Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote a series of articles about his father U Kyaw Myint and his siblings.
U Kyaw Myint matriculated from “Government High School”. His elder brother U Tin Tut attended St. Paul’s.
U Kyaw Myint also helped with the education of his siblings : U Myint Thein, Daw Khin Myint Mu, Daw Khin Saw Mu & Daw Tin Saw Mu.
Ms. Hong Kong & Family
Ms. Amelia Kyi was known as “Miss Hong Kong” not because she was a Beauty Queen.
She was from Hong Kong. She married the maternal uncle of Dr. Tin Wa and came to Burma.
She taught English at St. Paul’s High School. She also gave private tuition to her relatives (e.g. Diana Tseng) and neighbors.
She was our English teacher in Standards VI (D) and VII(D) at St. Paul’s High School. She used “the Carrot and the Stick”.
She would give weekly tests and fine 50 pyas if one failed, but reward 50 pyas if one excelled in the tests. My daily pocket money was 25 pyas, so I had no choice but to study hard.
She had three sons. The eldest became a monk. U Win Kyi was RUBC Gold. He worked for Sports and Physical Education Department. U Min Kyi was RUBC Green. He was a pilot for UBA/BAC. I saw U Win Kyi & U Min Kyi at RUBC. They were contemporaries of my brother and cousins.
At the 2019 RUBC Annual Regatta, I met Naymyo Thura. He is RUBC Gold. He is the son of U Win Kyi and grandson of Ms Hong Kong. His mother Daw Julie Yang taught at SPHS. He said that he would like to save the SPHS photos.
Calendar
A solar calendar is based on the orbit of the earth around the sun. Typically, it takes 365.2422 solar days to complete the orbit.
A leap year attempts to adjust the calendar by adding an extra day every four years.
A lunar calendar is based on the orbit of the moon around the earth. Typically, it takes 29.6 days to complete a cycle.
A luni-solar calendar is a hybrid calendar that uses lunar month and solar year.
The Burmese use a Luni-Solar-Socio-Religious Calendar. It is used for social and religious events.
There are 12 lunar months with a total of 355 days in a Common Burmese Year.
There is a difference of 10 days with a Common Year in the Gregorian Calendar.
An inter-calary month named “Second Waso ဒုတိယဝါဆို” is usually added every three years to sync again with the Solar Calendar. It is known as “Wah Htutt ဝါထပ်”. If needed, an additional day is added to Nayon in “Wah Gyi Htutt ဝါကြီးထပ်”.
Some other Luni-Solar Calendars (e.g. used by the Chinese) also have 12 months in a year. They add an extra month in the year in which the Lunar and Solar Calendars are synchronized.
The Chinese New Year may therefore occur in late January or early February.
October & Thadinkyut
“Oct” stands for 8. October was the 8th month in the old Roman Calendar.
In the Gregorian Calendar, October is the 10th month.
In the old Roman Calendar, September, October, November and December were the 7th, 8th, 9thand 10th months as indicated by the prefixes. In the Gregorian Calendar, they are 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th months of the year.
The Thadinkyut Festival often falls in October.
The Phaungdaw-u festival in Inlay Lake is held around the Full Moon of Thadinkyut. I wrote a poem “Phaungdaw-u Festival” for the Thadinkyut Supplement.
Four events related to Thadinkyut : Thadinkyut Lightning Festival, Abhidhamma Day, Pa Wa Ya Na (Monks ask for forgiveness of unintentional wrong doing), Soon San Sein Laung Pway (Mass offering of requisites to the monks)
History
Dr. Kyaw Thet (GBNF)
Studied in UK
Taught in Burma and as Visiting Professor in the USA
Spouse : Daw Khin Khin Gyi (GBNF) taught History at Rangoon University and a US College
Children : Lyn Maung Thet (GBNF), Dr. Khin Nyo Thet (MEHS63, GBNF), Dr. Lyn Aung Thet (MEHS64), Khin Aye Thet (GBNF)
Dr. Khin Nyo Thet & spouse Dr. Lyn Swe Aye established the “Aye-Thet Scholarship” in Khin Aye Thet’e memory. Prizes are awarded to successful participants at the Summer Dhamma Camp at Dhammananda Vihara, Half Moon Bay. Sponsors from Theravada Buddhist Society of America (TBSA) and donors helped run the Camp.
Lyn Aung Thet and Cherry Hlaing were tied for the highest marks in the Matric exam of 1964. Cherry won the tie breaker with a perfect ILA score. Both were selected Tekkatho Luyechun from IM(1).
Lyn Aung Thet led the IM (1) Swimming & Water Polo team (which won Inter-Institute Trophy). He is also good at Tennis and Chess.
U Ba Nyunt (GBNF)
Known for his song “Chit Dukkha” ချစ်ဒုက္ခ
History Professor
Children : Win Nyunt, Tin Tin Oo, Win Oo, Aung Moe, Kyi Shwin
Bohmu Ba Shin (GBNF)
Bohmu & later Colonel
Head of the Burma Historical Commission
Spouse : Sayama
Children : Dr. Nyan Htain (Texas), Daughter (Australia)
Dr. Than Tun
Dr. Than Tun
Professor at Mandalay & Rangoon University
Visiting Professor in Japan and Northern Illinois University (NIU)
Was a vocal critic of sayas being asked to do extra work not related to sudies and research
First met Saya as a Char Taik. My uncle Saya U Than Lwin (GBNF) introduced him at the Recreation Center.
His son-in-law attended classes at UCC.
Dr. Khin Maung Nyunt
He wanted to be a diplomat. While waiting to sit for the examinations, he joined the History Department. The Professor asked him — with full confidence — to be a relieving saya for him. The rest is history.
Even after retirement as Director General, he continued teaching.
Due to the war, the celebrations for RU took place much later than 1945.
RIT Newsletter was published in 1999 and the Silver Jubilee was celebrated in 2024.
Golden Jubilee (50 years)
RU Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1970.
