by Zaw Min and Ohn Khine

Updated : 10th October 2026

Edited by Hla Min

Introduction

Zaw Min (EP70)

• Matriculated from St. Albert’s High School, Maymyo in 1964.
• Had a high ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate) and was admitted to the first ever 1st BE as Roll Number One.
• Selected RIT Luyechun for the 1965 Summer Camp at Inlay. His outspoken remarks about the Camp drew the ire of higher authorities.
• Graduated with Electrical Power (EP) in 1970.
• After working in the industry, he moved to the USA.
• Studied Electronics in the USA
• Added “Nawaday” to his name.
• Several years ago, he shared his memories of RIT to the Google group of “the Combined Intake of 1st BE for 1964 and 1965”.

Ohn Khine (M70)

• He matriculated from St. Peter’s High School, Mandalay in 1964.
• Took a combination of Science and Arts subjects and had good ILA score to be admitted to RIT.
• Graduated with Mechanical Engineering in 1970
• Worked for Heavy Industries Corporation (HIC),
• Created and maintained the the Google group of “the Combined Intake of 1st BE for 1964 and 1965”.
• Volunteered for SPZP-2012 and SPZP-2016, HMEE-2012 and HMEE-2018, Swel Daw Yeik Foundation and several RIT-related activities.
• Gave me rides during my visits to Yangon.
• Filled the missing pieces in Ko Zaw Min’s accounts.

Hla Min (EC69)

• He matriculated from St. Paul’s High School in 1963. Stood 7th in Burma and received Collegiate Scholarship.
• Finished Top in the Science Option of I.Sc.(A) examination
• Admitted to the first ever 2nd BE in November 1964 as Roll Number One.
• Selected Luyechun for the Inlay Khaung Daing Camp in the Summer of 1965
• Graduated with Electrical Communications in 1969.
• Started the “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” in 1989 and have maintained it for 26 years.
• Administrator or Moderator of selected Facebook pages.
• Maintain web sites :
  hlamin.com &
  myanmar2021.wordpress.com
• Had the honor to edit the draft versions “Memories by Ko Zaw Min Nawaday (EP70) and Ko Ohn Khine (M70)”, which was first posted as Google Docs for the Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65.
• Published the edited document as a series of articles in “RIT Alumni Newsletter and Updates”.

Three Intakes in 1964

The new education system started in 1964. Eligible students were admitted to the 1st BE, 2nd BE and 3rd BE classes. They are also known as

• Class of ’70 (1st BE Intake in 1964) : Matriculates were admitted using the ILA
• Class of ’69 (2nd BE Intake in 1964) : Those who had passed I.Sc.(A) with Science Option were admitted in order of merit
• Class of ’68 (3rd BE Intake in 1964) : Those who had passed I.Sc.(B) with Science Option were admitted in order of merit

The RIT Rector was U Yone Mo and the Registrar was U Soe Thein.

Class of ’70

It comprised of the first year intake students in 1964. There were 494 registered students, of which 67 were female. Most graduated in 1970. Some took sabbatical and graduated later. A few left RIT before graduation. The GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten) list is maintained by Ko Ohn Khine & team.

The matriculates entered the first ever 1st BE classes. The ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate) was used for the vetting of applicants. In the system, a score of 1 to 20 was assigned to map the marks for each subject. The ILA score (rather than the raw marks) was used to determine the eligibility of the students admitted to an institute.

Under the old education system, the matriculates had to attend I.Sc. (A) classes. There were restrictions on the subjects taken at Inter classes to be eligible for Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, etc. For example, one must pass the I.Sc. with at least 50 marks in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry to attend the 1st Year Engineering Classes (3rd BE in the new system).

Under the new education system, there were no restrictions on the subjects taken in Matriculation exam. As such, many students who passed Matriculation with combined Science and Arts subjects and even those with pure Arts subjects were able to attend RIT. For example, Ko Ohn Khine passed the Matriculation exam with the combination of Maths, Chemistry and Geography.

Class of ‘69

Most members matriculated in 1963. They attended I.Sc(A) with the Science Option : Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

Eligible students were admitted to 2nd BE in November 1964.

Most graduated in 1969. Some took Sabbatical and graduated later. A few left RIT before graduation. The GBNF list is maintained by Ko Aung Min (M69) & team.

Class of ‘68

Most matriculated in 1962. They attended I.Sc(A) and I.Sc(B) with the Science Option : Maths, Physics and Chemistry.

Eligible students were admitted to 3rd BE in November 1964.

Most graduated in 1968. Some took Sabbatical and graduated later. A few left RIT before graduation. There is no official maintainer for the GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten) list.

by Tint Lwin (Danny)

Update : 10th October 2026

The 1969 RIT Graduates Reunion was held in Rangoon/Yangon,

Burma/Myanmar on Saturday, 20 February 1999 at Sait-Teng-Kya Restaurant near Kandawgyi lake.

The idea was mooted three years ago when a few of us were having dinner together and thought of having a gathering in 1999. After that most of us have forgotten about the idea until around the end of November 1998 when a group of our friends led by Ko Yee Pinn (Tavoy), Ko Myint Maung (aka “Bu”, RIT Volleyball selected), Ko Shwe, Ko Win Lwin, etc. decided to have a grand re-union in February 1999. They also decided that to be more meaningful we should invite our Sayas to pay them respect as well and, hence, it became the reunion cum Saya-ga-daw-pwe.

On that very day the guest trickled in starting from about 4.00 p.m at the restaurant. The guests were required to fill in their names and contact numbers. The organizers promised to compile the name list and send to everybody who attended. By 6.00 p.m. about 30 Sayas and about 120 of our graduates were in the restaurant. The master-of-ceremony, Ko Win Lwin, announced the start of the ceremony.

The programme started off with a few speeches, led by Nyi Hla Nge, representing the graduates in Rangoon, followed by Danny, representing the graduates overseas, Sai Aung Win, representing graduates outside Rangoon and last but not the least, by Saya U Kyin Soe, representing all the Sayas.

After that we gave respect to the Sayas. All the Sayas were seated on the stage and all of us sat on the floor. Some gifts were distributed to the Sayas followed by photo taking session and then the sumptuous dinner began. About 9 to 10 dishes were served but, most of us were too excited to notice what we were eating. Halfway through the dinner some of us went up the stage and sang some songs for entertainment. Even all the ladies, led by Alice and Naw Mu Mu Aye were on the stage as well. The crowd went wild.

The party ended at about 9.30 p.m. with some of the graduates not so sober. It was indeed a memorable gathering and we all vowed to meet again in December 2000 at place and date to be announced early next year. Three cheers to the organizers and those who have one way or the other help in making this event a great success.

by Hla Min

Updated : 6th October 2026

• Some are unfortunate to lose one or both parents in their youth.
• Some are fortunate to have one or both parents in their 90’s and beyond.
• A few had a parent over 100.

Mother of Ivan Lee (M69)

Ivan is a Golden Sponsor for SPZP-2000 & SPZP-2007. He is an early supporter of the first RIT web site. He is a major donor for the 69er Health Care Fund.

He lost his father when he was young. His mother raised the children and also managed to stay healthy beyond the Century mark.

Ivan e-mailed us when his mother turned 100. It had the birthday card sent to his mother from the 43rd US President George W. Bush.

Ivan e-mailed again when his mother turned 101. It had the birthday card sent to his mother from the 44th US President Barack Obama.

We heard sad news from Ivan the following year. His mother passed away at the age of 102. She was alert until the final days. She played two hours of Mah Jong daily.

Let Oo Saya လက်ဦးဆရာ

I am fortunate to have parents who lived beyond 80, but not fortunate enough to have them around to see and appreciate my posts.

My beloved mother

She lost her mom a few days after her birth. She made up for her loss by giving her metta (unbounded love) and cetana to the children and grandchildren. She kept a list of all the birthdays and anniversaries, and would be usually the first to wish. Even though she had maids, she would get up early & prepare breakfast for us. She also supervised the homework of her children, nephews and nieces.

I paid homage to her in my Newsletter & Updates for SPZP-2000.

My beloved father

He was a youth when he was given only three months more to live by the then best doctors in Rangoon. He had a Near Death Experience. His younger brothers cried thinking that he had died.

My dad told his brothers : “I was walking happily along a bund when a holy man stopped me and said, “Young man, you have to do sasana work. Do not go beyond this point.” Sensing that I was reluctant to end my walk, the man pushed me.”

