my flashy style of dressing and high aspirations, I’ve never been materialistic, my main priorities in life now being the welfare and safety of my wife and son, closely followed by a tantalizing glass of red wine and stimulating conversation. Writing my book was very rewarding, and took the better part of my last 2 years. May yet author a few more, time permitting.

Status

I did not come out to the west for educational or financial reasons, but along the way, I‘ve improved on my earlier status in Burma. Freedom to think as I desire, and to act as my mind dictates, were primary motivating factors in my decision to leave Burma, and I am strongly convinced that my years of study at St. Peter’s, Mandalay U., RASU, and RIT contributed immeasurably to molding me and giving me direction to succeed in life.

In my quiet moments of reflection though, my heart always returns to the fun-filled halls of RIT, echoing the sound of familiar voices, and t other moments I drift back to the hot, humid, and dusty streets of Mandalay, where I got my first beginning in life. For this anyatha, that’s where home is, and always was ever since my first ancestor from England set foot on Burmese soil in 1825, and married a fair Burmese maiden, an event repeated by my maternal Portuguese ancestors, ultimately planting roots in the upper Burma regions favored by Burma’s mightiest kings. I may never see my homeland again, but the memories and feelings can never be erased. In closing, let me give you my slightly modified version of what some writer once said:

“You can take the man out of the country (taing pyi), but you can’t take the country out of the man.”

Thank you all for sharing these nostalgic moments with me, and for having played a crucial role in helping give me a more rounded identity that has made me proud to be called an RIT alumni, and a Burmese national. I’d like to wish each and every Saya, Sayama, my former students, and alumni my very best in your quest for a long, happy, healthy, and successful life, wherever and however you have chosen to follow your star.

May Burma and RIT rise again to recapture their true glory!

With metta,

Des Rodgers

Editor’s notes:

Received New Year’s greetings from Saya U Khin (Lucien Chen, Taiwan) a few years back. Saya also wrote again in August 2016. I posted his correspondence in “RIT Alumni International Newsletter”.

Saya “Tony” Sao Kan Gyi’s pen name was Khemarat. Saya passed away. Saya’s younger brother Sao Yan Paing rowed at RUBC.

Saya Joe Ba Maung was national tennis champion in singles and doubles. He was succeeded as singles champion by his doubles partner U Than Lwin. Saya passed away.

Saya U Win Mra was national pole vault champion, but the doctors requested him to rest. He was winner [or runner-up] of the “Elvis Presley songs” contest. He showed up at my uncle’s birthday party dressed in G. I. Blues (or similar). U Khin Maung Lay (Mutu) works with Saya for the Myanmar Human Rights Commission. Saya is now GBNF.

Saya U Kyaw Lwin Hla was a staff member of UNDP. He was succeeded by his brother U Kyaw Zin Hla. U Zaw Min Nawaday did not recognize Saya when they met in New York.

I called Saya Des several times. I had a conversation with Sayagadaw. They have a son, who works as a physical trainer.

Sayama Naw Charity Sein U retired as Professor and Head of RIT English department. She attended one or more SPZPs.

Sayama “Toni” is a cousin of Ko “Henry” Thet Tun (M75, Sydney, Australia). Their youngest aunt is the spouse of Saya U Tin U.

Sayama Muriel’s spouse is Saya U Aung (U Nge, Mr. Alphonso Rivers). U Aung’s father was H.E. U Than Aung, Minister of Education in the AFPFL Governemtn. I met them when they visited Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt in Milpitas, California, USA.

Sayama Anne (Daw Khin Saw Tint) is an accomplished bi-lingual writer. Her mother Daw Khin Saw Mu, her four uncles (U Tin Tut, U Kyaw Myint, U Myint Thein and Dr. Htin Aung) and her two aunts (Daw Khin Mya Mu and Daw Tin Saw Mu) are well known scholars and diplomats. She donated part of her “Sar Mu Ga” — K5 Lakhs — for YTU Library Modernization Project. Sayama and her son are GBNF.

by U Htin Paw (EE58) & Hla Min

Updated : 10th October 2026

Message from U Htin Paw (EE58)

I was very sad to read the news of Saya C. Ping Lee in Ex-RIT web site. Ko Win Aung (M62, NSF) wrote: “Please add the name of my late father, Saya C. Ping Lee, Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, BOC College. He passed away in Berkeley, CA in 1987. He was a contemporary of the late Dean U Ba Hli and late Saya U Kyaw Tun. His former students included the late Saya U Sein Hlaing”.

At our first Burmese Engineers Association in the Bay Area, he was named the first honorary member of the association.

When I was a first year student at BOC College, I heard he had left the BOC College of engineering for the position of the Director of Technical Education at Insein Technical Institute (GTI). Though he left the BOC College, people at the Engineering Lab mentioned so much of their fond memory of him. The words then was that he left BOC College to take up a position as an educator in the engineering arena, GTI. He was one of the most outstanding scholars in electrical engineering in Burma of his time. He was a good teacher and a compassionate one. Most of his pupils could attest to that.

He had groomed many outstanding pupils like, U Mya Than (EE 53) a contemporary of Prof. U Sein Hlaing, and U Jimmy Sein, to head several of the branch facilities in Insein and Mandalay. Although he has departed, he left behind his legacies for all his pupils to cherish and treasure. Mr. U Taik Moh (C54), one of his top name pupils, said many good things of Saya C. Ping Lee. I am sure his contributions to Technical Education in Burma will remain in the forefront for years to come.

I would like to encourage his former pupils like Mr. Aw Taik Moh to write their thoughts and their fond memory of Saya C. Ping Lee for the posterity. If anyone who should meet U Mya Than B.Sc.Engg. (EE 53), M.S.E (Mich) (Ex-Principal, GTI, Insein), in the New York area, please let him know about this short note.

Ko Win Aung, please accept my sympathy and I would to put this on record in the ex-rit web site for all as my tribute to your Dad, Saya C. Ping Lee.

