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    TOKM — Posts သိမ်းအုပ်ကျော်မြင့်

    by Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    TOKM

    My Father (U Kyaw Myint)

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    U Kyaw Myint’s Brief Biography
    U Kyaw Myint
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    Mesopotamia (Action during WWI)

    My father had a very chequered life.

    Short stay at Rangoon College

    He stood first in the Matriculation examination at the age of sixteen. He had distinction in all subjects including shorthand and typing. He got scholarship when he entered Rangoon College in June 1914 but was expelled from the College in July 1914.

    There was going to be a scholarship exam to enter Calcutta University. The Principal of Rangoon College, Mr. Mathew Hunter had chosen two bright young men to take the exams to enter medical college in Calcutta. The two students for this exam were my father and Sayagyi U Ba Than. They were very close friends.

    Just before the exams, my grandmother passed away in upper Burma where my grandfather was working. Father went to the Principal to give him leave to attend his mother’s funeral. But the dates would clash with the exams and Mr Hunter refused his permission. Father was told that if he went without the Principal’s agreement, he would be expelled on return.

    My father went in time for the funeral but on return, as told to him earlier he was expelled from the College.

    Self Support

    My grandfather was very angry with my father being expelled. Father was told not to come back to the family.

    Father supported himself by doing a unique job. He traveled from Pegu passing through small towns and villages. At that time, there were many Burmese women who had children by Englishmen, and were common law wives. The Englishmen had left Burma, but they did not money regularly.

    On behalf of the women, father wrote letters in English to the men in England. He was offered food, small amounts of money, and a place to stay.

    He continued doing this, going up the country till he reached Myitkyina some months later.

    Bombay Burma Company

    Due to father’s expertise in short hand and typing, a young English man from Bombay Burma Company gave father a job as a clerk and secretary. Father told me about the kindness of the English couple who let him stay with them.

    Apart from Secretary work, he had to go with workers to the teak trees that had been cut down and later sent them down the Irrawaddy to Rangoon. Father had to supervise that the Bombay Burma Company seal was hammered deep at the end of the logs. The logs were floated down the Irrawaddy river. Logs with the seal were collected and exported to England.

    Illness

    A year later father had cerebral malaria and it was the young couple who looked after him during the illness.

    Enlistment and Assignments

    Father stayed on with the English couple till the end of 1916. By that time the war that was said to last only one year had to gone into its third year with no resolution. There were many casualties and new fronts for the conflict. The English government intensified their recruiting efforts.

    The young Englishman and his wife returned to England. The husband joined the army.

    Father did not want to continue working in Myitkyina. He also thought of enlisting for the war.

    He first went to Pegu to reconcile with his father. Grand father was doing a job what would be equivalent to a District Commissioner (DC) but being Burmese was given the post as Extra Assistant Commissioner (EAC) but doing the same job.

    Burmese doctors were appointed as Sub Assistant Surgeon (SAS). They had to work like surgeons and civil surgeons.

    NB: the status of Burmese doctors before Independence can be read in the books by Dr. U Myint Swe.

    In spite of my grandfather telling him not to enlist, father went ahead for enlistment.

    The place for enlistment was the at the Cantonment (which Burmanized as “Kan Daw Min” Park). It is the place with a small lake near the Shwe Dagon Pagoda.

    At that time, no Burmese would be accepted. One must either be an Anglo-Burman or and Anglo-Indian.

    When asked, father gave his name as “John Henry Wilson”. He could be taken for an Anglo because he was very fair with sharp facial features.

    Next he was asked to go against the wall to measure his height. Father was only five foot two inches. When the sergeant cane to measure him, he stood up on his toes so that it would be five foot four (the required height for a soldier.

    The sergeant asked him whether he really wanted to serve, and getting an affirmative, the sergeant write down on his enlistment as “John Henry Wilson, Anglo-Burman, five foot six”. Father became a soldier.

    NOTE:

    Since, the English keeps excellent records, there must be enlistment records for the regiment that above item written down above, would still be there in their archives.

    I visited the Middle Temple Inn in London, from where my father was called to the Bar. I wanted know about my father, the Librarian asked me for date of being called, went in, back in about 15 mins and gave me a copy of information of my father as recorded in their archives.: Will write more about this in a later post “My father: the Barrister”

    I tried to remember but still could not get the place in India where he was sent. I only remembered that it was in a cantonment not far from Dehli.

    Father was sent to where the Gloucester Regiment, the 12th Battalion was billeted. He got his training, stayed there for some time rising to the rank of corporal.

    Mesopotamia Campaign and “the war to end all wars”

    At the start of the war, the British army and its allies thought that it would be a short war lasting for a year or so. But it didn’t as the allies were fighting on different fronts. When the Turkish Ottoman army joined the war, that opened a new front of the war: the “Mesopotamia Front / Campaign”. Father’s regiment was sent to that front.

    Germany had sent a fleet of submarines to attack British ships carrying either troops or cargo.

    Although not entirely, the British army and navy were depending on oil from Burma Oil Company in Yenangyaung. But when their ships sailing from Burma were being sunk, they looked for an alternative.

    Apart from Burma, the oil fields from Mesopotamia were near to England and likely to have less loss during transport.

    Just like Burma Oil Company (BOC), there was another company that could offer the required crude oil. Like BOC, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (AOC) was owned by an Englishman. Both BOC and AOC were taken over by the British government for the war efforts.

    The Mesopotamia Campaign happened mainly to save and have access to AOC refineries.

    For some years now, whenever I heard about Iraq, Iran, Syria, two words often appeared: Basra and Mosul.

    Mesopotamia was the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. It covered what would later become most of Iraq, parts of Northern Arabia, Eastern part of Syria and South East Turkey.

    The oil rigs were in Basra and Mosul within Mesopotamia.

    And that was where my father’s regiment was sent: to guard the oil fields from the Germans.

    As the German army was engaged in other fronts, it was the Turkish (Ottaman) soldiers and Nomadic Arabs attacking these two areas.

    It was mainly skirmishes and attacks mainly by the nomadic Arabs who were given arms by the Germans. The disciplined regiment could repel the poorly planned attacks and thus England still had access to the oil.

    Armistice: 11-11-11 11AM

    Father and did comrades stayed on in that area till Armistice, the end of the war at: “the 11th hour, of the 11th day of the 11th. month of the year”.

    President Woodrow Wilson in his speech said, “the war to end all wars” had ended, using H.G . Wells’ words from the book “The War of the Worlds”. How ironic it was as only three decades later the Second World War happened.

    Return Home

    Not too long after that soldiers including my father were demobilized and could return to their home countries.

    Father returned home to be with his family.

    Study at Cambridge University

    Since he was expelled from the College, he had never given up his hope to gain a good education. The demob and savings from his salary and other benefits on leaving the army, he now had enough money to go to England to get what he had wanted to do since 1914.

    He applied to be admitted to Queens’ College Cambridge, where his elder brother had attended gaining MA, LLB.

    Father landed on the shores of England in the spring of 1919. He was twenty one years old.

