Blog

• Win Latt was one of my students at UCC.
• Under the supervision of U Myint Sein (BARB, GBNF) and me, he implemented Win Horo.
• He [co]founded CCC and SysMagic.
• He worked in Myanmar, Nepal, Singapore and Thailand.

• U Mya Thein (GBNF)
• U Thein Oo
• U Soe Thein (GBNF)
• U Aung Hlaing
• Daw Nwe Nwe Win / Judy
• Daw Nge Ma Ma Than / Ma Nge (GBNF)

U Mya Thein

Grapevine says that U Mya Thein (GBNF) earned the nickname “Bo Shoke” at the Institute of Economics (IE). His first nickname was supposedly “Bo Gyoke” because he had his hair cut like Bogyoke Aung San. He was a brilliant and talented student. He would “explain” the lectures in a room to his fellow students. Grapevine says that the turn out to his “free tuition” was larger than that at the regular classes given by the sayas.

He had a vast array of General Knowledge. He read books on religion, medicine, and engineering. He would get involved in lots of activities thereby earning the name “Bo Shoke” (One who gets his hands wet in things that are of no concern to him).

He joined the Commerce Department at the IE as a tutor. When UCC was formed, it needed people with diverse skills. Bo Shoke, Ah Thay Lay (U Thein Oo), Htaw Kyin (U Htin Kyaw) and Saya Maung (U Tun Shwe) transferred to UCC from IE. The first two majored in Commerce. The last two majored in Statistics. They all became Application Programmers, and went for further studies to the United Kingdom.

Bo Shoke was outspoken. During a visit to UCC, VIPs (ministers and deputy ministers) were standing and waiting for U San Yu. Bo Shoke entered the room and shouted, “Sit down”. All complied. (What a surprise!)

Bo Shoke not only taught at UCC, but he also lectured to the monks at ITBMU (International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University).

Like Father, Like Son

One day Bo Shoke’s father came to UCC. He carried a bunch of bananas to UCC. He asked U Tun Kywe, an army veteran serving as security, the office of Saya Myo (Bo Shoke’s manager). When he found out Saya Myo was not much older than Bo Shoke, he went downstairs and then handed the bunch of bananas to the elderly U Tun Kywe. Like father, like son.

Remarks

• I succeeded Saya Myo (U Myo Min) as Business Applications Manager. 
• Bo Shoke succeeded me.
• Fortunately or unfortunately, one who could “contest” Bo Shoke appeared. It was his sister-in-law.

U Thein Oo

U Thein Oo was an entrepreneur in his school days. He supposedly paid his school fees from his winnings from “Ta Chut Hmok” (and similar games). With great control and having excellent strategies, he was never victimized like other over-emotional card players.

He was also good in sports : as a “lifter” in volleyball and as a “smasher” in table tennis.

He joined the Department of Commerce and later transferred to UCC. His mentors include Saya Dr. Khin Mg Kyi (who attended the University as a monk and is known for his debating style). He is equally good as his mentor and may be even better.

He found his soul mate Daw Than Than Tint at UCC. They and their family members (son, daughter-in-law) operate ACE and its subsidiaries.

He co-founded MCI (training and services) company with a fellow alumni/saya U Tin Win Aung from the Institute of Economics.

He has served in various capacities (e.g. President) in MCF and similar organizations.

He is fondly known as “Ah Thay Lay”. He is a nice example of the saying “Great men are short”.

U Soe Thein

U Soe Thein (also known as Joe Thein) had a disability, but that did not prevent him to have a good life and career. He completed training courses 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.

U Aung Hlaing

U Aung Hlaing is fondly known as Japan Sayagyi. His wife worked for the Foreign Ministry and was assigned to Japan. JS accompanied her and worked as a COBOL programmer.

Saya Paing met him during his training (sponsored by JICA [Japan International Cooperating Agency] and implemented by Fujitsu and other Japanese computer companies. Saya Paing asked him if he would like to join UCC upon his return to Burma.

He became one of the COBOL teachers.

Daw Nwe Nwe Win

Daw Nwe Nwe Win is fondly known as Judy.

She was a star athlete at RASU. She also played volley with the males (UCC employees and students).

She used to hang around a lot with Ma Nge (Daw Nge Ma Ma Than).

One day, some one approached Judy and Ma Nge with two envelopes. He said, “It’s for both of you”. Guess what? Inside each envelope was a “Yee Zar Sar”.

They remained “twins” until U Myint Swe managed to get the favor of Ma Nge.

It would take some more time before Judy would tie the knot.

Daw Nge Ma Ma Than (Ma Nge)

See other posts about Ma Nge (GBNF).

The family of Saya U Aung Zaw (Sydney, Australia) — Daw Kyawt, San Tint Tint Zaw, Ant Bwe Zaw, Nyan Htet Zaw, Grandchildren — thanks all those around the world who sent messages and donations during the recent bereavement.

In Saya Zaw’s memory, the family donated AUD5000 to the Metta Foundation (which provides health care to the elderly and the needy).