Sabbe purentu samma sankappa Mettacittena

(Maung H[tin] Paw – E58)

Update

by Hla Min

• Saya U Htin Paw is Past President of BEA and TBSA. He attended SPZP-2000. He is now GBNF. His only son Dr. Barry Paw passed away mid-air on a flight from Sydney to USA.

• U Than Aung (Minister of Education) recruited Saya C. Ping Lee (his student at SPHS) to be Director of Technical & Vocational Education. U Than Aung is the father of Ko Nge / Alphonso and Ko Cho / Charlie.
• Dr. Win Aung (M62) worked for NSF and as Secretary General of iNeer. He hosted a Dinner Gathering following the RIT Alumni Reunion in East Coast in 2009.

by Hla Min

Update : 10th October 2026

(1) Suggestions

Ko Hla Min,

I read through your updates  shown in hlamin.com and my suggestions are given below.

I feel that your book should reflect the love of RIT students for their alma mater, the respect and gratitude shown by RIT students towards their respective teachers, the attachment, bond and friendship among RIT students; and the love for their motherland by RIT students. In short, it should reflect what we call “RIT spirit”. You can base the preparation of the book, beginning from the establishment of Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University, on your updates and other relevant sources. The word RIT  includes all different names of Engineering Institutions in Myanmar, past and present.

Having said all of the above, the following headings come to my mind for your proposed book:

1. SPZPs/Reunions  involving all  disciplines  which had taken place in Myanmar and abroad.
2. Establishment of alumni associations abroad and in Myanmar to help RIT and motherland.
3. Establishment of Swe Daw Yeik Foundation.
4. Establishment of healthcare fund for RIT teachers in Myanmar.
5. Fund drive and contributions to upgrade the RIT/YTU library.
6. Various activities/ mini-reunions / get-togethers  among groups of RIT students/teachers which reflect the life and also bond among RIT students/teachers, established in the past ,during RIT days.
7. Other interesting episodes related to RIT.

The above gives you a few thoughts I have for your book. I would like to recommend that you  also get suggestions from others for your book.

Good luck and best wishes.
Aung Gyi

(2) Keynote from SPZP-2000

Mr. Chairman, my Sayas, my former colleagues, friends, RIT graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I begin to say anything, I would like to request you to take the word “RIT” as to stand not only for Rangoon Institute of Technology but also BOC College of Engineering and Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. I am using RIT only, just for convenience sake.

Having said that, it is with a chestful of emotions that I am standing before you, trying to say a few words appropriate and befitting to this important and joyful occasion. My overwhelming emotion is, needless to say, happiness – happiness which results from seeing my Sayas, my friends, my former colleagues, and RIT graduates alive and well, after so many years. My happiness is also mingled with a certain amount of pride: pride arising from the knowledge that we have fond memories and a sense of belonging and attachment to the good old institution as well as to one another.

We are fortunate that we could all gather here to exchange our life experiences, both good and bad, and to reminisce about our past when we were at RIT. While we are doing that, we all must have noticed that all of us have changed quite a bit since we last saw one another, at least physically, some more so than other. We all now have a few gray and also less hair, we have a few wrinkles on our face; maybe we also lost a few teeth and cannot see or hear as well as we did before. Some of us also lost the memory a bit and become forgetful about lots of things such as forgetting names for example. This, as we all know, is life and nature of things. Everything changes and nothing is permanent. Bur fortunately we still have our values. Our values such as respect and gratitude for the elders and teachers, caring of our respective children and family members, helping our friends, and attachment, and gratitude to the institution which nurtured us to meet the challenges of life, are still with us. They have not changed. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and reunion is a testimony to those values.

I must now pause and thank and congratulate the Organizing Committee for their untiring and selfless efforts to make this event possible and successful. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and RIT Alumni reunion is, as far as I know, once-in-a-life-time event. As far as I am concerned it is already a resounding success with the cooperation and great enthusiasm that I have seen. I hope this will be the beginning and not the last of our get-togethers. When my wife and I paid visits to Myanmar in 1996, 1997 and 1999 we had mini get-togethers with RIT Alumni. When I was here a few years ago we also got together with a few RIT Alumni. I understood that Saya U Aung Khin also had one mini get-together here some years ago. But these get-togethers were not on a grand scale as the one that we are having here now. However the spirit of camaraderie and friendliness among RIT Alumni mini get-togethers, was the same as the one that we find here now. If you look around you, you will find that all of us came here from different parts of the world, indicating the great attachment and respect that we all have for our old institution and also for one another.

While I was preparing for this speech, fond memories of the years that I spent as a student, as a teacher and later as Rector at RIT came flashing through my mind. Without going into details, I remember that all my teachers, including Saya Num Kock and Saya U Ba Toke who are here with us, were good inspiring teachers with kind hearts. When I became a teacher and later the Rector at RIT, I noticed that my colleagues were good and dedicated people who tried their best to teach what they had learnt from good Universities and Institutions abroad.

They made conscious efforts to raise the level of education at RIT so much that the students were fully occupied with classes, studies, projects, and homework. I have to mention here that my Sayas and my former colleagues were, and still are honest, compassionate, gentle and kind people. Within this context I would now like to take this opportunity to offer my humble apologies to my Sayas and colleagues for the wrong things that I may have done or said which might have hurt them in any way in the past.

As for the students, I remember that they were good, intelligent, and energetic students in general. Since I was also involved in extracurricular activities of the students, I had more interaction and gained more understanding of their needs and feelings. Like most of the other teachers I tried my best to be helpful to them not only in their studies but also in any other problems that they needed my help. Because of the compassion that I had shown for them they became more communicative, and listened to what I had to say most of the time. Like a breath of fresh air, the first batch of female engineering students were among us, I believe in 1958. So far as I remember they did as well as or some even better than the male students in their studies. I remember that as a teacher I felt very good and satisfied whenever some students did well in their studies or did well in their careers after they left school. These are fond memories that I still have with me about the students at RIT.