    After spending time in London for a week or so he got to Cambridge to seek admission. Father told me that it was a vibrant time to be as there were so many young men like him, veterans of the war, some who had left their studies and had left to fight the war as well as those like him who had come to be admitted for the first time. He wanted to study at Cambridge as this was where his elder brother studied for his BA (later MA) and LLB.

    Both Oxford and Cambridge gave dispensation for veterans, so that they did not have to undergo a strict entrance exam but only had to take what was known as “the little go”.

    Father went to the College with all that he had was his matriculation certificate from Burma. He had to go through an interview first to see whether he should be admitted. Father impressed the examiners that he was admitted without the need to take entrance exams.

    Finally he thought he was going to get the education he had missed before. He had enough money to sustain him for the four years at the university.

    During the two years he was in Cambridge, he actively participated in debates conducted by the Cambridge Union, where he sharpened not only his oratory but also would help him at the courts when he became a practising barrister in Burma. It also helped when he became a well known politician in Burma.

    Two things happened that would affect his ambition to be a college graduate.

    First when he was in the second year, U Tin Tut arrived. He was sent to Oxford to do his training for the Indian Civil Service (ICS). He was to be the very first Burmese to be admitted to the Service. And unlike the others who later joined, he was the only Burmese to be admitted by nomination and not by selection examinations.

    In December 29th 1920, there was a nation wide students strike against the British government. Schools and the Rangoon University was closed down.

    U Myint Thein was then studying in the junior BA class at the University. Not knowing when the university would be reopened, even without telling my father he traveled by ship to England. This he did without any funds for tuition fees. He arrived and requested my father to pay for his tuition and upkeep in Cambridge.

    U Tin Tut gambled a lot on the races and he also was asking father to help pay some of his gambling debts.

    Father decided to leave Cambridge so that he could support his younger brother. He searched for a job to sustain the three of them.

    For the second time in his life, his education had to be postponed.

    At that time, there was Burma Club. Many years later — at the time when Saya U Maung Nyo was studying in London — there would be the Britain Burma Club. And Prof. Woodruff, who was a visiting professor of tropical medicine in Rangoon, was a Patron.

    The Burma Club was for the people who have served in Burma both before and during the war. Father got a job as the secretary of the Club. It enabled him to sustain the needs of his two brothers and allowed him to prepare for the barrister examinations.

    I have titled this part of my post as “Cambridge — here I come”, but for father in 1920 was “Cambridge — here I leave”.

    Yet again he was thwarted from gaining a university degree.

    P.S. In spite of all the obstacles, in 1948, on gaining independence, my father, the college dropout, was appointed as one of the first three Supreme Court Justices of our country. And also later became the very first Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Rangoon University.

    Four brothers and Inns of Court

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    The complete series of articles have been posted in Facebook and archived in hlamin.com

    Magnum Opus

    • Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint e-mailed me a soft copy of “Who’s Who in Heath and Medicine (in Burma/Myanmar)” (Second edition).
    • It is the Magnum Opus of Professor Mya Tu and his wife Daw Khin Thet Hta.
    • There was an attempt to update it, but did not happen.

    Dr. Tin U

    Saya U Tin U was the pioneer of child health and paediatrics in Burma. He was the first Burmese doctor to pass the MRCP (Paediatrics), the first professor of Child Health, the first medical superintendent of the Rangoon Children’s Hospital, the first Principal of the postgraduate school of child health. He was the only Burmese Paediatrician to serve as WHO Professor of Paediatrics in India (Calicut) and Bangladesh (Dhaka).

    Saya called our medical disciple as “child health” rather than Paediatrics as he would like to focus on keeping children healthy rather than looking after them when their are unwell. Saya pioneered the use of Oral Rehydration Solution for diarrhoea in children, setting up center for childhood malnutrition; standardization of treatment of Dengue Haemorhagic Fever. He authored seven books on child health, all of which went into multiple reprints and Saya was awarded the National Literary Prize (Ahmyo Thar Sapay Su). Saya also served as the Member of the parliament for Dagon Township for one term. Saya was the elder brother of Saya U Sein Win (RIT EE).

    Before You Judge People (2015)

    Dr. Su Mon, daughter of Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint, used her strong mental prowess to overcome adversity.

    She posted on Facebook in 2015:

    Dear world, I just want you to know that I am more than the sum of my diseases and limitations, I am more than my usually failing body, I am more than my brains and IQ, I am more than just a person with disability. I am more than my limp and my strange gait (yes it would be good if you stop staring at me when you see me) and I am more than my many scars. And I am definitely stronger (mentally) than you can possibly imagine. Please don’t think my life is easy, that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, that all that I have achieved so far came to me easily. I worked damn hard for every little thing, every step forward is hard fought with all that I have in me. I may not meet your definition of success or beauty, or intelligence but I am ok with that. I love who I am, many flaws and all. All I ask before you judge me or dismiss me is that you spend an hour in my shoes. I will do the same for you.

    Dr. Myo Khin (C70) wrote :

    Heartfelt appreciations to your strong spirit and will, all the best. May lord Buddha bless and keep you. Your god uncle, MK.

    Cecilia James wrote :

    A fighter against all adversaries and a risk-taker is to be admired. The world makes way for a person who knows where she / he is going. May God bless you and may you be successful in all your endeavors !

    Historic photo of Burmese Doctors

    Saya Ko Gyi, Ophthalmologist and Medical Superintendent of EENT Hospital, is the father of Dr. Thein Wai (SPHS63, Fifth in Burma) and U Aung Khin (SPHS63, DSA, GBNF).

    Sayagyi Col. Min Sein is the father of Dr. Thein Htut (RUBC Gold).

    Sayagyi U Maung Gale was Dean of the Rangoon Medical College from1959 to 1962. Per Saya Dr. Maung Nyo, “He was our dean, very quiet and peaceful. He translated Grey’s Anatomy to Burmese and he handed over the manuscripts to Dr Norma Saw.”

    Prof. U Khin Maung Win was Pathologist and DG ME. At one time, he headed the Medical Board to examine the people chosen for States Scholar.

    Garawa

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    Garawa means paying respect (especially to elders and mentors).

    U Myint Thein (“MMT”, former Chief Justice of the Union of Burma, former Ambassador to China, and author) paid respect to his elder brother U Kyaw Myint (Barrister, Head of the Tribunal which tried Galon U Saw, and former Dean of the Faculty of Law).

    Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :

    It was on the occasion of the 80th birthday celebration of [my Ba Dwe] U Myint Thein at the residence of the British Ambassador Mr. Charles Booth.

    Father [U Kyaw Myint] was the Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Rangoon. He took classes in constitutional law as he explained why it was important to have a comprehensive constitutional law. He also lectured on criminal law.