Luckily, an indigenous medicine man named “Ga Doke Saya Gyi” treated my dad and even parted some of his medical knowledge.

He built pagodas starting with Dat Paung Zon Aung Min Gaung Pagoda (ဓာတ်ပေါင်းစုံအောင်မင်းခေါင်စေတီ). His photo hangs in the Hall along with his grandparents who who bought the land where the pagoda was built.

He also helped renovate pagodas.

I paid homage to him in my Newsletter & Updates for SPZP-2000.

My parents

During my school days, they gave me 25 pyas as pocket money. They wanted to make sure that I study hard. They would give bonus prizes only when I excelled in the exams.

They provided us :

• Remington English typewriter
• Olympia Burmese typewriter

• Dictionaries
• Myanmar Swel Sone Kyan (Encyclopedia)
• Reader’s Digest Magazine & Books
• Student’s Companion
• A book for Idioms
• Grammar : Wren and Martin
• King’s English : Fowler & Fowler
• How and Why
• Fun with Mathematics
• Classics Illustrated
• Junior Classics Illustrated
• Bedin : Saya Maukဆရာမောက်
• Palmistry : Cheiro
• History : Second World War
• Sports equipment
• Bicycle
• Scooter
• Car

My Myees

My beloved parents would have smiled to hear my grand daughter say, “Who’s your doctor? What happened?” after I returned from a clinic. She added, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I love you.”

She must have inherited the loving kindness of her great grand parents.

She won the Super Reader and Scholastic Achievement Awards. She loves Swimming, Soccer, Basketball, Singing, Playing music, Dancing and Painting.

My grand son is athletic. He plays competitive Soccer. He loves Cycling, Kung Fu, Basketball, Swimming, Piano and Video Games. He is sociable.

Poem and Song

I would like to share a poem and a variant of a song that I learnt in my youth.

Father (Poem)

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

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

The version that we learned at school use archaic words like Thee, Thou, Thy and Locks. I have replaced them by the current usage : You, You, Your and Hair.

Mother (Song)

M is for the mercy she possesses
O means only that she’s growing old
T is for her tender sweet caresses
H is for her heart of purest gold
E means every thing she’s done to save me
R means right and right she’ll always be

Put them all together
They spell MOTHER
A word that means a world to me.

M is for the million things she gave me
O means that I owe her all I owe
T is for the tears she shed to raise me
H is for the hands that touch and hold
E means every thing she taught me
R means rare and special she’ll always be

Put them all together
They spell MOTHER
A word that means a world to me.

In some countries, there is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

For us, everyday is Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Parent’s Day.

Dear beloved parents, I’m sure you will be in the good abodes. I want to thank you for your unbounded love and for your belief “Every thing that’s worth doing is worth doing well”.

A1 Centurion

• ဒေါ်ခင်လှဲ့ — lived to 106
• Spouse : U Hla Bu သခင်လှဘူး
• Children : မအောင်စီ၊ A1 သန်းထွဋ်၊ A1 သိန်းထွဋ်၊ အောင်မြင့် / သမန်းကျားကိုမြင့်၊ ဝဏ္ဏ

Related Posts

• Father’s Day
• Mother’s Day

by Zaw Min & Ohn Khine

Edited by Hla Min

Updated : 5th October 2026

Third BE (1966 – 67)

Outlook Change

During our first and second years, we were wild eyed students, partially overwhelmed by the imposing buildings and the college level classes.

Our outlook changed when we started our third year. We felt we were experienced students who knew their way around. During the first month of the school year, we would sometimes cut classes to go to RASU. Ko Win Htut (C), Ko Kyaw Phone Myint (M), Ko Nyunt Mg San (C), Ko Myo Khin (C, one year senior), Ko Tin Aye (M) were in that group. In addition, our 64 intake group of Ko Kyaw Phone Myint (M), Ko Nyunt Mg San (C), Ko Phone Thwin (Mn), Ko Win Htut (C), teamed up with Ko Myo Khin (C), Ko Tin Nwe (C, GBNF), Ko Min Thaw (E, GBNF), Ko Win Htein (A, GBNF), Ko Chit Po Po (M, GBNF), Ko Htin Aung (C), from the one year senior group and we could be seen sitting in the pathway leading to U Tin Maung’s shop, talking and laughing loudly.

In addition, with my room mate that year in C block, Sai Aung San (Met), I even traveled to MC2 a couple of times during school hours. I gave that up since the distance to travel was very long and was not worth it to satisfy a fleeting interest. I also remember going to Prome hall with Sai Aung San to eat the Sa Dhu Dee Thar given there for Tazaungdaing. That was the only night male students could get inside the Hostel compound after 6pm. The compound held three women’s hostels, Tagaung, Prome and another hostel that I have forgotten the name of. Needless to say, we avoided the Tagaung Hall, where our sisters were staying.

Sai Aung San and I were both goalkeepers. He was RIT B selected during out first year. We took turns in minding goal in Inter Block games. By a strange coincidence, his sister and mine were room mates at Tagaung Hall that year.

One thing different about playing football in our third year was that I no longer trained hard to better myself. I was content to use my angle cutting skills to keep the score down. In one Inter Block game, I was tending goal for C Block. A player from the opposing team, a final year student, ran up to me after I had caught the ball and threw himself to the ground. I thought it was strange he would do that. After the game, Ko Naing Win (M, GBNF), who was watching the game, remarked to me that I had “hacked” the other man down viciously. Since he was watching from a distance, he had no way of knowing what really happened. I told Ko Naing Win I did not even touch the other guy and that he threw himself down. Only much later did I learn that the person who threw himself to the ground did it to show someone who was watching from G Hall what a bad person I was, hitting him viciously. I was quite dismayed some people would go to such lengths to discredit me.

In addition to the Inter Block competition, Inter Department competition was held. I tended goal for the Electrical Dept.. We played against Civil Dept. in the finals and lost 0-1. I still remember the goal I let in (my fault again). Ko Kyaw Htin (C67, Burma Youth and Universities selected), kicked in a free kick from about 18 yards. I didn’t even need to jump to get the ball. As I was catching the ball, Ko Myo Nyunt (C69, RIT selected), rushing in, yelled out to frighten me. Distracted for a split second, I dropped the ball and he tapped it into the net. After that debacle, I knew I did not possess the mental toughness, confidence and concentration needed to be a good goalkeeper. A couple of years later, when the Universities team was visiting Maymyo, Ko Soe Myint Lwin (EP 68) told me he will ask the Universities coach, Saya U Nyein, to let me be the goalkeeper for the game against the Maymyo Selected if I wanted to play. I told him I did not want to play. He asked me if I was afraid, and I remember telling him that I was. I just did not trust myself to play flawlessly after the game against the Civil Dept.

Track and Field

The only other RIT sponsored activity I took part in our third year was to participate as an EC on the Track & Field Association. Saya Mr Num Kok (C) was the president and Ko Henry Khin Mg Lay (T68, nickname “Kywe Gyi”) was the secretary. The good thing about being in that T&F association was that Ko Henry liked to have meetings, which were held at Mr Num Kok’s residence and Mrs Num Kok would serve great cookies, which we greatly enjoyed eating. Being an EC member, I got to sit in the RIT tent at the annual Inter Institute Track & Field meet.

Sai Thein Maung (C) got golds in 100 meters and Hop Step and Jump. Helen Pershad (Ch 72, younger sister of Ma Tin Tin Nwe (Ch)), got the first ever women’s gold medal for RIT in the ladies high jump competition. Watching the women’s high jump, we could not help noticing a beautiful student from the Institute of Education among the participants. She was Marjorie Duncan, later to become Mrs U Win Mra. Ko Oo Myint (Mn) and Ko Aung Gyi Shwe (Ep, one year senior), got silver medals in Javelin and 200m respectively.

Time outside RIT

Third year also meant spending more time outside RIT. I remember going to Hnin Si Gone Bo Bwar Yeiktha နှင်းဆီကုန်းဘိုးဘွားရိပ်သာ fun fair with Ko Myo Khin (C, senior to us in 1964), and Ko Nyunt Mg San (C), stopping by at the stall ran by Ma Than Than Yi (T71). I believe Ma Than Than Yi’s parents (“Han Tha Aye ဟံသာအေး Nylon”) were the principal sponsors of that event.

