Blog

SPZP-2002 (Singapore)
by Hla Min

Updated : May 2925
- The Second RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe was hosted by the says and alums in Singapore.
- The event took place on December 7, 2002 (Saturday).
- Dr. Soe Thein and team maintained two web sites :
  one for ex-rit singapore (for the SPZP events)
  another for the Civil Engineering Alumni in Singapore (for the Civil Sayas’ residence in Singapore and their contact numbers).
- Saya U Moe Aung, Saya Dr. Tin Hlaing, Sayama Daw “Emma” Tin Tin Myint, Saya U Aung, Saya U Tin Lin, and Saya Dr. Dr. Soe Thein are some of the core organizers of SPZP-2002.
- The RIT gathering at the Thingyan festival and musical gala at NTU helped with the planning and implementation of SPZP-2002.
- Saya U Moe Aung and team published the commemorative “Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung”.
- “Don Min” U Yu Swan, U Moe Myint, Daw Moh Moh Han, U Myint San (“Tet Lu”), U Aung Kyaw Myint (“Ko Ba Kyaw”), and many other talented Geeta Ah Nu Pyinnar Shins helped with the entertainment for SPZP-2002
Three SPZPs in Singapore
- December 2002 (Second world wide SPZP)
  Chair : Saya U Moe Aung
- April 2007 (Fourth world wide SPZP)
  Chair : U Nyan Win Shwe
- December 2010 (Fifth world wide SPZP)
  Chair : Saya U Moe Aung
From the Archives

From Ko Zaw Tun Naing and Ko Nyan Win Shwe
ex-rit singapore

Please be informed that there will be Ex-RIT, Singapore 7th meeting on

Date: 30.04.2006 (April 30, SUNDAY)
Time: 14:00 to 16:00 (2:00pm to 4pm )
after Appreciation Lunch 12pm to 2pm.
Venue: Yunnan Corner
Nanyang Terrace
NTU

Agenda

1. Review 2006 Thingyan
2. Update 2006 Thingyan Account
3. 2006 Thingyan Video Production
4. Define Price for 2006 Thingyan Video
5. Distribution Plan for 2006 Thingyan Video
6. 2007 Sayapuzawpwe discussion
We will discuss how should we celebrate the coming “Ex-RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe” in April 2007”.
We’ll also form sub committees for actions.
7. Any other matters

Please come forward and give us good ideas. Your attendance is invaluable to EX-RIT, Singapore.
May 10, 2025
O Noble Saya

အို ဘဲ့ မြတ် ဆ ရာ

Musical Video

U-70 Group ရဲ့ အထူး အစီအစဥ်

ကို အားပေး နိုင်ပါ ပြီ။

ပုံတူ

ဓာတ်ပုံ

Slide Show

တေးဂီတ

အစုံအလင်

စေ တ နာ

ဝါ သ နာ

အ နစ် နာ

ဆရာ ဆရာမ များ ကို

ထာ ဝ ရ

ဂါ ရ ဝ ပြု

တင် ဆက် မှု

ကြိုးပမ်းမှု

အစ အဆုံး

နှစ်လ ကြာ

ဆရာ စိုး — စန္ဒယား + တယော

အဆို —

ဒေါ်ကြည်ကြည်စိန်

ဒေါ်ခင်မူမူ

ဦးဆန်းဝင်း

ဦးဝင်းမြင့်

(4) Channels

waveforms

ကို synchronize

ပုံတူ — ပန်းချီ မြတ်မျိုးမြင့်

ဓာတ်ပုံ — ဦးခင်မောင်ကြီး

+ စုဆောင်းပေးသူ များ

အကြံပေး — ဦးမြင့်ဖေ

Narrator — ဒေါ်ခင်မူမူ

+ Hnin Yu Aung

Director & Producer —

ဦးအောင်မြိုင်

RIT အိုဘယ့် မြတ်ဆရာ (O Noble Teacher of RIT)