    One anecdote about father: I was very curious when father marked the answer books of BL students. I once saw father giving pass to a student who answered only one question. Father showed me the book which the single answer almost fill. Father told me that although it was only one answer, he wrote as though it was a real lawyer’s brief while others “regurgitate” what they had learned from lectures and books. Father followed the career of his student. As father predicted he became one of the best lawyers in Burma (sorry, have forgotten the name)

    The Prime Minister was the Chancellor of the Rangoon University. U Nu followed by U Ba Swe were Chancellors. [Ba Dwe] Dr. Htin Aung was Vice Chancellor. It was during U Ba Swe’s time that father was conferred LLD (in honoris causa), together with Emperor Haile Salasi of Ethiopia.

    Among his students was Guardian U Sein Win and Sao Hso Holm.

    Father defended U Sein Win when he was arrested and charged for writing articles about the then government. The trial went on till the last day of summation by both sides. Uncle Sein Win told me about what father did. In that day, father stood up and announced that U Sein Win himself would present the summation. U Sein Win was aghast as he had not been told if this. He turned to my father who said “You can do it. If not you are not my student of law”. U Sein Win gave a very impressive summation of the case which was reported full in both national and international papers. And he was acquitted.

    “Sawbwalay” Sao Hso Holm (Son of Arzanee Sao San Htun) together with [my Ba Dwe] U Myint Thein, was the first to be arrested and last to be released from custody. [He was the Legal Advisor to the Sawbwas.] He visited my father in his office. Father told his former student that he could join their chambers if he was looking for a job. But he was offered a job by UN ending his career as Assistant Resident Representative in Fiji covering the Pacific islands. I recently bought “Burma, My Mother” by Saw Kaemawadde (Ma Ma Biddy, Sawbwalay’s spouse) her autobiography. Very touching narration of her life. You can get a soft copy from Amazon.

    At present is U Mya Thein, senior adviser on the constitution to the present government. He is the son of a brilliant lawyer U Kyin Htone, and also my father’s student. [He is a younger brother of advocate U Tun Tin.]

    Dr. Hla Yee Yee wrote :

    “ Uncle Monty” to everybody

    Dr. Myat Soe wrote :

    I know well about your uncle U Myint Thein Saya [TOKM].

    He was former Myanmar Ambassador to China, and he was a good friend of (Late) Chinese P.M Mr. Chou-Eng-Lai.

    The Student who taught me

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    In the book of tribute to me, that Prof. Aye Maung Han, Prof. Nyunt Thein, Prof. Ye Myint Kyaw published for my seventieth birthday, many of my former students wrote about what they learned from me when I was teaching and working with them over two decades as a teacher in our medical college.

    I would like to share with whoever gets to read this, learning is not one way but two ways: while the students are learning from the teacher, the teacher himself learn from his students Some of the lessons that I learn from them are work related but many more lessons are about being a good person, being dutiful, respect for people, compassion, humbleness, gratitude, integrity and religiosity. For a significant number of them, being either a medical student, a house surgeon and later as a qualified doctor or specialist, life was never a bed of roses.They juggled to fulfill their professional role as well as the role as the bread earner for either their young families or in support of elderly parents.

    The student who taught me has written and published significant number of books ranging from fiction (based on his life experiences) to belle letters and articles mainly of which are not only sharing knowledge but also inspirational.

    The last time I went back home, he kindly gave me a book of his.

    I have read his book more than once. I go back to each chapter of his book repeatedly , especially when I come across an incident or experience, which relates very much to a relevant chapter of his book.

    And through this book, my student teaches me.

    I had a strong affinity with my colleagues and students and previously when my memory was better than now, I could remember most of whom I taught by their names and the year they graduated. The author, although I knew him well, was not close to me as student, intern and in service,as unfortunately he was either in units other than where I was in or he did postgraduate studies only I had left the country.

    Some years back, at the request of Prof. U Aye Maung Han, I gave a talk about my experiences of working in UNICEF, which were so different from my life as a paediatrician. I had titled the talk as “Shades of Mediocrity” as I felt that what I would talk about might seem both to the audience as well as to myself as my having gone through a state of mediocrity, as someone who moved from being a clinician to being an UNICEF staff responsible for public health, nutrition, water and sanitation, emergencies and the broader aspects of interventions to ensure that the the rights of children would be fulfilled. I did genuinely wonderd many times, whether I had contributed significantly beyond mediocrity, to areas of work which I had never worked in.

    I had used the title from Simon and Garfunkel’s Homeward Bound lyrics:

    “All my words came back to me
    In shades of mediocrity”.

    And I also quoted the vow in Burmese that appears on the front page of every book written by the well known author Tetkatho Phone Naing. The following is my own translation, more correctly my “transliteration” as I will never be able to give a precise translation of of Saya Phone Naing’s poem:

    THE VOW

    If you should not gain, by reading what I have written,|
    You cannot lose, if it helps to overcome ennui
    If at least a word or a para will make you thoughtful
    If you should find such in my writings, I the slave of writing
    Will feel that my duty is done.

    I will never claim that my writings are to be cherished by the reader,
    Nor through my writing I will claim as being more learned than the readerI will not go over your head, nor claim to enlighten you

    I make this my vow.

    Tetkatho Phone Naing

    (The original “vow” by the author, I have added as a photo as I do not know how to write in Burmese on Facebook)

    After I had just recited the first few lines, someone from the audience stood up and finished the poem for me, the whole passages and vow that had been made by the author..

    On top of that he said the “mediocrity or mediocre” need not be seen as permanent nor to be disparaged, as he himself was once a mediocre student during his college life.

    The person who said that he was “mediocre” was far from being mediocre, he was already a writer of renown and at the time my talk, he had not only acquired more accolades both as doctor and a writer than most of us but also held a senior teaching position at the medical college.

    I must come back to the book he gave me. I want to tell how my ” mediocre” student, whom I know that is never so, with his writings taught me to be a better person.

    The book is “Mingalar shi thaw aung myin gyin” or “Auspicious acts conducive to success”

    I have looked at how the word “mingalar” could has been translated. In the version of Paritta Protective Verses in Pali, Burmese and English, Sayadaw Silannadabhivamsa translated “mingalar” as “highest blessing”. But, I would like to use “auspicious acts” because according to the Oxford English Dictionary, auspicious means “conducive to success” , and thirty eight auspicious acts in the Mingalar Sutta lead towards the highest blessings. Maybe those who are more conversant with Pali may question my translation. But it would be appropriate for the book, to be translated as “auspicious acts that lead to success”

    The author himself has translated “mingalar” as “rules for good and auspicious conduct”

    The writer has written a chapter for each of the Mingalar (act or conduct) with erudite explanation on each of the mingalar, quoting each in Pali and Burmese. He has based these not only by rote or learning but from lessons given by eminent sayadaws of Burma. References are made to books on dhamma and sermons by Ledi Sayadaw, Dr. Pyinneikthara, Sayadaw Seikienda, Shwe Oo Min Sayadaw and many more. He shows not just learning and knowing but how much he has internalized and practiced each of the auspicious act, by referring to his life lessons.

    The fourteenth stanza of the Mingala sutta describes the first three auspicious acts:

    “Asevana ca balanam,
    Panditanan ca sevana,
    Puja ca pujaneyanam”

    “Not to associate with fools,
    to associate with the wise
    And to honor those who are worthy of honor.”

