by Hla Min

Updated : October 2026

EE Sayas

• During our RIT days, there were about 20 sayas at the Electrical Engineering Department
• The Department offered two options : EC (Electrical Communications) and EP (Electrical Power).
• Several decades later EC and EP became Departments with their own Professors and Heads. EC is also known as EcE or Electronics Engineering.

Group Photo

• The Group photo shows 15 sayas. One was absent for the Photo Shoot. A few were on Deputation doing further studies abroad.

Article

• For SPZP-2010 held in Singapore, I wrote an article “A Short and Sad Clip : EE Sayas” for the Commemorative Issue of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung.
  Saya U Moe War (Tekkatho Moe War, Chief Editor) suggested the Title.
• U Thein Lwin and U Nyi Nyi (who passed away a few years back) were not covered in the article.

U Kyaw Tun

• Group photo of the “Reunion in January 1980 of the Final Year Engineering Students in 1948 and 49” showed Sayagyi.
• Joined the Department of Electrical Engineering
• Continued teaching until his retirement.
• Recruited Saya C. Ping Lee to join EE department in 1950.
• Children : Dr. Elizabeth (Daw Tin Nu, Ph.D in English), Dorothy
• “Doctor” Tin Aung Win wrote about his beloved father-in-law.

C. Ping Lee

• Recruited by Saya U Kyaw Tun to join Electrical Engineering, BOC College.
• Transferred to the Directorate of Technical Education and Vocational Training at the request of H.E. U Than Aung (his Burmese teacher at St. Paul’s).
• Dr. Win Aung (M 62) wrote about his beloved father in the “Post Reunion” series of SPZP-2000.
• Articles by Dr. Win Aung, Saya U Htin Paw (EE 58), U Aw Taik Moh (C54), Saya Dr. San Hla Aung (C58) have references to Saya C. Ping Lee.
• Saya passed away in Berkeley, CA in 1987.
• Former students included the late Professor U Sein Hlaing.

U Sein Hlaing

• Top in the class of 1952
• MSEE from MIT
• Professor of Electrical Engineering
• Taught at BIT/RIT until retirement
• Passed away a few years after retirement

U Tin Swe

• MSEE from the University of Michigan.
• Excellent in Soccer and Tennis.
• Early Power User at the Universities’ Computer Center (UCC).

U Sein Win

• MSEE from the University of Michigan
• Worked at the famous Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Technical Consultant for the UCC Project.
• President of RIT Swimming, Water Polo and Diving
• President of RIT Rowing
• Line Judge at RUBC Regattas

Dr. Freddie Ba Hli

• Sc.D in EE from MIT
• Director General, UBARI
• Taught part time at EE Department
• Retired as National Advisor at the Ministry of National Planning and Finance
• Member, UCC Advisory Board
• External Examiner, UCC
• Passed away in Sydney, Australia in his 90s

U Thein Lwin

• MSEE from Lehigh University
• Saya taught at RIT and Singapore Polytechnic
• President, RIT Badminton Association

Dr. San Tint

• Taught until retirement
• External Examiner, UCC
• Attended SPZP-2000

U Soe Min

• After training in UK, transferred to DCA (Directorate of Civil Aviation)

U Chin Way

• Joined RIT in 1963
• Active in SPARK
• Was offered a job promptly by his interviewers after learning that their boss U Tun Aung (Jeffrey, EC68) was a student of Saya
• Passed away in the USA

U Nyi Nyi

• Joined RIT in 1963
• Introduced U Soe Paing to Dr. Chit Swe
• Passed away in UK

U Tin Shwe

• Joined RIT in 1966
• Taught at RIT and ABAC
• Became monk after retirement
• His demise is lamented in “To the Shwe Duo” (Poem by Tekkatho Moe War, Translation by Hla Min)

U Kyaw Lwin

• Hobbies : Rowing, Piano

Daw Mya Mya Than

• Joined EE Faculty in 1968
• Passed away

Daw Nyunt Nyunt Yee

• Joined EE Faculty in 1972
• Widow of Saya U Sein Hlaing
• Head of Electrical Engineering (Power) Department at RIT/YIT/MIT.
• Passed away on Jan 05, 2000

U Myo Kyi

• Joined EE Faculty in 1959.
• Provided two lists of EE sayas : one for Senior sayas and another for Junior sayas
• Was on deputation when the EE Sayas Group photo was taken.
• Provided video for the 60th Anniversary of RIT.