Sometimes, I would go to Ko Nyunt Mg San’s house in Inya Myaing on weekends and his mother would prepare lunch for us. Ko Nyunt Mg San’s mother, Daw Daw Nyunt, was a classmate of my mother at the Mandalay ABM school back in their high school days (late 1920s). Knowing I loved Hta Ma Nae, Ko Nyunt Mg San would bring it to RIT for me to eat whenever Hta Ma Nae ထမနှဲ was made in his home. Ko Nyunt Mg San accompanied me to Maymyo on one of the holiday school closures but I do not remember which year that happened.

Summer Training

We all started summer training after the half yearly exams in March. It was decision time for me. Since summer training was a requirement for graduating from RIT, I had to submit my resignation from UTC. It was the first of many decisions I had to make regarding what I would have loved to do, and what I really had to do for practical reasons.

I believe Ko Han Tha Myint was with us when we opted to go to the Post and Telecom for our training. We were first sent to the P & T storage facility at Botahtaung, next to the main exchange at Pansodan and then to the long distance interface exchange in Maung Taw Lay Lan. Lastly, we had to go to the wireless relay station in Toe Gyaun Gale. The bad thing about going there was once we got there, the train back to the central Yangon station did not come until about 3.30pm

Kauk Yoe Mee

I also had another of my Kauk Yoe Mee ကောက်ရိုးမိုး projects in our third year. I took lessons in playing the Myanmar Guitar. I was so impressed by the way Ko “Guitar” Than Myint (M) played the Myanmar Guitar that I signed up for lessons taught by Guitar Ko Mya Gyi in Myenigone. After 5 months, Ko Mya Gyi’s assessment of me was “rough player”. I had tried to do something I did not have the aptitude for. I didn’t even know how to distinguish a note so that I did not know whether my guitar needed tuning or not.

Football Competition at Aung San Stadium

All of us had something to cheer for when we went to Aung San Stadium in May 1967 for the finals of the Opening Cup competition. The finalists were Universities and P&T. Universities team won 1-0, the winning goal being scored by John Tint (M72, Universities and Burma Youth Selected). John Tint entered RIT as a Mechanical engineering student in October 1966.

After the Final Exams

After the final exams, I took a trip to Rakkhine with Ko Sein Win (EC) and Ko Han Thar Myint (EC).

After coming back from the Rakkhine trip, Ko Kyaw Phone Myint (M), Ko Nyunt Mg San (C) and Ko Han Kyu Pe (A, GBNF), came with me to visit Maymyo. Arriving in Mandalay, I found that my father’s Say Gan ဆေးခန်း was locked, and we decided to go and spend the night at Ko Ye Myint’s (EP, 65 intake) home at the Mandalay University compound. Ko Ye Myint (EP) is Sayagyi U Ba Toke’s son. His mother, Sayagadaw Aunty Khin, was very kind and welcomed us warmly. The next day, we picked up my brother’s car (which was stored at my father’s place), and with Ko Win Htut (C) we went to the Sagaing hills.

A funny incident happened while we were exploring Oo Min Chauk Sae in the Sagaing hills. Ko Win Htut yelled out in fright while we were going into the pitch dark man made caves, thinking he met a “Tha Ye သရဲ”. Turned out to be Ko Kyaw Phone Myint who had entered from another entrance. Ko Win Htut treated us to lunch at his parent’s house, which was just around the corner from my father’s Say Gan. Ko Win Htut drove us to Maymyo in my brother’s car since I did not have a driver’s license at that time. Ko Win Htut stayed at his parent’s Maymyo house, which was about 10 minutes walk from my house. The rest of my friends stayed with me at my house. I had been taught how to drive by our driver in my high school days, using the army jeep while my father wasn’t looking. Apart from that, I had no experience in driving. Ko Kyaw Phone Myint showed me some fine points about driving during his stay in Maymyo.

We spent time going around Maymyo. I remember going to Anisakan အနီးစခန်း Falls, about 7 miles outside the city limits, where you had to go down a gorge for about 800 feet to reach the mid section of the waterfalls. Anisakan was not just one waterfall. It was a series of waterfalls, some low, some high. By going down 800 feet, following a mountain footpath, we had arrived at the middle of the series of waterfalls. We tried to follow the waterfalls upwards by wading through the rushing waters and climbing up the falls against the current. We gave no thought to the fact that had we lost our footing, we could be swept down the waterfalls. Luckily, we reached a fall that was too steep to climb and we had to turn back. The things we did in those days, I would not do now even if I get the chance to do again.

Fourth BE (1967 – 68)

We felt we were veteran students when we entered the fourth year classes. After all, if we had been at RASU, that would have been the final year.

We had Sayagyi U Ba Than for “Strength of Materials”. Back in our third year, we had all been “stressed” and “strained” by this subject. After listening to Sayagyi U Ba Than’s first lecture, we knew we had nothing to be afraid of. Sayagyi U Ba Than had a unique way of teaching. He would go through the text book, word by word, and explained everything slowly and calmly in very clear terms. If I have to vote for the best lecturer at RIT during our days, Sayagyi U Ba Than has my vote. I have no doubt all the Sayas and Sayamas taught with Cetana in their hearts. Perhaps it was due to our inattentiveness or lack of some fundamental understanding that prevented us from fully understanding what was being taught. With Sayagyi U Ba Than, for some reason, everything he taught registered in our minds.

Saya U Maung Maungg Win (M) and Saya U Soe Paing (E) were two other Sayas that were also excellent teachers (in my opinion). Of course there may have been other Sayas in other disciplines that were excellent teachers but I have no way of knowing.

Years later, after I got married, I was told about the kind “Uncle Gwan” that lived next door to my wife’s house in Windermere. My wife told me her parents bought that house from “Uncle Gwan”. Imagine my surprise when I found out that “Uncle Gwan” was Sayagyi U Ba Than. Many years later, in the USA, I met and became very good friends with Sayagyi U Ba Than’s younger brothers, U Tin Htoon (A60) and U Myo Min (B.Com, Chartered Accountant, former Manager at UCC). U Myo Min is married to Sayama Daw Khin Khin Chit Mg (English), who turned out to be my wife’s classmate since Kindergarten at St John’s Convent. U Tin Htoon (A60) mentioned to me he had designed the house that my In-Laws bought from Sayagyi U Ba Than.

Tazaungdaing

I was the Ah Saung Athwin Ye Hmu အဆောင်အတွင်းရေးမှူး for C and D blocks for that year. A decision was made to have a “Sa Dhu Dee Tha စတုဒီသာ” for Tazaungdaing. We wanted to have it done near the RASU campus in Kamayut (in order to attract students from other Institutes), but the final decision came down with the Shwe Dagon Phaya Yin Pyin Daw as the venue. Ko Tha Htay (M), Ko Aung Min (Ch) and I took care of asking for donations from the hostel students.

Ko Kyaw Win Maung (Ch) worked hard to ensure things get done in the Paun Mont Ohn Noe San ပေါင်မုန့်အုန်ူနို့စမ်း preparation. I don’t know the details so I hope Ko Kyaw Win Maung (Ch) will write about them. Ma Tin Tin Hla (A) took charge of buying the coconuts, with Ko Mg Mg Swe (M) showing the way (using the RIT truck) to the market that sells coconuts wholesale. After the Sa Dhu Dee Tha, we spent the night on the Phaya Yin Pyin and waited for the Ma Tho Thin Gan မသိုးသင်္ဃန်း to be presented to the Sangha သံဃာ

Need Anger Management?

The next day, I did something that I regret doing to this day. I got physical with a student from the 2nd yr class. He was putting up a cartoon critical about the behavior of some student volunteers that worked at the previous night’s event. I did something I should never have done, hitting that student with my fists. I was totally wrong to do this sort of thing. If I have the chance to redo things in my life again, this is one thing I would have liked to correct. But, unfortunately, what’s done is done and the past can never be undone. The Registrar, Saya U Hla, was very understanding, and called a meeting of both parties in his meeting room. Our 64 intake students sat down with the 66 intake students, with Saya U Hla and Sayagyi Dr Aung Gyi (C) mediating and resolving the issue. Sayagyi Dr Aung Gyi told me to count to 100 the next time I got angry so that my anger would die down. Unfortunately, that would not have worked with me. I had waited over 2 hours to get my hands on the person responsible for the cartoons. My problem being that once I set my mind to do something, I would do it regardless of the consequences, and even if I had to wait a long time to do so.