The family also offered requisites to the Sangha in Sydney.

The dhamma friends at the Yennora Burmese Monastery helped with the Soon Kwyay.

U Myint Lwin (Charles) coordinated the three Ah Hlu in Thanatpin, Myanmar :

• Two nights offering Lights
• Two days offering drinking water
• Soon Kyway

Daw Pyone Yee (Saya Zaw’s older sister in Myanmar) and family performed dana for Saya Zaw.

U Zaw Tun (UCC), family and friends in Singapore hosted Soon Kyway for Saya Zaw.

U Ngwe Soe (UCC, Singapore) earlier donated Saya Zaw’s books to a library (in a monastery) for public access.

Due to relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, Saya Zaw’s last journey was allowed 45 minutes (instead of 15 minutes) and 60 attendees.

Sad News

Saya U Aung Zaw (Aung Daing, Yebaw Gyi, AZ, Saya Zaw) passed away in Sydney, Australia on November 16, 2021.

Three Books

He wrote about his life and philosophy in two books “Dhamma and Bawa” and “Cetana thi thar Kan”.

I had the honor and privilege to edit the books, and to contribute a section “Advice to Grandchildren” (based on his draft writing).

Both books were published by his elder sister Daw Pyone Yee in Yangon. They were mailed to Saya Zaw’s friends, colleagues and former students (in Myanmar, Singapore, USA …) by Saya’s niece Cho Zin Win.

A third book did not get published in time (partly due to pandemic).

Life Long Teacher

Saya Zaw joined the Department of Mathematics at RASU.

He transferred to UCC as Systems Programmer.

He received M.Sc. (Computer Science) from Southampton University.

He also had training at UCSC (University of California at Santa Cruz).

Saya Zaw and his mentor Saya U Soe Paing (UCC co-founder) studied at Southampton University in the UK. The Chair of the Computer Science Department (Professor D. W. Barron) earlier worked at Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory under Computer Pioneer Maurice V. Wilkes who built EDSAC and also wrote about Microprogramming.

He taught Computer courses at UCC and later at CSO, Assumption University (in Bangkok) and at a University (in Sydney).

Saya U Soe Paing (co-founder of UCC) allowed Saya Zaw and me to co-author User Manuals & Guides and Texts (on Programming and Computers).

Multiple Talents

Saya Zaw wrote Kabyars, articles and Thingyan Sar. A sample of his witty writings can be found in my web site hlamin.com

Saya Zaw completed the Thingyo (Abhidhamma) examination. He organized Dhamma discussions with Saya Chit (Dr. Chit Swe) and selected seniors. Some of the discussions can be found in his book (which was published by his elder sister and mailed to us by his niece).

True Love

True Love Story saw Ma Kywat donating her Kidney to Saya Zaw several years back. The donated kidney was still strong and healthy at the time of demise.

Three Children and Four Grandchildren

Saya Zaw’s children are fondly known as

• Mi San (San Tint Tint Zaw)
• Ant Bwe Zaw
• Nyan Htet Zaw (Steven).

• Mi San and her children moved to Saya Zaw’s house.
• Ant Bwe moved to Mi San’s former house (adjoining to Saya Zaw’s house).
• Nyan Htet and family would occasionally visit the parents and siblings.

Sponsor / Supporter

Saya Zaw was an early sponsor / supporter of

• Panditarama Sydney Meditation Center
• Yenora Monastery
• Metta Foundation

He helped conduct retreats at the monasteries / meditation centers.

The Metta Foundation in Sydney aids needy people with sickness and disabilities. The Foundation also sent volunteers to help Saya Zaw (during his medical treatment).

Saya Zaw also participated in the Community events by Burmese Doctors (e.g Dr. Kyaw Myint Malia), Engineers (MEAA members — mostly RIT Alumni) and Seniors.

UCC Gatherings

He organized several UCC Gatherings at his house with delicious food provided by Ma Kyawt.

In 2006, I attended a gathering (organized by Saya Zaw) to pay respect to Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe (UCC Founder) and Sayagyi Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (UCC Advisor).

Sad to note that they are GBNF.

Last Journey

Saya Zaw was cool and calm to the very end. He told Mi San not to play dhamma CDs, and that he can concentrate / meditate better with silence.

He wrote his Obituary.

In lieu of wreaths, donations should be made to Organizations offering support to the needy, sick and disabled.

The monasteries / meditation centers plan to perform kusala and share merits for Saya Zaw.

Memories

Visit by Ma Ma Mi and Dr. Kyaw Myint

Ma Ma Mi (Daw Khin Khin Latt, spouse of Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe) visited Saya Zaw the day before his demise. Dr. Kyaw Myint (one of Saya Zaw’s physicians) was also present at the time.

Obituary

Saya Zaw — Then and Now

Last Journey

Per Saya Zaw’s request, only a short service (about 45 minutes) was held.

There were also restrictions due to the pandemic.

Ma San posted a streaming of the service for those who could not attend the service in person.

