by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
သိပ္ပံမောင်ဝ၊ မင်းသုဝဏ် နဲ့ အတူ with Theikpan Maung Wa & Minthuwun
* စာကြည့်တိုက်ပညာ Library Science — Dublin တက္ကသိုလ်
* Wunna Kyaw Htin ဝဏ္ဏကျော်ထင် 1949
* Thiri Pyan Chi သီရိပျံချီ 1961
ရန်ကုန်တက္ကသိုလ် စာကြည့်တိုက်
တက္ကသိုလ်များ စာကြည့်တိုက်
by Noreen
Updated : June 2025
Dear friends and former colleagues of the RIT,
I was overwhelmed by your kind letters of sympathy and messages of condolence. It seemed as though time and distance have rolled away, back to the happy memories of the days gone by when all were young and working together at the RIT.
2017 has been a very difficult year for the family from the time Ko Myo Win was diagnosed with cancer of the bile duct in February, soon after his return from Yangon. As his cancer was inoperable, he went through eight cycles of Chemo and although it seemed to be responding well initially things started to change as his cancer markers went up and the tumour became resistant to the treatment. He remained positive and fought on, but sadly he lost the battle and passed away peacefully at home on 14 November.
From the time he was diagnosed with cancer, he had wanted to remain private and would not let us tell anyone of his illness and neither would he let any friend visit him. We respected his wishes and let him have his way.
My apologies for not being able to respond to your letters individually but I will try and do that in the days ahead. It is in times of grief and sadness that your love and support has helped us through this ordeal.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to my brother Tin Aung Win, sister-in-law Dorothy for their love and support.
Finally sincere thanks to Ko Hla Min for bringing together the RIT family, friends and colleagues through your forum.
In appreciation
Nu Nu Yee (Noreen) Win
(nunuyee.win@gmail.com)
Aye, Aung and the rest of the Win Family
by Tin Aung Win
Updated : June 2025
Dear Ko Hla Min,
I really do like reading your profile of past alumni. It is inspiring as well as very informative. I would like to suggest that you make it a regular feature, maybe in the future. I know you guys are really busy now and do admire for the time and energy you can give to the cause. You all have done a very good job and have my sincere best wishes. Thank you again to all of you.
I’m in awe of many alumni with PhDs and so on. However, I earned my doctorate a very long time ago. In fact, I believe I’m the only one who first got a doctorate before the first degree. I’ll let you in on the secret. It was back in the late 60’s when I was dating Sanda (daughter of the late Saya U Kyaw Tun). Although I was never in Sayagyi’s class, when he was lecturing, he would tell his class that he has two daughters and that he would only marry them off to someone whom has a Ph.D. From then on, whenever we were together and walking along the corridors, someone would say, “here comes Dr. Tin Aung Win”.
As I am leaving Sydney with my wife Sanda (Dorothy) on the 9th of October, 2000, I’m going to miss your countdown series. However, I have printed out most of them, which will enable me to read on the long flight to SF. I’ll be spending time in some countries before I hit SF on the 27th of Oct, and for the mega reunion on the 28th.
Cheers
Tin Aung Win
by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
He is a distinguished poet, writer, editor and publisher. He wrote for newspapers, magazines and journals. He has compiled and published collections of his works.
His mentor was Daung Nwe Swe (Laureate Poet).
He served as an all-round volunteer for the publication of Annual Magazine of RUESU (Rangoon University Engineering Students Union).
He served as Chief Editor and/or Publisher of the following (and more) :
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
by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
There were three significant events.
On December 1, 1920, Rangoon University was established with Rangoon College and Judson College as its constituents. There were only three Faculties : Arts, Science, and Law.
RU later extended its offerings. The opening of engineering classes was planned around 1923 and executed in 1924.
In 1927, the first batch of engineering students (who had Bachelors degree) graduated with the “accelerated courses” option.
In 1928, the second batch of engineering students (who joined after finishing the I.Sc.) graduated.
RU celebrated the Golden Jubilee in 1970.
Dr. Aung Gyi (Professor of Civil Engineering) and U Thet Lwin (Burmese saya at the Institute of Economics) were GJ organizers.
