Category: Mi Aung

အနှစ် ၅၀၊ အလွမ်းရယ်တဲ့တိမ်တောင်၊ ကျွမ်းမြှိုက်လောင်ခဲ့

(၁)

ကြာမြင့်လှပြီဟုဆိုနိုင်သောအချိန်ကာလ၏ စာပေတစ်ခေတ်နှင့် ယင်းစာပေဖွံ့ ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ထွန်းကားခဲ့သည့်​​အချိန်နှင့်အတူ ပုံနှိပ်စာအုပ်၊ မဂ္ဂဇင်း၊ ဂျာနယ် အများအပြားသည်လည်း ဝေဆာဖူးပွင့်ခဲ့သည့် ဖြစ်စဥ်ကို မှတ်မိနေပါသေးသည်ဟုကနဦး လှစ်ဟပါရစေ။ မဂ္ဂဇင်းဆိုသည်မှာလည်းမိမိတစ်ကိုယ်တည်းအကြိုက်ပြောရလျှင် စာပေဟင်းလေးအိုးကြီးသဖွယ် စာမျိုးစုံ၊ ရသအဖုံဖုံပါဝင်နေသော စာအုပ်ဟု ခံယူထားသူဖြစ်သောကြောင့် ခုံခုံမင်မင် နှစ်နှစ်ခြိုက်ခြိုက် မပြတ် ဖတ်မှတ်ခြင်းပြုခဲ့သည်။ နောက်ထပ် အကြောင်းခြင်းရာတစ်ခုမှာ စာရေးဝါသနာထုံသည့်အလျောက် မိမိပေးပို့ထားသော ကဗျာပါလာ၏၊ မပါလာ၏ဆိုသည်ကို လစဥ်ဆိုသလို မဂ္ဂဇင်းထွက်ရက် စောင့်မျှော်ရခြင်းအရသာသည် မည်သည်နှင့်မျှမတူ၊ တစ်မျိုးတစ်ဘာသာ…။ ထို့ပြင်၊ စာရေးသူသည် စာလေးကဗျာလေး ရေးသားရုံသာမက ရသစုံပါဝင်သော မဂ္ဂဇင်းစာအုပ်မျိုးအား ထုတ်ဝေခြင်းကိစ္စကိုလည်းစိတ်ဝင်စားသည်။ ငယ်စဥ်အခါက စာပုံနှိပ်စက်သို့ တစ်ခါတစ်ရံရောက်ဖူးရာ ယင်းနေရာတွင် ခဲစာလုံးစာစီသည့်အခန်း၊ စက္ကူထုပ်များထားရာနေရာ နှင့် ပုံနှိပ်စက်၊ ပုံနှိပ်မင်စသည်တို့၏ အနံ့များအား ဘာကြောင့်မှန်းမသိ၊ အလွန်ကြိုက်သည်။ မိမိရေးသည့်စာကိုသာမက သူတစ်ပါးရေးသောစာတို့ကိုလည်း ဖတ်ရှု ပြင်ဆင်တည်းဖြတ်ပေးရသည်ကိုအထူးအားရကျေနပ်မှုရခဲ့သည်။ တက္ကသိုလ် စတက်စဥ် နာမည်မမှတ်မိတော့သည့် အသင်းအဖွဲ့တစ်ခုအတွက် စာတည်းအဖြစ် စာမူရွေးချယ်စိစစ်ပေးခဲ့ဖူးသည်။ ယင်းနောက် အင်ဂျင်နီယာကျောင်းသားဘဝ အစောပိုင်းတွင် “အင်ဂျင်နီယာကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ မဂ္ဂဇင်း (၁၉၆၁)” ကို အထွေထွေစာတည်းအဖြစ် ဆောင်ရွက်၍ အပြီးအစီးပုံနှိပ်ထုတ်ဝေသည့်နေရာ၌ လုပ်ကိုင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့ဖူးသည်။ ပြန်လည်၍ အတွေးနယ်ချဲ့သည့်အခါ စာရိုက်ရန် ကွန်ပျူတာကဲ့သို့စက်လည်းမပေါ်သေး၊ ယခုလို အင်္ဂလိပ် မြန်မာစာရိုက်၍သိမ်းဆည်းထားနိုင်သော လက်ကိုင်ဖုန်းဟူသည် ပို၍ပင်ဝေလာဝေး။ထိုစဥ်က ခဲသားဖြင့်ပုံသွန်းလောင်းထားသော စာလုံးများသာရှိသဖြင့် ယင်းတို့ကို စာစီသမားများက အက္ခရာ၊ ဗျည်းစသည်ဖြင့် တစ်ခုချင်းကောက်ကာ စာကြောင်းဖြစ်ရန် စီပေးရသည်။ ယင်းကိုမှမင်အနည်းငယ်သုတ်ကာ ပုံနှိပ်စက္ကူစာရွက်အရှည်ပေါ်သို့ ဖိရိုက်ပေးရသည်၊ အမှားအမှန်အားဖတ်ရှုပြင်ဆင်ပေးရသည်။ အထပ်ထပ်ပြင်ပြီးသော် စာမျက်နှာ ၈ မျက်နှာကို လေးထောင့်သံခွေဖြင့်ညှပ်၍ ပုံနှိပ်စက်ပေါ်တင်ရသည်။ ထွက်လာသည့် စာအချောအား တစ်ဖန်ဖတ်ရှုကာ နောက်ဆုံးအကြိမ်စစ်ဆေးပြီးလျှင် စက်ဆရာကိုအပြီးသတ်အပ်ရန် အသင့် ဖြစ်နေပြီ။ အထက်ပါ လုပ်ငန်းစဥ်များအား စဥ်ဆက်မပြတ် ပြုလုပ်နိုင်ရန်ဆိုသည်မှာ တာဝန်ခံစာတည်းဖြစ်သူ၊ သို့မဟုတ်လုပ်ငန်းတာဝန်လွှဲအပ်ခြင်းခံရသူသည် ပုံနှိပ်စက်နှင့် ကင်းကွာနေ၍မရ၊ အမြဲတစေ အနီးအနား၌ရှိနေရမည်။ သို့မှသာ လုပ်ငန်းစဥ်တစ်ရပ်လုံး အရှိန်အဟုန်ဖြင့် သတ်မှတ်ကာလအတွင်း ပြီးမြောက်မည်။ ဝါသနာကြီးလွန်းခြင်းကြောင့် စာရေးသူသည် ငယ်ရွယ်စဥ်ကတည်းကပင် စာပုံနှိပ်တိုက်ထဲတွင် မည်မျှပင် ပူလောင်အိုက်စပ်ပါစေ၊ ချမ်းမြေ့ပျော်ရွှင်မှုအပြည့်အဝ ရရှိခဲ့သည်ချည်းသာ။