RIT Golden Jubilee (Shwe YaDu) was celebrated in 2014.
Diamond Jubilee (75 years)
First Day CoverRU Diamond Jubilee
RU Diamond Jubilee was celebrated in 1995.
Centennial (100 years)
SPHS celebrated the Centennial in 1960.
RU Centennial celebrations started in November 2020. Yah Pyay Ah Kyo celebrations kicked off on December 1, 2019 and continued throughout 2020
Sesquicentennial (150 years)
SPHS celebrated the Sesquicentennial in 2010.
Miscellaneous
Bicentennial (200 years)
Tricentennial (300 years)
Millennium (1000 years)
Three Events in December 1920
Rangoon University
Rangoon University Act of 1920 was enacted on December 1, 1920.
The Act established Rangoon University with Rangoon College and Judson College as constituent colleges.
First RU Student Strike
The Strikevto protest the Act took place of December 5, 1920 (two days earlier than planned because the news leaked to the higher authorities).
The senior students requested the junior students not to strike. When their request was not complied, 11 senior students decided to the strike as leaders.
The Burmese date — 10th Waning Day of Tazaungmon — is celebrated as Ah Myo Tha Aung Pwe Nay.
The strike led to the establishment of Ah Myotha Kyaung (National School) and Ah Myotha Kaw Leik (National College).
U Po Kya served as Ah MyothaPyinnyaWun. He is a distinguished author.
Thakhin Kodaw Hmaing served as Principal of Ah Myotha Kaw Leik.
Saya U Ba Toke
U Ba Toke
He’s is a Phwa Bet Taw of RU and the first RU Students’ Strike.
Professor of Mathematics, Rangoon University
Rector of MASU
Professor of Mathematics, Rangoon Institute of Technology
Associate Dean, Assumption University, Bangkok
Publications
Former EC members of the RU Ka Laung Ah Thinn (1958 – 1962) including Daw Kyu Kyu Thin and Saya U Moe Aung (Tekaktho Moe War) published a “Collection of Kabyars” and a commemorative Magazine in February 2020.
Several books, Sar Saungs and Magazines were published for the RU Centennial Celebrations.
Early Sayas
Dr. Maung Maung Kha
Saya Kha Hall
Doctorate in Meteorological Physics from UK
Worked briefly at Meteorology Department
Transferred to RU Physics Department
Interim Dean of Engineering
Longest tenure among Rectors of RU
Hobby : Music / Violin
Former students celebrated Saya’s Yar Pyi
“Saya Kha Hall”
U San Tha Aung
U San Tha Aung
Studied Masters at Harvard University
Senior Lecturer, Physics
Co-authored High School Yupa Beda texts with Dr. Maung Maung Kha
Director General of Higher Education
Passed away after returning from an inspection tour
Dr. Nyi Nyi
He was a mentee of Dr. Tha Hla.
A Minister protested against Dr. Tha Hla’s nomination of Dr. Nyi Nyi’s scholarship citing his ideology. Dr. Tha Hla managed to push through the nomination during the Minister’s absence.
Served as Deputy Minister. Instrumental in establishing the then new Education System
Retired from UN
Pen name : Oak Aw
Rectors and Principals
U Hla Shwe
Rector, Mandalay Arts and Science University (MASU)
Senior Burmese Saya
U Yone Mo
Retired Chief Engineer, Burma Railways
Dean of Engineering, BIT
Rector, Rangoon Institute of Technology
Medicine
Dr. Ba Than (Institute of Medicine 1)
Dr. U E (Institute of Medicine 2)
Dr. Maung Maung Gyi (Institute of Medicine at Mandalay)
Economics
Dr. Aye Hlaing Rector, Institute of Economics Professor of Economics, Faculty of Social Science
Education
Lt. Col. San Myint Rector, Institute of Education
Dentistry
Dr. Aung Than Rector, Institute of Dentistry / Dental Medicine
Vet
U Mya Nyunt Rector, Institute of Veterinary Science
Agri
U Than Tun Rector, Institute of Agriculture
Workers
U Kyaw Principal, Workers’ College
Taunggyi
U Khin Maung Tint (Tekkatho Phone Naing) Principal, Taungyi College Distinguished author / novelist
Teaching is only one aspect. A teacher learns by teaching and receiving feedback from the students. A teacher should be a life long learner.
Learning is another aspect. We should not encourage Rote Learning and mindless repetition. “Learning how to learn” and similar courses propose efficient and effective techniques.
Degree
Liberal education is usually offered at the Bachelor’s level.
A university degree was necessary for getting decent jobs. Now, there are some companies that do not mandate a university degree for selected jobs.
Disciplines
In the beginning, there were no computers and no Computer Science. Among the computer pioneers were engineers, mathematicians, physicists, psychologists, and linguists.
Edgser W. Dijkstra, who won the ACM Turing Award (equivalent of Nobel Prize in Computer Science), had to put “Theoretical Physicist” in his marriage license instead of “Programmer” or “Computer Scientist”.
The same is true for any emerging discipline.
Research and Development transcends multiple disciplines. It requires collaboration.
Main Facebook pages
For relatives and close friends
For not-so-close friends
RIT Updates
Member of selected pages
Old Burma
RIT Updates
Lifelong Learning
Memories
Myanmar
I used to be a member of the following:
ကံ့ကော်မြေ (ရာပြည့်တက္ကသိုလ်)
စကားပရိယာယ်
စွယ်တော်ရိပ်ဖေါင်ဒေးရှင်း
NorCal RITAA
P.B.R.S Group
RIT 69ers
Team Old School IT
YUBC Old Members
Buddhism Q&A
Proper use of “Like” button
Some users use the “Like” button indiscriminately.
Puzzled to see Likes in an Obituary posting. Shouldn’t one be sad?
Before clicking “Like”, check if the posting is current or old, and determine if the contents are really likeable.
Malware
Malicious software industry is responsible for losses (in down time, data corruption, identity theft) in the billions.
