U Ba Hli (Dean) Principal of GTI and Professor of Civil Engineering Dean, Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University Credited with “Twinning” of RU with prestigious US universities Three generations of Engineers
Saya U Ba Hli, Saya H Num Kok, Saya Allen Htay (C58)
Dr. Htin Aung (Interim Dean) Principal, Rangoon College Rector, Rangoon University Vice Chancellor, Rangoon University
Dr. Htin Aung
Dr. Maung Maung Kha (Interim Dean) Professor, Physics Department, Rangoon University Rector, Rangoon University Rector, RASU
Dr. Maung Maung Kha
U Po Tha (Interim Dean) Professor, Chemistry Department, Rangoon University Uncle of Saya U Aung Khin (M)
U Yone Moe (Rector) Dean, BIT Rector, RIT
U Yone Mo
U Maung Maung Than (Rector) Former Professor, Textile Engineering Passed away at Bahosi Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar in November 2012 Early beneficiary of the “Twinning Program” Chairman, RIT Sports Committee Hobbies : Chinlon and Music
Born of parents U San Shwe and Daw Than Tin in 1933
Attended the East Rangoon Methodist School in Rangoon
Matriculated in 1949 from East Rangoon Methodist Stood Seventh in the First Division Received the Collegiate Scholarship awarded by the Government.
Attended I.Sc (A) and I.Sc (B) in (1949 and 1950).
Continued to study in BOC College of Engineering Took Mechanical Engineering.
Upon completion of Second year Mechanical Engineering, he was selected as a Government sponsored Scholar in the Spring of 1954 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
Completed the Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering in 1956.
Received his Masters of Science Degree also in Chemical Engineering in 1957. In his Masters course he was enrolled in the coveted Chemical Engineering Practice School.
Went back to Burma in 1957
Appointed Lecturer and Head of Department in Chemical Engineering.
In 1959 he married Daw Mya Mya Than, daughter of U Sein Nyo and Daw Than Yin.
Appointed full Professorship in 1966
Promoted to Rectorship in 1977.
Very active as a consultant from the academia in the design and construction of the two fertilizer plants (Sale and Kyun Chaung); the Sittang Paper Mill and other various state owned chemical plants.
Retired from the Rector’s position in 1988.
Because of his passion for teaching he could not stay retired for long and continued working in Thailand at the Rangsit University as a Professor. He is the only foreigner accepted in the Thai Institute of Chemical Engineering.
Passed away in 2020
Editor’s Notes
For SPZP-2012, Saya U Khin Aung Kyi gave an interview.
Chemical Engineering courses were initially offered with contract sayas from India.
When the then newly minted Saya taught, there was “testing of nerves” by some students.
After Saya mentioned that an Indian saya would be brought in if the noisy atmosphere persists. That solved the problem.
Worked for Hewlett Packard, Agilent and several US companies before moving to Taiwan to work there.
After retirement, Saya is spending time in California and Taiwan.
Past President, BAPS
Founding Member, RIT Alumni International
Co-chair, Steering Committee for SPZP-2000
Proposed “U Nyo Win Act“. If there are less than the guaranteed number of attendees at SPZP-2000, the core organizers will chip in the costs. Thanks in part to the five Golden Sponsors of SPZP-2000, the Act did not need to be enforced.
Wrote about SPZP-2000 in the Post Reunion series.
Founding Member, NorCal RITAA
Served as BOD (Board of Director).
BAPS
Past President, BAPS
Editor, BAPS Newsletter
Honoring U Nyo Win, Ko Benny and Ko Henry
On November 9, 2000, there was a special dinner at Ming’s seafood restaurant in Sunset, San Francisco to honor Saya U Nyo Win (M65), out-going president of BAPS and to welcome Ko Benny Tan (M70), the in-coming president. There were 30+ attendees. Saya U Nyo Win was presented a plaque in recognition of his leadership and services to BAPS.
A plaque was also awarded to Henry Lim (RIT Alumni) for his services as Editor of the BAPS newsletter. It grew from a 4 pager to a 20 pager.
BEA to BAPS
The first ever RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP did not happen out of the blue. One of the first seeds was sown with the founding of Burmese Engineers Association (BEA). The presidents Saya U Htin Paw (EE58), Saya U San Tun (M59) and Saya U KC Chiu (ChE63) — with the able support of Daw Khin Hta Yee (Lily Win, T72) — organized mini-reunions and reunions in the Bay Area. At the welcome party for Saya U Aung Khin, the idea of merging BEA with a younger association BASTS to become BAPS (Burmese American Professional Society) was proposed and overwhelmingly approved.