    From: translation by Ashin Silanandabhivamsa

    As I read, I learn and am so impressed not just by the narratives of his life experiences but also by seeing the depth of understanding of Mingalar Sutta. While starting life as a simple young student, he gets to where he is now by following the various tenets of Buddhism. I use the word “erudite” for him as again Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning of “erudite” as “having or showing great knowledge or learning” as those who have read the book would agree with me that he has not only understands and learns but also practices what he has learned.

    His third chapter is on the third auspicious conduct “pujaca pujaneyyanam” : he wrote about me, as one of the persons whom he considered as his “guru”‘ among those he honors as being worthy of honor. I was very touched on reading this chapter as well as it makes me feel humble to be among those he honored the most as I may not deserve such honor, as I did not have as much contact with him during both his student years nor later as a paediatrician.

    Each chapter of this book carries with it the precise meaning of each mingalar and how he has conducted himself according to his deep understanding of each.

    After the third reading of the book, I feel as though he are saying the words to me and guiding me towards not only just understanding but also ensure that my conduct are within the tenets of each of the mingalar.

    Ko Ye Myint Kyaw, with your book, you have taught me and I would like to thank you for this.

    I have only one wish to ask of you: the wish is to ask you to write a similar book on “Metta Sutta” my favorite sutta in the paritta, as I know the extent of metta (compassion) that you have for the patients, their families and your students.

    May all the highest blessings be upon you.

    With metta,
    Thane Oke Kyaw-Myint
    20 June 2015.

    Sad Loss of Manuscripts

    Daw Khin Mya Mu’s work

    Before U E Maung died, he asked me to bring out exercise books with writings by [my aunt] Daw Khin Mya Mu.

    In the books were transcript of many “Kyauk sar” and translation into Burmese of hundreds of stone scriptures from all over Burma.

    When I asked him why they were not published, he told me that no printing press [in those days] have fonts for the ancient writings.

    [Thus] they were all unpublished.

    U E Maung donated his house and belongings to Tipitaka Sayadaw. When he passed away Dr Tha Hla was given the task of selling the property and have as cash donation for Sayadaw. We were not informed but later on when I asked, I was told that except for some books, the handwritten documents were not saved anywhere. Felt very sad about losing the handwritten books.

    Only some books were chosen to be donated to the Burmese Department of Rangoon University.

    Dr. Htin Aung’s works

    The sad thing was when [my Ba Dwe] Dr. Htin Aung left Burma, he had also left not only his books but drafts of books he wanted to finish and publish, mainly in history.

    Two Fallen Comrades

    Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint shared his memories about two fallen comrades. The first one was about Dr. Myo Myint. The second one was about Dr. Mya Thein (nicknamed “Win Oo” for his mustache and for appearing beside Win Oo in singing “Mee Pone Pwe”).

    Dr. Mya Thein was barely fourteen when he passed the Matriculation examination in 1957. His parents pleaded with Saya Dr. Htin Aung (Rector, Ba Dwe of Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint). Sayagyi had returned the favor he received from the Principal of Rangoon College to let him (then underage) attend college.

    Plan A failed when Dr. Mya Thein missed the cut to study Medicine by a couple of marks. Plan B succeeded when he passed the Bachelors examination with high marks overall (and especially 60+ marks in Biology) to be attend 2nd MBBS.

    For details, read Dr. TOKM’s blog.

    Books

    Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :

    I am so fortunate that books written by my former students are either given to me by the authors or bought for me by my niece Hnin Wit Yee or Min Thet Aung.

    I got a signed copy of “The Female Voice of Myanmar” by Nilanjana Sengupta, translated into Burmese, by Myae Hmone Lwin. It was given to me by Ma Thida.

    The book consist of articles about and by four eminent lady Burmese writers and activists: Ludu Daw Ah Mar, Daw Khin Myo Chit, Daw Aung San Su Kyi and my “daughter writer” Ma Thida (San Gyaung).

    Please do not say that I am biased towards my daughter but I read the articles on Daw Ah Mar, Daw Khin Myo Chit and Daw Sung Dan Su Kyi once only but read and reread the articles by and on Ma Thida about three times or more.

    Coming from a family whose members were at different times and at different lengths of incarceration by the military government, each article about Ma Thida in prison brought back sad memories of my own family. I had to pause even in the middle of each article as such memories flooded my mind.

    From a very young age Ma Thida stand out among her contemporaries . A multifaceted person with deep attitudes and understanding of right and wrong, justice and injustice, tears welled up in my eyes reading what she went through in prison, and had to stop reading after going through some incidents described by her in the book.

    I am happy and very proud that she can be what she is now, an activist, feminist, author and running PEN Myanmar and many more.

    This book must be read in Burmese as in any other language, much would be lost in translation.

    P.S. Although she left the book for me in May, due to circumstances, I happily received the book only last month.

    Posts

    • Alumni from Myanmar Institutes of Medicine
    • Early Doctors
    • Medical Research
    • SPHS60
    • The Empty Tomb
  • Album — 69ers

    Album — 69ers

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    June 2025

    Three Musketeers — Roland, Oscar, Elvis
    Sponsor : U Khin Maung Tin
    Mehm Aye Chan & Daw Myint Myint
    Donation to 69er HCF
    KMT
    Four “Young at heart”
    Myo Nyunt & Spouse

    Former Gatherings

    Gathering 1
    • 9 Sponsors — Record
    • Photographer — Tin Aung Win (Oscar)
    Gathering 2
    Gathering 3
    Gathering 4
    Gathering 5

    Some are no longer with us.

    • A Pho Gyi — Han Sein
    • Chit Pe
    • Thein Maung

    Garawa to U Ba Than

    U Ba Than 1
    U Ba Than 2
    U Ba Than 3

    Graduation

    Grad 1
    Grad 2
    Grad 3

    Old Photos

    • Chit Pe, Kyaw Nyunt, Aung Gyi Shwe … are GBNF (Gone But Not Forgotten)
    Old 1
    Old 2
    Old 3

    2014

    G 1

    2015

    G 2

    2016

    G 3

    2017

    G 4

    2018

    G 5

    2019

    Graduation Golden Jubilee

    G 6

    Dec 2022

    D 1
    D 2
    D 3
    D 4
    D 5
    D 6
    D 7
    D 8
    D 9
    D 10
    D 11
    D 12
    D 13
    D 14
    D 15
    D 16

    August 2023

    A 1
    A 2
    A 3
    A 4
    A 5
    A 6
    A 7
    A 8
    A 9
    A 10
    A 11
    A 12
    A 13
    A 14
    A 15
    A 16
    A 17
    A 18
    A 19
    A 20
    A 21
    A 22
    A 23
    A 24
    A 25
    A 26
    A 27
    A 28

    September 2023 အလှူရှင်

    • ဦးငွေထွန်း၊
    • ဦးတင်ရှိန်၊
    • ဦးသန်းဝင်း၊
    • ဦးချမ်းငြိမ်း၊
    • ဒေါ်ခင်သန်းမြင့်တင်၊
    • ဦးစောမြင့်နိုင်၊
    • ဦးဖေဟန်ထွန်း
    • U Zaw Win (Thailand)
    • Albert Kyaw Min