As you probably know, I left RIT and Myanmar in 1977 to join UNESCO. I then migrated to Canada to join International Development Research Centre (IRDC) in 1981. For your information, IRDC is a Canadian Agency which funds research projects for development in the developing countries. I retired from IRDC in 1997. Looking back to the past, I must say that I spent the best years of my life at RIT, challenging and troubling at times, but on the whole happy and satisfied with the job that I was doing.

Now please let me take a few minutes of your time to share with you my thoughts, which I believe are some important elements of life. You might not agree with me to what I am going to say. At least, in that case, you might take them as food for your thoughts. If I sound like lecturing to you now, you must remember that the habit of a former teacher dies hard.
When I was young and immature. I had great admiration for people with high I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). I also tended to think in those days that I was quite intelligent. After going through life experiences with ups and downs I became to realize that high Emotional Quotient (E.Q.) or emotional mastery is more important in life than high I.Q., to cope with adversities, disappointments, failures and sometimes even tragedies. No one that I know of, escapes the negative impacts of life in one form or another. If you have emotional mastery you can deal with and overcome these negative impacts and still get ahead in life and be relatively happy. One thing that can help us is to have optimism, hope and courage in life and to minimize the negative thoughts and creeping pessimism. It will be wrong to classify anything in life in opposites either in black or white. One can neither be fully optimistic nor fully pessimistic all the time. There is a gray area which is neither black nor white, and so long as the dominant part of this gray area is optimism, things will turn alright in the end. I read in one of the books long time ago that the Chinese word for “crisis” denotes both risk and chance (opportunity). A pessimistic person would tend to look at the crisis as the big risk and will despair and do nothing, whereas an optimistic person will look at it as a challenge and opportunity and will do something with courage and determination and overcome the crisis. He or she might fail in doing something. But without failures one will not know success. In short, although we will not be able to master the circumstances, and situations in life, we sure can try to master our thoughts and emotions to meet the challenges of life. Here are the spiritual sides of us or our respective religions might be helpful.

Now that I am getting old and getting inflicted with aches and pains here and there, especially when I get up in the morning, I begin to realize that the important part of my life is to keep myself in good health. There are lots of books and doctors telling us how to keep ourselves in good health. The simple gist of the whole message is to have some form of physical exercise or activity to keep our weights down; and to eat nutritious food and avoid or cut down fatty, sweet, salty and high cholesterol food which are harmful to our health. As you know, it is easier said than done. What I know is we do need to make conscious efforts to keep ourselves in good health by taking physical exercises and by eating nutritious and non-fattening food. One thing is for sure, if we are not in food health we will not be able to enjoy our success or good things in life, and we will be, relatively speaking, unhappy.

When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me to get ahead in life I would need luck, brain, and industriousness. She was right of course. But one important element in life that she missed telling me was to develop and have good social relationships will all the people that I would come across in life, including family members. No one can live and get ahead in life alone. Each one of us at some stages of our respective lives needed and got help from someone to move on with our lives. From my personal experience, I noted that one must be non-egoistic, not too aggressive, be polite, be helpful, and tries to understand and respect other person’s points of view, needs and feeling, to develop good social relationships. Here I would like to add that each of us can judge who is good, who is bad, who is untrustworthy, etc. and avoid bad people and associate with good people to the extent that each of us can.

Each one of us had twenty four hours a day and the one who can budget and manage his/her time day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year according to his priorities and short term and long term goals will get ahead in life better. One should use the time and even manipulate it and not waste it to achieve one’s short term and long term goals. One must also be patient if the short term and long term goals are not achieved in budgeted time. So long as the time is used and not wasted, one will reach his/her goads in due course.

I hope everyone present here will agree with me the importance of financial management at the personal or family level as well as at the business level. At the business level there are of course financial plans and budgets for the present as well as for the future. One should likewise have financial plans and budgets at personal/family level for the present and future, to spend, save and invest within one’s available means. As you know money is neutral. If you are wise, money will treat you well; and if you are foolish it will not stay with you for long. Like time, one’s hard-earned money should be used and not wasted.

The last thing that I would like to point out to you is the danger of complacency. If you own a business and if you are complacent after a certain level of success, your business will suffer, simply because you fail to keep up with the changes in the market conditions and because of the intense competition one faces nowadays. Likewise at the personal level we should be wary of complacency. We should try not to be complacent by improving ourselves and keeping ourselves busy mentally and physically. Life thrives on activity and activity is the proof of our existence. No one is perfect and there is always something that each of us can improve upon. If we do that, at least we will not be bored, and may achieve some fulfillment in life.

With these remarks I now conclude my speech. May you all be successful and happy in life. May you have a pleasant stay in SF.

(3) Memories

After attending the 2nd year engineering class from June 1952 to September 1952, I went straight to MIT on a state scholarship to continue my studies. Saya U Min Wun and I went together to MIT and joined the academic session, starting from September 1952. We met Dr Freddie Ba Hli at MIT, who was already studying for his Ph.D in electronics or electrical engineering. He was one of the nicest and helpful persons that I have ever met in my life. He gave us briefings and guidance so that we were able to assimilate into the American education system and American way of life without any difficulty He also helped us with our home works when we had some difficulties in the beginning. I am forever grateful to him for his kind help. I am sure U Min Wun feels the same. Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Sein Hlaing, U Percy Lao, U Win Htein, U Kyaw Min, Robin Aw, U Kyaw Thein, U Aung Kywe, U Aung Myint and U Sein Hla came to MIT for further studies at a later date. U Percy Lao later became Rangoon City Engineer (water and sanitation), U Win Htein who is an architect became a Rangoon City Building Engineer, and the late U Kyaw Min became a free lance architect [and also taught part-time at the Architecture department for some time]. All these three professionals taught some time at RIT. I do not know what happened to Robin Aw. The late U Kyaw Thein was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became a lecturer at the Civil Engineering Department at RIT. U Aung Kywe was a Director (water and sanitation) at the Construction Corporation. U Aung Myint became the Chief Architect at the Construction Corporation. U Sein Hla was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became the Registrar at RIT under Rector U Yone Moe. Later more batches of Burmese students came to MIT when I was no longer there. I am describing all these things to point out the fact that the standard of engineering education in Burma at that time was quite good. None of us had to go through the entrance examination to get into MIT. They trusted our grades and our education standard. Maybe the visiting Professor Horwood from MIT was quite impressed with the Faculty of Engineering and put a good word for us to the MIT admission authorities.