Dr. Ba Lwin

• Joined EE Faculty in 1959.
• Was on deputation when the EE Sayas Group photo was taken.
• Provided video for the 60th Anniversary of RIT.

U Tin Maung Thein

• Eldest son of Arzani U Ohn Maung.
• Joined EE Faculty in 1962.
• Was on deputation when the EE Sayas Group Photo was taken.

U Khine Oo

• Joined the EE Faculty in 1963.
• Missed the photo shoot of the EE Sayas.

Related Posts

• List of Senior EE Sayas and Sayamas
• List of Junior EE Sayas and Sayamas

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Deans

• Rangoon University had Deans for the Faculties.
• U Ba Hli was the first native Dean of Engineering

U Ba Hli

• First native Dean to head the Faculty of Engineering of Rangoon University
• Transferred to the Faculty of Engineering, RU from GTI (Government Technical Institute) where he was Principal and Professor of Civil Engineering
• Credited for the “Twinning Program” between the Faculty of Engineering, RU and the prestigious universities in the USA
• Per request from U Aung Khin (retired Professor & Head of Mechanical Engineering), Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (EE) — the only son — wrote about his beloved father for the commemorative issue of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” for SPZP-2000. It has been re-posted in the newsletter updates and in the RIT Alumni Facebook Pages. Sayagyi passed away in his house on U Wisara Road in Rangoon.

Interim Deans

• Dr. Htin Aung
• Dr. Maung Maung Kha
• Dr. Tha Hla
• U Po Tha

Dr. Htin Aung

• Principal, Rangoon College
• Rector, Rangoon University
• Vice Chancellor, Rangoon University
• Interim Dean, Faculty of Engineering
• Burmese Ambassador to Ceylon
• Folklorist / Historian

Dr. Maung Maung Kha

• Doctorate in Meteorological Physics from Imperial College, London University
• Professor & Head of Physics Department at Rangoon University
• Interim Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University
• Longest tenured Rector
• Rector of Rangoon University
• Rector of RASU
• Rector of University of Distance Learning

• Plays the violin well
• Accompanied U Ba Kyi (Artist, translator/composer of songs”) singing “Hne Yauk Hte Nay Chin De” in Burmese and English
• Passed away in Yangon in 2005.
• Centennial celebrations for his birthday were held in 2015.

Early Rectors

• Dr. Htin Aung (RU)
• Dr. Hla Myint (RU)
• Dr. Tha Hla (RU)
• U Kar (RU)
• Dr. Maung Maung Kha (RU, RASU)
• U Yone Mo (RIT)
• Dr. Aung Gyi (RIT)
• U Khin Aung Kyi (RIT)
• U Maung Maung Than (RIT)

U Yone Mo

• Retired Chief Engineer, Burma Railways
• In 1961, the Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University moved to Gyogone and had a new name Burma Institute of Technology (BIT).
• Appointed Dean of Engineering at the BIT Gyogone Campus
• Under the new Education System, BIT became an autonomous Institute with the name Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT). He became the Rector.
• Proponent of taking power naps
• U Wynn Htain Oo (M72) remembers how his friends were having fun with the “Ye Punn ရေပန်း” (Water Foundation). Saya saw them, but did not scold them. He said with a smile, “Young men, you can go to the University Swimming Pool or to the Inya Kan ကန် (Lake)”.
• Established the weekly “Yoke Shin ရုပ်ရှင်” at the Assembly Hall.
• Dr. Aung Gyi (Professor of Civil Engineering) remembered seeing a letter from U Yone Mo (Rector) sent to U Yone Mo (Parent of a son who happened to visit his gambling friends at the hostel). Dr. Aung Gyi told the Admin to stow away the letter.
• Ko Zaw Min Nawaday knows Sayagyi & his spouse (Daw Elizabeth Yone Mo, High Ranking Nurse at RGH and a close friend of Daw Khin May Than) very well. Sayagyi and Dr. Aung Gyi were in May Myo during one summer. Sayagyi asked Dr. Aung Gyi and Ko Zaw Min to accompany him.
  They ate Khauk Swe. Sayagyi reminded them not to tell about his “Khauk Swe” appetite to Sayagadaw.