(၂)

လူ့အမှတ်သညာသည် အလွန်ပင်ထူးဆန်းအံ့ဩဖွယ်ကောင်းသည်။ စာရေးသူ၏ငယ်သူငယ်ချင်းကဗျာဆရာ၊ တေးပြုစာဆိုသည်ယခုအချိန် ခံစားနေလျက်ရှိသည့် အတိတ်မေ့ရောဂါမှာ အလွန်ဆိုးဝါးသောအဆင့်သို့ ရောက်နေပြီဟု ကြားသိရသည်။ ဘာတစ်ခုကိုမျှ သူမမှတ်မိတော့သော်လည်း သူရေးစပ်ခဲ့သော နာမည်ကျော် “မြကျွန်းညိုညို တက္ကသိုလ် ” တေးကိုမူ စန္ဒရားဖြင့်တီးခတ်နိုင်သေးသည်ဆိုသည်။ သဘောမှာ ဦးနှောက်၏တစ်ထောင့်တစ်နေရာ၌ စွဲကပ်ကျန်နေခဲ့သည့် အနုပညာတစ်ခုသည် မည်သည့်ကာလသို့ရောက်သွားရောက်သွား ပျောက်ပျက်မသွားဘဲ တည်မြဲနေတတ်သောသဘောမျိုး။ ယခုလည်းကြည့်။ ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် တွင်ဗွေဆော်ဦး နှစ်လည်မဂ္ဂဇင်းထုတ်ဝေရန်ထိုစဥ်ကပါမောက္ခချုပ်ဦးရုံးမိုက အစည်းအဝေးခေါ်ယူသည်။ နှစ်စဥ်ထုတ်ဝေမည်ဟုဆုံးဖြတ်သည်နှင့်ဖွဲ့စည်းပုံကို ပထမရေးဆွဲသည်။ ဥက္ကဋ္ဌသည် ပါမောက္ခချုပ်ဖြစ်ပြီး သူက တာဝန်ခံစာတည်းအားတိုက်ရိုက်ခန့်အပ်ရမည်။ အထွေထွေအတွင်းရေးမှူးနှင့် ဆပ်ကော်မတီအသီးသီး၏ ဥက္ကဋ္ဌနှင့်အတွင်းရေးမှူးတို့က စာတည်းအဖွဲ့ဝင်များဖြစ်ရမည်။ စာတည်းအဖွဲ့ဝင်များနှင့် ကျန်လုပ်ငန်းဆိုင်ရာအဖွဲ့ဝင်များကို အစည်းအဝေးခေါ်၍ အများဆန္ဒအရရွေးချယ်ရမည်။ အဆိုပါ အဖြစ်သနစ်ကိုယခုတိုင် မမေ့သဖြင့် ပြန်လည်သတိတရ ဖော်ထုတ်ရေးသားရခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။ မဂ္ဂဇင်းကော်မတီဥက္ကဋ္ဌက ဆရာကြီးဦးရုံမို ဖြစ်သွားသည်။ ဆရာကြီးက တာဝန်ခံစာတည်းနေရာတွင်​ မြို့ပြအင်ဂျင်နီယာဌာနပါမောက္ခ ဆရာ ဒေါက်တာအောင်ကြီးကို ခန့်သည်။ မိမိမျှော်လင့်ထားသလိုဖြစ်မလာ၊ တက်တက်စင်လွဲပြီ။ မိမိသည်ကျောင်းဆရာအဖြစ်အမှုထမ်းခဲ့သည်မှာ ၅နှစ်မျှသာရှိသေးသော်လည်း အနုပညာစာပေကိစ္စနှင့်ပတ်သက်လာလျှင် အလွန်တက်ကြွကာ မိမိကိုယ်ကိုဝေဖန်သုံးသပ်ရပါက ထင်တစ်လုံးမြင်တစ်လုံးဖြစ်နေသူတစ်ယောက် ဟု မြင်သည်။ တာဝန်ခံစာတည်းနေရာသည် မိမိနှင့်အပ်စပ်သည့်နေရာဖြစ်၍ မိမိကိုသာပေးရမည်ဟု ခံယူထားသည်။ သို့နှင့် ရွေးချယ်တင်မြှောက်ပွဲအတွက်အစည်းအဝေးခေါ်ယူသောအခါ သွားတက်သည်။ဆရာက မိမိအားစာတည်းအဖွဲ့ဝင်နေရာတစ်နေရာပေးသော်လည်း မိမိက လက်မခံ၊ မအားလပ်ဟုအကြောင်းပြလျက်ငြင်းဆိုလိုက်သည်။ ထိုနေရာအား အခြားဆရာတစ်ဦးသို့ပေးသည်။ တာဝန်ခံစာတည်း ဆရာကြီးသည် မကြာမီတွင် ပါမောက္ခချုပ် ဖြစ်လာသောအခါ မိမိက ကိုယ့်မာနနှင့်ကိုယ်ရှိရင်းစွဲအတိုင်း ဆက်၍နေသည်။ မဂ္ဂဇင်းကော်မတီတွင် လုံးဝမပါဝင်တော့ဘဲ အဆက်အစပ်ကင်းကွာသွားသည်။ ကဗျာများကိုတော့ရေးပို့မြဲ…..။