I will not go into details of the activities of all the various students’ associations, societies and clubs, as there were so many of them. But I would like to mention briefly about the hostel life, that I had experienced at that time. Every hostel had what we called a social and reading club . There was an adequate room reserved for this club at the ground floor of the hostel. In general, newspapers, popular magazines, a chess board, a carom board and a table tennis were provided so that the hostel students could read, play chess, play carom board, and play table tennis and socialize to get to know each other well. Even without the social and reading club, all the hostel students ended up knowing each other well sooner or later, as they met each other almost everyday at the hostel and at the dining hall. The hostel students were in general well behaved. I hardly saw the Warden or Hall Tutors at Ava Hall and Prome Hall, as there were very few student problems which needed attention of the Warden or Hall Tutors.

Based upon my experience, I feel that these extra-curricular activities and hostel life gave the opportunities to the students to broaden the knowledge of the different parts of Myanmar; and they also created a better understanding of the different culture, food, habit, dresses, dialects etc of the country. Most of the students developed life-long friendships through these activities which contributed to well-beings of these students throughout their lives. Sport activities also taught the students about hard work, cooperation, team work, competition, winning and losing. The extra-curricular activities also triggered, developed and enhanced the hidden talents of some of the students. These activities therefore formed part of the University education of the students, in addition to the education that they received from the classrooms. Another benefit of these activities was the bonding and a better understanding, which developed between the students and the teachers who were involved in these activities.

After getting my Bachelor degree in Cvil Engineering in 1955 and my Master degree in Civil Engineering in 1956 from MIT, I worked for Engineering Companies for a year, which involved both design and fieldwork in engineering construction projects. I then came back to Rangoon in 1957 to join the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Lecturer. I was promoted to become a Lecturer in 1958 and became also more or less Head of the Civil Engineering Department. The policy in place at the University of Rangoon under the Ministry of Education at that time stated that a teacher/ any person could become a lecturer / professor only if he/ she had a post graduate degree. Sayagyi U Ba Hli was the Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean of the Faculty at the same time. U Aung Khin was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, U Sein Hlaing was Head of the Electrical Engineering Department, U Khin Aung Kyi was Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, U Soon Sein was Head of the Mining Engineering Department, U Thit was Head of the Metallurgy Department, and U Maung Maung Than was Head of the Textile Engineering Department. I think Mr Johnson was Head of the Architecture Department. I do not remember who was the Workshop Superintendent at that time. We were quite happy as we had new facilities near the Prome road in addition to the B.O.C College of Engineering building. These new facilities comprised of a tall administrative building (with offices, conference/meeting rooms, library), classrooms, lecture theaters, laboratories , offices for the teaching staff and a small assembly place under the copper dome roof in the corner of the campus. The dome roof looked like a turtle back, and pretty soon this new campus became known as “turtle dome /leik khone” campus. After our arrival from USA, UK etc, the foreign teachers under contract were let go, as we gradually replaced them, except for a few teachers from UK or USA. I could recall Prof. Neale? in Electrical Engineering Department, Mr Redpath and Mr Skelton in Mechanical Engineering Department and Mr Johnson and Mr Nagler in Architecture Department.

As a young teacher I was surprised and pleased to see a few pioneering female engineering students (not more than ten) at the Leik Khone campus. They and their parents overcame the social uneasiness and they decided to study engineering/architecture to become lady engineers /architects. I do not know exactly when they first joined the 1st year engineering class; but It was one of the important turning points in the history of engineering education.

As young teachers, most of us were struggling to learn how to teach effectively at the beginning. I noticed that we were teaching about 15 to 20 hours per week which included lectures, laboratory and drawing classes. The contact hours of learning for the students remained the same as the time when I was an engineering student i.e. about 30 hours per week. The passing grade for the students also remained the same. i.e. 40% for each subject and 50% average for all the subjects combined. The medium of teaching was still in English. The laboratory and workshop facilities were quite good and adequate for the student population that we had. But the library looked quite small when I compared it with the library that they had in MIT, although it had a few good engineering books and journals. I felt that it needed a lot of investment to become a top notch engineering library.

It was with enthusiasm and hope that most of us were busy trying to build up our respective departments and trying to improve the engineering education in general. While we were busy, Professor and Dean U Ba Hli retired some time around 1961, and in place of U Ba Hli we had a succession of temporary Deans, Professor of Chemistry U Po Tha, Professor of Geology Dr Tha Hla, and Professor of Physics Dr Maung Maung Kha for about 6 months. The Faculty of Engineering also had to move to a new campus in Gyogone in 1961. Before our relocation to Gyogone, the Faculty of Engineering was one of the Faculties of the University of Rangoon. The academic and administrative related policy decisions were made by the Senate and Administrative Council of the University of Rangoon respectively so as to maintain and improve the standard of education of all its Faculties, including the Faculty of Engineering.

As you all know, Gyogone campus was built with the aid of Russia; and I understood that the Government of Burma paid back the cost in rice. I do not know whether it was true or not. In any case it was and still is an impressive looking campus. The buildings accommodated classrooms, laboratories and workshop, big assembly hall with a movie projector, library, offices for the administrative and teaching staff,and student hostels. There were also houses for all the staff, dining and kitchen facilities, small medical clinic, and open space for sport activities. All the buildings, houses etc occupied and still occupy a large area in a compound.

by Hla Min

Update : 8th October 2026

RIT English Department

My introduction to teaching at RIT began as a team member of the English Department. Besides Daw Yin Yin Mya (Head of the English and known to us as Terry), and Daw Sheila Saing (Asst. Head), there were 10 tutors including myself.