This incident came back to haunt me 3 years later when I was about to get married. My wife’s father, a retired Dy. I. G. of Police, asked for a police report on me from his former colleagues in the police force. This incident was mentioned in that report. My wife’s mother, after reading the police report, asked her daughter to call off the wedding. Fortunately (or unfortunately), my wife had the habit of doing the exact opposite of what her mother wished, and went through with her wedding plans.

MAKE RIT BEAUTIFUL

I had another of my Kauk Yoe Mee projects that year. Using my position as Ah Saung Ahtwin Ye Hmu for C and D blocks, I initiated a “make RIT beautiful” drive. With Ko Phone Thwin (Mn), Ko Aung Min (Ch) and others, we started by cleaning up the grass near the pedestrian entrance to RIT from the BPI bus stop. Saya U Myo Win (Agri) came with his tractor and cut down the heavy foliage all the way to the sheds, L1 to L4. Sayagyi U Yone Moe came out to talk to us and mentioned he did not like the way the cactuses that were already growing in the big lawn in front of the Hostels had been planted, since they were not planted uniformly.

Here, I made a mistake. Ko Aung Min (Ch) advised that we should think about planting more cactuses rather than remove the ones that seemed to be planted oddly out of place. I did not take his good advice and tried to remove a cactus tree. I found out the hard way why these plants grow even in desert conditions. It was next to impossible to remove them. So, instead of making RIT beautiful, I created an eye sore by mutilating one of the cactuses.

Pardon My Memory

I do not remember whether the following took place during our fourth year or fifth year. The Inter Institute football tournament was held to include Institutes, Universities and Colleges from the whole country. RIT faced RASU in the semi finals. This competition was held during the summer recess so that not many students were aware of the games.The semi final game was held in Aung San stadium. RIT was the better team, with Ko Khin Mg Shwe on the front left wing, Ko Win Zaw (A), right blender, Sai Thein Maung (C) the goalkeeper and Ko Myint Sein (M), outer right back. Ko Win Zaw thrilled the crowd with his runs down the center of the field. He looked exciting as he ran with the ball, dribbling past opposing players. At times, it seemed no one could stop him. I have no doubt Ko Win Zaw would have been a great Universities selected player had he gone and practiced at the Universities football field under the Universities coach Saya U Nyein. I believe Ko Win Zaw only wanted to play for RIT and did not go. The score was tied 2-2 at full time and the outcome was decided by tossing the coin. Unfortunately, RIT lost the toss and RASU advanced to the finals. In addition, Ko Khin Mg Shwe got a broken rib when a RASU player jumped up and “Knee-ed” him during the match. Going back to RIT, Sayagyi U Maung Maung Than kindly allowed us to ride with the football team on the Hino bus (Sin Phyu Daw Hmee, Kyan Sote).

Electrical Association

Ko La Min (EP) was the secretary of the Electrical association that year. I was an EC member. One day, Ko La Min told me he had been asked by Saya U Moe Aung to publish the Electrical magazine. He asked me to speak out against doing the publication. At the meeting, I argued against publishing the magazine. Saya U Sein Win and Saya U Moe Aung spoke for publishing the magazine. A vote was called for. Only I and Ko Ye Myint (EP, 65 intake) were against it. We lost the vote.

A couple of months later, I asked Ko La Min when the magazine will come out. He said “Never” and told me what he did. He insisted on having his room number as the place where articles can be submitted on the announcement, in addition to Saya U Moe Aung’s room. He put away all, but two of the articles, under his bed. When Saya U Moe Aung asked him for the submitted articles, he showed Saya U Moe Aung only the two he did not throw away under his bed. You cannot publish a magazine with two articles only so that was the end of the Electrical magazine.

Summer Training

For summer training in our fourth year at RIT, I went to the small appliance manufacture and repair departments of the small scale industries. Ko La Min (EP) was with me. At the assembly plant of “Sein” radio in Pazundaung, we were asked to solder the circuit boards for the radios.

For the second part of the training program, we were assigned to the small appliance repair shop located on either Merchant St or Anawratha St, near 38th street. Here, we were shown how to test the electric irons that were sent there for repairs. After a week, the supervisor there told us that although he appreciated our work, he wished we would never get posted to his department after we graduate, since we “worked too hard”.

Research Congress

Summer time also meant attending the “Research Congress” held in the RASU campus. Not that we were interested in any engineering research. Our main interest were the papers presented by well known writers of that era, like Thetkatho Phone Naing.

Don’t even think for a minute that we had any literary interests. Our attention was on the large number of the fairer sex that were listening at those meetings.

Sayas’ Football Team

We also had a football match between the Ah Zaung Thar Yar Ye Athin and the Saya’s team. I did not tend the goal for this match and played in midfield instead. I did something I was not proud of in this game. Sayagyi Dr Aung Gyi and I were running for the ball. Sayagyi was surprisingly swift and beat me to the ball. My animal instincts took over and I pushed Sayagyi to the ground and took the ball away. Sorry, Sayagyi. I know I shouldn’t have done that. I acted really bad that time.

The winning goal was scored by Ko Aung Min (Ch) from a ball I pushed forward. To the onlooker from a distance, it might seem that I passed forward for Ko Aung Min to score. In actual fact, I was taking a shot at goal, the ball fell short and got stuck in the mud. Ko Aung Min was nearby to take advantage of the situation and kicked in the winning goal.

Mathematics Association

Another activity I was involved was as secretary of the Maths Association. The only thing we did was to have a Hoa Pyor Pwe. I don’t remember who the guest speaker was. The only thing I remember is that I had to go and get the Zee Pyaw Ye concentrate and ice for the attendees.

Russian Language Class

During summer training, either in our fourth year or fifth year, Ko Myo Khin (C, one year senior in 64), and I took lessons in Russian language at the Leik Khone in the evenings. Mrs Marinsky was the instructor. Except for a few words of Russian, I don’t remember much except for the song “Sol Nich Nay Druk”.

After the Finals

After the final exams in our 4th year, I took the “Ah Myan” train back to Mandalay. The train started out from Yangon Central Station at 6am and arrived in Mandalay at 6pm. It was like traveling in an RIT train, since a lot of our fellow RIT students were on it. I had the habit of never letting my parents know when I was coming back. I was prepared to find my way around when I got to Mandalay. Since I did not tell my father I was coming, when I went to his Say Gan on 84th St (Zeygyo) near 32nd St, I found the door locked from the outside. It was about 6.30pm and starting to get dark so I decided to go and spent the night at Ko Ye Myint’s (EP, 65 intake) parents’ house in the Mandalay University compound. I jumped into a “Side Car” for the ride to the Mandalay University compound that cost me 3 Kyats. Ko Ye Myint was not at home when I got to his house, but Sayagadaw Aunty Khin warmly welcomed me and made me feel at home. The next day, I took my brother’s car that was in my father’s Say Gan garage and drove to Maymyo.

Fifth BE (1968 – 69)

After the fourth year, it was decision time for us again. We could either take Electrical Communications (EC) or Electrical Power (EP).

My heart said Communications but my brain decided for Power. Employment opportunities for communications graduates were limited so I decided to do what should be done, rather than what I wanted to do. I had to wait another 12 years before I could do what I wanted to do, take Electronics when I continued my studies in the USA.

I was surprised to learn that someone else did the opposite. I met Ko Henry Khoo (EC 67) while attending the mini reunion hosted by Ko Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, EC70), in December 2011. He had taken the opposite path. He took Electrical Communications at RIT and changed to Electrical Power when he came to USA.

Activities

When the fifth year started, I decided not to get too involved in activities at RIT. Still, I remained as the Secretary of Maths Association at the request of Saya U Sein Shan (GBNF).

One day, Ko Win Zaw (A) reminded me to attend the meeting for the formation of the RIT football association for that year. At the meeting, both Ko Win Zaw (A) and Sai Thein Maung (C) urged me the to be the secretary. The only thing I remember doing as secretary of the RIT football association for our 5th year at RIT was to go around the hostels, asking for donations. RIT had opted to participate in the Insein Township football competition and money was needed to provided transportation for the students to Ywama Stadium from RIT Hostels. Since there was an important game, we had to solicit donations from the students and rented 6 Dodge Jeeps from the Insein-Danyingone Bus Line. After the game, we found that there were only 4 Dodge Jeeps waiting at Ywama Stadium to take us back to RIT. I don’t remember what team RIT played against. I can only recall that RIT lost.

