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• During our RIT days, we did not have to study Political Science.
• Some of our juniors had to study Political Science.
• I know three sayas who taught Political Science.

U Nyein Aung

• Taught Political Science at RIT.
• Was among the sayas from the Supporting Departments, who were invited to attend SPZP-2007 in Singapore.
• Was surprised when I mentioned that I had read his articles written in a Veda magazine.
• One of his pen names was “Aung Nyein Oo (or U)”, which is the reverse of his real name.
• Also wrote as “Saya Beda”. He studies and practices astrology, palmistry, numerology, and Tarot cards.
• Told me, “Since you know a lot about people and their names, you should try working for projects that can benefit by your skills.”

U Tha Din

• Taught Political Science at RIT.
• Close friend of Ko Aye Ko, a member of RUBC.
• Met him at a SPZP-2012.

U Khin Aung Bo (GBNF)

• Has a B.Ed.
• Was recruited to teach Political Science.
• Taught at BARB (Burma Astro Research Bureau).
• President of MARB (Myanmar Astro Research Bureau).

LSE

• LSE is known for Economics.
• Several Burmese studied Economics at LSE.
• LSE also teaches Political Science.
• Its full name is the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Ideologies and Theories

• There are several Ideologies (e.g. Capitalism, Socialism).
• Most are ideal on paper and not so ideal in practice.
• The choice of “Burmese Way to Socialism” had dire consequences on the nation.
  Burma lost its status as the “Rice Bowl of Asia” and the envy of neighboring nations to be ultimately designated as LDC (Least Developed Country).

Video Broadcast on October 15, 2020

Types

• Technical Obsolescence (T.O)
• Functional Obsolescence
• Architectural Obsolescence
• Style Obsolescence

Writing

By hand

Slate
Chalk / Blackboard
Pencil / Sharpener
Mechanical Pencil
Pen / Ink
Ball Pen / Disposable / Long lasting
Soft Pen / Whiteboard
Slide / Projector

Aids

Short hand
Typewriter
Selectric (e.g IBM)
Word Processor (e.g Wang)
Word Processing / Language Processing Systems

Computing

Mental arithmetic
Abacus
Logarithmic Tables
Slide Rule
Adding Machines
Mechanical Calculators
Electric /Electro-mechanical / Electronic Calculators, Tabulators, Unit Record Machines
Computers (Generations)
PCs

Communications

Telegraphy
Signals / Semaphores
Rotary Phones
Switch boards / Telephone Exchange
Smart Phones
Convergence of Computers and Communications (VOIP, on-line meetings, …)

O Pei

• In our younger days, Opal was a decent car.
  Some Burmese jokingly call it “O Pei”.
• When one is called “O Pei”, then one is considered obsolete (good to be ignored for getting old).

T. O.

• Stands for Technical Obsolescence
• Can cause the slow or quick death of old technologies
  Slide rules gave way to calculators and smart devices
  Vacuum tubes were superseded by transistors and Integrated Circuits
  Manual typewriters were replaced by electric typewriters and word processors
  Floppy disks were replaced by CDs and solid state storage
• Some artifacts can be found only in museums, antique fairs, and die-hard collectors.

• Some technologies (e.g. automation, robotics, AI) are disruptive.
• Many automobile workers lost their jobs when robotics (and the related fields) made them dispensable
  Those, who did not have alternate skills, were hit hard
• Touch typists and secretaries found that their skills have been marginalized by the word processors, voice-activated systems and other advanced tools

Silver Lining

• Survived T.O. by being a Life Long Learner.
• In our youth, we did not have access to the wonderful world of Internet, AI, and Gaming
• Slates, Chalk & Talk, Logarithm tables, Slide rules, Multiplication tables (up to 16), Grammar books, Pronouncing Dictionaries, and most now hard-to-find artifacts trained us to “remember” (not rote learning per se, but using visualization and tricks)
• Ended up having a reasonably good memory and a knack of “connecting the dots” of diverse topics
• For me, it’s easy to remember and too hard to forget
• I am a mini-dictionary, a micro search engine and a walking encyclopedia.
  Those skills were useful in the early days.
• Sad to learn that several sayas, colleagues and friends have memory loss.
• Glad to learn that some sayas in the 80s and 90s still have sharp memory

Brain

• Some people (especially in the USA) believe that I am either “brain damaged” or have an “unusual brain“.
  