Nicknames

In his own inimitable and affectionate way, Saya U Khin, also one of the new tutors, decided to spice up our group by giving us nicknames. I’m sure my former colleagues will forgive me for revealing these juicy tidbits as this generous gesture of U Khin’s served to bind and give our departmental community a semblance of togetherness.

Daw Yin Yin Mya was complimented with the name Shwe Man Mé (in honor of her previous beauty pageant title). I wouldn’t want to reveal Daw Sheila Saing’s nickname. Despite its not being slanderous or derogatory, it was a typical humorous expression of what we Burmese immediately notice about anyone’s appearance. U Win Mra was known as Rakhine gyi, Saya Tony (Sao Kan Gyi) as Shan gyi (sadly gone, but he must be smiling down on us from his abode of eternal rest), Sayama Toni as Byaing ma gyi, Sayama Muriel – a name I don’t recall, but which I think reflected her sweet innocence and being the object of Saya U Khin’s “secret” admiration, Sayama Khin Saw Tint, ungallantly nicknamed Ahnaik té gyi, and Sayama Charity who was inexplicably called Shwe nga.

For some strange reason, U Khin spared me, perhaps out of intimidation or deference for my scrabble prowess, as he often challenged but rarely ever beat me in games involving money bets.

Both Saya Joe Ba Maung, and Saya Kyaw Lwin Hla, easy targets, were also excepted by U Khin, perhaps to portray a side of his that reminded him of having some good social graces. These intimate nicknames, characteristic of us Burmese helped with the bonding process more closely, and nobody took offense at their liberal use. It certainly seemed that despite our different ethnic backgrounds, we enjoyed a far greater measure of coexistence, cooperation, and friendship in our department than the Burmese government of the day did, in their efforts to co-opt and mold the various ethnic groups of the country into a unified whole.

Classes and Examinations

Those were halcyon days for us at RIT, teaching classes of 20 to 25 respectful and committed students, who basically went along with what we decided was appropriate to teach, and in the manner we decided was best for them to learn. Saya U Khin and I usually had Sayama Terry’s ear, so to speak, and we got to make considerable input into the curriculum and test instruments. At exam time, I was given the duty of conducting the Listening tests over a loudspeaker system across a few wooden framed classrooms (not unlike large zayats), likely due to my previous stint as a radio entertainer with the BBS.

Students

I got to love my work and I became very attached to the students. In particular, I remember one student. In my classes, he was almost habitually slouched over his desk in the last row of the class, seemingly half asleep on one bent elbow with glasses barely supported on his nose, and seldom looking up or towards the front of the classroom. His seeming indifference belied a very active, bright, and absorbing mind, one which on facing a problem or engaging in conversation requiring close concentration manifested its ability to ably comprehend sophisticated concepts or language use. Usually indulging in his pastime of doodling, I’m sure he was immersed in daydreams of one day becoming an editor of a successful newspaper or a widely popular and eagerly-read newsletter.

When I wasn’t teaching, I was either playing scrabble with Saya U Khin, Roland Thein, Sayama Anne, or Bobby Myo Tun, now respectfully addressed as Bhikku Pannagavesaka, who undoubtedly must now be spending some time apart from his meditation in his monastery in Mawlamyine to reminisce on some of the earthly pleasures RIT once had to offer.

Our teaching staff was a friendly bunch. We had a regular stream of students, and some members of other departments visiting with us either to exchange pleasantries or to “check out the scenery” from our vantage point on the 3rd floor. Regulars such as Roland Thein and the Rev. Bobby Myo Tun (no disrespect intended), were often joined by Johnny Hla Min, Kenny Wong, Robert Win Boh, La La, George Tun Pe, D.S. Saluja, Toby Kittim Ku, Zaw Min Nawaday, Walter Tan, Gregory Win Htut, Reggie Kyaw Nyunt, etc., and their delightful female counterparts viz., Christine Phyu Phyu Latt, Emma Myint (later an RIT sayama), and Pamela Myo Min (now Head of Architecture) etc.,. Others, one year junior were Merrylin Smith (now Mrs. Zaw Mon with a very successful career in the US government’s EPA), Than Than Yi (at whose house I played tennis a few doors from Daw Aung San Su Kyi’s residence on University Avenue), Amy Lei Lei Myaing (Tex), Rosie Gyi, Annie (?), and Merlin Vaz, etc., Many of these students not only strolled into our “English Corner”, but unstintingly gave of their time to help me set up the RIT scrabble group, which later even involved the participation of Sayagyis Dr. Aung Gyi, U Min Wun, and perhaps Saya Bilal Raschid in competition games in the institute. The students’ help also extended to organizing the department’s debates and carol singing at Christmas time – an interesting seasonal Christian celebratory event, where racism and religious discrimination played no part in the thinking of our community. We were just happy to be one, and to do things and enjoy each other’s company in whatever manner we could, all in true Burmese fashion.

Sayas from other departments

On other fronts, I thoroughly enjoyed socializing and cultivating friendships with faculty members from other departments. Saya U Sein Shan (Math) was a consistently friendly and jovial presence, as were Saya U Maung Maung Win (Mech) with his flashing smile worthy of any CNN news anchor, Saya Maurice Kyaw Zaw, and Saya U Soe Paing, whom I called “the involver and the motivator”. I had frequent stimulating conversations with Sayas Christopher, U Thein Dan, and U Allen Htay of the Civil department. And of course, I was not only very friendly with Saya Bilal Rachid of the Architecture Dept., but was, and will always continue to be deeply grateful to him for helping me get my Canadian visa. He did much to introduce me to the international diplomatic circuit where the foreign ambassadors often engaged in discussing topical issues, a pastime close to my heart. We now keep in close contact by email, and I plan to visit him and others in the Washington [D.C.] area in the near future.