I started two other activities that took me outside RIT. One was to go to the University swimming pool in Kamayut a couple of times a week, with Ko Win Thein (EP) GBNF, Ko Tin Win (EP) and Ko Than Lwin (EP).

Water Polo Match

We also watched RIT play against the Inst. of Medicine 1 in the Water Polo competition. We were loud and boisterous as usual, filling the air with derogatory comments about the Inst. of Medicine. Ko Htein Win (M, nickname Chauk Pe), tended goal for RIT at the shallow end. Ko Win Aung (M) played in the forward position. After RIT scored the first goal, Ko Myo Khin (C, one year senior in 64), jumped into the swimming pool fully clothed. (He was told to get out of the water immediately). But our joy was short lived. At the change of ends after 15 minutes of play, Aung Tun Oo (a) George Htoon Pay (M, 65 intake), took over as deep end goalkeeper for RIT. Inst. of Medicine scored 7 goals against RIT in a space of 15 minutes, Since RIT was losing badly, we stopped yelling bad things about the Inst. of Medicine, but we did not totally shut up. Ko Myo Khin (C) noticed the Saya U Hlaing, the sports- in – charge from the Inst. of Education, was sitting improperly across that pool and his private part was showing. Ko Myo Khin (C) told us to yell “Ha Bac Ko Aing Luu, Ah Htaw Ma Tine, Gor Pwae”. U Hlaing got the message after we had shouted out twice.

Rowing

Another activity that I undertook was to go to the University Boat club. The RIT Rowing Association had Saya U Thein Dan (C) as President and Ko Aung Lwin (Jasper Wu, C), as the Secretary. Saya U Thein Aung (Mickey Tan, Physics, RASU), took care of most things at the Boat club. We formed a novice crew. Ko La Min (EP) was our cox. I was in the Stroke position, Ko Zaw Win (Ch) was No 2, Ko Yit Moe (C, 65 intake), was No 3 and Ko Than Htun Aung (Ch) was in the Bow position. Ko Aung Lwin guided all of us through the steps at the Boat club. As novices, we were only allowed to row wooden tubs. The only race we won was by default when the other crew did not have enough men to compete in the heats for the annual Regatta. We lost the semi-final race against a team from RASU and did not get the chance to participate on Regatta day.

On Regatta day, George Htoon Pay (M, 65 intake), won the single sculls competition. Ko Aung Lwin (C) and another person won the coxless pairs competition. There was also a female novice crew from RIT. Ma Myint Myint Sein’s (M) younger sister, Aye Aye Than (nickname Pauk Pauk) headed that crew of 66 intake students. We used to travel together from RIT to the Boat Club and back.

Ma Pauk Pauk and her daughter stayed overnight at our house in New York (around 1998) when they came for a visit from England (where they were living). Actually, they visited Washington DC first, and Ma Lei Lei Myaing (T, my wife’s classmate from St John’s convent), brought them to our house when they visited New York city.

Cross Lake Swimming

Going to the RUBC almost daily meant I was around when the 2000 meter cross lake swimming eet was held. About 30 to 40 swimmers from RIT took part. Saya U Hla Myint (Charlie, M65) as President of the RIT Swimming Association, was the organizer and supervisor of the event. Non-participants like us, took to the water in flat bottom paddle boats and rowed on the sides of the swimmers, ready to give aid if needed. I was with Ko Win Thein (EP, GBNF) and another person for the event held in our 5th year. We followed the swimmers to Dubern beach and paddled back.

Cross Lake in Final Year

For the event held in our Final year at RIT, which was won by Ko Wunna Sithu (EC71), I was in the paddle boat with Ko Ye Myint (EP) and Ko Mg Latt (M) both 65 intakes. None of us knew how to steer a paddle boat, but we blushed it off as no big deal. We would somehow make it across the water to Dubern beach. Easier said than done. We found ourselves going around in circles in the middle of Inya lake, listening to the laughter and jeers of the people looking at us from the Boat club. Finally, I asked the other two not to paddle and slowly paddled and guided the boat to Dubern beach. We arrived at Dubern beach after the last swimmer had gone ashore. Luck was with us as there was a person who was taking care of getting the boats back to the other side of the lake and we gladly let him take it.

I remember meeting Daw Tin May, wife of the late Sayagyi U Ba Kyi, nationally well known artist and Saya, as we walked up Dubern beach. She was there since her house was being built there at that time. After Ko Ye Myint introduced me to her, I remember her comment “Thi Par Dae, Ah Chaw Myo Tway Bae”.

RIT Magazine

A committee was formed at RIT for the publishing of the RIT Magazine. I was in the sub committee led by Saya U Win Kyaing. Our sub committee was assigned to take care of advertisements. Saya U Win Kyaing decided we should ask for advertisements from foreign embassies. I remember going in Saya U Win Kyaing’s car into the North Korean consulate compound and being ushered out quickly.The only embassy interested in putting an advertisement was the West German embassy. We talked to their cultural secretary and he cut out a cheque for 100 Kyats as payment for the advertisement. Saya U Win Kyaing later told us that he had been instructed not to take advertisements from foreign embassies and we had to send the cheque back.

Saya U Tein Kyi asked us to come to his house (on Attia Road) on weekends so that he may give us submitted articles for us to edit. One article I edited was “Sabe Hna Pwint Hta Yan Kar”, which I found to be very well written with a great story line. That article won the best fiction article award.

When the printing started, I had to go to Pazaundaung in the evenings to check on the progress and edit sample runs of the RIT Magazine for errors. We took turns going there, and as far as I can remember, there were always two of us paired to work together. I might have been paired with Ko Kyaw Win Maung (Ch) but I am not certain.

Ko Cho Aye

At the end of our 4th year at RIT, Ko Cho Aye (M, GBNF) and I agreed to submit as room mates for the 5th year. When the 5th year started, we were on the 3rd floor of D block, facing C Block. Even though we were in different disciplines, Electrical for me and Mechanical for Ko Cho Aye, we still had classes in common. Advance Calculus, Industrial Management and Fluid Mechanics were common to both of us. Saya U Tin Htut taught Industrial Management and I still remember the “Critical Path Method” he taught.

Summer Training

For summer training in our 5th year, we went to ESB. Ko Khin Mg Shwe (EP) and Ko Pyi Soe (EP) were with me. We had to accompany the crews that were sent out on calls at first. Later, we were sent to the Ywama Power Station. At the Ywama Power Station, they had a program ready for us, detailing what we should be taught on each day.

Maymyo

After the summer training was over, I went back to Maymyo. Ko Phone Thwin (Mn), showed up in Maymyo as guest of Ko Win Htut (C). Since Ko Win Htut’s parents’ Maymyo house was quite near to mine, I remember spending time in the evenings, sitting on a little bridge over a stream near Ko Win Htut’s house. with Ko Phone Thwin (Mn) and Ko Win Htut (C) .

One evening, while we were sitting there, a man passed by on a bicycle and called out Ko Phone Thwin’s name. I asked Ko Phone Thwin who he was and was told that this person had been with our 64 batch at RIT and left to attend DSA after the first half of the year. Ko Phone Thwin probably remembers who that person was.

Final Exams and After the Finals

The final exams for the 5th year were held earlier than usual, in August. The reason being that efforts were been made to move the start of the school year to June from November.

After the finals, I went back home. Ko Aye Win Hlaing (EP, 65 intake), came to stay with me for a little while. Ko Ye Myint (EP, 65 intake), who was always with me during holidays, could not come anymore since his father, Sayagyi U Ba Toke, had transferred to RIT on his own volition from his previous position as Rector of Mandalay University.

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

SPZP–2000

Formal and Informal Gatherings

• USA hosted the First RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe in October 2000.
• The Celebrations kicked off with an Informal “Welcome” Dinner / Gathering” at a Sea Food Restaurant.
  The Main event was the Reunion and SPZP at Embassy Suites Hotel near San Francisco International Airport.
  The Family event was the “Farewell” Lunch / Gathering at a High School.