ပန်းချီမြတ်မျိုးမြင့် (M73) က ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် (RIT) ဆရာများ၏ ပုံတူပန်းချီများကို ရေးဆွဲ၍ ပူဇော်ခဲ့သည်။ စုစုပေါင်း (၇၇)ပုံရှိသည်။ ဆရာ ဦးကျော်စိန်(၁)( M65) က သူ၏ FB တွင် စုစည်းတင်ပြခဲ့သည်။ ဆရာ ဦးတင်လင်း (ChE72) က ထပ်ဆင့်မွမ်းမံခဲ့သည်။ RIT U70 group founder ဦးမြင့်ဖေ M72 နှင့် ကျနော်တို့က Music Video တစ်ခုတွင် စုစည်းရန် ကြံဆောင်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ဤသို့ဖြင့် ဤ music video ပေါ်ပေါက်လာတော့သည်။

ပုံတူပန်းချီအားလုံးနီးပါးက 1964-71 ကာလ ရှေးဦးဆရာများဖြစ်ခြင်း နှင့် music duration က ၅မိနစ်သာသာမျှသာရှိခြင်းတို့ကြောင့် ဤ music video စုစည်းပူဇော်ခြင်းကို ၁၉၆၄-၇၁ ကာလအတွက်သာ သတ်မှတ်လိုက်ပါသည်။

BIT/RIT/YIT/YTU သက်တမ်းအားလုံးအတွက် ဆရာ ဆရာမများ၏ ပုံတူနှင့် ဓာတ်ပုံများဖေါ်ပြနိုင်စေရန်အတွက်မူ ဘာသာရပ် တစ်ခုချင်းစီ၏ music video တစ်ခုချင်း ဖန်တီးခြင်းနည်းလမ်းသာရှိပါသည်။

ဤသီချင်းကို သီကုံးခဲ့သူ ဂီတစာဆို ဂီတာ ဖေဝင်း ဖွဲ့ဆိုသကဲ့သို့ ပန်းလှူသည့်လက်ဖဝါးပေါ်မှာ ပန်းရနံ့တွေကျန်ခဲ့သည့်နည်းတူ ဆရာများကို ကန်တော့သည့် တပည့်တွေမှာ ကောင်းကျိုးအထွေထွေ ကျန်ခဲ့ကြမှာ အသေအချာပါ။