According to one report, the industry is more profitable and safer than the drug dealing.
The penalty of offenders for malicious software is “peanuts” (e.g. little or no jail time) compared to drug dealers (e.g. life imprisonment and death penalty) in most countries.
Option
One should be aware of “opt-in” versus “opt-out” options.
Many do not read “fine print”.
Retire vs. Re-tire
U Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, EC70) is a Multiple Golden Sponsor of SPZPs.
He told me, “You should not retire. You may re-tire (as in re-threading a tire). We will try to support you and your projects
I am retired from working to make ends meet.
I am re-tiring as long as my physical and mental health permit.
Took a few on-line courses (for credit) Too taxing and slow; Opted to audit 100+ courses (covering many subjects)
Listen to one Blinkist every day
Listened to Merriam Webster’s Word of the day (WOTD) Podcast every day.
Ride stationary bike for 30 minutes every day.
Write or revise several posts every day.
Salutation
Context and culture dependent.
We call some old unrelated people as “Uncle” and “Auntie”.
At St. Paul’s High School, we call our sayas without the formal U. e.g. Saya Sein
I was reprimanded by a reader for writing Saya Aung Khin instead of Saya U Aung Khin or Sayagyi U Aung Khin.
A visiting German wanted to be addressed as “Professor Doctor” (not just Professor or Doctor).
Saya Allen Htay was told not use “Mr” in Netherlands. He was asked to use “Ingr” (for Engineer).
Early surgeons in the UK were not necessarily doctors. So they did not force people to address them as Doctor
People who have Honorary Doctorates usually put “Honoris Causa” (meaning the degree was awarded for esteem).
Speed and Scope of Writing
A friend said, “You write too fast and too much. Slow down.”
A few said, “We have read every post”.
One said, “Cover topics of interest to the general reader, not just engineers and scientists”.
One can please some readers all of the time, and all readers some of the time, but one cannot please every reader all of the time.
I am just disseminating the teachings of Thin Sayas, Myin Sayas, Kyar Sayas
Maung Nyunt Htay (Ah Htet Min Hla) မောင်ညွန့်ဌေး အထက်မင်းလှ — Saya U Nyunt Htay (Met73)
Ko Toe Hmit Che ကိုတိုး မြစ်ခြေ— U Toe Aung (C73)
Maung Yit မောင်ရစ် — U Maung Maung Win (EC93)
Nick Names
U Seit To and Myauk Nyo ဦးစိတ်တို နဲ့ မျောက်ညို
Cartoon characters
According to Saya U Tin Myint (M80), the nicknames were given to two sayas by G-Hall Thu
Myauk Phyu မျောက်ဖြူ
White monkey
Ah Yan Kan အရမ်းကန်
Random kicking footballer
Bo Daw ဘိုးတော်
Could be sarcastic
Saya Maung ဆရာမောင်
Given by a girl to her teacher/boy friend
Tar Tay Gyi တာတေကြီး
Reference to an actor for scary movies
Dauk Soe ဒေါက်စိုး
Dr. Soe Myint Win (GNBF) was called Dauk Soe by some students
Nyi Nyi & Pho Nyi ညီညီ နဲ့ ဖိုးညီ
Nyi Nyi may be used in a name e.g. Dr. Nyi Nyi
Nyi Nyi & Pho Nyi are used as nicknames, e.g. Than Htut (M67, RUBC Gold)
Sonny ဆန်နီ
May be used in a name, e.g. Sonny Yone Sein
May also be used as a nickname, e.g. “Sonny” Aung Myint, “Sonny” Soe Naing
Lake or Leit လိပ်
U Win Maung (EE69er) represented RIT in Rowing, Swimming and Water Polo. He is a Back Stroke specialist. He swam the 2000 meters Cross-Lake with Back Stroke. He is known as “Lake” or “Leit” (Tortoise in reference to his Back Stroke swimming). U Htay Aung (M69, Burma Selected) and several others using Front Crawl finish quite ahead of Leit. Before graduation, he went to UK for license & training in air craft maintenance. He joined UBA/BAC. He is now an entrepreneur doing family business.
Khwet ခွက်
U Sein Myint (K K Wong, EP69) represented RIT in Rowing, Swimming & Water Polo. Someone transformed his name “Kwet” into “Khwet”. He is a major donor of the 69er Health Care Fund and the EE69er HCF. After retirement, he spends time in Singapore, Yangon and California.
Htaw Kyin ထော်ကြင်
U Htin Kyaw (Peter Wun, MEHS63) worked for the Institute of Economics and UCC before joining HIC and FERD. He was called “Htaw Kyin”. Some British could not pronounce his name. They called him “Ha Htin Coil”.
Kyein ကြိမ်း
U Kyaw Nyein (GBNF) taught Numerical Methods & Numerical Analysis at UCC. He played soccer and volley ball. He was fondly called “Kyein”.
Bo Shoke ဗိုလ်ရှုပ်
U Mya Thein (GBNF) taught at the Institute of Economics, UCC and ITMBU. He was originally called “Bogyoke” and later became known as “Bo Shoke”.
Ah Thay Lay အသေးလေး
U Thein Oo taught at the Institute of Economics and UCC. His friends called him “Ah Thay Lay”. He was good at volleyball, table tennis and cards.
Ah Pho Gyi အဖိုးကြီး
Tin Maung Thant (son of UNSG U Thant) was called Ah Pho Gyee by his PPBRS classmates
U Han Sein (C69, GBNF)
Shwee ရွှီး
U Kyaw Zan Hein (C69, GBNF) was admitted to the 2nd BE in 1964 as Roll Number 14. There were no word processors in those days; only the use of cyclostyle (Gestener). So, when the person who was admitted as Roll Number 14 did not join RIT, the Admin Office typed in Shwee’s name instead. Some would call him Kyaw Zan Shwee.