Dana in Thanatpin

Soon Kyway

Water Ah Hlu / Dana

Up to date 23 – 11 – 2021ကျောက်ပန်းတောင်းမြို့နယ် သနပ်ပင်ကျေးရွာအများပြည်သူအတွက်သောက်ရေများကို အလှူရှင်များက နေ့စဉ်ပေးလှူလျက်ရှိရာ ယနေ့အတွက်တစ်နေ့တာ သောက်ရေများကို ရတနာမြတ်သုံးပါးကိုဦးထိပ်ထား၍ 2021 ခုှနှစ်၊ November ၊ (16)ရက်နေ့တွင် ကွယ်လွန်သွားသော ဘိုကလေးမြို့ (ဦးလှဖေ + ဒေါ်ခင်စိန်) တုိ့၏သား#ဦးအောင်ဇော် အသက်(၇၅)နှစ်အားရည်စူး၍ ကျန်ရစ်သူ Australia,Sidney နေဇနီး ဒေါ်နန်းကြော့(ခ)ဒေါ်တင့်တင့်ဝေနှင့် မိတ်ဆွေ ဦးထွန်းအောင်ကျော်နှင့် မခင်မော် ၊ CHARLES နှင့် ANN MARIEမိသားစုများ က ရေလှူရသည့်အကျိုးရေအကျိုး (၁၀)ပါး ရရှိပါစေခြင်းအကျိုးငှာ သောက်ရေများ ပေးလှူပါသည်။

ရေအကျိုး(၁၀)ပါးပြည့်ဝပါစေ။ကျန်းမာချမ်းသာပါကြပါစေ။

Wishing you all the best.

#မတောင်းပဲပြည့်သောဆု ( သို့ )#ရေလှူရသောအကျိုးတရား(၁၀)ပါး

( ၁ ) သန့်ရှင်းကြည်လင်ခြင်း( ၂ ) ကျော်စောထင်ရှားခြင်း( ၃ ) အခြံအရံ ပေါများခြင်း( ၄ ) လျင်မြန်ဖျတ်လတ် သွက်လက်ပေါ့ပါးခြင်း( ၅ ) ရေငတ်မွတ်သိပ်မှု ကင်းဝေးခြင်း( ၆ ) အသက်ရှည်ခြင်း( ၇ ) အဆင်းလှခြင်း( ၈ ) ကြီးပွားချမ်းသာခြင်း( ၉ ) ခွန်အားကြီးမားခြင်း( ၁၀ ) ပညာဥာဏ်ကြီးမားခြင်း

#ရေလှူဆုတောင်း

ကြည်လင်အေးမြ ရေလှူရ၍ ဘဝတိုင်းဝယ် အသိဥာဏ်ပညာကြွယ်လျက်ကိုယ်ဝယ်တွင်းပြင် ညစ်ကြေးစင်ကြည်လင်အေးမြလို၏ အရှင်ဘုရား။

1. U Win Hlaing
2. Mr. Henry Maung Maung (Census, GBNF)
3. Daw Kyu Kyu Lwin (GBNF)
4. Daw Khin Si Thoung (USA)
5. Daw Khin Khin Win (Five Star Line – USA)
6. Daw Phyu Phyu Win (Singapore)
7. Daw Win May Thaung (GBNF)
8. Daw Tin Tin Yi (Port Authority)
9. Daw Hla Hla Win (GBNF)
10. U Aung Myint
11. U Soe Myint (Sunlun, M72, GBNF)

Five of the eleven in the photo are GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten)

Annotation by U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ), U Aung Myint (AM), Daw Nwe Nwe Win (Judy) and Daw Tin Moe We (Sweety)

Dr. Soe Thein (C75) wrote :

• I can say that I am also Part of UCC.
• I attended MSc (Computer) at UCC for 3 months from Dec 1975 to Mar 1976 until Hmaing Yar Pyae Demonstration.
• U Shwe Hlaing started my FORTRAN in 5th Year RIT and U TAG (U Tun Aung Gyaw) completed it in my first 3 months in MSc (Computer).
• I used FORTRAN in both my MEng Thesis at AIT and PhD Thesis at National University of Singapore.
• Without mastering FORTRAN, I cannot complete my thesis.
• Thanks to Sayar U Shwe Hlaing, U TAG and other UCC Lecturers and Staff who helped me during my study and usage at UCC from 1977 to 1982.

• U Aung Zaw
• Dr. Maung Maung Htay
• Dr. Rafil Ahad
• U Soe Myint
• U Than Lwin

U Aung Zaw

U Aung Zaw was born in Bogale. He is also known as Yebaw Gyi and Saya Zaw.

He is a nephew of Bogale U Kywe (a renowned palmist, GBNF), who both predicted the successful careers of Saya Chit (Dr. Chit Swe), and Bo Htay (Dr. Maung Maung Htay).

He met his soul mate Daw Nan Tint Tint We (Ma Kyawt) at Pathein [Bassein] College. He joined the Department of Mathematics, RASU.