• One complimented me, “You can write backwards faster than most of us can write forward”.
  A few were not impressed.
  
• A professor said, “You cannot earn money by being an expert in History in general, and History of Computing in particular.”
  
• A manager said, “What is the use of knowing the Trivia (e.g. hobbies, awards) of your fellow workers?”
  
• T.O. required me to unlearn some old skills, and to learn new “latest and the greatest” skills.
  
• After procrastinating for several decades, I had a wake up call to dump my Knowledge and Experience while I still have reasonably good health and memory.
  
• My spouse told me that we should pay back to our mother land, alma mater, mentors and benefactors.
• I am heeding my spouse’s excellent advice.
• Need volunteers to lighten some of my load and to enhance the quality of my oral and written materials.
  

Miscellaneous

• Smart watches (additional functions)
• Antique Shows / Museums
• Converters (transfer information from old devices and formats)
• Friend who has advanced equipment to enjoy vinyl records
• Life Long Learning (to safeguard against T.O)

Video Broadcast on October 25, 2020

Football (in Myanmar)

• Divisions
  First Division : played at BAA / Aung San Stadium
• Knock out Tournament
  Dunlop
• League Play
  Points : 2 for Win, 1 for Tie
  Bottom teams get relegated

• Inter State and Division (ISD)
  Shan States : Inaugural winner
  Suk Bahadhur later played for Army, Burma and Asia
  Mandalay and Tenasserim : Later winners

• SEAP Games
  Won several times

• Asian Games
  Won twice
  See Memoirs of Ko Aung Khin

Asian All Stars

Burma produced Asian Selected including Suk Bahadur, Maung Maung, and Goalkeepers — Khin Maung Tun and Tin Aung.

Olympics

• 1972 Munich Olympics
• Placed third in Group (first round)
  Lost to USSR 0-1
  Lost to Mexico 0-1
  Beat Sudan 2-0 (Goals by Than Soe and Tin Aung Moe)
• Rank : 9 / 16

Diocesan

• Scott / Shwe Yoe
• Saya Nyein (RU Coach)
• Toe Aung (Youth Selected)

RU First Eleven

• Aung Khin
• B. Singh
• Ba Maung
• Chan Tha
• Hla Aye
• Htay Aung
• Kenneth Shein
• Khin Maung Myint (John Tint, RIT)
• Kyaw Htin (RIT)
• Kyaw Sint (RIT)
• Mahindar Singh
• Maung Maung
• Soe Myint
• Soe Myint Lwin (RIT)
• Than Win
• Tint Lwin (Goal, Dr)
• Tun Kyi
• Collegian Nay Win (Pa Pu)

Outstanding Footballers include :

• Auro (Thaung Tin)
• Aye Maung (Aye Maung Lay, BAF)
• Aye Maung (Aye Maung Gyi, PWD)
• Gale
• Gwan Shein (SPED)
• Hla Htay
• Hla Tin (Kee)
• Htoo War
• Kenneth Shein
• Khin Maung Tun
• Ko Ko Gyi
• Kyaw Min
• Maung Maung (Navy)
• Maung Maung (RU)
• Collegian Nay Win
• Pe Khin
• Suk Bahadhur
• Than Soe (Suttee)
• Tin Aung
• Tin Aung Moe
• Tin Han
• Tun Kyi
• Tun Wain
• Vernon Stiles (Tin Tun)

Aung San Stadium

The First Division matches are played at Aung San Stadium. The teams include Rangoon University, Burma Railways, Customs, Army, Navy and several others. The bottom teams in the League get relegated to Second Division the following year.

My uncle U Win Tin (GBNF) took me to watch soccer matches. We watched selected matches (e.g. Dunlop Trophy) and some International matches (e.g. 2nd SEAP Games).

The Northern and Southern Stands cost about fifty pyas, but they provided limited scope and vision. But, they have roofs.