Ngu Yin Kong Kee
ငုယင်ကောင်ကီး
Burmanized name of a Vietnamese General
Saya U Win Kyaing (GBNF) is uncle of Maurice Chee (M75). He is often called Ngu Yin Kong Kee. He was also known as Wah Kyaing, younger brother of Wah Kyu.
Hna Khan Hmwe နှုတ်ခမ်းမွှေး
Some have notable mustache
One such person was Ko Khin Nyo, “Kyaung Tha Thadin Htauk (Student Reporter at RIT)”. According to Ko Zaw Min Nawaday (EP70), he met — several decades later — Ko Khin Nyi without mustache in New York, USA
Pauk Si ပေါက်စီ
U Hla Min (L T Gwan, SPHS64, EP70, GBNF) joined UCC as Chief Operator. He was called CO by his colleagues and “Pauk Si” by his close friends. His father loaned money to a Pauk Si vendor, who did not pay back the loan. At break time at SPHS, he would get Pauk Si from the vendor.
Pauk Pauk ပေါက်ပေါက်
Daw Aye Aye Than (ChE72) is the sister of Sayama Dr. Hla Hla Sein (Maths) and Ma Myint Myint Sein (Diana, M70). Her friends called her Pauk Pauk.
Bu ဘူး
U Myint Maung (EP69) is one of the young 69ers and one of the few Eligible Bachelors. He represented RIT EE Department in Volleyball along with Saw Edison, U Aye Thein & U Maung Maung. He was called “Bu” in reference to “Minbu” (his home town).
Shastri ရှပ်စတြီ
U Khin Maung Myint (C69, GBNF) was called Shastri (former Prime Minister of India).
Ohn Thee အုန်းသီး
U Ohn Thwin (PPFC, GBNF) attended classes at UCC & BARB. He was called “Ohn Thee” (Coconut) by his friends.
May Pa Le မေပုလဲ
Daw Yee Yee Aung
“မေပုလဲ” is a two-handed compliment given to selected female RIT students. e.g. Daw Yee Yee Aung (EP67, EC member of RIT EE Association)
It means Miss Pearl (a belle who is Pearly White).
It’s concoction “Mae Pa Le မဲပလေ” means “Wow. So dark [complexion]”.
Rocket ရော့ကက် ဒုံးပျံ
U Ko Gyi was a Lecturing Tutor in Maths. He is known for reciting the first 100 digits of PI (a constant which is 3.14159265 …). He used Rocket as an example in his classes. For some reason, he named Tin Tin Myint (Emma, ChE70) as “Rocket”. Classmates who witnessed the naming might provide details.
Emma is co-founder of Triple Gems Publication. She is also co-founder of Dana Sri Lanka (DSL). She is called Mae Daw Gyi မယ်တော်ကြီး by the young monks studying in Sri Lanka.
La La လာ လား
It is a form of “Kala” or “Kular” (Person of dark color).
Some young dark skinned kids (e.g. Aye Win Hlaing (Abel, EE72)) are given the nickname “La La”.
Ajala အာဂျလာ
He was a Nigerian student who led demonstrations in front of the US Embassy in Rangoon (in our younger days).
U Moe Hein (ChE69) represented RIT in swimming & water polo. He has a loud voice (which is very helpful in supporting RIT athletes in the Inter-Institute Tournaments). He is called Ajala by his close friends.
Maung Kabar မောင်ကမ္ဘာ
Obituary of Kabar Myint Thein
Maung Kabar was an adorable Cartoon character.
Those who have slightly round faces are called “Maung Kabar” or “Kabar”.
Saya U Myint Soe (SPHS64, C68, GBNF) was named “Maung Kabar”.
U Myint Thein (M69) is also known as “Maung Kabar”. It appeared in the Obituary.
Bagyi Aung ဘကြီးအောင်
Fictional character from Min Thu Wun’s short story.
U Hla Aung (EP68) wrote : May I share our time nick names. May Pa Le is Yee Yee Aung (EP67). Her friend is Nancy Hla Aung. My nick name is Ba Gyi Aung.
Three Sizes
In Mechanical Drawing, we learned about scales.
One student gave the nicknames “Half size, Full size and Double size” to three female students.
Sayama Daw Mya Mya Than (EP68, GBNF) was “Full size”. Daw Nyunt Nyunt Zaw (T68, GBNF) was “Double Size”. Daw Cho (?) was “ Half Size”.
Sargalay & Lada စာကလေး နဲ့ လဒ
Sargalay is a sparrow. Lada is a vulture.
U Khin Maung Win (EP69, GBNF) was the training partner for Sai Kham Pan (EP69, Burma Selected in Badminton). Kham Pan would give him 10 – 12 points bonus to play a 15-point game.
At a reunion, Daw Saw Yu Tint addressed Khin Maung Win as Sargalay. He replied, “I am now a Lada”. He gained a lot of height from 2nd BE to Final Year.
The nickname allows 69ers to differentiate Khin Maung Wins — Sargalay, Roland Thein, Donald Ba Pe and ChE Kyet.
Most 69ers might remember the cartoon by Kyant Ba Hone Aung Myint (Pet69). “Ah Ba. Kar Ku La Thin Char (Calculus) is very fascinating. If we differentiate a Lada, we get a Sargalay. If we integrate a Sargalay, we get a Lada.”
Kywei Gyi ကျွဲကြီး
Kywei Gyi is a big, strong Buffalo.
U Khin Maung Lay (Henry, T68) was Secretary of RIT Track & Field Association. He competed in 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay and Long Jump (emulating Jesse Owens at the 1936 Berlin Olympics). He represented RIT in Track & Field, Soccer and Rowing. He is called “Kywei Gyi” for his physical prowess. His elder brother Ko Khin Maung Latt (M63) represented the Faculty of Engineering in Rowing.
Mu Tu မူတူး
U Khin Maung Lay (M70) represented RIT in soccer. He was emcee (Master of Ceremonies) at the Reunion & Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe of the Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65. He was a member of the Myanmar Human Rights Commission. He is the son of U Khin Maung Latt (AFPFL Minister) and younger brother of Saya U Khin Maung Gyi (English, GBNF).