One day, Saya Chit asked him if he would like to join UCC. If Saya Zaw remained in the Mathematics Department, he would have a chance to do Ph.D. As for UCC, Saya Zaw would learn new technology, but a Ph.D is not guaranteed.

Saya Zaw studied Masters in Computer Science at Southampton University along with Saya Paing (U Soe Paing) who would do double-duty as a mentor. The Department Head was Professor D. W. Barron, who worked for the Computer Pioneer Maurice V. Wilkes at CUML (Cambridge University Mathematical Laboratory, later CU Computing Lab) and also wrote a CS monograph.

Upon return to Burma, Saya Zaw taught M.Sc . and DAC courses. He is one of the “sayas of UCC sayas”.

He led the Systems Programming team (managed by Saya Paing).

He had training at UCSC to have an in-depth knowledge of Unix.

Saya Paing, Saya Zaw and I wrote several Guide books and Publications used at UCC.

Life After UCC

He transferred to CSO Department (which had installed an IBM computer). He went for IBM Training in Thailand.

After retirement from CSO, he tried to find a new career and life overseas. He cared a lot about his children and their future.

He was met in Bangkok by U Myint Oo (DAC, Co-op), who took him to ABAC (also known as Assumption University). U Myint Oo requested the Brother Director (Principal) and his staff to interview Saya Zaw. To Saya Zaw’s surprise, he was offered a job to start that very day.

His first assignment was to teach Pascal (a language designed by Nicklaus Wirth ). He mentioned that he used the “Pascal Programming Guide” prepared by me at UCC.

His next stop was Sydney, Australia. He continued teaching at a University until his health conditions “worsened”.

True Love Story

Saya Zaw experienced a “True Love Story” about five years ago. He found out that both his kidneys were not good, but one was bad enough to need a transplant.

Saya tried to get a donor for kidney. His beloved spouse offered to donate her kidney as a sign of unwavering love, companionship and trust. Tears of joy fell from Saya’s eyes.

The kidney transplant was successful, but he still have to face some side effects

The details are provide in his first book “Bawa and Dhamma”.

Knowledge Sharing

Saya Zaw wrote two books. He wanted to share his life experience, poems, satires & articles, and the Dhamma discussions (weekly discussions with seniors including Saya Chit). He compiled them into a book called ” Bawa And Dhamma “.

Another book was written for his grandchildren and covers the culture and religious teachings. Saya said, “It does not matter if they choose to profess another religion or belief. It matters that they should know their heritage and culture before making life decisions”. The book contains some chapters written by me based on Saya Zaw’s ideas. It also contains poems and articles that were not printed in the first book, or written after Saya Zaw’s operation.

Saya has also done DHAMMA DANA and donated several books.

Smiles Despite Intense Pain

Saya Zaw’s smiles, jokes and his THINGYAN SAR covered up the “physical” pain. In 2006, during my visit to Sydney, Saya said solemnly, “Only 30% of my kidney is working.”

Saya Zaw has a noble nature

I had first hand experience when I decided to move from “Hardware” to “Software”. Saya Zaw told the management that he would happily let me become the Senior Systems Programmer, even though it would be “blocking” his career advancement. I salute you, Saya Zaw.

Dr. Maung Maung Htay

• Bo Htay (Maung Maung Htay) studied at Imperial College in the United Kingdom and received his Ph.D from LSU (Louisiana State University), Baton Rouge in the United States.
• He worked at VMI (Virginia Military Institute).
• He is currently working at Radford University in Virginia.
• He served as Chair of the Regional ACM Programming Contest.
• He offered his expertise (for curriculum development …) at UCSY (University of Computer Science Yangon) for three months each in 2018 and 2019.

Dr. Rafiul Ahad

• Rafi (Rafiul Ahad) studied at UCC, AIT (Asian Institute of Technology) in Thailand and USC (University of Southern California) in the United States.
• He worked at University of Maryland, Hewlett Packard, Ingres and Oracle USA.
• He is currently Vice President managing Oracle Cloud Computing Project.
• He gave Key Note speech at an AIT Commencement Ceremony.

U Soe Myint

Dr. Maung Thein (Professor, Geology) advised U Soe Myint to study M.Sc. (Computer Science) at UCC.

He volunteered during his study days and joined UCC after graduation.

He is known as KSM (short for Ko Soe Myint) to differentiate from U Soe Myint (Operator, also known as Sunlun Soe Myint or Soe Myint Gyi).

After UCC, he was assigned to various UN projects. He retired from UNOPS.

He is presently in New York, USA.

U Than Lwin

U Than Lwin has two Masters : one in Mathematics from RASU and one in Computer Science from the UK.

He moved to CSO.

After retirement, he and his spouse Daw Khin Swe Oo (EC74) relocated to Singapore.