Donors

• Saya Allen Htay‘s article, “Can you spare US$500 and more?” was a major factor for having Donors — large and small — for SPZP-2000.
• There were Five Golden Sponsors.
  Steeve Kay (U Thaung Sein, EC70, Southern California)
  Benny Tan (Tan Yu Beng, M70, Northern California)
  Ivan Lee (U Khin Maung Oo, M69, New Jersey)
  David Ko (U Tin Myint, GBNF, M67, Northern California)
  U Maung Maung Than (M79, Texas)
  

SPZP-2000 Organizers

U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76, web master) copied the names/tags from the very first posting from his album.

Sitting L-R: Saya U Mya Htoo (Civil 68), U Benny Tan (Yu Beng, Mech 70), Saya KC Chiu (Dr. Tin Aung, Chem 63), U Hla Min (EC 69) Editor Extraordinaire, Saya U Allen Htay (GBNF, Civil 58), Saya U Nyo Win (Dr. K H Chen, Mech 65), Saya U Tin Htut (Mech 60), Saya U Maung Maung (George, Chem 66), Daw San San Nyunt (Sandra, Mrs. Thein Aung, Mech 76)

Standing L-R: U Soe Aung (Mech 75), U Gordan Kaung (Kaung Kaung Oo, Mech 83), U Myint Swe (EP 74), U Anthony Ng (Aye Tun, Mech 76), U Mya Thwin (Phillip, EP 75), U Maurice Chee (Hla Myint Thein, Mech 75), U Thura Thant Zin (Mech 76), Sayalay U Thein Aung (James, Met 72), U Myint Lwin (Henry Chee, GBNF, Civil 63), U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76), Daw Yi Yi Khaing (Audrey Wong, Civil 84), Daw San San Swe (Mrs Myint Swe, EC74)

All of them, except KMZ, live in various cities across Northern and Southern California. KMZ lives in a city near Seattle, Washington State.

Publications

• The Commemorative Issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” was published for SPZP-2000.
  I served as Chief Editor. Henry Lim (U Aung Myint, BAPS) and U Thein Aung (Met72) volunteered as Associate Editors.
  Maurice Chee (M75) served as Publisher (in addition to being Co-Chair, Working Committee; Financial Controller; Logistics Head)
• It featured articles by Sayas and Alumni.
• My poem “SAYA PU ZAW PWE” was published in the Newsletter as well as in the ex-RIT website (designed and implemented by U Khin Maung Zaw). Several sayas and alumni contributed to the two series :
  64 “Countdown to the Reunion” articles
  and
  36 “Post-Reunion” articles
  

SAYA PUZAW PWE
Poem by Hla Min

S eems like it was only yesterday
A t our alma mater in a land far away
Y ou taught us to work, play, laugh, even cry
A nd coaxed us, forced us to aim for the sky

P roblems in real life, lab, computation, survey
U nderstand concepts, design, display, …
Z eal, zest, ardor, grit, passion to make it “our day”
A rchitects, engineers, we’ve come here to say
W e honor your metta, your cetana — we fully can’t repay

P resently we meet, alum from five decades we greet
W ith memories true, fond, sweet
E cstatic yet sad that the GBNF could not join this memorable fete

Notes

• The term “SAYA GADAW PWE” has religious connotations.
• Since the SPZP-2000 organizers and attendees profess different religions, the term SAYA PUZAW PWE (meaning honoring the mentors and paying respect to them for their metta and cetana) was chosen.
• GBNF means “Gone But Not Forgotten“.
• As of March 1, 2024. the GBNF list for the Class of 69 is 128 (about 40%).
• Of the 20 (or so) EE sayas of our RIT days, almost half are GBNF.

Singapore SPZPs

• Singapore hosted SPZPs in December 2002, April 2007 and December 2010.
• Saya U Moe Aung was Chair of SPZP-2002 and SPZP-2010.
• U Nyan Win Shwe (William, M72) chaired SPZP-2007.
• Commemorative Issue of “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung” was published for each SPZP.
  Saya U Moe Aung (Tekkatho Moe War) served as Chief Editor.
• My poem “SAYA PU ZAW PWE” was reprinted on the Back Cover of SPZP-2002 Sar Saung.
• My poem “SWE DAW YEIK” was printed in SPZP-2007 Sar Saung. In my later writings, I use SWEL DAW (following Saya’s usage) instead of SWE DAW.
• My article “A Sad and Short Clip : EE Sayas” was published in SPZP-2010 Sar Saung”.

Yangon SPZPs

• Yangon hosted SPZPs in December 2004, December 2012 and December 2016.
• There was a slight earthquake on the day of SPZP-2004.
• A follow-up SPZP was scheduled for Yangon in December 2006, but changes in Political Climate dictated the SPZP to be rescheduled for Singapore in April 2007 (around Thingyan).
• SPZP-2012 was the first to be held at the Gyogone Campus.
• Thanks to H.E. U Aye Myint (EP72) for his initiative to bring back glory to our beloved alma mater, and to the sayas, sayamas, and alumni who made the “Home Coming Reunion” possible.
• There were tears of joys.
• On a sad note, the higher authorities transferred U Aye Myint to another Ministry before he could help the alma mater to the fullest extent.
• SPZP-2012 led to the founding of Swel Daw Yeik Foundation (SDYF), the Shwe YaDu Celebrations (with the planting of 50 Swel Daw Bins), and the RIT-YIT-YTU Alumni Association (ARITA) — to name a few.
• SPZP-2016 was a FREE All Day (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) at the Gyogone Campus.
• Due to the pandemic, SPZP-2000 was cancelled.
• Not sure if there will be a SPZP (as comprehensive as SPZP-2016) in a foreseeable future.
• Jara, Byadi and Marana have hit many sayas and alumni.

by RIT Alumni

Updated : September 2026

• Dr. Soe Thein (C75) wrote :

ကျွန်တော် တို့ မမှီ လိုက်တဲ့ အင်ဂျင်နီယာ တွေနဲ့ ပါတ်သက် ခဲ့တဲ့လိပ်ခုံး BIT RIT အကြောင်း အရာ တွေကို နှစ်ပေါင်း ဆယ်စု များစွာ စံနစ် တကျ စဉ်ဆက် မပြတ် ရေးသား ပေးတဲ့ ရာသက်ပန် RIT သတင်း ပြန်ကြားရေး မှူး ဦးလှမင်း ကို အထူး ဂုဏ်ပြု အပ်ပါတယ်။

ဒီလို ထူးချွန် ​ပြောင် မြောက် တဲ့ သတင်း ပြန်ကြားရေး မှူး နောက် တယောက် ဘယ်တော့မှ ပေါ်ထွန်း နှိုင်တော့ မည် မဟုတ်ပါ။

Big big congratulations ပါ

ဦးလှမင်း

• Khin Aye Myint wrote :

Congrats to U Hla Min for his informative RIT, BIT history ..

• Aung Min wrote :

Junior များ

လက်ဆင့်ကမ်းကြလော့

• Aung Myaing wrote :

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

A hobby a day keeps the doldrums away making you healthy and happy.

• Zaw Winn wrote :

My Appreciations Dear Senior,

Your affection for our Alma Mater is unparalleled and will be in our memories for ever.

• Mg Mar Ga wrote :

အကို့ကြောင့်သာဒိလိုမှတ်တမ်းမှတ်ရာတွေအသေအချာကျန်ခဲ့တာပါအကို့ခြေရာနင်းနိုင်ဖို့နောက်တယောက်ထပ်ရှိဖို့မလွယ်ပါတကယ်ပြောတာပါမှတ်ညဏ်ရယ်စေတနာရယ်အချိန်ပေးနိုင်မှုရယ်ဆောင်ရွက်တတ်မှုဆိုတာသာမန်လူလုပ်နိုင်ခဲလွန်းလှတယ်RIT Archive လုပ်ဖို့အကိုတအားတိုက်တွန်းခဲ့တာမှတ်မိတယ်ကြိုးစားစခဲ့ပေမဲ့တကယ်ကအကိုလုပ်ပြီးသားထက်ရေှ့မတိုးနိုင်ခဲ့ တကယ်ကိုရင်ထဲကချီးကျူးပါရ စေကျန်းမာသက်ရှည်လိုရာပြည့်ပါစေအကို

• U Myo Myint wrote :

Mg Mar Ga

ဆရာ U Hla Min စုဆောင်းပြုစုမှတ်တမ်းတင်နေတဲ့‌အားထုတ်လုပ်ဆောင်ချက်များကို

ဦးဝင်းထိန်ဦးရဲ့မှတ်ချက်နဲ့ထပ်တူကျနော့်ရင်ထဲမှာလေးစားတန်ဖိုးထားချီးကျူးရပါကြောင်းနှင့်

ဆရာကိုယ်စိတ်နှစ်ပါးကျန်းမာ ချမ်းသာပါစေကြောင်း ထပ်ဆင့်ဆုတောင်းပါတယ်ခင်ဗျာ။

• Wai Lu wrote :

These are extraordinary records. Maybe superman @ genius @ techniques.

