Advanced dictionaries may list idioms and their usage.
Examples
During my middle school days, one of my uncles gave me books (including “A Book of Idioms”) .
From the book, I learned that “the hand that rocks the cradle” stands for “a mother”.
“Rain cats and dogs” is an idiom which means “Rain heavily”. In this example, the idiom uses a metaphor.
No one knows the root of the idiom “kick the bucket” meaning “dies”. Someone guessed that a man being hanged by a rope might kick a bucket.
Idioms should be used sparingly.
If you combine two idioms mentioned above and say “The hand that rocked the cradle kicked the bucket” you might receive LOL (Laughing Out Loud) for the illogical construct.
U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) added :
Believe it or not, this subject is one of the many we learned from U Hla Min (KJ to some of us) while we were at the UCC. As some of us were preparing for TOEFL, KJ prepared us by teaching the ins and outs of the language.
Some of these idioms are regional in nature, after some time living here, I tend to use many idioms as they come naturally. Well, that’s until a childhood friend of mine kindly reminded me that many of them were having hard time fully understanding what I meant in the posts.
As of now, I am trying my best to use US idioms as little as possible, at times I feel like I have to write more as if I could not communicate to get my point across. I did it again, bad of me.
“to get my point across” is an idiom meaning “to make people understand what one is saying” (per Merriam Webster).
M.Sc. from the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom.
Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in the United States.
Taught at VMI (Virginia Military Institute).
He is currently working in the Washington, D.C, (District of Columbia).
His friend Sayama Daw Swe Swe Than asked U Soe Than to tutor her sister Daw Wai Wai Than. The rest is history.
Soe Than
U Mra Tun
Mra is a Rakkhine spelling for Mya.
Mathematics major
Joined UCC as an applications programmer.
There were some difficulties in finding a suitable university for Mra in the UK. He received an offer from the University of Belfast, but there was violence notably in connection with IRA [Irish Republican Army]. He ended up migrating to the United States.
He owns a set of equipment (Lead Guitar, Rhythm Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Audio) to form a band.
He was the leader of TAMPS band (formed with the initials of the members): Tin Aung, Austin Xavier, Mra Tun, Pierpont Morgan and Sidney Sann Aung.
In the USA, he often jams with the local music bands.
He and Ricky Zaw (brother of Daw Nyunt Nyunt Zaw (T68)) performed a duet at the BASES Annual Dinner in Los Angeles.
He worked as an independent consultant and as a contractor for IBM. Most of his projects are related to COBOL (considered as a “dead language” by some)
U Kyaw Nyein (GBNF)
Taught Numeral Methods at the UCC courses.
Studied in the UK.
He was athletic and played Football and Volleyball.
He had a kidney problem.
His “Ah Nar Dei” attitude (to use the health fund provided by former colleagues) led to his demise.
U Aung Hlaing
He is fondly known as Japan Sayagyi. His wife worked for the Foreign Ministry and was assigned to Japan. He accompanied her and worked as a COBOL programmer.
Saya U Soe Paing met him during his training (sponsored by JICA [Japan International Cooperating Agency] and implemented by Fujitsu and other Japanese computer companies. Saya asked him if he would like to join UCC upon his return to Burma.
He became one of the COBOL teachers.
He moved to Australia.
U Soe Thein (GBNF)
Also known as Joe Thein
He had a disability, but that did not prevent him to have a good life and career. He completed training from ICL including COBOL programming.
He joined UCC as an “off-line” operator.
He transferred to the Application Division.
He became one of the COBOL teachers.
Transfers
Some from Operations Division transferred to other divisions (e.g. Scientific Applications Division) and/or Teaching. They include U Myint Swe and U Soe Myint (GBNF).
Some transferred from other Government departments to UCC. They include U Win Myint (SLR) and U Tin Win.
Several student volunteers joined UCC after completing their M.Sc. and DAC courses. They include U Win Naing (GBNF), Daw Tin May Lwin and Daw Thin Thin Aung.
In the old education system, there were minimal requirements to attend courses at the University.
Among those who stood First in Burma, Dr. Soe Win (Matric 58) chose to study Chemistry and Dr. Hla Tin Ngwe (Frankie Ohn, Matric 59) chose to study Physics. Sayagyi U Ba Khin chose to work and later became Head of four Departments and a renowned Vipassana Teacher.
The disruption took in several forms (a) the use of the controversial ILA system (b) competition to enter professional courses (c) discrimination of those who are not 3-NRC.
The “Science Scholarship” (SS) program was introduced to lure brilliant students to study Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
Saya Dr. Nyi Nyi, then Deputy Minister of Education, “promised” that SS holders will be sent for further studies (may be even before they graduate).
