Category: Sad News

He was my classmate at St. Paul’s High School, Leik Khone and RIT.

He was called Brownie (Mg Nyo) for his skin complexion.

He stood 13th in Burma in the Matriculation of 1963 and won Collegiate Scholarship.

He did not smoke or drink.

RIT Days

He played Tennis and Soccer for his Block.

He started smoking to fend off mosquitos.

He started drinking to enjoy the end of exams.

Both habits later caused health problems.

He worked for MOC and Schlumberger.

Mini-gathering in Yangon

During my visit to Yangon, Zau Lai (EP69)!picked me up and we decided to go and see Brownie (at his house near A1 Compound). To our surprise and delight, Brownie did not change clothes or close his gate but jumped on the car.

Per his doctor’s advice, he had quit smoking and drinking.

Zaw Lai hosted a party at his Yangon apartment, coaxed Brownie to have some drinks and gave him a bottle (to take back home). Ko Thein Swe (EP69, GBNF) and Sa Maung Maung (EP68) were present at the mini-gathering.

Breakfast Gathering

The monthly Breakfast Gathering at Royal Rose was solemn. Ko Kyaw Zin (EP69) offered to take us to the Neurology Ward in RGH to see Brownie, who had fallen in the shower room at his house.

Final remarks

I spent a few days as a temporary monk at Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung.

69ers did not inform me of Brownie’s demise so that my medication practice would not be interrupted.

U Chit Tin

He graduated from RIT with B.E (EC) in 1969.

He joined MOC.

He worked in Singapore and moved back after retirement.

He was a regular attendee at the 69er gatherings.

He is the third EC69er to pass away. U Kyaw Soe (DCA) and U Aung Thu Yein (Schlumberger) had passed away earlier.

EC69ers

• Hla Min (USA) : Lifelong Learner
• Tun Aung Gyaw (USA) : Ph.D in Computer Science from UIUC
• Mg Toung (Tom, USA) : Retired. He often visits Hong Kong to see his son and grandchild.
• Oo Kyaw Hla (GBNF) : Learnt from his spouse that he passed away in Canada
• Aung Thu Yein (GBNF)
• Chit Tin (GBNF)
• Maung Ko : Attended 69er gatherings
• Than Lwin (Henry) : Retired Lecturer
• Win Boh (Robert, Australia) : Guitarist & Vocalist
• Mehm Ye Win : Former Secretary of RIT EE Association
• Kyaw Soe (GBNF)
• Sai Aik Yee (GBNF)
• Tin Tin (Ann, USA) was the sole female student in EE69 (both EC and EP). She came back to Gyogone Campus in December 1969 to attend the Golden Jubilee of Graduation and donate to 69er HCF. She is a volunteer for Social Projects in Southern California.

He was a Top Student.

He would finish Drawing classes / exams early and still receive Grade 5.

He became tall and lanky and renamed himself as La Da & Galon.

He was a Training Partner for Sai Kham Pan (Burma Selected in Badminton) and represented his Township.

He posted requests to pray for him for a successful operation and recovery.

Sadly, he passed away.

* Than Win wrote :

သံသရာမှာ ရွှင်လန်းချမ်းေ မြ့ပါစေ

တရားထူးများလည်းရရှိပါစေ

* Eddie Shein wrote :

ကိုခင်မောင်ဝင်း ရဲ့ လက္ခဏာ မှာ ညဏ်လမ်းကြောင်းက ဘောပင် နှင့် ဆွဲထားသလို အလွန်ထူးခြား ထင်ရှား ပြတ်သား လှပါသည်။

ညဏ်ကောင်းလွန်းလှပါသည်။

* David Myint Thein wrote :

Gone But Not Forgotten , Sargalay. May your soul rest in peace.

* Jamal Hasan wrote :

We pray for Paradise Nirvana

• He was in Dawei when his spouse passed away in Yangon.
  He rushed to Yangon to take care of his spouse.
  Due to the COVID Restrictions then in place, he could not attend her last journey.
• The following year, he succumbed to COVID.
• COVID claimed many lives including multiple members in some families.

The weather was exceptionally beautiful this morning — not only in the Silicon Valley where we live and work, but also over the hills along Highway 17, and even in the coastal area around Santa Cruz. There were no fogs, mists, or clouds.

I am not an early bird, but I woke up really early this morning to prepare for Dr. Htay Lwin Nyo‘s final journey — the scattering of his ashes from a 35 foot trawler motor yacht, DESTINY.

On Saturday, 10th June, 2000, Dr. Khin Nyo Thet and Dr. Lyn Swe Aye had retrieved the cremated remains of Htay Lwin Nyo from Oak Hill Funeral Home. OHFH had packed and sealed Htay Lwin Nyo’s ashes in a sturdy, shining metal box (in compliance with postal regulations). With the approval of Htay Lwin Nyo’s family members in Yangon, Myanmar, we decided to give Htay Lwin Nyo a sea burial.

RIT Alumni International had earlier sent an advance check of $75 to Captain Pete Petersen, skipper of DESTINY. In his brochure, Captain Petersen clearly stated that “inclement weather will result in a rescheduling”. We do not want high winds to prolong the sad saga. The unusually fine weather, according to Dr. Lyn Swe Aye, must be Htay Lwin Nyo’s kusala (kutho or good deeds) and the well wishing of numerous friends and colleagues. We all agree.

Dr. Khin Nyo Thet had asked me to be at her house not later than 7:30 a.m. She was surprised but delighted when I showed up barely a few minutes after 7 a.m. “It’s better to be early than late”, she said and gave me a cup of coffee and some biscuits [that looked and tasted like those way back in Burma]. Dr. Lyn Swe Aye had come back from his early biking round.

There was virtually no traffic on the way to Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor. To cut the story short, DESTINY took off at 5 mph. There were no swells. More than a mile into the ocean waters, the Captain set the gears to neutral. Dr. Khin Nyo Thet scattered Htay Lwin Nyo’s ashes into the ocean waters. There were tears in her eyes. There was also relief knowing that she had done her best to give the last rites to Htay Lwin Nyo. We shared our merits once more to Htay Lwin Nyo.

The round trip took about 50 minutes or so. It was the finale of a sad saga.

Thanks to all those who endured with us. May Htay Lwin Nyo rest in peace.

Regards,
Hla Min

According to Dr. Tin Wa (Past Captain and Gold of RUBC), his father U Tin Ohn and U Ohn Maung — both Cabinet Secretaries— were in a room near the Cabinet Meeting Room in Secretariat on July 19, 1947.

U Ohn Maung was requested by Bogyoke Aung San to make a presentation after the main Meeting.

He became an Arzani.

He perished along with seven Martyrs on July 19. Sao San Tun was hospitalized and passed away on July 20.

He was my mentor at UCC.

He founded UCC with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min and Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF).

I have written many articles about my sayas and colleagues in “Memories of UCC” series.

A summary was published in the Commemorative Magazine for the 30th Anniversary of ICST.

I worked on several of Saya’s projects including High School Mathematics, CTK (Children’s Treasury of Project) and TOSS (Team of System Specialists).

He passed away in Sydney, Australia at the tender age of 88.

** Notes

* I posted some anecdotes about Saya Chit.

* Saya Chit, U Myint Oo and I were ordained as (temporary) monks in Sagaing Hills.

The ordaination ceremonies in Rangoon do not take a long time.

The Preceptor / Sayadaw gave a lengthy Ovadha / Exhortation (more than an hour) befitting a well-known Professor & Computer Pioneer.

U Tun Aung was Librarian of IM(2).

He was in Mandalay during the Summer Vacation.

He bathed several times one day to fend off the heat.

He passed away.