May 10, 2025
Volunteer for Six Decades
- Served as Volunteer for various organizations (Professional, Social, Religious, Sports, Alumni) for five decades
  ACM (SF Bay Area Chapter Volunteer)
  BAPS Newsletter (Contributing Editor)
  BARB / MARB (Guest Lecturer)
  NFLC Burmese Language Project (Language Expert)
  Computer History Museum (Docent)
  Curriculum Development (High School Mathematics)
  Dhammananda Newsletter (Contributing Editor)
  Editor (for Books by friends and sayadaws)
  NorCal RITAA (Founding member, BOD)
  RIT Alumni International (Founding member, Chief Editor)
  RIT EE Association (Secretary, Joint Secretary, Magazine Committee)
  RUBC (Vice Captain, Treasurer)
  TBSA (Vice President, BOD, Emcee for Sayadaw U Silananda’s Memorial Service)
  TMC (Interpreter for Dhamma Talks)
  Toastmasters International (Distinguished Toastmaster)
  UCC (Lecture Guides and Manuals)
  …
- Completed 22 years as Chief Editor of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter“
  Posted thousands or email newsletters and/or blogs.
- Helped organize World Wide Saya Pu Zaw Pwe (SPZP)s starting with SPZP-2000 in San Francisco, USA.
- Wrote 64 “Count down to the Reunion” and 36 “Post Reunion” for SPZP-2000.
- Wrote Poems and Articles for Commemorative Issues of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung and Swel Daw Yeik Magazine
- On behalf of the 69ers, thanked the sayas, sayamas, sponsors and attendees at the Golden Jubilee of Graduation on December 14, 2019 at the YTU Assembly Hall.
- Wrote Preludes to every section in the 90th Anniversary Issue of RUBC in half an hour.
  Wrote three articles as Contributing Editor for the Magazine.
- Wrote 30+ “Memories of UCC” in three days (during my visit to Yangon in 2018)
- Wrote / revised 2000+ posts in hlamin.com
- Broadcast 200+ Educational Videos.
  Most of them are on Facebook.
  The later ones are on my You Tube Channel.
- Have dumped my still reasonably good memory to pay back to my alma mater.
- Attended PPBRS, SPHS, Leik Khone, RIT and UCC.
- Taught at UCC, DCS and ICST.
- Admin of several FB groups :
  RIT Alumni
  Fun with Learning
  Life Long Learning
  Myanmar 2021
- Moderator
  Rangoon University Centennial FB Group
- Requested sayas, alumni and friends to help me with my journey.
- Some provided insightful comments :
  Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi
  U Aye (M62)
  Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint (SPHS60)
  Dr. Nyunt Wai (SPHS63)
  Dr. Khin Maung U (SPHS63)
  U Aung Myint (SPHS64, UCC)
  U Khin Maung Zaw (SPHS70, EC76)
- Know only a fraction of sayas and alumni
  But I know them with reasonable detail
- Am a Jack of All Trades and Master of Some.
  There are many areas of knowledge that I do not know. |
  But I know a few areas with reasonable detail.
- Am grateful to my ancestors who are philanthropists.
  They led by example.
  They donated cash and kind for hospitals, schools, religious and social institutions.
  Cannot donate a fraction of what they did in cash, but I have donated my time and energy.
- Am grateful to my “Let Oo Sayas”.
  My beloved father said, “Any thing that is worth doing is worth doing well.”
  My beloved mother said, “Eyes have you and you see not. Ears have you and hear not”.
  Without their unbounded love, support and exhortation, I would not be where I am today.
- “If one can dream, others can fulfill.”
  It was true of Jules Verne.
- Had two of my dreams fulfilled :
  (a) to get the sayas and alumni get connected and re-connected electronically and physically
  (b) to pay back the metta and cetana of our mentors via SPZP.
- Latest dream is to implement “Written and Oral History”
- Hope that amateur and professional folklorists / historians can massage my Posts and Videos into Reference Material.
May 10, 2025
Unsung Heroes
- There are several sayas and alumni who helped with the RIT-related activities in general and SPZPs in particular.
Organizers
- U Win Thein (M67, GBNF) was a Trail Blazer.
- Benny Tan, Maurice Chee and team for SPZP-2000
- U Moe Aung and team for SPZP-2002 and SPZP-2010
- U Nyan Win Shwe and team for SPZP-2007
- U Win Khaing and team for SPZP-2004 and SPZP-2012
- Organizers of Shwe YaDu 2014 and SPZP-2016
- U Saw Linn (C71, GNBF) wore multiple hats despite his failing health.
Fund Raisers
- It is not easy to be a fund raiser.
- U Aye Tun (Anthony, M76) is a notable fund raiser in the San Francisco Bay Area.
  He volunteered for alumni, social and religious organizations.
  He sold many tickets, but he also had to buy tickets from other organizations.
- U Wynn Htain Oo and Nan Khin Nwe are super fund raisers.
  Their tasks grew exponentially when the project cost for YTU Library Modernization was underestimated, and the exchange rate for foreign currencies soared.
WHO

Unsung Heroes

The following volunteered for one or more associations and projects
- U Ohn Khine
- U Myint Pe
- U Thant Zin
- Daw Pyone Pyone Oo
- U Htay Maung
- U Thiha Latt,
- U Tin Latt
- U Tin Oo,
- U Kyaw Hlaing
- U Aung Moung (GBNF)
- U Than Po
- Daw Mar Mar Yee
- …
- Photographers and Videographers (Official and Volunteers)
  Dhatu Kyaw Lynn
  U Khin Maung Win
  U Khin Maung Aye
  U Tin Maung Win
  …
- The Pon Chan Chan Group & the famed Swel Daw Yeik Troupe members share their experience, time and energy to provide entertainment (sadly once to “empty chairs”).
- Artists and Cartoonists
Sponsors and Donors