• Saya Chit (Dr. Chit Swe) is a Computing Pioneer in Burma.
• He is a proponent of Life Long Learning, Knowledge and Technology Transfer, Leapfrogging Technology, Team of System Specialists (TOSS) to name a few
• Sadly, Saya passed away in Sydney, Australia in November 2019
• He had medical problems in his late 80s, but still had an active mind.
• Until a few years ago, Saya was still “supervising” Burmese students in Australia with their research and theses.

• Saya is an Alumnus of Mandalay University, Imperial College (University of London), University of Glasgow and University of Liverpool.
• His contemporaries include Dr. Maung Di and U Khin Maung Tint (Tekkatho Phone Naing , who supposedly based his characters on his friends).
• Saya U Ba Than (Retired Professor of Mechanical Engineering) was his room mate when he they were studying at Imperial College.

• Saya was Head of Mathematics Department at the Institute of Economics when he proposed to the Ministry of Education to acquire a computer for research and teaching.
• Dr. Nyi Nyi requested Saya Chit to extend the scope of his proposal to cover selected universities and institutes.
• The UCC project was born.
• It would take several years before UNDP (United Nations Development Program) approved to fund the project. UNESCO would act as the Executing Agency.
  
• Saya Chit succeeded U Ba Toke as Professor of Mathematics Department.
  Saya U Ba Toke was promoted as Rector of MASU.
• Saya recruited volunteers to help plan for the implementation of UCC.

• Saya received permission to use an upper floor of Mandalay Hall as the “temporary home” for UCC.
• Saya Chit, Saya Paing, Saya Myo, Saya Lay and several others (U Shwe Hlaing, Dr. Kyaw Nyunt) conducted courses on Computer Fundamentals & Programming, Systems Analysis and Design, …

• UCC moved over to Thamaing College Campus as a neighbor to Regional College Two (RC2).
• Saya Chit became the Founder/Director.
• Saya Paing, Saya Myo and Saya Lay became Managers in charge of Computer Systems, Computer Applications, and Computer Operations.

• Saya is modest.
  During a trip to Chauk Htut Yone, the admin would ignore Saya Chit and would pay respect to Ko Myint Oo (later Phaung Gyi), who was well dressed and carrying a suit case).
  
• Sayagadaw inivited Ko Myint Oo and me to join Saya at the Yahan Khan in Sagaing Hills.
  The Preceptor took more than two hours exhorting the three Donlabas (after learning that Saya was a prominent Professor).
  
• Saya Chit insisted a component to invite the elite Computer Scientists and Practitioners to UCC and jump start courses in Computer Science and Applications.
  The list includes :
  Harry D. Huskey and Anthony Ralston (two Past Presidents of the prestigious ACM),
  Peter Wegner (expert in Programming Languages and Systems),
  Michael Stonebraker (Expert in Relational Database Technology).
  
• Saya thought that I had served as an Editor for a newspaper.
  I had written articles, poems and translations for Guardian, WPD (Working People’s Daily) and Forward Magazine.
  Maung Thaw Ka (Bohmu Ba Thaw) “suggested” me to join his staff (upon learning that I was then a volunteer (“Loke Arr Pay”) for the UCC Project).
  In my 3rd BE, editors from NAB (News Agency Burma) “invited” me to join their staff.
  My parents supported my hobbies, but they wanted to make sure that I have a good education and a decent job. I became a writer (real and ghost) for Saya’s numerous projects: High School Mathematics Curriculum Development, CTK (Children’s Treasury of Knowledge), PERT …
  
• Saya served as Rector of RASU, but his passion for UCC and his care for his former students never dimmed.
• Saya taught at ABAC before moving to Sydney, Australia.
  Several Burmese there completed their doctorates under his supervision.

• In June 2006, I attended mini-gatherings in Sydney:
  (a) RIT Alumni Dinner Gathering (co-chaired by Saya U Myo Win (GBNF) and Saya U Hla Myint
  (b) UCC alumni gathering at Saya U Aung Zaw’s house
  (c) Old Paulians Lunch Gathering at Olympic Park (organized by Dr. Thann Naing / Bonnie Kywe)
  
• We paid homage to Saya Chit and Saya Dr. Freddie Ba Hli (National Planning Adviser & Board Member of UCC).
  
• Saya later asked me to give a lecture or seminar for interested youths.
  He then presented me with his hat.
  I hope that Saya’s hat can “transfer” his brilliant thinking into my head.

• Saya visited Singapore and Myanmar and shared his wisdom, knowledge and experience.
• I managed to call Saya Chit a few months before he passed away.
  He told me that in the early 70s, both UCC and most Australian Universities were using ICL Computers. He said Burma should make strides in Computer Science and Applications like other countries in general and Australia in particular.

• Saya’s Biography (provided by his family)
• Pioneers
• Memories of UCC (series)
• Articles by U Soe Paing, U Aung Zaw …

Brief Background

• Joined Mathematics Department, RASU
• Transferred to UCC as Systems Programmer
• M.Sc. (Computer Science) from Southampton University in the UK.
• Managed a team of System Programmers at UCC and CSO.
• Taught Computer Science at UCC, ABAC and in Australia.
• Co-authored Lecture Guides for use at UCC with Saya U Soe Paing and U Hla Min.
  