Grand Stand costs about five kyats. It would be a rare treat to watch from the Grand Stand (especially near the center line).

The Open Stand opposite the Grand Stand is a good compromise for about K1.50. We had to carry umbrella or wear raincoat for matches during the Rainy Season.

The Inter State and Division (ISD) Soccer tournament was established in 1952. Shan States with Suk Bahadhur won the inaugural tournament ISD Champions.

Mandalay (with Ba Pu), Tennessarim (with Ko Ko Gyi), Irrawaddy (with Hla Htay) became Contenders and/or Champions. Many players were recruited by the First Division teams and some became Burma Selected.

World Cup / Jules Rimet Trophy

Early tournaments had 16 teams. Later tournaments had 24 – 32 teams.

• Brazil
  Pele, Garrincha, …
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Argentina
• …

English Premier League

Points : 3 (for Win), 1 (for Draw), 0 (for Loss)

• Liverpool
• …

Euro Cup

• Barcelona
• Real Madrid
• …

U Aye (M62, HIC/FAO/UN (Retired)) wrote :

Inter State and Divison – 1952

The final match was played between Shan State and Sagaing Division. Shan State was led by Suk Bahadur,
Bahadur Lama and another Bahadur. Sagaing Division had an excellent goalkeeper Pho Tha Bay. Many deadly shots from the Shan State were saved by Pho Tha Bay. Shan State won the shield after narrowly beat the Sagaing division. Suk Bahadur was recruited by the Army team and became a legend. Two other Bahadurs and Pho Tha Bay faded out.

Tenasserim division was third, (If I remember correctly).

The following footballers also played for RU First Eleven. (in different times)

• Khin Pe Gyi
• Goal keeper Than Shwe
  (before B. Singh arrived)
• Nyi Nyi Lwin
  Joined Navy after graduation later
  Worked in Dept.of Fisheries as Dy. DG
• Maung Pyone (from Mandalay Hall)
  A good volleyball player, he played for Pyapon District.
  Joined Army after graduation.
• Kyi Gwan (from Mandalay Hall)
  He was from Dawei.
• Ngwe Gaing (from Sagaing Hall)
  He was a Burma selected Youth team.
  He was from Morton Lane Judson HS, Moulmein.

Video Broadcast on October 1, 2020

Different kinds of Cards

• ID : for identification
• Credit Card
• Debit Card
• Cash Card
• Prepaid Card
• Greeting Card
• Playing Cards

Standard Deck

• 52 cards
• Jokers / Wild Cards

Four Suits

• May signify the four seasons or the four quarters of a year
• Usually called Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and Spades
  (Implicit ordering of the suits in some games such as Bridge)

13 cards in a Suit : may signify the number of weeks in a season or quarter

52 cards in a Deck : may signify the number of weeks in a year

2 colors

• Usually Black and Red
• May signify two-valued concepts (e.g Ying and Yang)

• Model for Deque (Double Ended Queue)
• Data structure
• Items can be added to both ends of a Deque, and can be retrieved from both ends.
• With restrictions, a Deque can be used as FIFO (First In First Out) Queue and LIFO (Last In First Out) Stack.

Bridge

• Card Game requiring intellect, communication and finesse.
• Championships
• Ivan Lee (Khin Maung Oo, M69) is a Life Time Platinum in Bridge (after completing Bronze, Silver and Gold).

Solitaire

• Collection of Card Games that can be played by a person.
• May be played on a computer.
• I spent a lot of time (several months) to earn and defend “Daily Challenge” title (five games of varying complexity every day for the whole month).

Card Games (involving betting)

• Games in Myanmar
  (e.g Koe Mee and variants)
• Casino
  (e.g Black Jack, Poker and variants)
• Computers and Online

Video Broadcast

Types

• 4th Standard (Scholarship) Exam
  Win Myint (Myeik) wrote : ကျနော်ကတော့လေးတန်းစကောလားရှစ်ရဖူးပါတယ်ဆရာကြီး
• 7th Standard (Scholarship) Exam
• Collegiate Scholarship
• SS (Science Scholar)

Miscellaneous

• State Scholars
• UN Fellowship
• Colombo Plan Fellowship
• Grants by Governments, Institutions, Foundations …

Dr. Ye Myint (my cousin nephew from U.K.) wrote :

Interesting. I received similar 75 Kyats per month but did not get any money till we were in Second year. With inflation, it was not much but enough pocket money for food and drinks.