In the same way that I had learned to smoke from some RIT seniors in 1959, I also learned to drink from socializing and playing tennis with the Russian Architectural and Mining lecturers. Interestingly, Viktor, the head of the Russian group took me aside when I went on my rounds to wish my various colleagues “Good-bye”, and asked if I would mind keeping in touch with him as he wanted to immigrate to Canada. When asked, “Why Canada?” his answer was a simple, “They have excellent fishing there!”

Rector and Registrar

Despite my very cordial relations with Sayagyi U Yone Moe through my occasional visits to his office, there was one person in the administration who seemed to consider me anathema to the institution, with no apparent justifiable reason. Whenever I happened to see U Soe Thein the Registrar, which was practically everyday, he would always stare or glare at me with thinly disguised feelings of dislike.

Anecdote

I know I’m fast forwarding a bit here, but I’d like to narrate an interesting and illuminating anecdote that happened towards the end of my teaching career at RIT.

One day, a brilliant student of mine – who shall remain anonymous, returned from the government’s annual Lu Ye Chun summer camp for outstanding achievers. At the usual meeting of students, faculty and administration in the RIT Assembly Hall, instead of going along meekly with the official policy line of praising the program to the skies, and using the occasion to encourage other students to strive for higher ideals within the government’s philosophical purview, he delivered a critical unflattering message labeling the program as nothing less than an attempt to indoctrinate the students with questionable socialist ideals!

We sat in stunned silence, not for one moment expecting such a tirade. I never quite got around to asking him what chastisement was meted out to him, but within an hour of his outburst, I was “requested” to see U Soe Thein in his office. There, I was pointedly accused of imbuing this student of mine with harmful western liberal thinking that was detrimental to the Burmese Way to Socialism. Despite my protests to the contrary, I was roundly castigated on the grounds that I was a natural suspect due to my westernized manner of dressing, my behavior, and outlook. Well, so much for U Soe Thein – himself a suspected front man for the party, and his heavy-handed attitude.

There was no love lost between us, but I very sadly had to conclude that after this, my first experience of discrimination in my life, and a few other misgivings about the systemic failure I was witnessing, including the plight of the working class people at large, I would sooner or later have to leave the land of my birth, as it was becoming extremely constricting and taxing for me to exist in such a stifling political system. I have since moved on, preferring to relegate the “U Soe Thein fiasco” to a footnote in my teaching career at RIT.

And as for my student? I was left with an absolute sense of admiration for this young, conscientious, and courageous person who had had enough gumption to speak truth to power!

Editor’s notes

• Sayama Terry moved to Australia.

• Sayama Sheila moved to Thailand. Her spouse Dr. Zin Aung taught at Assumption University (formerly ABAC).
• U Win Mra retired from Pole Vault Competition and became Burma’s Elvis Presley. He joined the Foreign Office. He served as Ambassador to the UN. Upon his return, he chaired the Burma Human Rights Commission. He is a Khamee Khamet of Sayama Toni .

• Sao Kan Gyi (GBNF) wrote with the pen name “Khemerat”. His sister Biddy (spouse of Mawn Pong Sawbwa Lay) published a book in Australia.

• Daw Khin Saw Tint is a bilingual author and a happy great grand mother. Her younger brother U Nay Oke Tint (St. Paul’s) gave a TEDx talk about their mother Daw Khin Saw Mu and her role in the Khit San Sar Pay.
• Sayama Muriel (spouse of Saya U Aung @ Alphonso Rivers @ Ko Nge) moved to Thailand.
  I met them at Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt’s house in Milpitas. They were visiting their daughter in Southern California and made a short trip to Northern California.
• Sayama Charity retired as Professor. I met her at SPZP-2012.
• Saya Des sent me his book.
  He had back pain, which limited his traveling. For some time, he taught English on-line to students far and wide.
• Joe Ba Maung (GBNF) was Burma’s Tennis Champion in both Singles and Doubles.
  He joined Burma Railways and also managed the Sports Program. He lost his job after 8-8-88.
• U Kyaw Lwin Hla joined UNDP and had a long UN career.
• U Khin also won some Scrabble tournaments, but the awards are less that those of Saya Des. He moved to Taiwan.
  He sent me a long e-mail in 2016 when Ko Maurice Chee (M75) organized a Birthday & Appreciation Soon Kway at Dhammananda Vihara, Half Moon Bay, California.

by Hla Min

Update : 6th October 2026

Highlights

• Known as Hla Myint Thein at RIT
• Class of M75 — Donated to Class Fund and Mechanical Fund
• Worked in Singapore and USA
• Past President, BAPS
• Founding Member and Treasurer, RIT Alumni International
• Wore Multiple Hats for SPZP-2000 — Co-Chair, Working Committee (SPZP-2000); Financial Controller; Publisher of the Commemorative Issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” for SPZP-2000
• Founding Member and Past Vice President, NorCal RITAA
• Organizer, SF Bay Area Retiree Luncheon
• Donor and Coordinator, Donation of books to YTU Library
• Seminar, YTU Mechanical Engineering Department
• Wrote “Planning for an engineering career in the US”

Planning for an engineering career in the US

The contents may not be up to date, since this is a re-post of an old article. However, the principles should apply.

Step One

For RIT graduates to become registered professional engineers, they need to take the Engineering-in Training which is an eight-hour exam given by the Department of Consumer Affairs, State of California. The exam is given twice a year. The following is a list of information and guidelines on E-I-T that I have extracted from the web site, http://www.dca.ca.gov. 

General

Certification as an Engineer-in-Training (EIT) is the first step required under California law towards becoming licensed as a professional engineer.

Certification as a Land Surveyor-in-Training (LSIT) is the first step required under California law towards becoming licensed as a professional land surveyor.