Dr. Aung Gyi

• Succeeded U Yone Mo as Rector
• Rector (1971 – 1977)
• See Posts
• Memories of Dr. Aung Gyi
• Speech at SPZP-2000
• Coconut Episode

U Khin Aung Kyi

• Stood 7th in Burma in the Matriculation of 1949
• He did his B S and M S at MIT
• Professor of Chemical Engineering at RIT
• Succeeded Dr. Aung Gyi as Rector
• Taught at Rengsit University in Bangkok, Thailand
• Provided interview for HMEE-2012 Project

U Maung Maung Than

• BS in Textile Engineering from Clemson University and MS from Lowell University
• Professor & Head of Textile Engineering Department, RIT
• Rector, YIT
• DG, DHE
• Chair, RIT Sports Council
• Hobbies : Chinlon, Music
• Helped establish Engineering at Defense Services Academy

Dr. Henry Cho Tun (Myint Tun) wrote:

I’m going to add a few things about Saya U Mg Mg Than. I’m very close to him and the family and the son is my student. We are all golfers and both of them are very good. Saya MM Than is as good as Saya Soe Paing and plays with clubs that are custom made for him. Hope the following would be useful additions. Thank you

• He did his B S at Clemson and M S at Lowell.
• He joined BIT in 1957 as lecturer -Head of Textile Engineering Department at BOC college
• 1964 was appointed Professor at RIT
• Served as Rector, 1990-1992
• Director General of The Department of Higher Education 1992-1994 and retired
• Served as Director of Studies at DSTA (Defense Services Technical Academy)

Posts

• Administrators
• Convocation
• From BIT to YTU
• Rangoon University
• Three Events in December 1920

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

University Days

• Attended I.Sc at Mandalay University
• Graduated with Civil Engineering in 1968
• Joined Faculty
• Moved to the USA
• Worked for CalTrans

• Spouse : Daw Hnin Maung Maung / Ma Ku
• Children : Three sons, One daughter
• He is now GBNF

Activities

• Founding member of RIT Alumni International

• Master of Ceremonies for SPZP-2000
• Wrote about the SPZP-2000 experience in the Post Reunion series.

• Founding member of NorCal RITAA.
• Chair of BOD (Board of Directors).
• One of the hosts for NorCal RITAA meetings. He would invite the attendees to take a boat ride on the nearby man-made lake. Would also arrange a karaoke session.

• Past President of Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA)
• President of Theravada Buddhist Society of America (TBSA) for a decade. Led the procession for the scattering of ashes of Sayadaw U Silananda into the San Francisco Bay near the Golden Gate Bridge.

Lost Neikan RIT

• Wrote a parody on “Pyauk Sone Nay Thaw Neikban Bon” (the song by Sai Kham Leik and Sai Htee Saing).

• Played the Ukelele and sang the song described above at the 2015 Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles.

Donation

• Donated Life Vests to 20 teachers in the town of Paletwa in Chin Special Division, Myanmar.
• The teachers risked their lives daily crossing Kaladan river to teach children on the other side of the town.
• One teacher was killed in a boat mishap in surging waters during heavy rains. A life jacket would have saved her life.

Golden Jubilee

On May 20, 2018, the BOD (Board of Directors) and EC (Executive Committee) members of NorCal RITAA threw a surprise party to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of U Myat Htoo (C68, Chair of BOD) and Daw Hnin Maung Maung (Ma Ku, “Nyima Lay”).

According to Saya, he was the youngest in his family and wanted a younger sibling (preferably a sister).

He found an innocent 9 year old neighbor (and family friend).

Ten years later, they tied the knot.

Memories

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Brief Bio

• Matriculated from St. John’s Diocesan Boys High School.
• Attended Rangoon University.
• EC member of the Rangoon University Writers Club in 1959 – 60.
• Editor of the RUESU (Rangoon University Engineering Students Union) Annual Magazine.

• Graduated with Electrical Engineering in 1963
• Joined the Faculty at RIT (Rangoon Institute of Technology).
• Chief Editor of RIT Annual Magazine
• Chief Editor of the Hlyat Sit Sar Saung published by the RIT Electrical Engineering Association

• Wrote poems and articles for various magazines & journals
• Authored or co-authored five books
• Worked in Singapore and chaired two Saya Pu Zaw Pwes — SPZP-2002 and SPZP-2010 — in Singapore.
• He and his team published Commemorative Issues of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for three Saya Pu Zaw Pwes — SPZP-2002, SPZP-2007 and SPZP-2010 — in Singapore.
• After retirement, moved back to Yangon.
• Helped published Commemorative Issues of Swel Daw Yeik Magazine for SPZP-2012, Shwe YaDu (in 2014) and SPZP-2016
• Founding member and Patron of SDYF (Swel Daw Yeik Foundation).
• Still writes poems and articles.