Some early Collegiate Scholarship winners

• U Ba Than matriculated from St. John’s Diocesan in 1947 and won the Collegiate Scholarship.
• U Khin Aung Kyi stood 7th in 1949 and won the Collegiate Scholarship

Rules for Collegiate Scholarship

The rules change over the years.

In the early days, the Top Twenty Five (or so) students were awarded Collegiate Scholarship.

In 1960, the Top Hundred students were awarded Collegiate Scholarship. Dr. Than Toe placed 99th and won the Collegiate Scholarship.

In 1963, those for the non-government schools have to place in the Top Forty to be awarded Collegiate Scholarship.

SPHS 63

In the Matriculation of 1963, five Paulians won the Top Honors.

SPHS had seven students in the Top Ten and ten students in the Top Twenty.

• Khin Maung U (George, SPHS, First in Burma)
• Min Oo (Kenneth, SPHS, 2nd)
• Myo San (Freddie, SPHS, 3rd, GBNF)
• Nyunt Wai (Victor, SPHS, 4th)
• Thein Wai (SPHS, 5th)
• Kenny Wong (MEHS, 6th)
• Hla Min (SPHS, 7th)
• Winnie Aung (Branch Convent, 8th, top among female students)
• Aung Kyaw Zaw (Johnny Mg Mg, SPHS, 9th)
• Maung Maung Kyi (SPHS, 11th)
• Khin Tun (St. John’s Dio, 12th)
• Aung Thu Yein (Brownie Way, SPHS, 13th, GBNF)
• Khin Maung Zaw (Frank Gale, 17th)
• Aye Aye Kyu (Ch 6, 1969, Morton Lane Judson High School, Moulmein, 36th in the list announced in ‘The Guardian’ Newspaper dated 6th August 1963)

Group Photo

Seated
Min Oo (Kenneth, 2nd)
Khin Maung U (George, 1st)
Myo San (Freddie, 3rd)

Standing
Hla Min (7th)
Khin Maung Zaw (Frank, 17th)
Nyunt Wai (Victor, 4th)
Thein Wai (5th)
Maung Maung Kyi (11th)
Aung Thu Yein (Brownie, 13th)
Aung Kyaw Zaw (Johnny, 9th)

Old Paulians’ Association Dinner

Honor Roll

Old Paulians (Top Matriculates)

• 1951 :
  George Chapman (First in Burma)
• 1952 :
  Dr. Nyunt Tin (First in Burma)
• 1954 :
  Koon Yin Chu (First in Burma)
• 1956 :
  Dr. Than Myint (Harry Wang, Joint Third)
• 1958 :
  Dr. Soe Win (First in Burma)
  Robert Sein (Second)
• 1959 :
  Dr. Frankie Ohn (First in Burma)
  Dr. Shewan Lee (Second)
  Dr. Than Nwe Aung (3rd)
  Rocky (Joint Fourth)
• 1960 :
  Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint (6th)
• 1961 :
  Dr. Kyaw Win (Robin Ban, Second)
• 1963 :
  Dr. Khin Maung U (First in Burma)
  Five in Top Five
  Seven in Top Ten
  Ten in Top Twenty
• 1964 :
  Dr. Aung Winn Chiong (Roll No. 1 for IM2)
  Dr. Min Lwin (Maurice Hla Kyi, Roll No. 2 for IM2)
• 1965
  Bernard Khaw (First in Burma, Roll No. 1 for Chemistry)
  Maung Aye (Second)
  Winston Sein Maung (Third, GBNF)
  Dr. Yi Thwe (Joint 5th, Roll No. 1 for IM1)
  Dr. Paing Soe (Freddie San Shwe, Joint 5th, Roll No. 2 for IM1)