    Dear RIT 69++friends

    ဖိတ်ကြားအပ်ပါတယ်

    September breakfast gathering သို့ မပျက်မကွက် ကြွရောက်ကြပါခင်ဗျား။

    တော်ဝင်နှင်းဆီ / ၂၄/၉/၂၀၂၃ (တနင်္ဂနွေ) ၊ ၇:၀၀ မှ ၈:၃၀ နာရီ မှာဆုံကြမယ်။

    ကိုငွေထွန်း၊ကိုသန်းဝင်း၊ကိုတင်ရှိန်၊ကိုစောမြင့်နိုင်၊ကိုဖေဟန်ထွန်း၊ကိုချမ်းငြိမ်း၊မာဂရက်၊Albertနှင့် ကိုဇော်ဝင်း(ထိုင်း) ပေါင်း ၉ ဦးတို့က အာဟာရ ဒါန ပြုကြပါမယ်။နီး/ဝေး/ပြည်ပ သူငယ်ချင်းများရဲ့ စေတနာပါ။ကြွလာချီးမြှင့်ဖို့ ထပ်မံတိုက်တွန်းပါရစေ။

    စားပြီးရင် ၉၃ နှစ်ပြည့် ဆရာ ဦးဘသန်းအား သွားရောက် ဂါရဝ ပြုပါမယ်။ဆရာနေကောင်းပါတယ် အပြော နဲ့ သတိ အားနည်းလာပြီ။အလှူငွေများကို နောက်ဆုံးအချိန်ထိ လက်ခံပေးသွားပါ့မယ်။လိုက်ပါလိုသူ အကန့်အသတ်မရှိပါ။

    Updates

    • Need help to organize the website
    • Need names of occasional attendees (from overseas & out-of-town)
    • Need photos of some GBNF
    • Need updated Contact List


  • Talk — SEAP Games

    Talk — SEAP Games

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    Video Broadcast on January 26, 2021

    SEAP (South East Asia Peninsular) Games

    1st SEAP Games

    • Thailand hosted the inaugural event at Bangkok in 1959
    • Burmese athletes include
      Tin Maung Ni & team (Swimming), Tun Mra, Kyaw Mra, Soe Mra and Tun Naung (Track and Field), Tun Aung & Victor Pe Win (Tennis), Boxing,
      Weightlifting …

    2nd SEAP Games

    • Burma hosted the event at Rangoon in December 1961.
    • Aung San Stadium was the main venue for Track & Field and Soccer. Volleyball, Basketball and Gymnastics were competed indoors.
    • Swimming, Diving and Water Polo contests were held at the National Swimming Pool on U Wisara Road.
    • Dean U Yu Khin was Chairman of the Sports Promotion Committee.
    • U Tin Maung Swe was Secretary of the Sports Promotion Committee.
    • Dr. Ko Ko Lay was Chairman of the University Sports Council.

    University Students who represented Burma in the Games

    • Tun Mra, Kyaw Mra, Soe Mra and Tun Naung (Athletics)
    • Maung Hla and Thida (Badminton)
    • Nyan Min (Basketball)
    • Derek Lynsdale and Aye Kyaw (Swimming)
    • Mao Toon Siong and C. Say Eng (Table Tennis)
    • Joe Ba Maung, Than Lwin and Mu Mu Khin (Tennis)
    • Kyaw Han (Volleyball)
    • Myo Nyunt (Weightlifting)
    • Richard Yu Khin (Yachting)

    Athletics

    In Track and Field, Burma placed first in the medal standings. Tun Mra won a Gold in the 4×100 m relay with Soe Aung (Burma Champion) as anchor. Kyaw Mra won Silver in the Hurdles. Soe Mra won Gold in the Pole Vault. Tun Mra, Kyaw Mra and Soe Mra are the sons of U Shwe Mra. Kyaw Mra would later serve as National Coach.

    Swimming

    In Swimming, Burma placed first in the medal standings. Tin Maung Ni won 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4x100m freestyle relay, and 4×100 medley relay. His team mates won the other events. Aye Kyaw (cousin of Dr. Hla Yee Yee) and Derek Lynsdale represented Burma in swimming.

    Tennis

    Joe Ba Maung was the National Singles Champion in Tennis. He and Than Lwin were the National Doubles Champion. Than Lwin would succeed Joe Ba Maung as the Singles Champion. Mu Mu Khin (Daphne Tha Dok) was the Ladies Champion, She later married Than Lwin.

    Table Tennis

    Mao Toon Siong was Burma Champion for Singles and Doubles in Table Tennis. He later served as National Coach.

    Volleyball

    Kyaw Han won the Gold as a member of the Burma Selected Team

    Yachting

    Richard Yu Khin won Gold in Yachting.

    Miscellaneous

    • The member nations include Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
    • Burma hosted the 2nd Games (in 1961) and the 5th Games (in 1969)
    • In the later period, SEAP Games gave way to SEA Games
    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is seap-2.jpg
  • Talk — New Year

    Talk — New Year

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    Hla Min

    Video Broadcast on December 17, 2020

    Traditional

    • New Year’s Eve on December 31
      Bringing in the New Year (with celebration)
      Dropping the Ball in Times Square in New York
    • New Year on January 1
      Holiday in some countries
    • January is named as after Janus (Two faced God)
      Symbolically, one face looks back at the outgoing year and another face looks at the incoming year
    • In the early days, Burma celebrated January 1 as “Peasants’ Day“
    • Later, Peasants’ Day was moved to March 2

    Others

    • Old Roman Calendar starts with March.
    • Persian New Year falls on or around March 21
      “First Day of Spring” celebrations
    • Myanmar celebrates “Thingyan” on or around April 13 for three (or sometimes four) days.
      The Myanmar New Year falls Thingyan.
    • Thailand celebrated “Songkram” (equivalent of Thingyan)
    • Both words derive from Pali and Sanskrit words meaning “Change”.
    • Cula Thingyan (Small Change) occurs every month when the Sun in the Geocentric model moves to another Zodiac Sign.
    • Maha Thingyan (Big Change) occurs every year when the Sun has moved through all twelve signs.
    • The Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year (or Lunar New Year) around the end of January or the start of February.
    • The Vietnamese celebrate Tet (equivalent of Chinese New Year)
    • The festivities may last a week (or more)
    • Karen New Year (Kayin Hnit Ku)
    • Special events
      New Year in 2000 (to usher the New Millennium)
    Talks
  • Talk — Virus

    Talk — Virus

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    Video Broadcast on January 1, 2021

    Basics

    • Virus is a Pathogen
      Other Pathogens : Bacteria, Fungi, Worm …
      Studied in Microbiology
    • RNA (Type of nucleic acid with a single strand)
      Studied in Genetics
    • Virus may be Symbiotic or Parasitic
      Not all viruses are harmful
    • Need a host cell to multiply
    • Methods of transmission
      via animals and insects
      (some) human-to-human
      bodily contact
      air borne (time and distance may vary)
    • May cause damage to cells and organs
    • May mutate
      e.g. new flu shots every year