(၃)

မိမိအလွန်မာနကြီးသည်၊ ဘဝင်မြင့်ခဲ့သည်၊ နောင်အခါတွင်တော့ မိမိကိုယ်ကိုသုံးသပ်ဆန်းစစ်ကြည့်မိသောအခါ သိရသည့်အသိမှာ ကံကောင်းထောက်မစွာ နောက်ကျမသွားသေး။မာနကြီးပုံ၊ ဘဝင်မြင့်ပုံမှာတစ်မျိုး၊ ကျွမ်းကျင်ရာလိမ္မာဆိုသလို မိမိထိတွေ့မှုများရာနယ်ပယ်၌လုပ်ငန်းကိစ္စနှင့်ပတ်သက်လာလျှင် မိမိသာ ရှေ့ဆုံးမှ လုပ်ကိုင်ရမှ၊ မိမိမကျွမ်းကျင်သော နယ်ပယ်ထဲသို့လည်း ပါဝင်ခြင်းမပြု၊ အားကစားကိုစိတ်မဝင်စား ကျွမ်းကျင်ခြင်းမရှိ၊ ယင်းတို့နှင့်ပတ်သက်သည့်အသင်းအပင်းများထဲသို့ ဝင်ရောက်ပါဝင်ခြင်းမရှိခဲ့။ ဝါသနာအလျောက် စာစောင် မဂ္ဂဇင်းထုတ်သည့်အလုပ်ကိုအမြဲတစေ လုပ်ကိုင်ဖြစ်သည်။ နေရာတိုင်းလိုလို၌ အသိအကျွမ်း မိတ်ဆွေအပေါင်းအသင်းကျယ်ပြန့်လာသည်။ တစ်နေ့တော့ သူငယ်ချင်း ကဗျာဆရာ မောင်ခိုင်မာ (ယခုကွယ်လွန်ပြီး) က မိမိအား ခင်ဝင်းသစ်၏ ဆွမ်းကျွေး အလှူနေအိမ်သို့ခေါ်သွားသည်။ ခင်ဝင်းသစ်မှာ နာမည်ရစ ကဗျာဆရာမတစ်ယောက်ဖြစ်၏။ ယခင်က တွေ့ဆုံဖူးခြင်းမရှိသေး၍ မောင်ခိုင်မာက သူမနှင့်မိတ်ဆက်ပေးပြီးသော် ခင်ဝင်းသစ်ကပြုံးကာ ” ဆရာ့ကဗျာတွေကို ဖတ်ရင်းနဲ့ ကျွန်မတို့ကြီး​​ပြင်းလာရတာပါ ဆရာ ” ဟုပြောသည်။အရိုးခံစိတ်ဖြင့်လှစ်ဟသောစကားဖြစ်ပင်ဖြစ်နေစေကာမူ ဘဝင်လေဟပ်သွားစေသည်မှာအမှန်။ စာပေအနုပညာကိစ္စနှင့်ပတ်သက်သော မိမိ၏တွေ့ထိခဲ့မှုဖြစ်စဥ်များသည် များပြားလွန်း၍ စာတစ်စောင်ပေတစ်ဖွဲ့ရေးမည်ဆိုလျှင် ကုန်နိုင်မည်မထင်။ ဆရာဒေါက်တာအောင်ကြီးနှင့် မဂ္ဂဇင်းကော်မတီကိစ္စကို ပြန်ကောက်ပါမည်။ ဆရာသည် မိမိလုပ်ကိုင်ဆောင်ရွက်ရမည့်နေရာကို ယူသွားခဲ့သည်ဟု ယူဆစွဲလမ်းခဲ့သည်။ ဤအယူကြောင့်ဆရာ့အားပြစ်မှားမိခြင်းမရှိသည့်တိုင် ဆရာ့အပေါ်တွင် စိတ်ခုမိသည်တော့အမှန်။ ဆရာသည်မိမိ၏ သင်ဆရာမဖြစ်ခဲ့ဖူးသော်လည်း ကြားဆရာ မြင်ဆရာတစ်ဆူတော့ဟုတ်သည်ကို ဝန်ခံရပေမည်။ သို့ဖြစ်ရကား ဘုရားရှင်ဟောကြားတော်မူခဲ့သော အနန္တောအနန္တငါးပါး ထဲတွင် ဆရာသည်လည်း ရှိခိုးပူဇော်ကန်တော့ရမည့် ငါးပါးအနက်တစ်ပါးအဖြစ်ပါဝင်နေသည် မဟုတ်ပါလား။စေ့စေ့တွေးကြည့်လျှင် စိတ်ခုမိသည်ဆိုခြင်းသည်ပင် အသေးစားပြစ်မှားခြင်းဟု ကတ်ပိုးကတ်ဖဲ့ပြောမိပြန်သည်။ အပြစ်သည် သေးသည် ကြီးသည်ဟူ၍ ရှိလို့လားဟုတော့ သံသယဝင်မိသေးသည်။

(၄)