Each applicant must file the application, pay the stated filing fee, and sit for the assigned 8-hour written examination. Persons who pass the written examination will be issued a certificate as either an Engineer-in-Training or a Land Surveyor-in-Training, whichever is appropriate.

Neither U.S. Citizenship nor California residency is required. However, you must provide your social security number or individual taxpayer identification number, or your application will NOT be processed. Disclosure of your social security number is mandatory. U.S. Citizens, if you do not have a social security number you may contact your local United States Social Security Office at 1-800-722-1213 or http://www.ssa.gov/online/forms.html. Non-U.S. citizens without a social security number may request an individual taxpayer identification number from The Department of Treasury (Internal Revenue Service) at (215) 516-4846 or http://www.irs.gov/ind_info/itin.html.

Examination Requirements

EIT applicants must have either completed 3 years of course work in a board-approved engineering curriculum OR have 3 years of engineering-related work experience, and never have been convicted of a crime related to the practice of engineering.

Examination Scope

The EIT examination covers fundamental engineering subjects including mathematics and the basic sciences. The exam has a four-hour morning and four-hour afternoon session. In the morning, all examinees answer the same 120 questions, each worth one point, covering the breadth of knowledge in engineering. In the afternoon session, examinees choose one of the six following subject areas: General, Chemical, Civil, Electrical, Mechanical, or Industrial Engineering. Candidates identify the chosen subject area at the examination.

Each has 60 two-point questions, written to test the depth of knowledge in the selected subject area. The total number of possible points for the morning and afternoon session is 240.

The LSIT examination covers material related to the fundamentals of land surveying. The exam has a four-hour morning and a four-hour afternoon session. In each session all examinees answer 85 questions and all are required.

The total number of possible points for the morning and afternoon sessions is 170.

Both the EIT and LSIT examinations are closed-book examinations. NO REFERENCE MATERIALS OF ANY KIND ARE ALLOWED. Calculators are acceptable, however, any calculating device having a QWERTY keypad arrangement similar to a typewriter or a keyboard will not be allowed for the exam.

How to apply

Submit a completed and signed application form to the Board office in Sacramento, together with a check or money order in the amount of $60 made payable to the “Department of Consumer Affairs”. Self-address and stamp a 4 x 5″ postcard for notification that your application has been received by the Board.

You may provide your own postcard. The card will notify you of the progress/status of your application. It will be mailed to you approximately two weeks after the receipt of your application.

The Board recycles reference manuals from the previous exam. EIT applicants (except renewal applicants) will receive a recycled manual from the Board. Applicants may purchase a new copy of the handbook for $9.95 from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), 1820 Seneca Creek Road, Clemson, South Carolina 29633-1686, (800) 250-3196. It is possible to place an order on the publications page of the NCEES website.

LSIT applicants can purchase, for $9.95, a reference handbook on the Fundamentals of Land Surveying to help them prepare for the examination from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), 1820 Seneca Creek Road, Clemson, SC 29633-1686, (800) 250-3196, or you may order it directly from the publications page on the NCEES website. Your application must be postmarked by the final filing date noted in the exam schedule to be accepted for the next examination. Applications received requiring postage due will not be accepted by our office. Final filing dates will not be extended for those who have their applications returned for insufficient postage.

Your admission notice will be sent approximately 10 days before the exam to the address indicated on your application. Use the Board’s address change affidavit to notify the Board if your address changes after you apply.

Step Two

After passing the E-I-T exam, one needs to obtain four years of experience under the direct supervision of a registered professional engineer (California License). You will need to get four references as part of your application. The registration fee is $175.00 and DCA administers the exam twice a year.

Please contact DCA to obtain the following information:

General References

Professional Engineers Act: Business and Professions Code sections 6700-6799

Professional Land Surveyors Act: Business and Professions Code sections 8700-8805

Rules of the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors:

California Code of Regulations sections 400 – 474.5

(For print copy of all three above, send $5.00 check, payable to DCA, to:

Attention: Cashier, P O Box 349002, Sacramento, CA 95834-9002. If you are licensed by this Board, you may receive a free copy. Just include your license number with your request)

Professional Engineer Plain Language Pamphlet (.htm)

Professional Land Surveyor Plain Language Pamphlet (.htm)

Professional Land Surveyor Plain Language Pamphlet (.pdf)

EIT/LSIT Examinee Instructions

Professional Engineer and Professional Land Surveyor Examinee Instructions

Special Civil Examination (Seismic & Survey): Reference List

Special Civil Examination (Seismic & Survey): Information for Examinees

Booklet

Traffic Engineer Examination Reference List

Geotechnical Engineer Examination Reference List

Structural Engineer: Special Format Information and Examination Instructions

Structural Engineer: Information for Examinees e_ge00refs.htm

The Eight-Hour Mechanical Engineering Exam format is now all multiple choice.

For information, follow this link to Principles and Practice of Engineering Examinations on the NCEES website.

The Eight-Hour Civil Engineering Exam format is now all multiple choice. The NCEES “Transportation Design Standards” has changed. For information, follow this link to Principles and Practice of Engineering Examinations on the NCEES website.

For information regarding use of codes or standards for any other examination offered by this Board, contact the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying (NCEES). The NCEES toll-free telephone number is: 1-800-250-3196.

Test Plans for California Specific Exams

Geotechnical Engineering Test Plan

Land Surveyor Examination Test Plan

Special Civil Engineering Survey Test Plan

Special Civil Seismic Principles Test Plan

Structural Engineering Test Plan

Traffic Engineering Test Plan

Step Three

Job Opportunity

RIT graduates with E-I-T certification and with no local experience can apply for entry level position as junior engineer with City and County of San Francisco and Bay Area Counties. There are several engineers including myself working for City and County of San Francisco and many hold higher engineering positions. Hin Lok Kung, a 1967 RIT graduate is the manager of the electrical section. Cal-Tran also accepts RIT graduates. U Myat Htoo is a Senior Transportation Engineer with Cal-Tran. Further, job advancement in civil service jobs requires registration as professional engineer. Most RIT graduates start their career with Consulting Engineers as design engineer or designer and many of them obtained their registration through the steps that I have described above. There are several consulting firms with RIT graduates as principal or partner.