    Coronavirus

    • Shaped like a Corona (“Crown” of Sun)
    • Human Coronavirus found around 1955
    • Different kinds of impact : from mild to severe (deadly)
    • Common cold (mildest)
    • Flu (may cause aches and pains)
    • SARS : Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (mortality rate around 9%)
    • MERS : Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (mortality rate around 35%)
    • HIV (Weaken immune system)

    COVID-19

    • Health Organizations agreed to not to use names attributing “place of origin”
    • COVID-19 stands for COrona VIrus Disease (found in) 2019
    • The disease is caused by the virus named SARS-Cov-2
    • The death rate (currently around 2 to 3%) is less than that of SARS and MERS, but the infection rate is higher (partly because the patients may not show symptoms of the disease and unknowingly act as “carriers”)
    • New strains were found in December 2020

    Miscellaneous

    • The initial “outbreak” was not reported factually to the world.
    • Some organizations and groups generated myths (e.g. It’s just another brand of Flu)
      and unreliable treatment (e.g. take disinfectants).
    • The misinformation and disinformation may have caused undesirable deaths.
    • The deadly impact was downplayed — e.g. reports say NO human-to-human transmission; A few said that the disease would go away naturally soon!
    • Some countries were not prepared — e.g. lack of PPE for doctors and nurses in UK (which was then focusing on Brexit rather than the pandemic)
    • Dr. Peter Tun (MRCP, Former Associate Dean of Oxford University) was an early victim. He reported about lack of PPE in his ward, but was ignored due to the “lax” HHE guidelines at the time. He succumbed to COVID-19 on April 13, 2020. Ultimately, his death caused a “review” for better “policies” to benefit other doctors and nurses. He would become the first to receive FRCP posthumously from the Royal College of Physicians.
    Dr. Peter Tun
    • It took a long time to figure out the symptoms.
    • The first round of vaccinations for COVID-19 has been completed in UK, USA and Canada.
    • Tests are being conducted to see if the vaccines are effective for the newer strains.
    • Based on the priority (e.g. Tiers) and logistics, many will have to wait for their turn.
    Youtube


  • Talk — Fortune Telling

    Talk — Fortune Telling

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    Video Broadcast on October 9, 2020

    Zartar / Horoscope
    MARB
    MARB
    MARB

    Bedin

    • Myanmar Astrology (variants)
    • Let Yoe Bedin လက်ရိုးဗေဒင်
    • Let Sann Bedin လက်စန်းဗေဒင်

    Numerology (variants)

    • Single digit (1 to 9)
      Numbers reduced to a single digit
    • Two digits
      e.g day of month
    • Superstition / Bias
      e.g 13 for unlucky

    Predictions based on stories

    • Mahosada မဟောသဓ
    • Janaka ဇနက
    • Sticks used at Chinese and Vietnamese temples

    Zodiac Signs

    • Chinese Zodiac (12 animals)
    • Western Zodiac
      Aries, Taurus …
    • Eastern Zodiac
      Meiktha …

    Miscellaneous

    • Precession of the equinoxes
    • Tarot
    • Crystal Ball
    • Tea Leaves
    • Ah Yu Daw Mingalar
      အယူတော်မင်္ဂလာ
    • Inga Weikza
      အင်္ဂဝိဇ္ဇာ
    • Names
    YouTube Videos
  • Talk — Early Scholars To UK

    Talk — Early Scholars To UK

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    Video Broadcast on January 18, 2021

    Dr. Hla Myint

    Dr. Hla Myint
    • Studied for Doctorate in Economics in the UK
    • Became Professor and Head of Economics Department
    • Retired as Rector of the University of Rangoon
    • Continued as Researcher, Scholar and Administrator in UK.
    • There is an Economic Theory with Saya’s name.

    Dr. Tha Hla

    Dr. Tha Hla
    • Studied for Doctorate in Geology in the UK
    • Became Professor and Head of Geology Department
    • Retired as Rector of the University of Rangoon
    • Served as UN Advisor in several countries (e.g. France) and settled in Thailand.
    • There are several anecdotes about Saya.
    • When an AFPFL minister protested the States Scholarship for his mentee Dr. Nyi Nyi, Saya did not back out.
      He pushed the nomination through during a period when the minister was away.
    • Saya is highly regarded for “Leader by Example“
      Saya calmly convinced the students and crowd (following the agitator Ajala) to disperse
    • Director Thar Du was unhappy when Saya (as Member of the Movie Censor Board) recommended some parts of the movie to be revised.
      Thar Du was surprised and delighted when Saya voted the same movie for an Academy Award.
      Saya explained that the two roles required different consideration.
    • During his stay in Thailand (while waiting for a US visa), Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt (M60) was recommended by Dr. Tha Hla to be a proof reader for the Nation newspaper.
    • He hosted people with different backgrounds and beliefs and helped them if needed. Saya offered guests (including U Tin Maung Nyunt) his collection of Whiskey and drinks. He had two recommendations :
      “Do not spoil Whiskey by adding water or soda.”
      “You can drink Ah Yet (liquor), but never let Ah Yet drink you.”

    Dr. Maung Maung Kha

    Dr. Mg Mg Kha
    • I have written several posts about Saya Dr. Maung Maung Kha.
      Dr. Oke Soe Kha provided photos and information about his parents Saya Kha and Sayama Daw Ruby.
    • Studied for Doctorate in Metereological Physics in the UK
    • In the early days, the Physics Department was run with the experts from Meteorology Department.
    • Became Professor and Head of Physics Department
    • Served as Rector of the University of Rangoon, Rangoon Arts and Science University (RASU) and University Distance Learning
    • He is the longest tenured Rector in RU and its descendant Universities
    • Shwe Ku May Hnin remembered Saya Kha’s smile when a student (from the Social and Reading Club) asked him, “Saya, will you continue the tradition of Di Tha Par Mauk Kha Saya giving away his beautiful daughters to brilliant students?”.
    • A member of the RU Centennial group remembered Saya Kha’s smile and forgiveness when he was inadvertently hit by a student (who had to take classes at Workers’ College and come to the Main Campus for practical sessions).
      The young Physics sayas U Thein Aung (Micky) and U Thein Htut scolded the offender and his companions for not knowing Sayagyi.
    • Per Dr. Alvin Oak Soe Kha, his father is the Rector with the longest tenure and is known for his kindness and compassion.
      He also enjoyed seeing his father played the violin and sang songs together with the renowned artist Saya U Ba Kyi.
      “Only Two” (English translation of “Hna Yauk Hte Nay Chin Hte” by Saya U Ba Kyi) was a hit at the RU Annupyinnya Ah Thinn.