ဆရာသည် ဤအဖြစ်ကို ရိပ်စားမိသလား၊ မရိပ်စားမိသလား၊ သိရှိသလား မသိဘူးလားကိုတော့ မိမိမသိ။ ဆရာ သိသည်ဖြစ်စေ၊ မသိသည်ဖြစ်စေဆရာ့အား ဖွင့်ဟအသိပေးပြီး တောင်းပန် ကန်တော့မှဖြစ်တော့မည်။ ယင်းသို့ မိမိအနေဖြင့် ဆုံးဖြတ်ချက်ချလိုက်ပြီးချိန်၊ ဆရာသည် ၁၉၇၇ ခုနှစ်တွင် နိုင်ငံခြားသို့ အပြီးအပိုင်ထွက်ခွာသွားလေပြီ။ ဓာတုအင်ဂျင်နီယာဌာနမှ ပါမောက္ခ ဆရာဦးခင်အောင်ကြည်က ပါမောက္ခချုပ်တာဝန်ကိုဆက်ယူသည်။ ယင်းမှ မိမိအား တာဝန်ခံစာတည်းခန့်သည်။ မော်ကွန်းထိန်း ဦးသက်လွင်က ထုတ်ဝေသူဖြစ်သည်။ ၁၉၇၈ မှ ၁၉၈၇ ခုနှစ်အတွင်း ရန်ုကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ်နှစ်လည်မဂ္ဂဇင်းများ နှစ်စဥ်မပျက်မကွက်ထွက်လာသည်။ မိမိ တာဝန်ခံစာတည်းနေရာ ရပြီဆိုတော့ ပျော်သလားဟု မေးလျှင် ထင်သလောက်မပျော်ဟု ဝန်ခံရမည်။ အဘယ့်ကြောင့်နည်း။ ၁၉၆၉ နှင့် ၁၉၇၉ တည်းဟူသောဆယ်နှစ်တာကာလရထားကြီးကို စီးနင်းလိုက်ပါခဲ့သော မိမိသည် လိုချင်တပ်မက်မှုတဏှာ အတန်အသင့် ပါးလျသွားပြီဖြစ်၏။ ဆယ်နှစ်အတွင်းပို၍ရင့်ကျက်သော နယ်ပယ်တစ်ခုဆီသို့ ထို ရထားကြီးက ပို့ဆောင်ပေးခဲ့ပြီ။ ကဗျာများအား မိမိ ရေးခဲ့သည့်ကာလတစ်လျှောက်လုံး ချီးကျူးထောပနာပြုခံရခြင်း၊ လှောင်ပြောင်ခံရခြင်း၊ ကဲ့ရဲ့ဝေဖန်ခံရခြင်း စသည့် ဒဏ်ကို ခံနိုင်ရည်လည်းရှိလာပြီဖြစ်သည်။ ဆယ်ကျော်သက်အရွယ်က မိမိ၏ အော်တိုစာအုပ်ထဲတွင် စာရေးဆရာကြီး လေးမြင့်က ” ကျော်ကြားလိုပါသလား။ ကျော်ကြားလို၍စာရေးလျှင် စာရေးဆရာဖြစ်မည်မဟုတ်။ စာရေးဆရာဖြစ်ချင်၍စာရေးလျှင် တစ်နေ့မကျော်​ကြားဘဲနေမည်မဟုတ်…”ဟု ရေးထားသည်။ ကဗျာဆရာကြီးဒေါင်းနွယ်ဆွေကလည်း “လောကလူ့ရွာသို့ ကဗျာဆရာသည်ဧည့်သည်အဖြစ်တစ်ယောက်တည်းရောက်လာ၏။ လောထဲမှတစ်ယောက်တည်းပင် ထွက်ခွာသွားရပေမည်”..ဟုရေးထားခဲ့သည်။ ဆရာဒေါင်းသည် မိမိ၏ စင်တင်ဆရာဟုပြောပါက မမှား၊ ကဗျာစ ရေးစဥ် အားပေးကူညီခဲ့သူဖြစ်၍ သူသည်လည်းဆရာတစ်ယောက်ဖြစ်၏။ဆရာများအား စာတစ်ပုဒ်ဖြင့် ပူဇော်ခြင်းသည်ပူဇော်ထမြောက်၏ဟု နားလည်သည်။ ယင်းမျှမက အောက်မေ့သတိရခြင်းဖြင့်လည်း ပူဇော်ကန်တော့နိုင်သည်ဟု ဆိုချင်သေး၏။ သို့ဖြစ်၍ ဆရာဒေါက်တာအောင်ကြီးနှင့်ပတ်သက်သော် မိမိ၏ ဦးနှောက်မိတ်ဆွေက “ခင်ဗျားကသာ ဆရာ့ကိုတောင်းပန်မယ် တောင်းပန်မယ်နဲ့ လုပ်လုပ်နေတာ၊ ဆရာကဖြင့် ဘာမှန်းတောင်သိမှာမဟုတ်ဘူး၊ ခင်ဗျားပဲ ဒီကိစ္စကိုသိနေတာ…ပြီးတော့လည်း ခင်ဗျားကဆရာ့ကို ပြစ်မှားတာ၊ စော်ကားတာမှ မဟုတ်ဘဲ။ ကိုယ့်ဟာကိုယ်စိတ်ကလေးနည်းနည်းခုမိတာကိုများ ရေးကြီးခွင့်ကျယ်လုပ်လို့….။ ကိုယ်နှုတ်အမူအရာနဲ့လည်းပြစ်မှားမိတာမှ မဟုတ်၊ တောင်းပန်ဖို့မလိုပါဘူးဗျာ…” ဟုတိုက်တွန်းပြောဆိုသည်။ မိမိ၏ နှလုံးသားမိတ်ဆွေကမူ ယင်းကို လုံးဝငြင်းပယ်ကန့်ကွက်သည်။ မိမိသည် မိမိ၏နှလုံးသားမိတ်ဆွေအား ပြုံးပြနှုတ်ဆက်လိုက်လေသည်။ စာဆိုတော် ရှင်မဟာရဋ္ဌသာရ၏ ပျို့အား မှီငြမ်းခြင်းပြုရပါက မိမိသည် ဆရာ့အား ဤစာကိုးခန်း၊ပုလဲပန်းဖြင့်၊ နွမ်းဖျော့မျက်ရည်၊ ဝန်းလည် မာန်လျှော့၊ ကန်တော့ပန်း ဆင်လိုက်ပါသတည်း။

