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  • Yin Kyu (M69)

    Yin Kyu (M69)

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Sad News in 2011

    Dear Ko Hla Min and all,

    • Here is a sad news for us.
    • Ko Yin Kyu (age 67), Mech/Agri RIT 69er passed away today (26th April, 2011) at 8/45 am.
    • His funeral will be on 28 April, 2011 at Yae Wai.
    • He worked for Public Works (Construction Corporation) as superintending engineer and retired in 2006.
    • He died of kidney failure, based on diabetes.
    • He had been hospitalized since 3rd April at the Shwegonedine Hospital.

    With Metta.
    Aung Min (M69)

    Comments

    Danny (Tint Lwin, M69) wrote :

    Dear Ko Aung Min,
    So sorry to hear that Ko Yin Kyu has passed away.
    Did anybody visit him when was hospitalised?

    Ivan (Khin Maung Oo, M69) wrote :

    Hi dear classmates:
    It is sad, sad sad, we need contribute our Nar Ye fund for his funeral and for supporting his family. It is the best we can do now.
    Another suggestion to our dear classmate to evaluate our balancing life.
    * The longer we stay, the more this kind of sad news will hear, the less of our classmate counting, so value our relationship and childhood friends.
    * Life is short, don’t stretch your exhaustion brain and still-healthy body working. Enough is enough, take the retirement at or before 65 years old.
    * You must know exactly to Love YOURSELF, it sounds selfish, but be practical. Don’t lie to yourself , be honest yourself.

    Yi Yi Khaing (Vilma, ChE69) wrote :

    My condolences for the family of Ko Yin Kyu’s family.
    Yes I agree totally with Ivan, to cherish our friends and families in our sunset years. At the same time doing good deeds while we can.

    69ers who passed away in 2011

    • Aung Naing (Bahadhur, Min)
    • Chit Htun (Min)
    • Yin Kyu (M)

    Updates

    • As of July 2025, there are 138 members in the 69er GBNF list.
    • The latest is Ashin Ukkamsa

  • Thein Han, Uncle

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Highlights

    Uncle U Thein Han
    Uncle & Aunty
    • He is my lone surviving uncle.
    • He turned 96 in April, 2025.
    • He joined Rangoon University in 1948.
    • After graduation, he worked as Systems Engineer for IBM (International Business Machines) Burma, which rented / leased Unit Record Machines to selected Government Departments.
    • He has shared some stories.

  • Aung Zaw

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Highlights

    • Aliases : Saya Zaw, AZ, Yebaw Gyi, Aung Daing
    • Alumnus of Rangoon University and Southampton University, UK

    RASU, UCC, CSO, ABAC

    • Worked at RASU Maths Department. Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe asked him if he wished to join UCC.
    • Became Systems Programmer at UCC and did Masters in Computer Science at Southampton University, UK
    • At UCC, he wrote lecture guides and user manuals with me under the guidance of Saya U Soe Paing (Manager of Systems Division & later also Operations Division).
    • Known for his humor and satire (e.g Thingyan Sar)
    • Also wrote Kabyars and articles.
    • Taught at UCC and CSO before moving to Thailand.
      Ko Myint Oo took him to Assumption University where he was offered a job on the spot.

    Sydney

    • Moved to Sydney, Australia and continued teaching Computer Science and Applications.
    UCC gathering hosted by Saya Zaw
    • Hosted mini-gatherings to pay respect to Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe and Sayagyi Dr. Freddie Ba Hli.
    UCC gathering hosted by Saya Zaw

    Spouse

    • His spouse Daw Kyawt is a culinary expert and donor of her kidney to Saya Zaw as a priceless gift.

    Books

    Dhamma & Bawa
    • He wrote two books “Dhamma and Bawa” and “Cetana Thi Thar Kan”.
    Cetana Thi Thar Kan
    • I am honored to be a reviewer / editor for both books and a contributor of a section for the second book.
    • He shared his memories about his sayas (Dr. Chit Swe, U Sein Min, U Tin Hlaing, Dr. Kyaw Thein, Dr. Khin Maung Swe, …).
    • He passed away in Sydney.