• Wrote articles and poems.
• His elder sister in Myanmar published them as two books.
• I edited part of the first book “Dhamma and Bawa” and also wrote the Preface.
• Based on his ideas, I wrote “A grandfather’s advice for a fruitful life & peace of mind” for a section of the second book “Cetana Thi Thar Kan“.

Dhamma and Bawa (First Book)

Cetana Thi Thar Kan (Second Book)

It seems like only yesterday when Computer Science, Technology and Applications were introduced to Burma/Myanmar.

Saya Chit (Dr. Chit Swe) founded Universities Computer Center (UCC) with the help of Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Myo Min and Saya U Ko Ko Lay (GBNF).

Saya Chit firmly believed in

• Technology Transfer
• Leapfrogging Technology
• Lifelong Learning
• the ability, passion and work ethics of fledgling Burmese/Myanmar professionals and students.

Saya Chit, who was Head of the Mathematics Department at the Institute of Economics, proposed to the Ministry of Education to have a Computer at the Institute for Teaching and Research. Dr. Nyi Nyi asked Saya Chit to expand the scope to have a Computer for use by the Universities and Institutes.

The project to establish the first Computer Center in Burma took a long time to get approved by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). UNESCO was designated as the Executing Agency.

Saya Chit was determined that the UCC project should nurture Burmese Computer Professionals and trigger the Computerization of Government Departments.

Saya ensured that the UNDP/UNESCO Grant will have a component to invite outstanding Computer Scientists and educators to Burma.

Professor Harry D. Huskey, computer pioneer and Past ACM President, was offered a subcontract for education and training. Professor Huskey convinced Professor Anthony Ralston (another Past ACM President), Professor Peter Wegner (expert in systems software, programming languages), Professor Michael Stonebraker (expert in data base systems, founder/implementer of Ingres, winner of ACM Turing Award a few years back) and other distinguished academics to share their knowledge and expertise in Burma.

Saya Chit wanted to establish academic departments and institutions to teach and research Computer Science, Technology and Applications.

To head in that direction, Saya Chit allowed UCC (where he was the Founder and Director) to conduct Computer Science programs under the aegis of the Department of Mathematics, Rangoon University (where he was Professor and Head of the Department).

Details of the early days of Computing in Burma has been documented in part by Saya U Soe Paing in “Computer ah sa; UCC ga” and other related articles. Saya was my mentor at RIT and UCC.

From UCC to DCS and ICST

Saya Chit was succeeded by Saya Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF), a senior Lecturer at the Deparment of Mathematics and a son of Sayagyi U Kar (Minister of Education in the Caretaker Government).

During Dr. Tin Maung’s tenure, the Department of Computer Science (DCS) was founded under Rangoon University. U Ko Ko Lay served as the Professor of DCS.

The Institute of Computer Science and Technology (ICST) was then established with Saya Dr. Tin Maung as Rector.

Saya U Ko Ko Lay served as Professor and Head of the Information Systems Department.

Saya U Tun Aung Gyaw served as Associate Professor and Head of the Hardware Technology Department.

I was appointed as Associate Professor and Head of the Software Technology Department.

Senior sayas from the Mathematics Department would later head the Computational Mathematics Department.

The Bachelor of Science degree programs was established. Thirty students were selected for the first year B.Sc (Computer Science) class. Fifteen students were chosen for the Computer Technology class.

Among the students were Ma Aye Aye Kyaw Zin, daughter of my classmate U Kyaw Zin (EP69). She is now a senior computer professional in Sydney, Australia. Another female student Mi Thinn Hnin Myaing left ICST to join her mother (my I.Sc.(A) classmate) in the USA. A few years back, I met both the mother and daughter, who is a Commander (Lt. Colonel, Dental Surgeon) in the US Navy.

Micro-gatherings

Ma Aye Aye Kyaw Zin, Ma Su Su Hlaing and Ko Win Pe hosted a dinner during my visit to Sydney in 2006.

Ma San Yin Myint (Samantha, cousin of U Maurice Chee) took me to a dinner to meet her classmates from the second batch. Some of them are Entrepreneurs.

Ko Saw Yan Naing (son of Dr. Wesley Saw Naing, and nephew of Dr. Myo Khin) gave me a ride to the 5th Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe of ICST and UCSY (University of Computer Studies in Yangon).

I had a good time at the 40th Anniversary of UCC.

A UCC Reunion of former staff, sayas and students will be held at MICT Park on December 29, 2018. My spouse has agreed to attend on my behalf.

Saya U Soe Paing and Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice) hosted us during my visits to Yangon. We requested them not to host the last time when Saya Paing was having back pain and the doctor friends of Alice strongly suggested Saya to have a check up and operation in Singapore.

There are several informal gatherings, e.g. Christmas party at Daw Gilmore Hole’s house, lunch gathering at Koke Kine Bone Kyaung and Kone Myint Tha.