ရေးသူ — တက္ကသိုလ် မိုးဝါ

Caricature

RIT မှာကတည်းက အတော်သံယောဇဥ်ကြီးခဲ့တဲ့
ကာတွန်းဆရာများထဲက တစ်ယောက်.. ဆန်းဝင်း။
ကာတွန်းအုပ်စုထဲကို လိုလို မလိုလို ဝင်ဝင်ရှုပ်တတ်တာ
ကိုယ့်ရဲ့ ​အကျင့်ဖြစ်နေပြီလေ။
ဆန်းဝင်း ဆိုတဲ့ကောင်ဟာ အတော်တော်တာပဲ။

ကယ်ရီကေးချား ရေးတာ လွယ်မှတ်လို့…

caricature = လူတစ်ယောက်ရဲ့ဓာတ်ပုံ
ထဲက သိသာထိုးထွက်နေတဲ့ သွင်ပြင်လက္ခဏာရပ်တွေကို
အပြောင်အပြက်လုပ် ပြီး ချဲ့ကား ရေးဆွဲ ခြင်း၊
ဒါမှမဟုတ် ထိတ်လန့်စရာဖြစ်စေဖို့ ရေးဆွဲခြင်း လက်ရာ…။

ကောင်းကင်ပြာကိုပဲ ဝါစေချင်တာလား..
မိုးရေစက်အဝါတွေကို တမ်းတတာလား…
ကဗျာဆရာ တက္ကသိုလ် မိုးဝါ..

ကျွန်တော်တို့ RIT ကာတွန်းဆရာတွေထဲ..
ဝင်ပါနေတတ်တဲ့ဆရာဦးမိုးအောင်..
သက်ရှည်ကျန်းမာ စိတ်ချမ်းသာပါစေ ဆရာ…

Sun Win

by Ba Thein (Atlanta)

On the ex-RIT Website often I read about RUBC [Rangoon University Boat Club]. I was not a GOLD. But I had a Silver.

In 1972, Professor William Paw (Institute of Economics) and Saya U Tin Htut (M60) were the President and the General Secretary of RUBC. Saya Dr. U Tin Win (M62) was the head of our RIT Rowing Club. I was a member of the EC responsible for Publicity [Public Relations].

In 1971, there were only 2 female members (colors: Full Green and/or Half Green) in our club: Kyi Kyi Aye (Textile, from Loikaw, Kayar State) and Zar Nee Aung (Rangoon). On those days, we could not rely on the No. 8 (Landsdown – Insein) bus to go to RUBC. Fortunately, we had a kind permission from Rector Dr. Aung Gyi and Registrar U Thet Lwin to use the school’s B-2000 Mazda pickup truck. Due to the transportation, we successfully recruited about 20 female and 30 male new members to our RIT Rowing Club. The truck ferried the crew in afternoons (three times a week) to RUBC at Inya Lake from RIT campus and Tha Zin Hall at Thamaing dormitories. At the 1972 RUBC Regatta, our RIT Rowing Club competed in full battalion including two Women’s Eights and four Women’s Fours, for the first time in the club’s history.

The Rectors and diplomatic corps of foreign embassies and consulates also attended the regatta. It was an unprecedented event at RUBC. Thousands of students cheered the race.

The GOLD Crew: The captain was Ko Myo Lwin (M). Some of the Golds were Ko Nyi Nyi (timing-stroke, from Meikhtila), Ko Win Zaw (M), Ko Myint Swe (M), Ko Yey Paw (Tex), Ko San Shwe Aung (M, from Kyauk Phyu, Arakan State), Ko Win Myint (M from Pa Khoke Ku). I think there were 14 or 16 RUBC Golds in 1972. Some are now in the U.S. At the Grand Regatta, our RUBC Golds Men’s Eight beat the Defense Ministry’s crew by one length.

On the other hand, the RIT Men’s Eights in which I participated at the bow position lost to Institute of Economics’ Eights by more than a length in the 2000-meter race. It was a great humiliation for us. Our motto ‘Engineers Never Fail to Win’ which we shouted just before the race at Dubern Island near Inya Lake Hotel had gone with the wind. (To save the face) slicing-off our faces would have been the only available remedy for us then.
At the regatta, I did not win any tangible prize. I was mad. Really mad. I got mad at Sayas for not selecting me as a Gold. To be fair and square, let us review my second-to-none qualifications existed then. Let me hear your unbiased and unequivocal judgment.

My GRIEVANCE: My height and weight then were just 5′-6″ and 125 lbs, respectively. Moreover, my biceps, triceps, and thighs were merely bigger than bicycle spokes. They will be unacceptable by today’s Kentucky Fried Chicken’s standards. My muscles could barely cover my tiny bones. My chest and breast were lean and flat like a mat. How about my calves? My friends called them ‘Gandhi Calves’ in honor of Mahatma Gandhi (India’s Leader of Independence). Both of my RIT Sayas at RUBC overlooked me in the selection process of Golds. I felt I was treated unfairly.