Literary Work

• Pen name : Tekkatho Moe War
• Mentor : Daung Nwe Swe
• Composed hundreds of Kabyars (poems). Some (e.g. Shwe YaDu Lann) took four days of contemplation.
  Composed some Kabyars “Let Tann” (extemporaneously)
• Published several books.
  Some are compilation of articles and poems.
• Editor for RUESU Magazine
• Chief Editor of the RIT Annual Magazines, Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung, Swel Daw Yeik Magazine, Hlyat Sit Sar Saung
• Columnist for Weekly Eleven Journal
• I translated some of saya’s poems and articles:
• Search for beauty
  posted in “Poetic Art Series”
• Bagan Heritage
  in honor of recognition by UNESCO
• Shwe YaDu Lann
  for the RIT Golden Jubilee
• To the Shwe Duo
  in memory of Saya U Tin Shwe (EP66) and Saya U Hla Shwe (T69)
• Kabyar Let Saung
  A precious gift
• Computer in my heart
• …
• Sea of Men
  

Kabyar Let Saung

by Saya U Moe Aung (Tekkatho Moe War)
Translated by Hla Min

String of attachment — then in its infancy
grew beyond proportion — on her birthday
to express my deepest feelings — while courting her
I gave “Sho Whet The Pho” (Mystery/Thriller) Magazine
as a birthday gift to my beloved.

We shared our metta
with true devotion

I presented a golden ring
to my yee-sar as a birthday gift.

Hand in hand we entered the “married” land
on her birthday past the Honeymoon
I presented Goya fragrance as a birthday gift

Traveling together
Often facing dark nights
Yonder looked thick and rough

Goal seemed distant [and not straight]
[Tired and] weary
[Often] look but could not see

Struggle just to keep alive
Despite the challenges I feel
I owe my beloved a nice birthday gift

But …
Precious jewels are out of reach
I can only offer a gift from my heart

Kabyar
inexpensive — not meaning to underrate her love

Will she accept as a priceless treasure?

___________________________________

RUESU

Dear Ko Hla Min,

Thanks to Saya U Soe Paing for his great endeavour in visiting the UCL (Universities’ Central Library) numerous times [in January 2012] to gather and record invaluable information relating to RIT (and BOC college of Engineering as well). And thanks to you for archiving all through your emails and keeping all RITians gelled together.

Only when did Saya U Soe Paing mention Engineering Students’ Magazines, that I happen to recall one Engineering Students’ Magazine in which I was part of it. That was in Academic Year 1960-1961. I was still an Electrical Engineering Student at that time (2nd year, or, by the present calling, 4th year). At Rangoon University (Main University) they had a University Students’ Union (in Burmese, Thud Meg-ga is translated as Union), and we had correspondingly an Engineering Students’ Union as well at our Faculty of Engineering at Leik-Khone (Dome), Prome Road.

At that time I met one Ko Hla Tin (Civil) who was my senior and several years older than me, staying at Prome Hall which was adjacent to Leik Khone, only separated by a fence. He was an avid poet (pen name Kay-tu Win Tint, from Taunggoo) and I used to visit his room at Prome Hall to talk about poems and literature during lunch or break times. I also met one senior (can’t recall his name, I think Ko Sein Hlaing) who was the Secretary of the Students’ Union. After some lively discussions, we decided to issue an Engineering Students’ Union Annual Magazine and they made me the Chief Editor. The Magazine consisted of two sections, Burmese and English, of which Saya U Aung Khin (Mech) was the English Editor.

I still have the 1960-61 issue neatly tucked in a cupboard in Yangon.

Now I remember that Ko Sein Hlaing (EE?) is still in Yangon, helping to look after his grand children, but not in good health. Ko Sein Hlaing’s daughter was my daughter’s very close friend since their childhood days. We met once in Singapore about 12 years back.