BAPS Picnic to RIT Alumni International
At one of the BAPS picnics, several EC members — Saya Allen Htay, Saya U Nyo Win, Saya KC Chiu, Saya U Maung Maung, Ko Benny Tan, Ko Maurice Chee, — held an impromptu meeting with me and asked how they could support Ko Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ) and me regarding the ex-rit web site in general and other activities [such as Grand Reunion] in general.
Later, at Ko Benny’s house, the Bay Area Alumni Group was formed. The rest is history.
U Nyo Win
According to the bye-laws of BAPS, a President can serve for at most two terms. Saya U Nyo Win served two terms. Saya also chaired the meetings by the Organizing Committee of the RIT Reunion and SPZP. His colorful meeting minutes are enjoyable to read.
He is an outstanding writer and an excellent speech giver. Saya wears two hats: BAPS for the Bay Area activities and RIT Alumni International for activities related to his alma mater world-wide. Our kudos to you, Saya.
After Dinner
We went to Ko Aye Tun (Anthony Ng, M76)’s house, which is within walking distance from the restaurant. A preview of the raw / semi-edited copy of the video taken at the RIT Reunion dinner and SPZP took place. The 2+ hour footage caught several viewers by surprise. The “Waing gyi putt putt du way way” dance — started by Diana (Myint Myint Sein, M70) and Richard Chao (Htin Aung, M70) — was joined by Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Min Wun, and several alums.
It was close to two o’clock in the morning when I got back home.
RIT Alumni International __________________________________________________
Founding Member
Core Organizer, SPZP-2000
Wrote “Appreciation of SPZP-2000” for Post Reunion
Article for Post Reunion (SPZP-2000)
After the Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pu (SPZP), I feel like most of us still excited but completely deflated. I just have enough energy left to think about it and talk about it, but not enough to write about it. But with Ko Hla Min’s call for the end of the post reunion article at number 36, I want to catch this last chance to write a few words before the close of the book, so to say.
First, as the one of the co-chairmen of the Steering Committee, I’d like to add a few words to U Myat Htoo’s article on the apology and thanks to the all the sayagyis, sayas, and fellow alumni. We’d planned and tried to make the Reunion and SPZP a success. I agree with U Myat Htoo that there were areas of deficiencies that we overlooked and were unable to cover. Let me mention a few that we could have done better to run the program more smoothly. It may also be helpful hindsight to pass on to 2002 reunion team.
The reception area was too crowded. We expected 300 plus people would be converging on to the narrow aisle at about 5 O’clock. We tried to arrange two tables in parallel to allow more people to check-in, sign the book, receive the gifts and be directed to the appropriate tables. The crowd was larger than expected. Our seating plan didn’t help. It was designed to group people according to their requests of having close friends together. Unfortunately, the attendees’ names were not listed in alphabetical order with table number assigned. It was very time consuming to locate the table number for the guest. This resulted in people congregating in the check-in area in spite of the ushers’ effort to help.
We under estimated the time for picture taking. It turned out it was the most exciting event. We had group photos of every combination one could imagine. Getting everyone to follow the program for the number of pictures taken was not possible. It ended up a half hour photo session was three times longer. The good thing was, everyone liked it and everyone wanted it. In order to keep the program moving in a reasonable time, our MC U Myat Htoo had to exercise some crowd control. I hope everyone share U Myat Htoo’s difficulty for so doing.
The program was overloaded. Our program called for speeches from sayagyis, sayas, and the alums; opportunity for the audience to contribute to fun, entertainments, singing and jokes. Everyone appeared to be so happy and excited. All of us had so much to talk about, so much fun to have and so much joy to share that hardly anyone could concentrate and follow the program allocated time. But, isn’t that the expectation everyone had of the reunion and SPZP?
We did not allocate sufficient time to meet and thank everybody. Of course, it was not easy to walk around and talk to everybody throughout the event. Again, in hindsight, one possibility would have been to have Organizing Committee representatives go around the tables during dinner time to meet and thank everybody.
I want to reiterate, like everyone else, that this great event was a resounding success in spite of a few glitches. The success was due to the support given to the event from all those who attended and from those who were unable to attend but whole-heartedly supporting and encouraging us. The success was due to those who generously donated to the SPZP Fund so that we could make the best use of it for the event. The success was due to those who helped out with the event, and most of all, due to the hard working Executive Committee members under the leadership of Co-chairmen Benny Tan and Maurice Chee.