Phone Gyi ဘုန်းကြီး
Several alumni are called “Phone Gyi” (Monk) by their friends.
U Tin Tun (SPHS63, M69) was my classmate since Std. IV(D) at SPHS. His mother Daw Tin Tin would come and feed him at lunch break. He studied and taught Marine Engineering.
Tin Htoon
U Tin Shein (M69) and I were classmates at the 2nd BE English class of Saya Des. He gave a talk on Chinlon. He represented RIT in Chinlon.
U Soe Myint (M72, GBNF) volunteered as a Kappiya at the Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung. He helped with the maintenance. He retired as Pro-Rector of ICST.
Soe Myint (3rd from Right)
Chauk Pay ခြောက်ပေ
Some tall students are called Chauk Pay (Six Footer).
U Htein Win (Richard, M70) represented RIT in Rowing, Swimming & Water Polo. He tended the goal at the Shallow End. He moved to Canada. He bought tickets for SPZP-2000, but could not attend due to a strike.
Ja Bu & Shorty ဂျပု နဲ့ ရှော်တီ
Some short students are called Ja Bu (Midget) or Shorty.
U Myint Sein (M70, GBNF) represented RIT in Soccer.
There were two Bohmus named “Shorty” Tin Myint.
Japan Gyi ဂျပန်ကြီး
Some who were born during the Japanese Occupation were given Japan Gyi as their nick name.
U Hla Tun (T69, GBNF) would end most sentences with an expletive. He married Dolly Gale (my primary school classmate).
Cowboy ကောင်းဘွိုင်
U Tin Nwe (C69, GBNF) was a jovial person and was called Cowboy by his friends.
Three Paulians — Tin Nwe, Min Thaw (Gilbert) & Maung Maung Aye — were involved in a car accident after an OPA dinner gathering, but they were not hurt seriously. Sadly, they are now all GBNF.
Duwa ဒူးဝါး
It is a title for a Kachin Leader.
U Zau Lai (EP69) spends time in Myitkyina & Yangon. He is an entrepreneur & a Kachin Leader. He often drove a long way from Myitkyina to attend the 69er gatherings.
Zau Lai
Bei Oo ဘဲဥ
It is a “Duck Egg”. It may also stand for “Zero”.
Daw Kyi Kyi Sein (T70) represented RIT in Badminton & Hiking. She is an organizer for the Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65.
Kyi Kyi Sein (Seated 3rd from Left)
Kyet Taw ကြက်တော
I know some people named Kyet Taw. They may have “Taw” in their names.
Harry Taw (MEHS57) was a friend of my older brother.
Dr. Nyan Taw (Dicky, SPHS63) was my neighbor for some time. We jogged, biked and rowed. He worked at RASU, Pearl & Fishery before moving overseas for assignments. He invited me to the wedding receptions of his younger son and daughter.
U Khin Maung Lwin is an organizer for the Class of 87 & 91. RIT was closed for three years. He organized the Golf Tournament for the alumni. He served as Secretary of the Swel Daw Yeik Foundation.
Saya San ဆရာစံ
He is a revolutionary figure in the history of Burma.
U Maung San studied his Masters in the UK. He often shopped in the “Junior” section. He taught Geology at RIT & Assumption University.
I met U Aung Than (Saya San) at a meeting for the Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65. He told me that he had to study for the last ever 7th Standard Government examination.
Gaing Gyi ဂိုင်ကြီး
The Burmese sometimes pronounce “Kyaw” as “Gyaw”; “Kyee” as “Gyee” and “Khine” as “Gaing”.
U Ohn Khine (M70) was named Ohn Gaing at St. Peter’s High School in Mandalay. He was called “Gaing Gyi” by some friends. He is the founder and moderator of the Google Group for the intake of 64 and 65. He volunteered for SPZP-2012, Shwe YaDu, SPZP-2016, SDYF, HMEE-2012 and HMEE-2016. He translated Section 1 and summarized Section 2 of the HMEE-2012 book. He and I compiled the CD supplement for the HMEE-2012 book.
Ohn Khine
Byte and R ဗိုက် နဲ့ အာ
Byte may mean stomach or belly. R may mean “talkative”.
U Tin Hlaing (M63) was called “Byte Tin Hlaing” and “R Tin Hlaing” by his friends to differentiate from the senior Saya U Tin Hlaing (M59, GBNF). He was later known as Dr. Tin Hlaing.
U Kyaw Zin (EP69) was called “R Zin” by some of his friends.
U Myint Soe (UCC) worked as Maintenance Technician in the Systems Division. He was called “Byte”.
Shwe Gaung Byaung ရွှေဂေါင်းပြောင်
It is the name of a cartoon character. It literally means “Golden, Bald Head”. Toe Nyunt (Ted Mya Maung) starred in a movie of that name.
U Wynn Htain Oo (M72) is a super fund raiser is fondly known as “Shwe Gaung Byaung”. He is also known as
WHO (not World Health Organization)
Hmaw Sayagyi မှော်ဆြာကြီး
Mg Mar Ga မောင်မာဃ
Bo Pu Cho ဗိုလ်ပုချို
Mg Mar Ga
Sa Yay စာရေး
Sa Yay may mean a Clerk.
Sa Yay Gyi စာရေးကြီး is a Senior Clerk.
Sa Yay Lay စာရေးလေး is a Junior Clerk.
U Khin Maung Zaw (EC76) was called “Sa Yay Lay” by his teacher Perrera (V Standard in St. Paul’s High School).
In primary school, my spouse was told by her teacher that her hand writing looked like that of a “Sa Yay”. It motivated her to become a medical doctor.
Hanuman ဟာနုမန်
It is an Indian Diety.