My REMORSE: For my midget size: Should I blame my parents for not being or having mighty physical structures? No. Not at all. My parents were of average size of typical Burman. They fed and raised me very well. I did not take it. Nevertheless, while I was in my first year B. E., I should have bowed to the recruitment of Saya U Thein Aung (Met72) to join his RIT Body-Building club. I should have become a disciple of Saya U Thein Aung. If I had exactly followed his practices and styles (i.e., self-torturing practices), I would become a well-built macho in 1972, be selected as a GOLD for RUBC, and NOW I will be able to attend the SPZP and RIT Reunion at San Francisco 2000 wearing a “Gold Jacket”. How nice it will be? Everybody will welcome me. Anyway, NOW, I am desperately looking for a ‘Gold Jacket’ at the men’s wear-houses to attend the Once-In-A-Life-Time gathering at San Francisco.

My BRAG: Anyway, believe it or not, in 1974 National Regatta held at Inya Lake, I won the silver medal in Coxless Pairs 1000-meter race. My partner was Htin Kyaw (M) who is now in U.A.E. Our success to the final was NOT because of our muscles but due to our opponents’ sinusoidal or zigzag courses in the preceding races. (NOTE: Nobody played or attempted / agitated to play the national anthem at the ceremony while we were standing still on the pontoon with joy wearing the silver medals on our necks. Also, no TV or media coverage was there. It didn’t matter. I got something to brag.

Editor’s note:

RUBC was founded in 1923 by Sir Arthur Eggar, law professor. He had great admiration for the Burmese “laung” rowers.

The following are some stanzas from the “RUBC Rowing Song”.

Pull long and steady boys
Strange though it may seem
The hardest stroke won’t send the boat
The swiftest down the stream
If we wish to keep your boat afloat And brave life’s stormy weather
You must not pull your oars too deep
But always “PULL TOGETHER”.

Thanks to all the organizing committee members and volunteers who have pulled together six RIT Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe a resounding success.

After every big event, we shouted “Give her a TEN. ONE, TWO, …, TEN. Easy Oars.”

Several sayas and the organizers are GBNF. I’m happy to be in reasonably good shape to write posts.

I’ll try to write new posts and revise old posts as time and energy permit.

As all Old Crocs say, “ROW TILL YOU ARE DEAD”.

by Daw May Saw Lwin

Much water has passed under the bridge and there were the usual as well as the unusual ups and downs! We were in Pyay during the turbulent times of 1988, which was under Section 144 and therefore relatively quiet while the rest of our country was undergoing the trials and tribulations of the “four eights…. 8-8-88 ” ! We were very fortunate, our family, as well as the staff and students of Pyay College as we all managed to get by unscathed by the turn of events which had caused so much turmoil and heartbreak throughout much of our beloved country!

Our return could be termed triumphant. … our elder son Aung had done well in Pyay in the Matriculation Exam of 1988, the younger son, Nyi, would soon be attending high school in Yangon, having lost one year of study as had all the other students in Myanmar! And to top it all, personally, after many mishaps ( perhaps to be expanded on later), after what definitely was an extremely lengthy twenty seven years as an Assistant Lecturer, I was returning in high spirits as I had been promoted to be a Lecturer in Chemistry at the prestigious University of Yangon!

We were back in Yangon by the beginning of the month of May 1990 and we stayed for a short while at a place nearby the University. To work again at a place which I could call my second home was really special, but to get to live there, on Campus, was to propel me to seventh heaven! (As all Buddhists know, there are only six levels in the abode of the Nats in the thirty one planes of existence!) And that was what really happened! My better half and the head of our household (actually ‘ head of the family ‘ has a better ring to it) had applied for accommodation / quarters on Campus and Number 4, Short Road, just a few steps from the famed Judson Church, was assigned to be our home.

And so it was, we moved there on the 7th of July 1990, (mindful of the seventh of July, that unforgettable day in 1962), thirty years ago today, and we lived there happily, not ever after, as in the fairy tales, but for fifteen long fruitful years, each member of our family enjoying the shelter, shade and comfort that happy and (for us,) huge house gave us and in return contributing to society as best as we knew how .

by Maurice Chee (M75)

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.

by U Tin Htoon (A60)

My hearty congratulation to members of the Northern California RIT Alumni International, the Steering Committee, and the Working Committee, for successfully organizing the Grand Reunion and ‘Saya Pu Zaw Pwe’ in San Francisco on October 28, 2000. I was extremely happy to be part of a huge gathering of more than 300 people at the Embassy Suite Hotel, where former Rectors, Head of Departments, Professors, Lecturers, Assistant Lecturers, were there together with alumni members, associates, families and guests.

Although I graduated as an Architect (40) years ago, it seems only like yesterday to be back with them again. I thank the organizers and the participants for having this wonderful and memorable opportunity of a life time and I will never forget this historical event. It won’t be wrong for me to say that the vision and foresight of the pioneers, knowing the values and importance of organizational works, established ‘BASES’ and ‘BAPS’ in California, did the ground work for many years and thus also assisted in having this historical gathering. However, the turning point was the wise and timely suggestion made by Saya U Soe Paing and the decision taken the “Bay area Advisory Group” led by Saya Allen Htay, in taking advantage and making good use of the information technology. This resulted in getting connected internationally with RIT alumni around the world within a short period of time, and eventually culminated into this premier Myanmar Architects and Engineers reunion of the millennium. For this, I wish to congratulate Johnny Hla Min and Khin Maung Zaw for their “cetena”, dedication and concerted effort in starting with a seemingly causal e-mail service, that led to the birth of website. Without this, I really don’t know how all of us can get connected within such a short span of time, and be able to communicate and pass on crucial information like we have been doing. Thus, I sincerely wish to express my special thanks to both of you for the valuable services rendered in spite of the busy work schedule and personal sacrifices. I do hope that you all will continue to nurture this valuable tool for the benefit and convenience of our group in particular and that of the Myanmar community in general. My list won’t be complete without mentioning Benny Tan and Maurice Chee for their valuable services and contributions made. Lastly, a big thank you to all those who were actively involved in this great event and hope that you will understand for being unable to thank individually by name. Because of your sincere efforts and hard work, the good seeds that have been sown has started to bear some good fruits. As the seed is, so the fruit will be. As the action is, so the result will be.