The term “Swel Daw Yeik” became synonymous with RIT, its predecessors and successors.
Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint (စွယ်တော်ရိပ် အငြိမ့်), Htee Yein (ထီးယိမ်း) & Tabin Daing Ah Ka (တပင်တိုင်အက) were hits at the GJ celebration.
On December 5, 1920, several students led the Boycott of the Rangoon University Act of 1920.
The boycott was responsible for the amendments to the RU Act.
A pillar was set up on Shwe Dagon Pagoda in memory of the Boycott.
The event is honored as National Day (Amyotha Aung Pwe Nay အမျိုးသားအောင်ပွဲနေ့) . The Burmese date & not December 5th is used for the celebrations.
National Schools (Amyotha Kyaung အမျိုးသားကျောင်း) were opened. U Po Kyar, Arzani U Razak, U Nu and U Thant are notable sayas from the National Schools.
He was born on December 26, 1920.
He is one of the oldest and senior sayas associated with the engineering schools in Burma.
Even though RU was closed during the Japanese Occupation, he completed his M.Sc. and taught at the make-shift classes on Mogul (Shwe Bon Tha street ရွှေဘုံသာ လမ်း) .
He served as Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer and Professor of Maths at RU and RASU.
He was promoted to Rector, MASU. After some time, he volunteered to relocate to RIT as Professor of Maths.
As a Saya of engineering sayas, he was invited to attend SPZP-2000 and give a speech.
He attended all SPZPs except SPZP-2002 (which he had to forgo due to Sayagadaw’s health and demise).
He played Chinlon and Soccer in his University days.
He headed the Burmese delegation to the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 1964.
He served as Commandant of the Luyechun Camp.
Until his 80s, he was active (e.g. walk to Shwe Dagon Pagoda with his dhamma friends).
In his 90’s, he had physical limitations, but his mental faculty remained.
He passed away on December 2, 2020 — the day after the RU Centennial. It was a few days short of his Centennial birthday.
by Mg Mg Win
Updated : June 2025
During those years from 1962 to 1980, I made true and genuine friendship with four colleagues : Dr. Tin Win (M62), U Win (M63), U Myo Win (M/Ag65) and Dr. Tin Hlaing (M63). I call them my “Awesome Foursome”. Even to this day, we have with constant correspondence.
The students came from different parts of the country. Those from Rangoon attended their classes from home using bus. Those from out of town applied for accommodation. Most got except a few unfortunate ones. Those who did not get accommodation lived in nearby houses with families paying for food and lodging. Having worked for several years with students as hall tutor and warden, I learned many things about their nature, habit and character.
Some students were expelled from hostels for not observing rules and regulation. I overheard that those who got kicked out of the hostels were like getting bonus because they did not have to pay any hostel fees but they could even take refuge with their mates and come down and eat with them after buying a dish from nearby food court serving all sorts of food — Burmese, Chinese and Indian. Rice was served freely for them without any restriction as most of the wardens and hall tutors gave a blind eye. U Chit’s Moke-Hin-Gha and Ma Tin Aye’s food stalls were very popular. If dishes at the hostel dinning hall were not too good or we had to spend only 25 pyas or so, to buy a decent dish of fried sausage or egg even mixed with tomatoes from the wives of butlers who set up a make-shift stall just outside the dining hall. There were many food stalls all along near the dinning halls so that if they found tasteless and lost appetite it is within their reach. We could sometimes invite our day-students friends to join us for a lunch at RIT dining hall.
Electrical clocks installed at RIT were maintained by Ko Khin Mg Yin (tall and a bit skinny but friendly and helpful guy). U Ba Lin was the buyer and U Aung Than was U Thet Lwin’s assistant for any odd jobs. Hostel fees are 57 Kyats a month only. Monthly scholarship/stipend allowance was 75 kyats a month.
I remember G-Block was meant for single-man teachers and staff from 1961 to 1964 but with the introduction of the new Education system about 30% of the student population was woman students. To help reduce stress & pressure of finding accommodation the administration arranged in such away that man-teachers were given notice to leave the block for woman students for convenience. Since then G-Block became woman students’ hostel for a long time under woman warden Dr. Daw Thaung Khin.