    Other Scholars

    • Dr. Po Aye studied Meteorology
      Retired as Director General of Meteorology and Hydrology
    • U Pe Maung Tin
      Pali and Myanmar Scholar
    • ICS U Sein Tin (Theikpan Maung Wa)
      Khit San Sar Pay co-founder
    • U Thein Han (Zawgyi)
      Khit San Sar Pay co-founder
    • U Wun (Minthuwun)
      Khit San Sar Pay co-founder
    • Dr. Hla Phay
    • U Tet Tut
  • Ogmore by the sea

    Ogmore by the sea

    by Hla Min

    Updated : 7th October 2026

    Trip to UK

    In September 2017, we visited the United Kingdom. My previous visit was in 1972.

    Hosts

    My cousin nephew Dr. Khin Tun (Peter) and his spouse Daw Win Mar hosted us with sumptuous dinner almost every day. They both loved cooking.

    Peter and Win Mar

    Southern Wales

    Ogmore 1
    Ogmore 2
    Ogmore 3
    Ogmore 4
    Ogmore 5
    Ogmore 6

    They also drove us to Southern Wales to visit Maung Maung Kyi (SPHS63) and his spouse Khin May Than (ChE72) at their new house at Ogmore by the sea.

    Maung Maung Kyi was a Best Man at my wedding.

    We were classmates for Stds VIII(A), IX(A) & X(A)at SPHS (St. Paul’s High School) and I.Sc.(A).

    We rowed together at RUBC (Rangoon University Boat Club). He was Bow. I was No.(2). Kyaw Wynn was No. (3). Myint Soe (Willie Soe Maung) was Timing Stroke. All are SPHS63. Myint Thein (SPHS62) was Cox.

    When the Universities were closed following the first Anniversary celebration of 7th July, Maung Maung Kyi & Kyaw Wynn accepted Scholarship to study at Dresden University in Germany.

    Wales 4

    After his return, Maung Maung Kyi worked for Sittang Paper Mill and PCIC. He found his soul mate. They later moved to Wales.

    They lost their beloved son Rimon (Medical doctor, Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, Leader of the Rescue Team) in an avalanche. They heard the sad news a short time after they had landed in Yangon, and had to hurry back to the UK for their son’s last journey.

    After that, Maung Maung Kyi rarely spoke and smiled. Khin May Than walked twice a day along the beach, and painted to ease her aches and pains.

    That changed when we visited them.

    There’s another reason. They gave their old house to their second son Dr. Khemar Than who had spent time in Japan and came back to see his parents. They meet on most weekends.

    Update

    Maung Maung Kyi and Peter Tun are now GBNF.

    See my posts about them.

  • U Nyo Win ဦးညိုဝင်း

    U Nyo Win ဦးညိုဝင်း

    by Hla Min

    Update : 6th October 2026

    SPZP-2000

    Education and Work

    • Alias : K H Chen
    • Matriculated from St. John’s Diocesan in 1959
    • Graduated with Mechanical Engineering in 1965
    • Joined RIT Mechanical Engineering Department
    • Moved to USA
    • PhD from UC Berkeley
    • Worked for Hewlett Packard, Agilent and several US companies before moving to Taiwan to work there.
    • Saya is retired. He is back in the USA

    Activities

    • Past President, BAPS
    • Editor, BAPS Newsletter
    • Founding Member, RIT Alumni International
    • Co-chair, Steering Committee for SPZP-2000
    • Proposed “U Nyo Win Act —
      If there are less than the guaranteed number of attendees at SPZP-2000, the core organizers must chip in the costs.”
      Thanks in part to the five Golden Sponsors of SPZP-2000, the Act did not need to be enforced.
    • Wrote about SPZP-2000 in the Post Reunion series.
    • Founding Member, NorCal RITAA
    • Served as BOD (Board of Director).

    BAPS

    • Past President, BAPS
    • Editor, BAPS Newsletter
    BAPS Newsletter

    Honoring U Nyo Win, Ko Benny and Ko Henry

    by Hla Min

    On November 9, 2000, there was a special dinner at Ming’s seafood restaurant in Sunset, San Francisco to honor Saya U Nyo Win (M65), out-going president of BAPS and to welcome Ko Benny Tan (M70), the in-coming president. There were 30+ attendees. Saya U Nyo Win was presented a plaque in recognition of his leadership and services to BAPS.

    A plaque was also awarded to Henry Lim (RIT Alumni) for his services as Editor of the BAPS newsletter. It grew from a 4 pager to a 20 pager.

    BEA to BAPS

    The first ever RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP did not happen out of the blue. One of the first seeds was sown with the founding of Burmese Engineers Association (BEA). The presidents Saya U Htin Paw (EE58), Saya U San Tun (M59) and Saya U KC Chiu (ChE63) — with the able support of Daw Khin Hta Yee (Lily Win, T72) — organized mini-reunions and reunions in the Bay Area. At the welcome party for Saya U Aung Khin, the idea of merging BEA with a younger association BASTS to become BAPS (Burmese American Professional Society) was proposed and overwhelmingly approved.

    BAPS Picnic to RIT Alumni International

    At one of the BAPS picnics, several EC members — Saya Allen Htay, Saya U Nyo Win, Saya KC Chiu, Saya U Maung Maung, Ko Benny Tan, Ko Maurice Chee, — held an impromptu meeting with me and asked how they could support Ko Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ) and me regarding the ex-rit web site in general and other activities [such as Grand Reunion] in general.

    Later, at Ko Benny’s house, the Bay Area Alumni Group was formed. The rest is history.

    U Nyo Win

    According to the bye-laws of BAPS, a President can serve for at most two terms. Saya U Nyo Win served two terms. Saya also chaired the meetings by the Organizing Committee of the RIT Reunion and SPZP. His colorful meeting minutes are enjoyable to read.

    He is an outstanding writer and an excellent speech giver. Saya wears two hats: BAPS for the Bay Area activities and RIT Alumni International for activities related to his alma mater world-wide. Our kudos to you, Saya.

    After Dinner

    We went to Ko Aye Tun (Anthony Ng, M76)’s house, which is within walking distance from the restaurant. A preview of the raw / semi-edited copy of the video taken at the RIT Reunion dinner and SPZP took place. The 2+ hour footage caught several viewers by surprise. The “Waing gyi putt putt du way way” dance — started by Diana (Myint Myint Sein, M70) and Richard Chao (Htin Aung, M70) — was joined by Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Min Wun, and several alums.

    It was close to two o’clock in the morning when I got back home.


    RIT Alumni International

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is bay-area-alumni.jpg
    SF Bay Area RIT Alumni Advisory Group
    • Founding Member
    • Core Organizer, SPZP-2000
    • Wrote “Appreciation of SPZP-2000” for Post Reunion
    SPZP-2000 Organizers
    SPZP-2000 Organizers

    Article for Post Reunion (SPZP-2000)

    After the Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pu (SPZP), I feel like most of us still excited but completely deflated. I just have enough energy left to think about it and talk about it, but not enough to write about it. But with Ko Hla Min’s call for the end of the post reunion article at number 36, I want to catch this last chance to write a few words before the close of the book, so to say.