Per Dr. Kyaw Tint (SS for Physics), 20 SS awards were reserved for each discipline, but they were never filled due to lack of student interest.
Reality struck.
There were few scholarships for the Ministry of Education.
But, there’s a silver lining in every cloud.
Some SS scholars gained wealth and fame as Tuition Sayas.
The early Engineering departments have (a) Professor (b) Lecturers (c) Assistant Lecturers
The then new Education System created (d) Instructor(s)
The newer Education System created (e) Associate Professor (s)
Typical pay scales in the early days are
Professor : 1300+ Kyats
Lecturer : 800 – 50 – 1200 Kyats for minimum, annual increment and maximum
Assistant Lecturer : 350 (and CLA) – 25 -700 Kyats and CLA (Cost of Living Allowance) was 89 Kyats (or so) The “adjusted” pay was 439 Kyats (or so) The CLA was later dropped. So, AL : 450 – 25 – 700 Kyats
Instructor : 450 – 25 – 700 Kyats The pay scale is the same as AL It takes longer to become a Lecturer
Some terminology
Selection Grade : Those who earn 800+ Kyats Entitled to buy 10% of salary at “Staff Shop”
Gazetted Officer : Those who earn 350 (and CLA) or higher 450 (Base Pay) in the newer system Promotion, deputation, transfer, leave … are published in the [Burma] Gazette
Head of Department : Large departments are headed by a Professor Sub-departments are headed by a Lecturer Supporting departments may be headed by an AL
Demonstrator / Tutor : Early days : 200 (and CLA) => 297 Kyats (or so) Later : 320 Scale Supervises lab and/or tutorials
Tie may stand for Draw. e.g. The match ended in a 1-1 Tie (or Draw).
In the early days, the winner of a soccer game [in a round robin or league play] earns 2 points. The loser does not earn points. Teams share 1 point for a tied game. Conservative teams tend to play defensively to tie games rather than losing.
Currently, the winner of a soccer game earns 3 points. The loser does not earn points. Team share 1 point for a tied game. The scheme was introduced to incentivize offensive plays.
Architecture was introduced for the very first time in 1954 at BOC, University of Rangoon. U Myo Myint Sein belongs to this first batch. One of his classmates, Ko Myint Thein retired as Chief Architect of Public Works Department in Yangon. We were the “third batch” and were fortunate to study at the brand new “Faculty of Engineering” campus, commonly known as “Leik-khone” at Pyay [Prome] Road. There were nine of us in the first year, (1956). One of them was Shajahan, an Indian lady who became the first female to join the male dominated Engineering campus. However, she was unfortunate to be the victim of the “2F” system of our days. She left for India and later graduated as an Architect from there.
In our second year, three guys from the second batch joined us. One from the first batch joined us in the final year. Two of the old-timers became the victims of the “2F” system.
One very unique and interesting aspect of being an architecture student is doing design work. We were trained to solve design problems within a stipulated time and because of that we use to spend most of our time in our studio class. Eventually, the studio became our second home. We practically eat and sleep there and we spent our break times in the studio as well.
Only when attending related Engineering subjects, we join together with other Engineering students. Otherwise, we normally confined ourselves within the Department of Architecture block and among our own group. Thus, the reason that most of the Engineering students came to know us because we were like “caged animals” in the zoo; being watched by people from outside and in our case by our friends as they walked along the corridors. Although the majority of us were day students, we were better off than those staying in the hostels as we didn’t have to pay extra to live in the studios. It was fun spending our time in the studios and as we were able to come up with fantastic ideas and designs and draw them as and whenever desired and complete the project within the stipulated time. For us, we didn’t had “days” and “nights”. The nights were more peaceful and productive for us. Only the studios in the architecture block were lit up at night. Sometimes, we even walk over to Hledan, Kamayut to have our break and supper.
When architecture was introduced at BOC in 1954, there were one British and two Indian architects as full time staff assisted by their Myanmar counterparts. They were still teaching us during our first year. Roger Johnson, also a British architect became head of Department when we got to the second year. He was assisted by Nagler, an American architect and Saya U Kyaw Min (GBNF) and Saya U Win Htain in the later years. Sayagyi U Tha Tun (GBNF), Saya U Maung Maung, Saya U Aung Myint, Saya U Khin Mg Thint and Saya U San Tun Aung were part time staff. All the architectural subjects and the studio design work were taught by them except the freehand drawing class which was taught by an artist. We were fortunate that there were no changes in the staff and they all taught us till we graduated in 1960.
Apart from the architectural staff, our years at the University will not be complete without mentioning some of our Engineering Faculty staff who taught us some of the related Engineering subjects.