I would like to give a couple of examples of how dedicated the two co-chairs, Benny and Maurice, were. In the morning on the day of the Reunion, I was at Benny’s house. Benny showed me the 25-foot RIT Reunion and SPZP banner undergoing the final touch. I learned from Benny that the contractor was unable to deliver the banner on time as promised. But we must have it for the great event! Benny, with the help of his nephew, decided to make one themselves just the night before the Grand Reunion. They bought the canvas, the paint, and the brush; they designed the RIT logo and the characters; they rolled up their sleeves and succeeded in finishing the banner in time for the great event.
In the afternoon when I was at the Embassy Suite making the final arrangement for the arrival of the guests, I got a call from Maurice. He told me that he would be a little late coming to the hotel. I learned from him that, not being able to get a print shop to do the job on time and as desired, he was printing the name tags for the guests with his own computer.
This very special event brought us excitement and great emotion. We shared the joy and the happy moment. But I would think that the feelings of each of us must be different and unique. For me, at time I felt that I was back in the good old days of teaching at RIT. I saw Rector Dr. Aung Gyi, Mechanical Engineering Department Head Saya U Aung Khin, Chemical Engineering Department Head [and Rector] U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Nam Kock, other sayas, colleagues and students. At time I felt that I was still one of the students attending the classes.
My most memorable year at RIT was actually the first and the only BIT year, 1962. We had very few students in First Year. In fact, there weren’t that many engineering students altogether at BIT that year. Among my contemporaries were U Kyaw Aye (Shakoor), who is still in Burma and U Hla Myint (Charlie), who is now in Australia. We were the lucky ones who survived First Year Heat Engine taught by Saya U Aung Khin. I can assure you for those who’d never taken Heat Engine from Saya U Aung Khin how low the yield was from that class. Decades later, in the mid of this great reunion, seeing all the sayagyis, former colleagues, former students and new RIT graduates whom I had never met, I felt like I was in a dream.
Now that the great event is over, we are looking forward to meeting again in Singapore, Year 2002. I agree with Saya U Aung Khin, and let me quote from his article, that “we keep up with the changing situation in our home country regarding secondary technical education and decide on how inclusive we should be so that continuity can be maintained by embracing an expanding fraternity of engineers.” We all witnessed the group with exceptional talent gathering at the night of the reunion. Benny Tan in his article suggested the idea of harnessing the brainpower and energy of the group. I would think that the Year 2000 reunion was reminiscing of the past and sharing of the present, the Year 2002 reunion should in large part be the bridging of the present and the future. As to how, let’s start tapping on our talent pool now.
Sayagyi is the father of Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (GBNF) and grandfather of Daw Tin Tin Hlaing (UCC), U Tha Hlaing (EC83) and Ko Min Thet Tun (GBNF). He was the first Burmese native to serve as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. He is credited for proposing the “Twinning” of Rangoon University with prestigious universities in the US.
Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli wrote about his father in the commemorative issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” for the First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP. Sayagyi U Aung Khin wrote the introduction.
U Tha Tun
Saya U Tha Tun served as Acting Head of Architecture at BIT/RIT.
He was described by Saya Dr. Koung Nyunt in his article, “Two famous songs from RIT Architecture”. U Than Tun was the co-author.
Early students
Architecture courses were first offered at the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University in 1954.
The first batch including Saya U Myo Myint Sein graduated in 1958.
The second batch including Saya Dr. Lwin Aung and U Bo Gyi in 1959. Both entered monkhood after retirement.
The third batch which graduated in 1960 included
U Khin Maung Yin (Modern art proponent, film director, GBNF)
U Aung Kyee Myint (Retired head of architecture at PWD)
U Tin Htoon (A 60, RUBC Captain/Gold, ARAE Champion, SEAP medallist in yachting, co-founder, Triple Gem Publications)
U Victor Pe Win (Retired in Texas)
U Koon Yin Chu (First in Burma in 54 Matriculation, gold medalist in Final Year Architecture) …
Miss S. Begum was the earliest known female engineering/architecture student, but she left for India before graduation. Her classmates are from the third batch.
Group Picture
Architecture
The Group Picture shows Architecture Students (who were then in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th/Final years of the old system). In the new Education system, they would be from the 4th to 6th B.Arch.