When we all left our motherland looking for a greener pasture, you all will concur that we do share a common goal, i.e. to have a better way of life. Because of this event and through the e-mails and the website, I am glad to know that majority of us have (had) good jobs, good education for the children and a comfortable life, thus fulfilling our goals. Some of us have even retired. Some are preparing to retire. The good seeds sown decades ago have bear fruits which we all have been enjoying. Thus, it is obvious that we need to keep on sowing good seeds in order to continue enjoying the fruits of our labor. However, every one of us might not be fully aware of how this process works. Especially when we have a Myanmar saying “Pyinnar – shi – ta – di – phyit – khe’ ” (learned persons tend to lack awareness).

May all beings be happy.

Tin Htoon (A60) California, USA

Editor’s note:

U Tin Htoon’s pastime is reading Buddhist literature and help publish some of them via Triple Gems Publication, and practicing vipassana meditation in the tradition of Ledi Sayadaw, Saya Thet, Saya U Ba Khin and Saya Mr. Goenka.

Memories of SPZP-2012

by U Ohn Khine (M70)

The grand event SPZP 2012 was successfully held on the 30th December 2012, at the open space grass lawn between the two wings of the main building of RIT. This was the place where convocations were held up till 1970 batch graduation.

What a spectacular scene of joyous and smiling faces of Sayas and alumni mingling among friends and welcoming Sayas. RIT compound started to be filled with alumni from 7am. The cheerful noises of alumni reached the peak at about 8:30 am. One couldn’t talk to each other in normal tones and had to shout to have a conversation. Some got sore throat the next day. Wherever one looked one will find a sea of alumni either greeting, chatting, taking photos, or just walking along the corridors and around the compound. I am sure our alma mater hadn’t seen such a gathering of students during her lifetime. In my imagination, I can clearly see the joyous tears on her smiling face.

More than 3000 alumni and about 280 Sayas attended the ceremony. Sayagyis were ushered to the stage at 9 am. Some were on wheelchairs and some were helped by alumni to the stage.

The whole square in front of the stage was filled with alumni and there were still some lingering around the main building. The paying respect (Kadawt) and speech giving by Sayagyis lasted about one and a half hours. After that lunch was served to Sayas and alumni also. Entertainment by alumni restarted after the lunch break and continued up till 2 pm.

Reunion Dinner and Entertainment

A reunion dinner was held at Myanmar Convention Center open courtyard on 30th December 2012. Entertainment programs started at 6 pm and a buffet dinner was served at 6:30 pm. Sayas with their spouses, and alumni, some with their families attended. The head count was more than 2500. As there was a free flow of Myanmar Beer and Grand Royal whisky (sponsored) the scene was more boisterous than in the morning. The entertainment programs by alumni were also marvelous with varieties of performances such as the traditional “Ah Pyo Daw” dance, puppet show, famous “T Square Yein”, solo and duet singing and finally capped with “Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint” by Singapore alumni. Due to the cold weather and lateness, most guests went back already when the “Ah Nyeint” started.

—-

Editor’s Notes

Despite some glitches, the SPZP 2012 was a tremendous success. This was due to those who donated time, effort, cash and kind to ensure success.

I would like to record the relentless efforts of Ko Saw Linn (C71, GBNF) despite his health condition. He had undergone a kidney transplant and to quote him, he had almost no original parts in his body. He went to Singapore for medical treatment after he returned from the Trip to Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin with Sayagis after the SPZP 2012 ceremony.

Overseas Sayas who attended SPZP 2012

• Civil
  Dr, Aung Gyi , Dr. San Hla Aung, Dr. Aung Soe, U Myat Htoo, U Khin Maung Phone Ko, …
• Mechanical
  U Aung Khin, U Maung Maung Win, U Tin Htut, U Tu Myint, Dr. Nyo Win, U Kyaw Sein, U Lay Aung, …
• Chemical
  Dr. Tin Aung (KC Chiu), U Maung Maung (George), U Htun Aung Kyaw, …
• Electrical
  U Moe Aung, …

Memories of SPZP-2012

by U Ohn Khine (M70)

The grand event SPZP 2012 was successfully held on the 30th December 2012, at the open space grass lawn between the two wings of the main building of RIT. This was the place where convocations were held up till 1970 batch graduation.

What a spectacular scene of joyous and smiling faces of Sayas and alumni mingling among friends and welcoming Sayas. RIT compound started to be filled with alumni from 7am. The cheerful noises of alumni reached the peak at about 8:30 am. One couldn’t talk to each other in normal tones and had to shout to have a conversation. Some got sore throat the next day. Wherever one looked one will find a sea of alumni either greeting, chatting, taking photos, or just walking along the corridors and around the compound. I am sure our alma mater hadn’t seen such a gathering of students during her lifetime. In my imagination, I can clearly see the joyous tears on her smiling face.

More than 3000 alumni and about 280 Sayas attended the ceremony. Sayagyis were ushered to the stage at 9 am. Some were on wheelchairs and some were helped by alumni to the stage.