I also remember the time when we were sent to regional areas a couple of times to supervise the final exam when all the universities and institutes were closed down because of student unrest.
We have also annual sports celebrated for student recreation for dual progress in health, friendship and wisdom and many students participated and staff and employees supervised and helped to successful event and victory. It’s difficult to know and acknowledge all for their participation and/or successes in RIT sports.
Many of my superiors and other friends and family, comrades and colleagues welcome us and extend as their invitation stands until we make it happen. That shows that our RIT comradeship and friendship is still alive and well with generosity, hospitality and sincerity. I don’t think I can find such genuine friendship in other institutes and universities. We are very cohesive like adhesive as we deem friends like priceless diamond that we can confide whatever and a warm shoulder to lean and cry our heart-out and it is a very rare commodity to find.
Allow me to express my gratitude to the “awesome foursome” for their sincerity, hospitality and honesty that I learned through our genuine friendship. I was holidaying in Queensland along Surfers Paradise in July 1998, and on our return journey we stopped a couple days in Wagga Wagga, U Myo Win’s town. He showed his hospitality with open arms in his residence. He also took us to many interesting places. Earlier he and his wife visited our place a couple of times when he passed through Melbourne on his trips. Dr Tin Win and his siblings, nephews and nieces about 9 while visiting many towns and cities in their Australian tour, he tried his best to come and see me and had a wonderful time together over lunch. Dr Tin Win has a very sentimental value about Melbourne because he got his doctorate from Melbourne University. U Myo Win and wife also tried to be with us from Wagga Wagga which is about 650KM from us.
Dr Tin Win, his sisters and siblings came all the way down to Australia in July 2001. He made his effort to see me after more than 20 years. As we had not seen each other after we left the Institute, we spent the whole afternoon over lunch together with U Myo Win and his spouse who came all the way from Wagga Wagga, NSW about 650KM in a different State.
I went to the Dec 2000 Ex-RIT Reunion for several reasons. Firstly, I am filled with gratitude and appreciation to someone’s Cetana and Myitta even for a small morsel of food. Secondly, I had not seen my awesome foursome together in one place after we left RIT some 30 years ago.
In April 2007 one of my old students John Rao from Singapore invited into his family home for a week while we were attending the Ex-RIT reunion. U Aung Myint and his wife invited both families of me and Dr Tin Win to visit their home in Auckland, New Zealand in Mar08 for a week. Dr Tin Win could not make it because of his neck surgery. U Aung Myint and his wife took us to many places in North Island and we really enjoyed the trip for which we thanked them from the bottom of our hearts.
Sometime in March 2009, U San Tun (M59) and wife and other about 20 in a group of tourists from the USA were traveling to New Zealand and Australia. As I had not seen him for more than 40 years since he left RIT in Aug 1968, I tried and organised many of my mates to help him. U Henry Thet Tun (M75) in Sydney, U Myo Win in Canberra and U Myint Lwin in Auckland, New Zealand complied. U San Tun came to Melbourne also to meet me and we had a wonderful time together over lunch after a long break more than 40 years.
In Sept 2010 Dr Tin Win and Lily invited us to LA for a couple of weeks, taking us to Universal Studios, Hollywood Boulevard, … Las Vegas and San Francisco. I think it was the best trip ever because it gave us opportunity to meet many old students in Los Angeles and San Francisco and their spouses showing their genuine hospitality and generosity. This is because of our unique tradition of love and respect to our elders and teachers. In San Francisco, I met U San Tun again and another mate U Tin Maung Nyunt that I had not seen for more than 40 years. I would like to acknowledge with sincere appreciation to Dr Tin Win and Lily for their hospitality and generosity that such quality and qualification of respect and attachment is very hard to find as it is really a rare commodity.
by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
Please try to help your alma mater in any way you can be
by Hla Min
Updated : June 2025
U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EP76) wrote :
I believe he left EPC as DyCE. Upon retirement he was active in football [soccer], became Technical Director/Team Leader with the Football federation. For all his efforts, he was awarded “Excellent Performance in Social Field (Third Class)” in January 2008.