SPZP
- There were donors — large and small, old and young.
- They include Golden Sponsors for the Reunion and World Wide Pu Zaw Pwes.
- For example, there were five Golden Sponsors for SPZP-2000 :
  Steeve Kay (U Thaung Sein, Southern California), Benny Tan (Tan Yu Beng, Northern California), Ivan Lee (U Khin Maung Oo, New Jersey), David Ko (U Tin Myint, Northern California, GBNF) and U Maung Maung Than (Texas)
Health Care Funds
- Steeve and Helen Kay Fund for Health Care of Eligible RIT Sayas and Sayamas
- U Khin Maung Tun & Family Fund for Vision Care of Eligible RIT Sayas and Sayamas
- Swel Daw Yeik Foundation
  has taken over the activities of the first two funds (which transferred their balance to SDYF)
- 69er HCF, EE 69er HCF
- Some donated in kind (e.g. arranging Medical Check up for sayas and sayamas).
YTU Library Modernization
- Main Component
  U Khin Maung Tun,
  Daw Myint Myint (in memory of U Htein Win)
  Saya Dr. Myo Khin & Ma Mya Mya Nwe (Winsome),
  James and Annette Shwe,
  NorCal RITAA,
  Members and Friends of BASES,
  Anonymous donors,
  Donors (Large and small, One-time or Repeated)
- Training Component for Library Staff
  Sayas and Alumni from USA (Sayas U Maung Maung, U Myat Thwin, U Tin Maung Nyunt)
  From Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar (Details were provided by WHO and team)
Food donors
- Large and small — for the meetings and events are to be commended.
- They made SPZP-2016 a truly free all-day-long event.
Publications
- When I started the RIT Alumni Newsletter two decades ago, I was told that “RIT is a dying breed”, our alma mater is the birth place of Thabons and that I might have to spend Waso at Insein if I visit Yangon.
- RIT Annual Magazines
- Magazines and Sar Saungs
  Some to commemorate SPZPs
RIT Spirit
- As Henley wrote in Invictus and Bogyoke rendered in his translation, many sayas and alumni were not afraid.
- They made the RIT Spirit alive and well.
- We hope our alma mater, sayas and colleagues will formally recognize the heroes (well known as well as unsung ones) on paper, and may be some day in the not so distant future at “Once upon a time at RIT” corner (e.g. Wall of Fame)
May 10, 2025
Architecture
A58
- Saya U Myo Myint Sein
  Retired Professor
- U Tun Thein (GBNF)
A59
- Saya Dr. Lwin Aung
  Former Professor
  Retired, Pro-Rector
  Became Sayadaw
- U Bo Gyi (GBNF)
  Partner, Architects Incorporated
  Pianist, Sculptor
  Designed Mausoleum for Daw Khin Kyi
  Became Sayadaw
A60
- U Kin Maung Yin (GBNF)
  Modern art proponent, Film director
- U Aung Kyee Myint
  Partner, Architects Incorporated
  Retired head of architecture at PWD
- U Tin Htoon
  Partner, Architects Incorporated
  RUBC Captain/Gold, ARAE Champion,
  SEAP Silver medalist in yachting
  Co-founder, Triple Gem Publications
- U Victor Pe Win
  Retired in Texas
- U Koon Yin Chu
  First in Burma in 54 Matriculation
  Ggold medalist in Final Year Architecture
Note:
- Miss S. Begum was the earliest known female engineering/architecture student, but she left for India before graduation.
Photo of the Three Batches

Architecture Sayas & Students
- The old picture without captions was first sent by U Victor Pe Win to U Tin Htoon
- The students were from
  2nd year (equivalent to 4th B.Arch)
  3rd year (equivalent to 5th B.Arch)
  Final year (equivalent to 6th B.Arch)
- Ko “Henry” Htaik San ( RUBC Gold, Secretary of Southern California Burmese Associations, photographer, videographer) touched up the picture.
- Per U Tin Htoon’s request, U Victor Pe Win has annotated the photo as follows:
First Row L to R:-
U Kin Mg Tint, U Tha Tun, Mr.H.A. Eswara, Mr. R.K.H. Johnson (Head of Arch. Dept.), U Ba Hli (Dean of Faculty of Engr.), Mr. O. Nagler, U Aung Myint, Miss S. Begum (2nd Yr)

Second Row:-
Myint San (Final), Htun Lwin (3rd), Kyaw Zaw (Final), Bo Gyi (3rd), Tin Tun Kin (Final), T. T. Kiat (2nd), Mg Mg Gyi (Final), Mg Mg Ohn (2rd), Myint Tun (3rd)