Dear Ko Hla Min, this is the time to reminisce and be happy about the good old days and try to fly back with whatever time machine we could get hold of. Time really flies and we should realize that our days are numbered.

Moe Aung

___________________________________

“ရွှေ နှစ် ရွှေ သို့ “

ရွှေနှစ်ရွှေ…..

ဝေတော့လည်း တူ

ကြွေတော့လည်း အတူတူ

ငြူစူခြင်း ကင်း

မျှဉ်းမျှဉ်း အသက်ရှူ

စိုက်ထူမှတ်တိုင်

မယိမ်းယိုင်ခဲ့…..

မနိုင်ဝန် ပိ

အလှည့်သင့်လာ

သောအခါ မှာ

ခန္ဓာအမွေ

ကြွေသာ ကြွေလည်း

မသေ ဝိညာဉ် ဝဲပျံနေသေးတကား ….။ ။

( ကိုတင်ရွှေ- လျှပ်စစ်စွမ်းအား နှင့် ကိုလှရွှေ- ချည်မျှင် သို့)

တက္ကသိုလ် မိုးဝါ

(၂၆ ဇန္နဝါရီ ၂ဝ၁၅ – ည ၉:၅၅ နာရီ)

To The SHWE Duo

Poem by Tekkatho Moe War
Translation by Hla Min

SHWE duo
Blossom in unison
Disappear together
Free from complaint
Even with thin breath
Showed mark [of courage and wisdom]
Never wavered …
Pressed by burden
At the awaited turn [of journey’s end]
Body — inheritance [from previous lives]
Succumbs [to failing health]
Yet, “Wei-nyin” is fresh, alive and hovering.

Translated by Hla Min

___________________________________

Shwe YaDu Lann

Shwe YaDu Lann

Poem by Tekkatho Moe War
Translation by Hla Min

Shwe YaDu Lann
Let it be rough [but it’s tough]. Flowers are blossoming again.
Fear not the summer
Care not the rain [drops]
or the thick fogs & darkness
or if winter’s not true to its form

Shwe YaDu Lann
Let it be rough. No gentle stream flowing
Fear not high winds
Care not dense clouds
Topsy turvy [come what may]
Can paddle upstream
With strong mind & conviction
Place where heroes [Thu Ye Kaungs] are produced.

Swel Daw Myaing Dann
Shwe YaDu Lann
is a start [of a journey]
To raise the Banner loftily
to the skies, to the Zenith
displaying our thitsar (vow of truth and integrity)

HLA MIN (Editor, Newsletter Updates, USA)

___________________________________

The (Hidden) Power of Kabyar

Kabyar is animate
But [it’s life is] not just a [fleeting] morn

Kabyar is a weapon
But not for destroying the world

Kabyar is key
For liberation and independence
But not devoid of principles [and morals]

Kabyar has power
Hidden but efficient & effective
Like sharp-pointed spear-head
Can thrust into [the heart of] a power-maniac
Cause trembling, shivering, throbbing & anguished pain

Poem in Burmese by Tekkatho Moe War (Saya U Moe Aung)
Translated by Hla Min

Memories

by Hla Min

Updated : September 2026

Highlights

• BS from University of California Berkeley
• MS from Minnesota School of Mining
• Upon his return from USA, he was assigned to the Department of Mining Engineering at BOC College to teach part-time and to act as Head of the Department.
• He was succeeded by Saya U Soon Sein as full-time saya and Head.
• U Soe Khaw worked at the Ministry of Mines.
• After retirement, he worked for UN assignments overseas.
• He then migrated to the USA.
• He was a Patron of selected monasteries in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• He was healthy even in his early 90s.
• When his spouse passed away, he offered Soon at TMC. The group photo shows Dhamma friends.

Last Journey

Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt (M60) wrote :

U Soe Khaw, (RIT Part-time Lecturer – Mining), passed away peacefully on February 14, 2018 at 4:45 pm per Michael Khaw, his son.

Ph 408-737-0238.
1082 Noriega Ave, Sunnyvale, Ca 94086

Memorial Service

Date : February 24, 2018 (Sunday)
Time : 10:30 AM
Place : Tathagata Meditation Center (TMC)
1215 Lucretia Avenue
San Jose, CA 95122
Contact : 1 (408) 977 0300 or 1(408) 294 4536

Soon offering : 11:15 AM
Lunch for guests : 11:30 AM
Dhamma talk : 12:30 PM