U Han Tun Maung (GBNF) was a star athlete at SPHS. He excelled in Track & Field, and Soccer. He was called “Hanuman”. He was President of Old Paulians Association, Kokkine Swimming Club, Equestrian & Archery Associations. His family owned a Stable with “Sein Hlyan” as a Champion horse. The family opened Sein Hlyan Cafe. The Intake of 65 meets monthly as the Cafe.
Mote Seit မုတ်ဆိတ်
It may mean “Beard”.
U Myo Hein (69er) is called Mote Seit by his friends.
Reverend Frederich Ludwig (Buddhist Archbishop of Latvia &!Lithuania) was called “Moke Seit Phone Gyi”. He later shaved his beard and ordained as a Theravada monk with the title Ashin Ananda. He is a Laureate Poet.
Papu ပါပူး
Collegian Nay Win was called Papu by soccer team mates.
Po Htaung & Po Maung ဖိုးထောင် နဲ့ ဖိုးမောင်
Sons of U Khin Maung San (Tommy San, PBRS, GBNF)
U Nyunt Win (classmate of Tommy’s wife Lily at Darjeeling) liked the nicknames and used them in a movie.
Gyi ကြီး
Japan Gyi ဂျပန်ကြီး — Hla Tun (T69)
Kyaw Gyi ကျော်ကြီး — Kyi Win (EP69)
Maw Gyi မော်ကြီး — U Myat Htoo (C68)
Not so nice
Phaung Gyi Sin ဖေါင်ကြီးဆင်း
Ba Lar Gyi ဗလာကြီး
Chota ချိုတား၊ ချွတ်တား
Mutta မွတ်တား
Fatty ဖက်တီး
Chee Pay
EE69ers
U Thein Swe (EP69) described nicknames of the EE69ers in his post.
Example : So Si စိုစိ
RIT English Sayas & Sayamas
Saya Des described some nicknames in his article.
Examples : Byaing Ma ဗျိုင်းမ Ya Khine Gyi ရခိုင်ကြီး
Saya U Myat Htoo (C68) passed away peacefully on June 9, 2026. May he be bound for a higher abode.
University Days
Attended I.Sc at Mandalay University
Graduated with Civil Engineering in 1968
Joined Faculty
Moved to the USA
Retired from CalTran
Spouse : Daw Hnin Maung Maung / Ma Ku
Activities
SF Bay Area Alumni Group
Founding member of RIT Alumni International
SPZP-2000
Master of Ceremonies for SPZP-2000
Wrote about the SPZP-2000 experience in the Post Reunion series.
U Myat Htoo (Right)NorCal RITAA
Founding member of NorCal RITAA
Chair of BOD (Board of Directors)
Hosted NorCal RITAA lunch meetings. He would invite the attendees to take a boat ride on the nearby man-made lake. He 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).
LA Reunion
Played the Ukelele and sang the song described above at the 2015 Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles.
Ukelele
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).
There are about 3000 articles in my web site hlamin.com
It is difficult if not impossible to revise all the articles.
Note that the events described here mostly cover my journey as a University Student.
Other events (e.g. 1946 to 1970s) are covered in other Posts. I have honored Outstanding Matriculates (e.g. f1951 to 1965) in other Posts.
1963
Guinea Pigs
We took the Matriculation Only examination in 1963.
SPHS63Hla Min (7th Place)
Paulians took 5 places among the Top Five, 7 places among the Top Ten, and 10 places among the Top Twenty.
Khin Maung U (1st)
Min Oo (2nd)
Myo San (3rd, GBNF)
Nyunt Wai (4th)
Thein Wai (5th)
Hla Min (7th)
Johnny Maung Maung (Aung Kyaw Zaw, 9th)
Maung Maung Kyi (11th, GBNF)
Aung Thu Yein (13th, GBNF)
Frank Gale (Khin Maung Zaw, 17th)
We attended the last ever I.Sc.(A) class at Leik Khone.
Following the “Anniversary of 7th July, 1962” events, the major parts of Rangion and Mandalay Universities were closed for an unspecified period.
Engineering and Medical Classes were spared at that time.
Subsequently, those who were only one year senior to us in High School graduated 2.5 years ahead of us (the Guinea Pigs of the Education Systems).
RUBC
We joined Rangoon University Boat Club.
Our Paulians Crew was Runners-up for Senior Novices. Maung Maung Kyi (Bow, GBNF) Hla Min (2) Kyaw Wynn (3) Willie Soe Maung (Myint Soe, Stroke, GBNF) Myint Thein (Cox, GBNF)
We were awarded Full Green.
Maung Maung KyiKyaw Wynn (2nd from Left)
40th AnniversaryGathering
President Sithu U Tin, Vice President U Po Zon and U Tin Htoon (A60) compiled the Souvenir Magazine for the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of RUBC.
Due to Security Concerns, the 40th Anniversary Annual Regatta was cancelled.
Sithu U Tin and the Patrons decided to hold the “40th Anniversary of the founding of RUBC” at a hotel in Kandawgyi.
RUBC 40th Anniversary
Burma Institute of Technology
My elder brother and several of my sayas graduated from the Burma Institute of Technology (BIT) in 1963.
They were from the second batch of BIT.
The degree conferred was B.Sc. (Engg).
1964
Education System
The New Education System was implemented in November, 1964.
Most Faculties of the University of Rangoon became autonomous Institutes with their own Rectors.
The Youth Affairs Department implemented Luyechun (Outstanding Students) Program in the Summer of 1964. Eligible students from 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Standards were chosen to attend the Ngapali Shwe Wah Gyaing Camp in the Summer of 1964.
Rangoon Institute of Technology
RIT Student
In November 1964, three batches of students entered RIT (Rangoon Institute of Technology).
400+ were admitted to the first ever 1st BE using the controversial Intelligence Level Aggregate (ILA). Ko Zaw Min was admitted as Roll Number One. Tommy Shwe (GBNF), Cho Aye (GBNF), Peter Pe (GBNF) and Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, GBNF) were among the top students.