• San Lin wrote :

ပြီးခဲ့သမျှကို အရမ်းမှတ်မိသလို လုပ်လဲလုပ်နိုင်တဲ့ ဆရာဦးလှမင်း ကျန်းမာသက်ရှည်ပါစေ။

• U Hla Myint Rit wrote :

Thanks to all. VV Nice. Be mindful

Photos

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Usage

• There were four Latin terms for “old student” — based on gender (male, female) and number (single, multiple)
• Currently, Alumni is used to cover all four terms

Scope

• I belong to various circles: PPBRS, SPHS, RU, RIT, UCC, DCS, ICST
• In this post, we will cover RIT Alumni.

Engineering Alumni

I use “RIT” to represent not only my alma mater Rangoon Institute of Technology, but all Engineering Colleges and Institutes which precede and succeed RIT.

Many alumni are active in the following:

• HMEE
• SDYF (Swel Daw Yeik Foundation)
• RITAA (RIT-YIT-YTU Alumni Association)
• NorCal RITAA (in the US)
• MES
• MEC

Paying Respect

• Paying respect to Sayas is a tradition that is unique to Myanmar.
• The tradition is alive and well.
• The term Saya Pu Zaw Pwe is preferred to Saya Ga Daw Pwe (which has religious connotation). SPZP allows alumni who profess different beliefs to pay respect to their mentors.
• There have been seven world wide SPZPs (Saya Pu Zaw Pwe) : SPZP-2000 (US);
  SPZP-2002, SPZP-2007 & SPZP-2010 (Singapore);
  SPZP-2004, SPZP-2012 & SPZP-2016 (Yangon)
• I was fortunate to be a Core Organizer for SPZP-2000 and a Coordinator for the remaining SPZPs.

History

• “History of Myanmar Engineering Education” Book was published in 2012.
• The project’s initiators included Saya U Soe Paing, Sayagyi U Ba Than and several sayas and alumni. (See Acknowledgement in the Book)
• Saya U Aung Hla Tun and team compiled the book.
• Ko Ohn Khine (M70) and I compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE-2012 book
• The draft for the first two sections were prepared by Saya U Soe Paing and team.
• Ko Ohn Khine translated Section 1 and summarized Section 2. The translations have been revised by Saya U Soe Paing.
• Saya U Aung Hla Tun gave the copyright to RITAA.
• HMEE-2018 was headed by Saya U Aung Hla Tun. His demise affected the progress of the project.

YTU Library Modernization Project

A decent Library is a requirement of the accreditation of YTU by Asean (and beyond).

Donations — large and small — came in. Thanks to U Wynn Htain Oo (M72), Ma Nan Khin Nwe (83 Intake) and team.

The donors include

• U Khin Maung Tun (T78)
• Dr. Myo Khin (C70) and Daw Mya Nwe (C73)
• Daw Myint Myint (C69)
• Saya U Tin Htut (M60)
• James Shwe (M76) and Annette Shwe (A75)
• NorCal RITAA
• Alumni from Singapore, Australia and New Zealand

Archive

• The Library could have a section to help remember our beloved alma mater, our sayas and alumni activities.
• Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi endorsed Ko Benny Tan’s proposal to archive the mementos.
• We requested alumni (esp. class representatives) to record gatherings / activities.

Health Care Funds

• Steeve and Helen Kay Health Care Fund for RIT Sayas and Sayamas
• Eye examination and assistance Fund provided by U Khin Maung Tun
• The balance of both funds had been handed over to Swel Daw Yeik Foundation.
• Other funds include 69er HCF, EE69er HCF, and those administered by the classes and groups (e.g. Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65) mn

Saya Allen Htay (C58)

• Leader of the San Francisco Bay Area Alumni Group
• Co-founded “RIT Alumni International” which hosted SPZP-2000 and served as President.
• His article “Brother, can you spare US $500?” is a classic.
• Daw Mu Mu Khin hosted a lunch in memory of Saya on December 31, 2017.
• In memory of Saya Allen, Daw Mu Mu Kin donated Saya’s books to the YTU library.
  Also sponsored scholarships for eligible YTU students.

Golden Sponsors

• U Thaung Sein (Steeve, EC70, GBNF)
• U Benny Tan (M70)
• U Khin Maung Oo (Ivan Lee, M69)
• U Tin Myint (David Ko, M67, GBNF)
• U Maung Maung Than (M79)
• The five Golden sponsors and other donors made sure U Nyo Win’s Act (requiring the organizers to chip in if SPZP-2000 will not have the minimum number of attendees) will not be needed.

2019

• Completed two decades as Chief Editor of RIT Alumni International Newsletter
• Compiled posts for the Golden Jubilee of 69ers
  Attended both events on December 14, 2019

2020

• Broadcast educational videos

2021 – Present

• The pandemic caused the demise of several sayas and alumni. Eighteen 69ers succumbed to Covid.
• Due to restrictions, I managed to make only short trips (to Singapore, Thailand and Laos).
• I am writing and revising posts in hlamin.com
• Request help to transform into digital and/or printed books for posterity

Resources

• RIT related Facebook pages
• RIT related Google groups
• hlamin.com

Update

• The majority of alumni reside in Myanmar.
• USA had RIT Alumni International which hosted SPZP-2000. It was succeeded by NorCal RITAA. The alumni also served as President and EC in professional organizations such as BEA, BAPS, BASES and MASTAA.
• The Alumni in Singapore helped with SPZP-2002, 2007 and 2010.
• The Alumni in Australia participate in activities by the Myanmar Australian Engineering Association.
• RITAJ (in Japan) is inactive.

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

• 450+ Matriculates were admitted to 1st BE in November 1964 based on ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate).
• Most graduated in 1970. Some (e.g Tommy Shwe) left before graduation. Peter Pe, who represented RIT in Swimming and Water Polo, passed away in 6th BE.

Steeve Kay (Thaung Sein, EC70, GBNF)

• Admitted as Roll No. (8) to 1st BE in Nov 1964.
• Graduated with EC in 1970
• Moved to USA. An immigration officer spelled his name as Steeve instead of Steve. He kept the name with the variant unconventional spelling.
• Masters from Stanford University
• Designer of Power IC Chip
• Per his younger sister’s request, co-founded QTC
• MBA from Pepperdine University
• QTC was bought by an investment company. Steeve became a multi-millionaire
• Established Kay Family Foundation. Steeve became an outstanding philanthropist.
• He never forgot his roots, his alma mater, his mentors and his friends.
• A short biography, which summarized three dreams, was published by Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65, and also in “RIT Alumni International Newsletter”.
• Details can be found in the commemorative issue celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the founding of QTC.

Three Dreams of Steeve Kay

Team Builder

40th Anniversary of arrival in the USA

In 2011, Steeve hosted a gathering to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his arrival in the US. The gathering was coordinated by his daughter Elanor. She arranged a visit to Teehub (which provides incubation for aspiring innovators).

Attendees include :

• Chris Lee, Dr. (EE59) & spouse
• Sam Chin (ChE62) & spouse
• Henry Khoo (EC67)
• Hla Min (EC69) & spouse
• Benny Tan (M70) & spouse
• Zaw Min Nawaday (EP70) & spouse
• Htin Aung (Richard, M70)
• Zaw Htun, Dr. (BDS) & spouse

Benny, Zaw Min & Richard were Steeve’s classmates from RIT.

Henry picked up Steeve on his arrival in San Francisco, California, USA.

Saya Chris Lee, Sam Chin and Dr. Zaw Htun were active in the Burmese American organizations in Southern California.

QTC

His younger sister Dr. Lay Kay had patents related to the medical and legal processes to handle disability claims. She requested Steeve to co-found QTC and serve as CEO.

Two decades later, QTC was bought by a group of investors making the two siblings multi-millionaires.

They did not forget their roots. Steeve set up the Kay Family Foundation. His sister set up the B K Kee Foundation in memory of her mother. Their foundations have provided support for education, medical research, areas inflicted by disasters (e.g. Cyclone Nargis) and much more.