  • GBNF — Intake of 1964

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    1st BE Intake in 1964

    Most members graduated in 1970. Some left RIT before graduation. A few took Sabbatical & graduated later.

    U Ohn Khine (M70) reports the Gone But Not Forgotten (GBNF) list periodically.

    An entry contains

    • Name (Alias or nickname)
    • Roll Number in 1st BE
    • Major/Discipline
    • Date of demise (if known)

    Status

    As of June 20, 2025, there were 143 entries in the GBNF list.

    • Tommy Shwe 2 : RIT Selection for Badminton; Moved to Taiwan & USA; Kidnapped & murdered by his Handyman
    Tommy Shwe
    • Cho Aye 3 Mech 7/8/18 : RIT Hiking & Mountaineering; Organizer for the Group
    Cho Aye (Standing rightmost)
    • Peter Pe 4 Mech : RIT Swimming & Water Polo; Fell off from a horse
    • Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay) 8 Elec : Entrepreneur; Multiple Golden Sponsor for SPZP; Philanthropist; Steeve & Helen Kay Health Care Fund for RIT Sayas; CABA; Kay Family Foundation
    Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay) at 2015 RIT Alumni Reunion in Los Angeles
    • Victor Jones 41 Civil
    • Ne Win 45 Tex
    • Tin Ohn 49 Mech
    • Naing Win 54 Mech : Spouse Polly Ba San was Burma Selected in Swimming
    • Mya Daung 58 Mech/Agri
    • Lay Myint 60 Civil
    • Khin Maung Pun 66 Petro ?/10/16 : Named after his birthplace Papun
    • Myo Thaw 68 5/15
    • Aung Kyan 71 Mech/Auto
    • Thet Win 75 Mech
    • Hla Min (Pauk Si) 82 Elec : Chief Operator at UCC; Passed away in his 30s
    • Mg Mg Myint (Japu Sein) 93 Mech : RIT Selection for Soccer
    • Soe Tint (Nevil Kyi Mg) 94 Civil
    • Mg Mg Than 97 Mech 8/7/18
    • Le Le Win (Lilian Tha Mya) 100 Mech
    • Nan Lwin 102 Elec
    • Myat Khine (Tha Aye) 104 Mech
    • Han Kyu Pe 110 Arch : Paulian
    • Than Tun (Ivan Win) 114 Mech/Agri
    • Aung Win 120 Chem
    • Aye Thin 122 Chem
    • Chit Khin 124 Arch 23/6/15
    • Than Sein 130 Mech
    • Aung Kyi 135 Mech
    • Khin Mg Saan 139 Civil
    • Ko Ko Tin (Winston Hla Mg) 141 Mech
    • Saw Pae Pae 143 Met
    • Win Maw (George Hock) 146
    • Ma Yin Shwe Tun 150 Tex
    • Myat Myat Moe 154 Arch
    • Ma Htay Htay Win (Marlene Mg Mg) 158 Chem
    • Than Myint 168 23/1/13
    • Myint Thein 172 Mech
    • Phone Thwin 177 Min
    • Than Nyunt Win 181 Civil
    • Khin Mg Kyu 183 Mech
    • Win Thein 185 Elec
    • Ma Khin Mya Oo 188 Met
    • Kyaw Naing (Sin Gwan) 191 Elec : RIT EE Saya
    • Mg Mg Yu 194 Mech/Agri
    • Tin Aye 195 Mech/Agri
    • Htike Nyan 198 Elec 26/10/15
    • Aung Khin 203 Mech
    • Kyi May Nwae 206 Met
    • Tin Win 209 Chem
    • Myat Swe (Myint Swe) 215 Elec 22/3/15
    • Kyaw Win Mhan 234 Arch
    • Ma Yaw Ze 243 Chem
    • Hla Shwe 247 Mech Lar Gyi
    • Min Thant (Maurice Bo Ni) 254 Elec
    • Tin Win (Arthur) 256 Mech
    • Aung Htay 277 Civil
    • Michael Shein Myint 280 Chem
    • Mar Mar 292 Civil
    • Thein Htun 304 Mech 29/8/18
    • Mg Mg Oo 312 PP
    • Myo Tint (Stanley Hla) 313 PP
    • Mg Mg Swe 314 Mech ?/1/18
    • Min Swe 318 Mech
    • Ye Myint Aung 323 Mech
    • Toe Nyunt 326 Elec
    • Tin Ko 330 Met
    • Aung Law Ha 342 Mn 30/1/16
    • Ma Tin Tin 348 Mech/Agri
    • Kyaw Swe Thet 354 Mech 2017
    • Kan Myint 371 Mech
    • Aye Than 385 Elec 25/4/16
    • Khin Soe 388
    • Khin Than Win 389 Tex 3/9/18 : Silver Pearl Diary co-owner
    • Maung Maung 398 Tex 31/8/14
    • John Krasu 402 Mar 2016
    • Shein Kee Gae 407 Elec
    • Ohn Kywe 408 Elec
    • Kan Win 409 Mech
    • Win Aung 413
    • Onward Taw 419
    • Sein Sein 418 Tex 19/2/15
    • Tin Oo 428 Arch
    • Nay Daung 435 Civil
    • Oo Myint 445 Min
    • Khin Mg Shwe (Kenneth) 446
    • Thein Han 463 Elec 18/5/12
    • Hla Kyaing 467 Min
    • Tin Win 475
    • Zaw Nyein 482 Tex 10/2/14
    • Myo Nyunt Saw 485 Elec
    • Mya Thaung 487 Mining Ye Baw Pae Hlaw
    • Sai Maung Lin 73 Mech
    • Maung Myint 332 Tex
    • Htay Lwin 367
    • Stanley Lim 51
    • Aye Win Kyaw 169 Civil : RIT Civil Saya
    • Zin Maung Oo 328 Civil
    • Khin Nyo 352
  • Data Security