• Introduction
• ICL Computer Systems
• ICL Software
• ICL Museum
• PDP
• Calcomp
• Cromemco
• IBM Computer Systems

Introduction

The UCC Project was funded by UNDP and executed by UNESCO.

ICL submitted the winning bid for the UCC Project.

The ICL 1902S System became the first mainframe computer in Burma.

Calcomp Flat bed Graph Plotter was used off-line.

PDP11/70 System was later acquired.

Cromemco System3 and the PCs were the latest additions to UCC.

ICL Computer System

ICT (International Calculators and Tabulators) evolved into ICL (International Computers Limited). The British Government was partly responsible for the merger of several British Companies such as ICT and LEO.

ICL Burma

• ICL has a presence in Burma with U Kyaw Tha as Manager.
• ICL leased Unit Record Machines.
• ICL was among the four computer companies that submitted tender for the UCC Project. funded by UNDP and executed by UNESCO. It submitted a model of S/360. IBM did not win the bid.
• ICL (International Computers Limited) won the tender for the UCC project.
• In the early 60s, Burma Railways requested a budget to lease ICL Computers, but it did not materialize due to the Coup D’etat and subsequent policies by the Revolutionary Council and Government.

1900 Series

The ICL 1900 series consist of

• ICL 1901
• ICL 1902
• ICL 1903
• ICL 1904
• ICL 1905
• ICL 1906
• ICL 1907

The “basic” machines have “A” in the name, e.g. ICL 1901A

The “enhanced” machines have “S” in the name, e.g. ICL 1902S (the one used at UCC).

System Configuration at UCC

The following configuration was used at UCC. Some upgrades were made using the budget for “Population Census Data Processing” Project.

• ICL 1902S computer with 2.5 D (dimensional) core memory and a console typewriter
• Two ICL 2101 Card Readers
• ICL 1933 Line Printer
• Two ICL 2802 EDS (Exchangeable Disk Store)
• Each controller controls two EDS 8 disks
• Four ICL 2506 Magnetic Tape 9 track NRZI (Non Return to Zero Inverted)

The computer has piano-like keys for “bootstrapping” and for “testing”.

Media

Some ICL computers use a 5-track Paper Tape Reader. There are pros and cons for using “punched cards” versus “punched paper tape”.

Punched cards were used in the early looms and in the Hollerith Machines used for processing US Population Census Data. Hollerith founded a company, which evolved into IBM.

Punched paper tape were used in the early transmission systems.

For frequently used program and data, magnetic tapes and disks are used.

Training and Support

Three UCC engineers — U Tun Aung Gyaw, U Hla Min and U Soe Win — attended training at the ICLETC (ICL Engineering Training Center) in Letchworth, UK.

The trouble shooting requires the use of diagnostic tests and associated guides.

ICL provided a resident engineer to maintain the computer system.

ICL also provided a resident programmer/analyst to guide the system programmers and selected application programmers.

KMZ wrote :

I believe I still have a key chain from Ko Soe Myint Gyi. He had a “ဆြမ္းအုပ္” drawn on Calcomp and laminated it to create the key chain. He gave it to me when I met him and KZ at Wynn Myint Aung’s house. They were on some tour visiting Washington DC area in the mid-80s.

ICL Software

Computer systems require

• Systems Software
• Applications Software

Systems Software

Operating System is the main Systems Software.

• The ICL 1900 series machines use GEORGE (General Organization Environment) Operating System.
• ICL1902S uses GEORGE-2.
• Some other models use GEORGE-3.

ICL1902S comes with several systems and application software packages.

Saya Zaw (U Aung Zaw) and team install the software and the patches during the period reserved for them.

ICL1902S used the following Programming Languages

• PLAN (Programming Language for Nineteen hundred series) is the Assembly Language.
• FORTRAN (Formula Translator) is the programming language used for Scientific Computing.
• COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language) is the programming languages used for Business Applications.

The language compilers detect syntax and semantic errors of the submitted program. For programs that are free of “serious” errors, the compilers output a form that can be read by a “consolidator” or “linking loader”.

Application Software

ICL provided several application software packages.

Examples include :

FILAN (File Analysis) is used for the processing of Population Census data.

CSL (Control and Simulation Language) is available for discrete event simulation.

ICL Museum

Saya U Soe Paing e-mailed me with photos of the “historic” ICL computer system.

Saya mentioned that U Thein Oo is willing to support the “ICL Museum” project.

At an ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) meeting, I met Gwen Bell (spouse of Gordon Bell, VAX architect). Gordon brought back artifacts that he had collected while co-authoring the book “Computer Structures” with Alan Newell during his sabbatical at CMU (Carnegie Mellon University). She introduced me to Karen, VP (Vice President of CHM). I volunteered to be a Docent.

Gwen developed an exhibit at the DEC office in Boston, Massachusetts. It became known as BCM (Boston Computer Museum).