The whole square in front of the stage was filled with alumni and there were still some lingering around the main building. The paying respect (Kadawt) and speech giving by Sayagyis lasted about one and a half hours. After that lunch was served to Sayas and alumni also. Entertainment by alumni restarted after the lunch break and continued up till 2 pm.

Reunion Dinner and Entertainment

A reunion dinner was held at Myanmar Convention Center open courtyard on 30th December 2012. Entertainment programs started at 6 pm and a buffet dinner was served at 6:30 pm. Sayas with their spouses, and alumni, some with their families attended. The head count was more than 2500. As there was a free flow of Myanmar Beer and Grand Royal whisky (sponsored) the scene was more boisterous than in the morning. The entertainment programs by alumni were also marvelous with varieties of performances such as the traditional “Ah Pyo Daw” dance, puppet show, famous “T Square Yein”, solo and duet singing and finally capped with “Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint” by Singapore alumni. Due to the cold weather and lateness, most guests went back already when the “Ah Nyeint” started.

—-

Editor’s Notes

Despite some glitches, the SPZP 2012 was a tremendous success. This was due to those who donated time, effort, cash and kind to ensure success.

I would like to record the relentless efforts of Ko Saw Linn (C71, GBNF) despite his health condition. He had undergone a kidney transplant and to quote him, he had almost no original parts in his body. He went to Singapore for medical treatment after he returned from the Trip to Nay Pyi Taw, Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin with Sayagis after the SPZP 2012 ceremony.

Overseas Sayas who attended SPZP 2012

• Civil
  Dr, Aung Gyi , Dr. San Hla Aung, Dr. Aung Soe, U Myat Htoo, U Khin Maung Phone Ko, …
• Mechanical
  U Aung Khin, U Maung Maung Win, U Tin Htut, U Tu Myint, Dr. Nyo Win, U Kyaw Sein, U Lay Aung, …
• Chemical
  Dr. Tin Aung (KC Chiu), U Maung Maung (George), U Htun Aung Kyaw, …
• Electrical
  U Moe Aung, …

By Mr. Aw Taik Moh (C54)

I graduated from the University of Rangoon with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering in March 1954. The few years I spent at the University of Rangoon, particularly at Engineering, were one of the happiest and most rewarding times of my life.

The BOC College of Engineering was actually the School of Engineering in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. It was funded by BOC (British Oil Company). It was then understandably heavily mechanically and electrically oriented. In my first two years, about half of the faculty members were Britons and the Dean of the Engineering Faculty was Professor Davies. We had very excellent lecturers who were of diverse ethnic background – Indians, Chinese and Burmese – but they and us the students were all Burmese citizens. I spent four years at Civil Engineering (CE). We the civil engineering students were required to take some basic mechanical and electrical courses and workshops also, while the mechanical and electrical students were not required to take any civil engineering courses. Since these courses were mandated or compulsory for civil engineering students, I could not avoid them. I did pass those subjects but not very proud of it because they were not my major interests.

Professor Davies and all the Britons left Rangoon around 1950. U Ba Hli took over the engineering faculty as Dean. To his credit, U Ba Hli ran the school very professionally. He recommended and managed to get many of his students and graduates to go abroad for graduate studies. These student-graduates of his came back to Myanmar with master’s degrees and doctorates from England and USA to teach under his deanship. U Ba Hli also initiated an education exchange program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) during the period beginning, I think, in 1951 and ending in 1954. The program brought 3 to 4 civil, mechanical and electrical professors from MIT to Rangoon University. The R.U. Engineering Faculty made a very impressive and quick progress in its worldwide reputation and was duly recognized and accredited internationally. I am proud to say that we Burmese students, including myself, did exceedingly well at the foreign universities in England and the U.S. This shows that, given the opportunity and the tools, we the Burmese students were as good, if not better than, as any other in the world. I went to MIT for graduate studies, came back to Myanmar with a Master’s degree in 1957 and served the Myanmar government in the National Housing and Town and Country Development Board for a number of years. Many of my fellow students from R.U. Engineering went to and graduated from MIT, Harvard, Cornell, Michigan, UCLA, Columbia and other big-name American universities.

In my first year at RU Engineering I stayed at Prome Hall for a semester. The Prome Hall Football (soccer) Team was the best, the champion team of all the university teams all the time, winning the university championship trophy for years in a row. You know, we the engineering students were very close; we were like a family. We never thought of ourselves as Burmese, Indians or Chinese. We loved each other, helped each other, and took care of each other like brothers (there were no female students in engineering during my time). In fact, all engineering students were very united as one family. Our classes at that time had only 12 to 14 students each. Even the professors treated us like they were our older brothers, but of course we addressed them as Sayas with deep respect. As far as I can recall, no one from my class or any other class failed in any subjects or to graduate from RU. I learned a lot from RU Engineering and enjoyed every courses, including the Surveying Class in a summer. I must confess that although we appreciated the Geology course at the Geology Department, which was located like miles away from the Engineering school, this was the least liked by my entire class of students and we all scored a “C” or “C-” at best. The geology professor didn’t like us either because we were usually late arriving for his class lectures. But we couldn’t help being late, considering the distance we had to walk or bike from Engineering to the Geology Department. I hope for the present engineering students, some arrangement could be made for a geology professor to walk or bike from his department to Engineering, instead of having so many students getting late to his class. Although I wouldn’t consider myself as a top-notch or extremely bright student, somehow even with a “C” for geology, to my and my fellow students’ great astonishment I was placed second in my final year exams.

I fondly remember the little Indian restaurant by Prome Hall where I and my many friends used to have lunch, paratas and keema paratas. I also enjoyed boating at the Inya Lake when we occasionally skipped classes.