300+ who had passed the last ever I.Sc.(A) examination were chosen by merit to attend the first ever 2nd BE. I was admitted as Roll Number One. Taing Oke, Kenny Wong, Tun Aung Gyaw, Tin Tun (GBNF) and Thein Swe (GBNF) were among the top students.
About 200 students who had passed the last ever I.Sc.(B) examination were admitted to the 3rd BE (formerly 1st year Engineering). Tun Aung (Jeffrey, GBNF) was a top student.
RUBC
Elected as Honorary Treasurer of RUBC (Rangoon University Boat Club). I had to report to Professor William Paw (President of RUBC).
I was the last Executive Committee member to be elected at the Annual General Meeting.
Served as Vice Captain the following year.
The higher authorities prevented me from becoming RUBC Captain by discarding the Bye Laws and using their ad-hoc rules (e.g. selecting instead of electing Captain)
Note : My affection for Rowing & RUBC did not wither. I served as Contributing Editor for the RUBC 90th Anniversary Souvenir Magazine.
RUBC Souvenir Magazine
Matriculation
Cherry Hlaing (Than Than Tin, St. John’s Convent) and Lyn Aung Thet (MEHS) had the Joint Highest Marks.
Based on ILA, Cherry would be admitted as Roll Number One to IM(1). She would be selected Luyechun for the Inlay Camp in the summer of 1965. Her grand father U Hoke Sein and her father U Saw Hlaing were also First in Burma. Her two children would also be First in Family. The record of five family members (spanning four generations) standing First in Burma is an enviable record that will not be broken.
Lyn Aung Thet (MEHS64) had four distinctions and the same raw score, but his performance in Burmese gave him a lower ILA than Cherry. He is a Scholar Athlete with proficiency in Swimming, Water Polo, Tennis and Chess. He was selected Luyechun in a subsequent year.
Aung Win Chiong (SPHS64) has the next best raw score. He had a perfect ILA score and was admitted to IM(2) as Roll Number One.
Maurice Hla Kyi (Min Lwin, SPHS64) had the 5th highest marks. He was admitted to IM(2) as Roll Number Two.
Maurice & Aung Win
1965 – 1969
Matriculationin 1965
Bernard Khaw (SPHS65) had four distinctions (with 80+ marks in English) and stood First in Burma. Due to the revised policy (e.g. 3 NRC requirement), he could not apply for professional courses. He majored in Chemistry before moving to USA. He retired as a Chemical Engineer and Pastor.
Bernard (Center)
Aung Myint (SPHS65) had the second best raw marks. He and his twin brother Maung Aye moved to USA and pursued Ph.D
Winston Sein Maung (SPHS65, GBNF) had the third best raw marks.
Cherry Than Tin had the fourth best raw marks. She was admitted as Roll No (1) to MC (2).
Yi Thwe (SPHS65, GBNF) was admitted as Roll No (1) to MC (1).
Paing Soe (Freddie, SPHS65) had same marks as Yi Thwe. He was admitted as Roll No (2) to MC (1).
Forty four Paulians were admitted to MC in 1965. They are from the Last Batch of True Paulians.
After Nationalization, St. Paul’s High School was renamed as No. (6) Botathaung State High School.
Nationalization
The consequences of the Coup d’etat include
Disappearance of Democracy
Nationalization of industry and schools
Indiscriminate demonetization
Increased censorship
With every turmoil (effecting “National Security”), the universities, institutes and schools were suspended.
After the schools were nationalized, St. Paul’s High School became No. (6) Botathaung State High School. Some Brothers left Burma. A few indigenous Brothers remained in Ady Road. Brother Joseph was ordained as Father Joseph.
Luyechun
The program was extended to include Universitites and Institutes in the Summer of 1965.
I attended the Inlay Khaung Daing Lu Ye Camp in the summer of 1965 along with U Sein Shwe, Daw Khin Than Myint Tin and U Zaw Min Nawaday.
LYC 1LYC 2
MC(1) sent Cherry Hlaing, Khin Maung U, Anita Aye Pe and Kyaw Sein Koe (Victor, GBNF).
RIT
There were eight engineering departments
Architecture
Chemical
Civil
Electrical
Mechanical
Metallurgy
Mining
Textile
Most departments have associations. The RIT Mechanical Engineering Association was active. U Win Thein (M67, GBNF) was a Prime Mover. He co-founded Set Hmu Thadinzin and Mechanical Magazine. He co-organized activities.
The RIT Sports Council was headed by Saya U Maung Maung Than (GBNF). U Maung Maung (Burma Selected in soccer) was Sports Officer. The associations for the various sports was headed by a saya.
Several RIT students were Burma Selected. They include Sai Kham Pan (Badminton) and Htay Aung (Swimming and Water Polo).
Htay Aung
Saya Mao Toon Siong (former Burma Champion) was National Coach for Table Tennis. He also coached the RIT team which won the Inter-Institute Championship.
Saya Mao
Electrical Sayas
EE Sayas
In those days, the Electrical Engineering was headed by Saya U Sein Hlaing (Professor and Head).
The senior sayas included U Kyaw Tun (saya of our sayas), U Tin Swe and U Sein Win. All are now GBNF.
There were about 20 sayas. Five were on deputation for further studies abroad.
I wrote “A Sad and Short Clip : EE Sayas” for SPZP-2010. Sayas U Thein Lwin and U Nyi Nyi have since passed away.
EC and EP
There were two options : EC (Electrical Communications) and EP (Electrical Power). Per advice in the industry, only a quarter of the students were accepted for EC.
There were 80+ EE students in the beginning. Tin Tin (Anne) was the lone female EE student.
At the end, there were 40+ EE students left.
EE69ers
The EP students outnumbered the EC students 3 by 1. Several bright students played safe by choosing EP (which provided a job guarantee).
We studied EC (Electrical Communications). Twelve of us graduated in 1969.
Four EC69ers — Kyaw Soe, Aung Thu Yein, Chit Tin and Oo Kyaw Hla — are now GBNF.