Aspirations & Actions

Steeve took time to trace his roots. He also joined expeditions to visit the holy sites of Four Religions.

He is a Trustee and/or Board Member of several US universities.

He is a Multiple Golden Sponsor for the SPZPs. He set up the “Steeve and Helen Kay Health Care Fund for RIT Sayas and Sayamas”. He hosted a delegation from the Ministry of Science and Technology to visit selected universities and research institutions in California.

There were some proposals that did not materialize. He offered to set up a Computing Laboratory and promote Leapfrogging Technology for engineering sayas and students in Myanmar. He offered to provide air fare and expenses for Sayagyis willing to share their experience in Myanmar. He requested some support from the Myanmar side (e.g. taking care of the security and maintenance of the Laboratory and providing accommodation for the visiting Sayagyis), but due to the bureaucracy of the then authorities, the proposals were not materialized.

When his health started to decline, he could not take long trips or wait too long for responses to his proposals. He requested the balance of his Health Care Fund to be transferred to Swel Daw Yeik Foundation.

He delegated his children to run KFF and his enterprise. He still has desires to help his beloved home land. “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

2015 Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles, USA

Kay Family Foundation provided $30000 for the Alumni Reunion. Steeve sang Shwe Mi during his presentation.

Sponsorships

He provided the seed money for holding the First RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe (SPZP-2000) in San Francisco. California, USA in October 2000.

He became a Multiple Golden Sponsor of SPZPs.

He established the “Steeve and Helen Kay Health Care Fund for RIT Sayas and Sayamas”. The balance fund has recently been handed over to Swel Daw Yeik Foundation.

He and Kay Family Foundation donated US $200,000+ for RIT-related causes.

He hosted several gatherings in the USA and Yangon.

U Zaw Min Nawaday (EP70)

Zaw Min entered 1st BE as Roll Number One (Top student). He was selected Luyechun for Inlay Khaung Daing Camp in the Summer of 1965.

In the USA, he studied Electronics and also changed his name to Zaw Min Nawaday.

He was the main author of the article covering the six years at RIT. U Ohn Khine was the co-author.

The article was first posted in the Google Group for “Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65”. I edited the article.

The revised versions have been published in (a) the Golden Jubilee Magazine for the combined group (b) RIT Updates and (c) hlamin.com website

Benny Tan (Tan Eu Beng, M70)

• Founding member of RIT Alumni International
• Hosted meetings of the San Francisco Bay Area Alumni including the one that led to the formation of RIT Alumni International
• Wore multiple hats for SPZP-2000 — Golden Sponsor; Co-chair of the Working Committee; Designer of SPZP Banner, commemorative Mug, Clock & T-shirt
• Multiple Golden Sponsor for SPZPz and for his class gatherings.
• Wrote “Traveling through the Time Machine”.

U Ohn Khine (M70)

• Volunteer for SDYF, SPZP-2012, Shwe YaDu 2014, SPZP-2016, & HMEE Projects
• Co-authored “RIT Days (1964 – 70)”.
• Translated Section One of HMEE-2012 into English.
• Summarized Section Two of HMEE-2012.
• We compiled the CD Supplement for HMEE book
• He offered me rides during my visits to Yangon (especially to attend meetings for SPZP-2012, SPZP-2016 and HMEE-2012).

M70 Class Photo†

• U Aung Khin (Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department) moved to Canada
• U Win Kyaing, U Tin Hlaing (M59) & U Aung Hla Tun are GBNF
• U Phone Myint is enjoying post-retirement by visiting his children overseas.
• U Tin Htut (M60, Past Captain and Gold of RUBC) taught Industrial Management

• Cho Aye is now GBNF
• Benny is enjoying retirement with his grand children

1st BE Intake in 1964

Most members of the group graduated in 1970. Some left RIT before graduation.

A few took Sabbatical and graduated a year or two later.

U Ohn Khine (M70) reports the Gone But Not Forgotten (GBNF) list periodically.

Each entry contains

• Name
• Roll Number in 1st BE
• Major/Discipline
• Date of demise (if known)
• Other name (e.g. nickname)

As of June 30, 2023, there were 125 entries in the GBNF list.

• Cho Aye3 Mech 7/8/18
• Peter Pe 4 Mech
• Victor Jones 41 Civil
• Ne Win 45 Textile
• Tin Ohn 49 Mech
• Naing Win 54 Mech
• Mya Daung 58 Mech(Agri)
• Lay Myint 60 Civil
• Khin Maung Pun 66 Petro ?/10/16
• Myo Thaw 68 5/15
• Aung Kyan 71 Mech (Auto)
• Thet Win 75 Mech
• Hla Min 82 Elec Pauk Si
• Mg Mg Myint 93 Mech Japu Sein
• Soe Tint 94 Civil Nevil Kyi Mg
• Mg Mg Than 97 Mech 8/7/18
• Le Le Win 100 Mech Lilian Tha Mya
• Nan Lwin 102 Elec
• Myat Khine 104 Mech Tha Aye
• Han Kyu Pe 110 Archi
• Than Tun 114 Mech (Agri) Ivan Win
• Aung Win 120 Chemical
• Aye Thin 122 Chemical
• Chit Khin 124 Archi 23/6/15
• Than Sein 130 Mech
• Aung Kyi 135 Mech
• Khin Mg Saan 139 Civil
• Ko Ko Tin 141 Mech Winston Hla Mg
• Saw Pae Pae 143 Met
• Win Maw (George Hock) 146
• Ma Yin Shwe Tun 150 Textile
• Myat Myat Moe 154 Archi
• Ma Htay Htay Win 158 Chemical Marlene Mg Mg
• Than Myint 168 23/1/13
• Myint Thein 172 Mech
• Phone Thwin 177 Mining
• Than Nyunt Win 181 Civil
• Khin Mg Kyu 183 Mech
• Win Thein 185 Elec
• Ma Khin Mya Oo 188 Met
• Kyaw Naing 191 Elec Sin Gwan
• Mg Mg Yu 194 Mech (Agri)
• Tin Aye 195 Mech (Agri)
• Htike Nyan 198 Elec 26/10/15
• Aung Khin 203 Mech
• Kyi May Nwae 206 Met
• Tin Win 209 Chemical
• Myat Swe (Myint Swe) 215 Electrical 22/3/15
• Kyaw Win Mhan 234 Arch
• Ma Yaw Ze 243 Chemical
• Hla Shwe 247 Mech Lar Gyi
• Min Thant 254 Elec Maurice Bo Ni
• Tin Win 256 Mevh Arthur
• Aung Htay 277 Civil
• Michael Shein Myint 280 Chemical
• Mar Mar 292 Civil
• Thein Htun 304 Mech 29/8/18
• Mg Mg Oo 312 PP
• Myo Tint 313 PP Stanley Hla
• Mg Mg Swe 314 Mech ?/1/18
• Min Swe 318 Mech
• Ye Myint Aung 323 Mech
• Toe Nyunt 326 Elec
• Tin Ko 330 Met
• Aung Law Ha 342 Mn 30/1/16
• Ma Tin Tin 348 Mech (Agri)
• Kyaw Swe Thet 354 Mech 2017
• Kan Myint 371 Mech
• Aye Than 385 Elec 25/4/16
• Khin Soe 388
• Khin Than Win 389 Textile 3/9/18
• Maung Maung 398 Textile 31/8/14
• John Krasu 402 Mar 2016
• Shein Kee Gae 407 Elec
• Ohn Kywe 408 Elec
• Kan Win 409 Mech
• Win Aung 413
• Onward Taw 419
• Sein Sein 418 Textile 19/2/15
• Tin Oo 428 Archi
• Nay Daung 435 Civil
• Oo Myint 445 Mining
• Khin Mg Shwe 446 Kenneth
• Thein Han 463 Elec 18/5/12
• Hla Kyaing 467 Mining
• Tin Win 475
• Zaw Nyein 482 Tex 10/2/14
• Myo Nyunt Saw 485 Elec
• Mya Thaung 487 Mining Ye Baw Pae Hlaw
• Sai Maung Lin 73 Mech
• Maung Myint 332 Tex
• Htay Lwin 367
• Stanley Lim 51
• Aye Win Kyaw 169 Civil
• Zin Maung Oo 328 Civil
• Khin Nyo 352