The first person I wish to mention is Sayagyi Num Kock. He taught us structure and we sometimes didn’t attend his class due to our studio design assignments. Since the class was meant only for architectural students, and since he knew where to find us, he used to come straight to our studio and requested us to come and attend his class. He was very good natured, humble, and led a simple life carrying a shan bag instead of a leather brief case. We always saw him with a smiling face and was very soft spoken.
Another Saya I remembered well was Saya U Kyit In (later known as U Min Wun). He taught us survey and he was just back from the United States at that time. Whenever I had problem with the survey readings, he came over and nudged me out and checked the readings himself. He used to wear khaki long pants with a single buckle at the rear, which was the fashion of those days.
Then I remember my Strength of Materials saya, Saya U Ba Than, who happens to be my brother. He was very strict and didn’t give any special favors even to his own brother. He was famous in setting questions for the exam as he never repeated the same ones that were given and worked out in the class.
The list won’t be complete without mentioning Saya U Kyaw Tun(GBNF) who taught us Electro Technology. Since his classes were immediately after the lunch break, we had a hard time to overcome sleepiness and be attentive to his lectures.
Last, but not least, I wish to mention about Saya Solomon and Saya Wein Choung. Their metal and wood work classes were always enjoyable and plenty of fun. We were in a totally different environment, not like those of lecture theaters or studio rooms. It was in these classes that we learnt the practical aspect of transforming design drawings into finished products.
My wonderful six years at the Rangoon University will not be complete without mentioning about my rowing activities. Since I came from a rowing family starting from my uncle Chan Cheng Hock who was Captain (1940-41) and the present oldest surviving Captain, I also became Captain (1959-60) after my two brothers U Tin U (ex-faculty member of BOC) and Dr. Myo Tint. I earned my “Gold” in 1956 by competing in the Inter-varsity regatta at Calcutta. I had the opportunity to represent RUBC seven times in regattas abroad and several times in Yangon.
Although we started with nine students in the first year in 1956, ten of us graduated in 1960 due to the circumstances explained earlier. Philip Koon Ying Chu, who is now retired after being a very successful restaurant businessman in the Bay area, stood first. It was not the first time for him to have this academic achievement as he got first in the matriculation (in the whole of Burma) and was able to maintain the same position for the Intermediate of Science as well. Out of these ten graduates, six are now residing in the States. Among these six, Tan Teong Kiat (aka) Wai Lwin is the most successful professionally. He is doing consultancy work specializing in conceptual design. S. Hsiang Wu, Victor Pe Win and Jack Min continue to practice architecture in the private sector. Aung Kyee Myint became the Chief Architect of Public Works Department in Yangon and is now serving as an Advisor after his retirement. Khin Maung Yin excels in design and eventually became a well known artist in Myanmar. Later, he spent most of his time giving tuition to children. H. Hla Myint was unfortunate not to live long and passed away a few years ago.
As for me, I had to be contented with being a Managing Partner of Architects Incorporated after graduating and running my own business. It was challenging, exciting and rewarding compared to being in the Government service. However, in 1962, we had to close down our business. I joined the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to open a new architectural division with my two partners Aung Kyee Myint and Bo Gyi in 1964. IDC, together with Housing Board and other Civil Engineering organizations were amalgamated to form Public Works Corporation. While working with Public Works, I had the opportunity to design Thiripyitsayar Hotel in Pagan (Bagan). Now, it is the only hotel complex left within the archaeological zone of Pagan and I am proud to be associated with it. I left Myanmar in 1980 and worked as Sr. Architect with one of the well known architectural firms in Singapore. I had a wonderful and memorable time for over ten years designing multi-story hotels, aerospace exhibition pavilions, commercial complexes, restoration projects and luxurious bungalows. In the beginning I had to work very hard to get acquainted with building codes, bye-laws and local regulations as we never had such standards and regulations to abide by at home. It was wonderful to discharge the duties of an architect properly as “Prime Consultant”. It was like a “Commander-in-Chief”, coordinating with other Engineering disciplines and the related fields like interior decorators and landscape architects, chairing site meetings etc.
Now that I have settled down in Los Angeles and working for Design Division of L.A. County Dept. of Public works, I am devoting most of my time more in assisting those who are deeply involved in the propagation and perpetuation of Buddha Sasana.
In conclusion, I wish to pay my tribute to all my Sayas and wish to thank them for educating and equipping us with proper tools in order to be able to face any type of situation in this world. And to my classmates, I salute all of you for your lifetime achievements and hope that this article will throw some light about our wonderful days at “Leik-khone”.
HlaMin 