Third Row:-
Jack Min (3rd), Htay Ngwe (Final), Pe Win (2nd), V. Leong (3rd), Tham.T.Yu (2nd), K.Y.Chu (2nd), H.Hla Myint (2nd), Aung Kyee Myint (2nd), S.Hsiang Wu (2nd)

Fourth Row:-
Myo Myint Sein (Final), Tin Mg Yin (Final), Aung Thin (Final), Myint Thein (Final), Tin Htoon (2nd), Tun Than (Final), Kin Mg Yin (2nd), Hla Kyi (2nd)

Absentee:-
Lwin Aung (3rd.)

Photos from U Myo Myint Sein
May 10, 2025
NorCal RITAA (July 2012)

U Tun Shwe (ChE72) volunteered as the videographer for the Northern California RIT Alumni Association Gathering held at Mudita Shwe Kyaung in Hayward in July 2012.

Saya U Maung Maung (George, ChE66), U Win Maung (T70), and several other alums took pictures.

Saya KC Chiu (Dr. Tin Aung, ChE63) could not attend because of slight fever, but he sent Sayadaw to the Reunion to accompany L. Shark Moon (C67).

Saya U San Tun (M59, former Head of Auto Engg) was the senior among the attendees followed by U Myint Lwin (Henry, C63, GBNF), U King Wong (Victor, C66) and several from the mid-60s.

U Zaw Lwin (M87) was among the youngest attendees. He is a classmate of U San Lin (Maung Lu Pay). He recalled that the final exams were suspended after two subjects. They had to take the remaining subjects a month or so later.

U Tun Shwe took the video of almost all attendees twice, and made sure they say their name, discipline, and graduation date (if applicable). Some attendees left RIT before graduation. Some completed their studies elsewhere (e.g. in the US).

21 sayas and alums agreed to be members of the Steering and Working Committees. The Executive Committee members (e.g. President, VPs, Secretaries, Treasurers, Auditors) will be elected at the following meeting (to be held in a few weeks).

Saya U Maung Maung told the attendees that 2012 SPZP and Grand Reunion will be held on the weekend of December 29 (Saturday) and December 30 (Sunday).

U Maurice Chee (M75) talked briefly about the “old” RIT Alumni International that was founded to organize SPZP 2000. U Maurice said that he would cook “Danbauk” for the Steering/Working Committee meeting, and others could bring desserts.

U Stanislau Liou (M67, RIT Table Tennis ) mentioned that he had been the President of his [High School] Alumni Association for 6 years. The members like to have 3 or 4 gatherings (such as picnic and dinner) a year.

At the General meeting Saya U Maung Maung was elected President of NorCal RITAA. U Stan Liou was elected Chair of the BOD (Board of Directors).

NorCal RITAA Summer Picnic will be held on July 29, 2018 at Coyote Point.

Editor’s Note :

Gordon Kaung (Kaung Kaung Oo, M83) succeeded Saya George as President. After serving two terms (as limited by the NorCal RITAA Byelaws), he stepped down as President, but continued to serve as BOD.

Saya U Myat Htoo (C68) succeeded Stan as Chair of BOD. He is still serving as Chair.

NorCal RITAA has provided Scholarship to eligible children of alumni studying at US universities.

NorCal RITAA has also provided Scholarship to eligible YTU students. The pre-screening is done by volunteers in Yangon (some of whom are EC members of RITAA).

NoRCal RITAA has a web site and a FB page. Video testimonials from the Sxhoalrship recipients can be found in both places.