    Data Security

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Background

    In this part of the world, three companies collect and monitor data to determine if a person is credit worthy. They provide a FICO score that is used by companies and institutions to determine the risk level of a person applying for a loan (e.g to buy a house).

    Sad to say, one company was presumably STINGY or not technologically savvy to provide multiple line of defense against intruders. Even after two of its subsidiaries were hacked, the company did NOT report the intrusion to its customers and the general public, most of whom now have to figure what lies ahead with their precious private data (such as social security number, credit cards …) stolen.

    Could this incident have been prevented?

    Personal Experience

    Many years ago, I had to use a Smart Card to enter the office building and to access computers. We were told NOT to use SSN and sensitive information in e-mails. We had to refrain from printing documents heedlessly, and to shred them (or put in special bins for shredding later).

    We had to take courses about
    (a) handling different types of data — private, sensitive, classified …
    (b) secure communication channels and/or secure data
    (c) integrity

    One company developed software to encrypt or replace sensitive data from e-mails, files, database. The test environment has to ensure that no sensitive data is leaked. A subtle assumption is that insiders may explicitly or implicitly be partners in crime.

    Some Incidents

    • the backup tape for personnel data went missing; The affected personnel had great pains to correct their profile
    • lap tops containing sensitive information were stolen; The information are not encrypted, or encryption with weak keys
    • a professor posted SSNs along with the grades; A few students started identity theft
    • without a unique national ID, many companies and institutions use SSN for storing/access records;
    • Phishing attacks or malicious companies set up with the intention of getting credit reports from unwary job seekers
    • a credit card was used in rapid succession at a different state or outside the country; Some credit card companies are good in sending alerts about fraudulent uses.
    • A bug fix made by a professor was NOT properly reviewed and validated

    Rationale

    I have touched only the surface of the security problem.

    Professor Dr. Than Tun was asked “Why should we learn History?”
    He replied, “To ensure that one is not stupid or dumb”.

    To paraphrase, “Why should we learn about Computer & Data Security?”
    “To save countless people from having sleepless nights. Losing one’s identity, assets … is intolerable”.

    U Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :

    One of the first work items on the Data Security is the classification of the data, it depends on what kind (or items) of data is collected/stored in a given application, At some point, it is termed ‘Data Asset’ and have several categories as below.