The picture without captions was first sent by U Victor Pe Win to U Tin Htoon, who asked his dhamma friend Ko “Henry” Htaik San ( RUBC Gold, Secretary of Southern California Burmese Associations, photographer, videographer, …) to touch up the picture.
Per U Tin Htoon’s request, U Victor Pe Win annotated the “touched-up” photo as follows:
First Row L to R:- U Kin Mg Tint, U Tha Tun, Mr. H. A. Eswara, Mr. R. K. H. Johnson (Head of Arch. Dept.), U Ba Hli (Dean of Faculty of Engineering), Mr. O. Nagler, U Aung Myint, Miss S. Begum (2nd Yr)
Second Row:- Myint San (Final), Htun Lwin (3rd), Kyaw Zaw (Final), Bo Gyi (3rd), Tin Tun Kin (Final), T. T. Kiat (2nd), Mg Mg Gyi (Final), Mg Mg Ohn (2rd), Myint Tun (3rd)
Third Row:– Jack Min (3rd), Htay Ngwe (Final), Pe Win (2nd), V. Leong (3rd), Tham.T.Yu (2nd), K.Y.Chu (2nd), H.Hla Myint (2nd), Aung Kyee Myint (2nd), S.Hsiang Wu (2nd)
Fourth Row:- Myo Myint Sein (Final), Tin Mg Yin (Final), Aung Thin (Final), Myint Thein (Final), Tin Htoon (2nd ), Tun Than (Final), Kin Mg Yin (2nd) Hla Kyi (2nd)
Absentee:– Lwin Aung (3rd.)
Editor’s Notes:
If someone has a copy of the photo, please share it with me. Since many photos in my album do not have recognizable names, it takes some time to find them. Right now, I am in the process of updating the contents.
Dr. Chit Swe, Daw Khin Khin Latt and two youngest sons Dr. Chit Swe & Daw Khin Khin Latt Dr. Chit SweDr. Chit Swe at Pu Zaw PweDr. Chit Swe with UCC alumni in SydneyDr. Chit Swe with UCC Donlaba
Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe is a Pioneer of Computer Systems, Education and Applications in Burma.
He founded Universities’ Computer Center (UCC).
He retired as Rector of Rangoon Arts and Science University (RASU).
He continued teaching and supervising graduate students in Thailand and Australia.
He passed away peacefully in Sydney, Australia in November 2019.
Sayagyi’s Family
Sayagadaw Daw Khin Khin Latt,
Five children (Dr. Daw Moe Thu, U Thu Ta, Dr. Kyaw Thu, Dr. Swe Latt, U Chit Khin)
Seven grandchildren and
Three great grand children
Dr. Chit Swe and Daw Khin Khin Latt fondly named their younger sons as Swe Latt and Chit Khin.
Obituary
Soon Kwyay
In memory of Saya, soon kwyay was offered in Sydney, Australia and Pyinmana, Myanmar
Soon Kwyay in SydneySoon Kyway in ElaThanks from the family
Condolences
Hundreds (and may be Thousands) have expressed their sadness for the loss of Sayagyi in the newspapers and in the Facebook pages.
The following is a sampling.
U Ba Than (M.A., Retired Director General, Thuwanna), Saya Chit’s classmate in 1947 at the first I.Sc.(A) class offered at Mandalay University and was a fellow teacher, is saddened by the loss of “Ko Chit Swe”.
Thin Char Mi Thar Su of the University of Yangon is indebted to Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe for his dedication to the dissemination of Mathematics
Myanmar Naing Gan Thin Char Ah Thinn offers condolences to the family members of Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe (Retired Rector) and Sayagyi U Aung Sein (Retired Associate Professor)
ex-UCC Mi Tha Su (UCC Alumni) expresses their sorrow to the Founder of Computers and Computer Education in Burma. Members from Myanmar and beyond (e.g. Singapore, USA, Australia) can never forget Sayagyi and his passion for transforming his students from good to better and great professionals, educators, researchers, and socially responsible citizens of the world.
U Win Thein (Padamyar Winhtein) has updated Wikipedia to include Saya’s pioneering work.
Saya U Aung Zaw (AZ) spent five decades or so under the tutelage of Saya Chit. He organized mini-PZPs for Saya Chit. I attended one gathering in 2006.
UCSY Facebook page remembers Saya as the pioneer Saya for Computer Education in Burma / Myanmar.
HlaMin 