May 10, 2025
RU 5
- Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe
- Sharing is Caring
Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe
- I was fortunate to be an organizer for the RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwes.
- The first SPZP was held in San Francisco, California, USA in 2000.
- The Singapore alumni hosted the SPZPs in 2002, 2007 and 2010.
- The Myanmar alumni hosted the SPZPs in 2004, 2012 and 2016. The next SPZP scheduled for December 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic.
- The precious memories are shared by alumni — young and old, far and near, weak and strong — via pictures, anecdotes, poems (in both Burmese and English).
SPZP Organizers

Sharing is Caring

There are many Subject Matter Experts (SME) in the group. They can share their knowledge, experience and wisdom.
- Sayas and Sayamas
  Retired, Semi-retired, Active
- Family members of Sayas and Sayamas
  Children, Grand children and Great grandchildren
- Ah Nu Pyinnya Shins
  Cartoonists
  Composers
  Dancers (Minthas, Minthamees)
  Journalists
  Lu Shwin Daws
  Musicians
  Vocalists
  Zat Sayas
- Athletes
  Burma Selected
  University Selected
  Selection for Halls, Disciplines and Classes
- Authors
- Bloggers
- Organizers and/or Executive Committee Members
  Annual Dinner
  Associations
  Magazine
  Social and Reading Club
  Student Union
- Photographers
- Poets
- Professionals
  Retired, Semi-retired, Active
- Videographers
May 10, 2025
RU 9
My Videos

My recent videos include
- Early RU Sayas
  Matthew Hunter
  Mark Hunter
  Sir Arthur Eggar
  L D Stamp
  G H Luce
  J S Furnival
  …
- Symbols of RU
  Mya Kyun Nyo
  Song by Maung Ngwe Hlinne (U Thet Lwin)
  Gangaw
  RU Centennial Facebook Group
  Sein Ban
  Reference in songs
  Thit Pot Pin
  Yangon Heritage Site
- Earlier videos include
- Disciplines and Departments
  Archaeology
  Chemistry
  Commerce
  Economics
  English
  Geography
  History
  Mathematics
  Medical Pioneers
  Myanmar
  Pali
  Philosophy
  Physics
  Psychology
  Statistics
  UCC
  …
Some posts
- U Ohn Khin acted as Ko Aung Myint (friend of Ko Thein Pe) in “Collegian” movie
- Ludu Daw Ah Mar’s article about Literary Events in Japan was censored during the Adhamma days.
  The publisher of Moe was ordered to tear off the article completely.
- Several readers noted that some articles in Kyemon had errors (e.g. wrong dates and/or details of some dark moments in the history of RU)
- Brain Drain
- Soccer players who represented RU and Burma
- One Saya told security not to disperse the students.
- Love stories — some with sad ending
Celebrations
- MRTV Broadcast
  Mostly prerecorded segments
- Broadcast by other stations / channels
- Souvenirs
  T shirt
  Mug
  Bag
May 10, 2025
RU 18
MRTV broadcast

Live with
- Opening and Closing Songs
- Virtual Ribbon Cutting
- Prerecorded Messages by Dignitaries
- Video clips of Events, Exhibitions, Competitions. Seminars
Miscellaneous
- Kabyars to commemorate RU Centennial
  December 3, 2020
  Organizers: Tekkatho Ka Laung Ah Thin from the 50s and 60s
- Master Plan to bring back the Glory to RU
  Autonomy
  High Quality Education and Research
  Pleasant and Healthy Environment
  Upgrade to Buildings (including Hostels)
  _
- BBC Myanmar
  Saya U Ba Toke
  Selected Sayagyis and Sayamagyis
May 10, 2025
Unsung Heroes
- Daw Pyone Pyone Oo and team interviewed selected sayas and sayamas for the “History of University Engineering Education in Burma/Myanmar”.
- U Htay Maung (M75) selected the Burmese fonts for use with the History project. He and his team transcribed Saya U Aung Hla Tun’s handwritten notes for word processing and type setting.
- U Thant Zin (M82, GBNF), son of Saya U Sein Shan, volunteered not only for the History Project, but for the SDYF, SPZPs and the All Mechanical Gatherings.
- U Moe Myint (M76), Daw Moh Moh Han (A77) and their ‘Pon Chan Chan” pals helped with the Entertainment Program of most SPZPs held in Singapore and Yangon.
- Saya Dr. Soe Thein (C75) served as web master for the Singapore SPZP web site and the Singapore Civil Engineering web site. His son volunteered as a photographer or videographer.
- Saya U Soe Myint (Min83) served as Joint Secretary for SPZP-2012 and SPZP-2016. As Patron of RIT Buddhist Association, he helped compile Ovada of the sayas and sayamas.
May 10, 2025