Other Options

For those who are single, young, ambitious, academically good and financially sound, we would recommend to follow the footsteps of Mr. Benny Tan (M70) and Dr. Kim Chen aka U Nyo Win (M65) and go for post grad studies. To do so you may need to take the GRE and with good score you may be able to get admission to local universities.

Conclusion

The suggestion mentioned above is based on choosing an engineering career in the A&E industry. As always, career success depends on other factors such as possessing good communication, analytical, and problem solving skills, and a blend of theory and practice in the chosen engineering field.

RIT Alumni International

• Founding Member and Treasurer, RIT Alumni InternationalWore Multiple Hats for SPZP-2000
• Co-Chair, Working Committee (SPZP-2000)
• Financial Controller
• Publisher of the Commemorative Issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” for SPZP-2000

Hello

The following is [a dramatization of] an event that happened last night (October 20, 2000).

“Hello, is this RIT Alumni International?”

“If you are Burmese, you can speak in Burmese.”

“We’ve landed at SFO. Someone was supposed to pick up at the airport and take him to his house. He’s not here.”

“I’ll come and pick you up at the airport. I’ll ask Ko Hla Min to contact your friend.”

Maurice Chee (M75), co-chair, Organization got the “wake up” call. He rushed to pick up Ko Ye Myint (the caller), his spouse and his father our beloved Sayagyi U Ba Toke.

I tried to reach Ko Zaw Min Nawaday (EP70) several times via his cellular phone and voice mail.

“URGENT. Sayagyi will be at Maurice’s house. Please contact Maurice immediately at xxxx”.

A few moments later, Ko Zaw Min called back.

“Ko Ye sent me an e-mail saying that they’ll arrive on 21st [Saturday]. Anyway, give me the phone numbers of Maurice.”

Minutes later, Ko Ye called from Maurice’s house. He was surprised that it was 20th [Friday] albeit late at night. Though he had made international travels, he failed to remember this time that you gain/lose a day by crossing the International Date Line.

Sayagyi spoke to me saying that he’s looking forward to the Reunion. He asked if Dolly Lim (Dr. Thynn Thynn Lynn) was the one who wanted to see him at the Reunion. Sayagyi remembered “Baw Lone” (Kyu Kyu Lin) and her siblings well.

If time permits, Sayagyi may visit Southern California and neighboring states.

Thanks to the various alumni — Saya Allen Htay, Saya U Tin Htut, Ko Zaw Min Nawaday, Ko Philip Mya Thwin — and last but not the least our golden sponsor Ko Maung Maung Than] for inviting Sayagyi over to the US.

Thanks to Ko Ba Thein (Atlanta, Georgia) for his article, “An Apology …”

Thanks to Ko Zaw Min and Chicky for hosting Sayagyi at their new house.

Thanks to Ko Maurice who “saved the day” for Sayagyi.

SF Bay Area Retirees’ Luncheon

Ko Maurice Chee (M75) not only manages the monthly lunch gathering for retirees (sayas and alumni), but also brings prepared food. He cooked Chicken Danbauk.

To some gatherings, he brought Laphet Thoke.

Attendees include :

• Saya U San Tun (Sain Fone Wong, M59) & spouse
• Saya Dr. Nyo Win (M65)
• Saya U Maung Maung (George, ChE66) & spouse
• U King Wong (Victor, C66)
• U Tin Myint (David, M67) & spouse
• U Hla Min (EC69) & spouse
• Walter Tan (M70) & spouse
• Charlie Tseng (EC70) & Diana Tseng (ChE71)
• U Aung Thein (John, M71) & spouse
• Maurice Chee (M75)
• U Aye Tun (Anthony, M76)

By default, the group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at a specified restaurant or mall.

Maurice Chee (M75) is the organizer of the San Francisco Bay Area Retirees’ Lunch Gathering.

For August 2019, he chose the Food Court in Serramonte Mall, Daly City.

The attendees include :

• Saya U San Tun (Sain Fone Wong, M59) and spouse
• Saya U Maung Maung (George Chan, ChE66) and spouse
• King Wong (Victor Wong, C66)
• Stan Liou (M67) and spouse
• U Tin Myint (David Ko, M67) and spouse
• U Hla Min (EC69) and spouse
• Benny Tan (M70)
• Walter Tan (M70) and spouse
• Charlie Tseng (EC70) and spouse Diana Tseng (ChE71)
• Saya U Thein Aung (James K Wu, Met72), spouse Daw San San Nyunt (Sandra, M77) and daughter
• Maurice Chee (M75)
• U Aye Tun (Anthony Ng, M76)
• Guest : Dr. Daisy Saw (Co-founder of ConBro, spouse of Derrick Wu (A62, GBNF)

Ko Maurice cooked his specialty Dan Bauk (Birayani) : one set with Lamb and another set with Chicken.

Others brought Fried rice, salad, drinks (Coconut milk, Water), fruits and ”Ah Cho Pwe” desserts.

Tea was free to the clients of “Naan ‘n’ Curry” shop.

There was a Cake to celebrate the 50th Wedding Anniversary of Stan and Lu Lu.

Welcoming KMZ to SF Bay Area

GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten)

• ပါမောက္ခ၊ မန္တလေး ဝ/သ တက္ကသိုလ်
• ပါမောက္ခ၊ ရန်ကုန် ဝ/သ တက္ကသိုလ်
• တည်ထောင်သူ၊ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဘူမိသိပ္ပံအသင်း
• အဖွဲ့ဝင်၊ သိပ္ပံ နဲ့ နည်းပညာ ပညာရှင် အဖွဲ့

• Cr: Various posts