A few years later, EC became Electronics Engineering.
A few decades later, Electronics Engineering and Electrical Power became full-fledged departments.
Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :
AFAIK, EC was the hardest and strictest discipline at the RIT in those days as we’ve been told. Some even asked us why we had to go there. Of course, I am not going to mention the easiest discipline there, but we joked like, “they had 109 students and 110 passed the exam”. I do not mean any disrespect to Sayas and friends from other majors!! At times, it made us wonder why were we there for god’s sake. CRAZY TIMES!!! Indeed.
Volunteer
I served as
Treasurer & Vice Captain of RUBC (Rangoon University Boat Club)
Class Representative, Joint Secretary & Secretary of RITEE (Rangoon Institute of Technology Electrical Engineering Association)
Member of Committee for “Hlyat Sit Sar Saung”
Editor of the Bulletin published by RIT English Association
Member of UTC, Rowing, Scrabble, and Chess Assocations /Clubs
Free lance writer (articles, poems, translations) My poem “Men on the Moon” was sent to NASA by USIS, and it was published in the Guardian newspaper in July 1969
He was the first Dean of Engineering at the University of Rangoon. He also served as Professor of Civil Engineering. He is credited for the “Twinning” with the prestigious universities in the USA.
He earlier served as Principal of the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and Professor of Civil Engineering.
The commemorative issue of RIT Alumni International Newsletter for the first RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe paid respect to Sayagyi.
Sayagyi U Aung Khin (former Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and the driving force behind SPZP-2000) wrote an introduction to the special article written by Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (the only child of Sayagyi U Ba Hli).
Saya Dr. F Ba Hli (GBNF)
Dr. F. Ba Hli received his Sc.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT. He helped Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi and Sayagyi U Min Wun, who were two of the first undergraduate engineering students from the University of Rangoon to be given State Scholarship as part of the “Twinning” program.
Dr. F. Ba Hli’s spouse Daw Myint Thwe is the sister of Sayagyi U Tin U (C), Sayagyi U Ba Than (M), Dr. Myo Tint (father of Ma Kay (EE93)), U Tin Htoon (A60), Saya U Myo Min (UCC) and U Thaung Lwin (EC66). Note that four are Past Captain and Gold of Rangoon University Boat Club.
Dr. F. Ba Hli has a daughter (Tin Tin Hlaing) and two sons (Tha Hlaing and Min Thet Htoo).
Dr. F Ba Hli
Grand children of U Ba Hli
Ma Tin Tin Hlaing (UCC) is the spouse of Ko Htay Aung (Victor, EC80, UCC, nephew of Saya U Sein Hlaing (EE)).
Ko Tha Hlaing (EC83, UCC) stood joint first with Ko Thaung Tin (KMD, former Deputy Minister) in their final year. He, his father and his paternal grandfather form Three Generation of Burmese engineers who are sayas or alumni.
Min Thet Tun did not smoke or drink, but succumbed to lung cancer. He lamented why some people who drink and smoke lived long.
The 1969 RIT Graduates Reunion was held in Rangoon/Yangon, Burma/Myanmar on Saturday, 20 February 1999 at Sait-Teng-Kya Restaurant near Kandawgyi lake.
Idea
The idea was mooted three years ago when a few of us were having dinner together and thought of having a gathering in 1999. After that most of us have forgotten about the idea until around the end of November 1998 when a group of our friends led by Ko Yee Pinn (Tavoy), Ko Myint Maung (aka “Bu”, RIT Volleyball selected), Ko Shwe, Ko Win Lwin, etc. decided to have a grand re-union in February 1999. They also decided that to be more meaningful we should invite our Sayas to pay them respect as well and, hence, it became the reunion cum Saya-ga-daw-pwe.
Attendees
On that very day the guest trickled in starting from about 4.00 p.m at the restaurant. The guests were required to fill in their names and contact numbers. The organizers promised to compile the name list and send to everybody who attended. By 6.00 p.m. about 30 Sayas and about 120 of our graduates were in the restaurant. The master-of-ceremony, Ko Win Lwin, announced the start of the ceremony.
Speeches
The programme started off with a few speeches, led by Nyi Hla Nge, representing the graduates in Rangoon, followed by Danny, representing the graduates overseas, Sai Aung Win, representing graduates outside Rangoon and last but not the least, by Saya U Kyin Soe, representing all the Sayas.
Paying respect
After that we gave respect to the Sayas. All the Sayas were seated on the stage and all of us sat on the floor. Some gifts were distributed to the Sayas followed by photo taking session and then the sumptuous dinner began.
Dinner & Entertainment
About 9 to 10 dishes were served but, most of us were too excited to notice what we were eating. Halfway through the dinner some of us went up the stage and sang some songs for entertainment. Even all the ladies, led by Alice and Naw Mu Mu Aye were on the stage as well. The crowd went wild.
Vow
The party ended at about 9.30 p.m. with some of the graduates not so sober. It was indeed a memorable gathering and we all vowed to meet again in December 2000 at place and date to be announced early next year. Three cheers to the organizers and those who have one way or the other help in making this event a great success.
1969
Updates
How time flies.
The Class of 69 celebrated the 30th anniversary reunion in 1999. The correspondence (Ko Daniel Tint Lwin, Ma Alice Saw Yu Tint, …) was partly responsible for the establishment of the “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” and the first ex-RIT web site.
40th Anniversary Reunion in 2009
2009
Golden Jubilee of Admission in 2014
2014
Golden Jubilee of Graduation in 2019
2019
U Aung Min (M69) is Chair of 69er Health Care Fund. He and his team maintain the GBNF list.
GBNF
Several Octogenarians — U Tin Maung, Harry Tin Htut, Uzin Bobby, Uzin Aung Chaw, U Ngwe Tun, U Win Thein Zaw, U Ngwe Soe, Albert Kyaw Min, Mehm Aye Chan, U Kyaw Zin, Robert Win Boh, U Tin Aung Win …
HlaMin 