    First, as the one of the co-chairmen of the Steering Committee, I’d like to add a few words to U Myat Htoo’s article on the apology and thanks to the all the sayagyis, sayas, and fellow alumni. We’d planned and tried to make the Reunion and SPZP a success. I agree with U Myat Htoo that there were areas of deficiencies that we overlooked and were unable to cover. Let me mention a few that we could have done better to run the program more smoothly. It may also be helpful hindsight to pass on to 2002 reunion team.

    The reception area was too crowded. We expected 300 plus people would be converging on to the narrow aisle at about 5 O’clock. We tried to arrange two tables in parallel to allow more people to check-in, sign the book, receive the gifts and be directed to the appropriate tables. The crowd was larger than expected. Our seating plan didn’t help. It was designed to group people according to their requests of having close friends together. Unfortunately, the attendees’ names were not listed in alphabetical order with table number assigned. It was very time consuming to locate the table number for the guest. This resulted in people congregating in the check-in area in spite of the ushers’ effort to help.

    We under estimated the time for picture taking. It turned out it was the most exciting event. We had group photos of every combination one could imagine. Getting everyone to follow the program for the number of pictures taken was not possible. It ended up a half hour photo session was three times longer. The good thing was, everyone liked it and everyone wanted it. In order to keep the program moving in a reasonable time, our MC U Myat Htoo had to exercise some crowd control. I hope everyone share U Myat Htoo’s difficulty for so doing.

    The program was overloaded. Our program called for speeches from sayagyis, sayas, and the alums; opportunity for the audience to contribute to fun, entertainments, singing and jokes. Everyone appeared to be so happy and excited. All of us had so much to talk about, so much fun to have and so much joy to share that hardly anyone could concentrate and follow the program allocated time. But, isn’t that the expectation everyone had of the reunion and SPZP?

    We did not allocate sufficient time to meet and thank everybody. Of course, it was not easy to walk around and talk to everybody throughout the event. Again, in hindsight, one possibility would have been to have Organizing Committee representatives go around the tables during dinner time to meet and thank everybody.

    I want to reiterate, like everyone else, that this great event was a resounding success in spite of a few glitches. The success was due to the support given to the event from all those who attended and from those who were unable to attend but whole-heartedly supporting and encouraging us. The success was due to those who generously donated to the SPZP Fund so that we could make the best use of it for the event. The success was due to those who helped out with the event, and most of all, due to the hard working Executive Committee members under the leadership of Co-chairmen Benny Tan and Maurice Chee.

    I would like to give a couple of examples of how dedicated the two co-chairs, Benny and Maurice, were. In the morning on the day of the Reunion, I was at Benny’s house. Benny showed me the 25-foot RIT Reunion and SPZP banner undergoing the final touch. I learned from Benny that the contractor was unable to deliver the banner on time as promised. But we must have it for the great event! Benny, with the help of his nephew, decided to make one themselves just the night before the Grand Reunion. They bought the canvas, the paint, and the brush; they designed the RIT logo and the characters; they rolled up their sleeves and succeeded in finishing the banner in time for the great event.

    In the afternoon when I was at the Embassy Suite making the final arrangement for the arrival of the guests, I got a call from Maurice. He told me that he would be a little late coming to the hotel. I learned from him that, not being able to get a print shop to do the job on time and as desired, he was printing the name tags for the guests with his own computer.

    This very special event brought us excitement and great emotion. We shared the joy and the happy moment. But I would think that the feelings of each of us must be different and unique. For me, at time I felt that I was back in the good old days of teaching at RIT. I saw Rector Dr. Aung Gyi, Mechanical Engineering Department Head Saya U Aung Khin, Chemical Engineering Department Head [and Rector] U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Nam Kock, other sayas, colleagues and students. At time I felt that I was still one of the students attending the classes.

    My most memorable year at RIT was actually the first and the only BIT year, 1962. We had very few students in First Year. In fact, there weren’t that many engineering students altogether at BIT that year. Among my contemporaries were U Kyaw Aye (Shakoor), who is still in Burma and U Hla Myint (Charlie), who is now in Australia. We were the lucky ones who survived First Year Heat Engine taught by Saya U Aung Khin. I can assure you for those who’d never taken Heat Engine from Saya U Aung Khin how low the yield was from that class. Decades later, in the mid of this great reunion, seeing all the sayagyis, former colleagues, former students and new RIT graduates whom I had never met, I felt like I was in a dream.

    Now that the great event is over, we are looking forward to meeting again in Singapore, Year 2002. I agree with Saya U Aung Khin, and let me quote from his article, that “we keep up with the changing situation in our home country regarding secondary technical education and decide on how inclusive we should be so that continuity can be maintained by embracing an expanding fraternity of engineers.” We all witnessed the group with exceptional talent gathering at the night of the reunion. Benny Tan in his article suggested the idea of harnessing the brainpower and energy of the group. I would think that the Year 2000 reunion was reminiscing of the past and sharing of the present, the Year 2002 reunion should in large part be the bridging of the present and the future. As to how, let’s start tapping on our talent pool now.

    Nyo Win
    Fremont, California December 3, 2000

    NorCal RITAA

    U Nyo Win
    • Founding Member
    • Member, BOD (Board of Directors)
  • Rowing — Memories

    Rowing — Memories

    by Hla Min

    Update : 6th October 2026

    Challenge Cups

    • The President of the Union of Burma presented a Challenge Cup for Inter-Club Eights.
    RUBC Eights
    • The Prime Minister of the Union of Burma presented a Challenge Cup for Inter-Club Fours.
    Prime Minister U Nu at RUBC

    1965

    • In 1965, Ko Htain Linn (VP) resigned.
    • Ko Zaw Lin (Secretary) became Captain.
    • Ko Hla Min (Treasurer) became Vice Captain.
    • No EC members were elected for the vacant positions of Secretary and Treasurer.
    • It signaled the beginning of the end of the system for democratically electing EC by the voting members.

    Changes

    The Inter-Hall and Inter-Faculty events now belong to the past.

    On a bright note, female members were admitted. RUBC became a co-ed club. Several will later become RUBC Gold.

    Inter-Institute competitions for men and women were contested keenly.

    Anniversaries

    40th Anniversary

    We attended the 40th Anniversary Dinner held at a Kandawgyi Hotel in 1963.

    90th Anniversary
    Magazine Committee

    In 2013, I served as a Contributing Editor for the 90th Anniversary Issue. I wrote a Prelude for each section. I also wrote three articles.

    96th Anniversary

    In 2019, I attended the 96th Anniversary Regatta of RUBC.

    I met Old and Not so old Members. I talked with several Patrons of the YUBC OMA.

    I learned that the restaurant owner (which had “possessed” the Club House) finally agreed to move out.

    We no longer use the Regatta Island. Probably RUBC no longer has access to the Regatta Island.

    We see lots of current and old members competing, but we do not see many fans, families and friends rooting for the crews.

    We see lots of trophies (may be 28 sets), but there was an unintentional mix up in one event.

    We see new boats and flags, but we wonder how students from the many universities and institutes (some far away) have passion, time and energy to take up competitive rowing without sacrificing their academic achievements.

    Some old members are looking forward to the Centennial Celebrations in 2023.