When Microsoft bought the division of DEC (where Gordon & his team worked), Gwen had to think fast.

Only a limited number of artifacts were accepted for display at the Science Museum.

The rest of the artifacts were air-freighted to Moffet Field with the hope that the “Computer Museum” will be revived. For several years, the artifacts were displayed at the Make-shift Museum in Moffet Field. A group of enthusiasts bought a building owned by SGI (Silicon Graphics Incorporated) and moved some there. The rest was placed in a storage house.

As a Docent, I had to show the visitors and explain [if requested] about the artifacts displayed in “Visible Storage”. In those days, only ten percent (or so) could be displayed for a period before rolling them out.

Thanks in part to the “Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation”, CHM could now exhibit 20 sections (from pre-computer era to the Internet age). In addition, there are special exhibits (e.g. autonomous vehicles, computer chess, …)

Having “ICL Museum” will be a significant step towards recording and preserving the History of IT (Information Technology).

PDP

Ken Olson and several other MIT alumni founded DEC (Digital Equipment Corporate).

Grape vine says that there was a “protocol” in government departments to “purchase computer”. In order to circumvent that, DEC named their mini-computers as PDP (Programmable Digital Processors).

CHM (Computer History Museum) has a PDP-1 on display. Retired DEC engineers “restored” a PDP-1. The exhibit has demos : one for play a “primitive” Space War game, another for “playing” music …

PDP-8 is a 12-bit mini-computer used in many universities of that period.

PDP-11 is a 16-bit mini-computer (that was acquired by UCC).

VT-101 (or similar) terminals became the “new” mode of entering and running programs.

DEC later introduced VAX (Virtual Address eXtended) series.

Gordon Bell was the VAX architect and co-author of the book using CMS (Computer Memory System) and “formal” methods to describe and evaluate computer systems. The artifacts that he collected for the book project were displayed in DEC as BCM (Boston Computer Museum) with Gwen Bell as the Curator. It later became CHM (Computer History Museum) in Mountain View, California.

I volunteered as a Docent for CHM for a couple of years. I had to give guided tours (for 45 minutes to an hour). One child asked his father how fast the 10 Million Dollar computer (Cray 1) was. The reply, “It’s slower than your PC and your smart phone”.

KMZ wrote :

It was a shame that DEC/VAX/VMS did not take off well as some people hoped. Fortunately, Bill Gates hired VAX/VMS main architect Dave Cutler in 1988, who brought many of his team from DEC, 20+ as reported, as part of the hiring agreement of Dave Cutler.

Dave Cutler and his team developed Windows NT, New Technology – a 64bit OS, and the rest is history. He has his hands on RedDot, which be came Microsoft Azure.

Dr. Mark Russinovich, received his doctorate in 1989 from Carnegie Mellon, developed a very popular Windows utility suite called ‘SysInternals’ with his partner. This was a godsend for all Windows Systems Engineers, a Swiss Army Knife, if you will. He also had a short stint at IBM, he also wrote a series of articles comparing Windows NT with VMS?? in Windows Internals magazine. Microsoft eventually acquired the SysInternals, Mark included. Mark is now CTO of Microsoft Azure.

Calcomp

A flat bed CalComp Graph Plotter was added.

Calcomp sent Robert Boyle to provide on-site training for the graph plotter. Trouble shooting for Calcomp is based on Venn Diagrams.

At the dinner, Saya U Ko Ko Lay asked Robert if he wanted to try Nga Yoke Thee. Saya explained that there is “Moe Hmaw (Look for the sky)” and “Ka La Aw (Indian Scream)”.

Cromemco

Cromemco System 3 was a micro-computer.

UCC staff members burned PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory) to support Burmese characters.

IBM Computer Systems

IBM Burma

• IBM has a presence in Burma with U Aung Khin as Manager.
• IBM leased Unit Record Machines.
• IBM was among the four computer companies that submitted tender for the UCC Project. funded by UNDP and executed by UNESCO. It submitted a model of S/360. IBM did not win the bid.
• ICL (International Computers Limited) won the tender for the UCC project.
• IBM later won the bid for the CSO project.

IBM 360

Hollerith Machines which processed the US Population Census in 1890 with its Unit Record Machines evolved into IBM (International Business Machines).

• IBM designed and implemented System360.
• 360 supposedly refers to the number of degrees in a circle.
• It uses the same architecture with a common instruction set (IS).
• The high end models implement the IS using the best available hardware.
• The low end models implement the IS using firmware.

Blauuw and Brooks explain the then new concepts in their reference guides. They include

• Architecture
• Implementation
• Realization

• Brooks led the development of both the computer systems and the operating system OS/360.
• He wrote a book, “The Mythical Man Month” (which became a classic).

I attended a lecture at CHM (Computer History Museum) and asked some members of the S/360 development team to autograph the S/360 reference card.

IBM 370

• IBM later introduced the System 370.
• Amdahl left IBM to form his company and produced Amdahl 470, which is compatible with S/370 and supposedly much better than the IBM S/370.