    HBI – High Business Impact
    MBI – Medium Business Impact
    LBI – Low Business Impact
    PII – Personally Identifiable Information
    HSPII – Highly Sensitive PII

    Of course, the above is not the exhaustive list, and is UN, HIPAA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, has one of the strictest regulatory requirements.

    Posts

    • Data Processing
    • Data Types
    • Fraud
    • Malware
    • Regulation
    • Security
  • Notes 2

    Notes 2

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Academic Year

    • An academic year usually spans two years.
      e.g. 1968 – 1969 academic year
    • To save space and time, I use the end year instead of the start year and end year
      e.g. Class of 1969 (or simply Class of 69)

    Early Days at Rangoon University

    • The Faculty of Engineering accepted students who had completed I.Sc. (two years of Intermediate of Science) with the “Pure Science” option with reasonable marks.
    • The engineering classes are named 1st year of Engineering to Final (4th year of Engineering).
    • There were no “Instructors” .
      There were Assistant Lecturers, Lecturers and Professors.
      They are “Gazetted Officers”.
    • Saya U Ba Hli, first native Dean of Engineering, proposed the Twinning Program between the Faculty of Engineering and prestigious universities in the USA.
    U Ba Hli (Right)
    • Some engineering students (e.g. Dr. Aung Gyi, U Min Wun, U Maung Maung Than, U Khin Aung Kyi, U Soe Paing) applied for “States Scholar” before graduation. They joined the Faculty upon their return to Burma.
    • Some engineering students (e.g. U Sein Hlaing, U Tin Swe, U Allen Htay, Dr. San Hla Aung, U San Tun) joined the faculty upon graduation. They were selected to do post-graduate studies in the USA.
    • Saya Dr. Yan Naing Lwin (Professor Emeritus, WIU) e-mailed me a copy of the “Burmese state scholars in the USA ’54”. There were about 400 state scholars including Saya U Sein Hlaing and Saya U Tin Swe.

    Sports

    • The Halls (e.g. Prome) would aggressively seek outstanding athletes (footballers, tennis players, rowers, …).
    • U Chan Tha is Past Captain and Gold of RUBC Gold.
      He was Captain of the Prome Hall Soccer Team which won the Inter-Hall Trophy for two consecutive years.
      Saya U Tin Swe was a member of that victorious team.

    New Education System in 1964

    • The Rangoon University was reorganized into RASU (Rangoon Arts and Science University) and several Institutes (Economics, Education, Engineering, Medicine …).
    • Burma Institute of Technology (BIT) was renamed as Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT).
      U Yone Mo, Dean of BIT, became the Rector of RIT.
    • Matriculates were admitted to the 1st BE class using the controversial ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate).
    • Those who had passed I.Sc.(A) examination were admitted to the 2nd BE class based on the total marks.
    • Those who had passed I.Sc.(B) examination were admitted to the 3rd BE class (equivalent to the Old 1st Year Engineering class).
    • The positions for “Instructors” were created. It meant, most sayas have to wait to become Assistant Lecturers.

    Memories

    • Ko Benny Tan (M 70) lent me a copy of the “RIT Handbook” for 1966 – 67. I published the list of permanent and part-time sayas and sayamas in one of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” updates.
    • Saya U Moe Aung (EE) has old copies of “Hlyat Sit Sar Saung” and RIT Annual magazines.
      He served as Chief Editor for both publications.
    • Saya Charlie Kaw (Tex, GBNF) brought to USA projects of his final year students.

    GBNF for UCC sayas and alumni

    • Dr. Chit Swe (Founder / Director)
    • Dr. Tin Maung (Director)
    • U Ko Ko Lay (Co-founder)
    • U Hla Min (EP70, Chief Operator)
    • U Soe Myint (M72, Operations)
    • U Maung Maung Gyi (Operations)
    • U Maung Maung Lay (Operations)
    • U Aung Myint (Systems)
    • U Mya Thein (Business Applications)
    • U Soe Thein (Business Applications)
    • U Kyaw Nyein (Scientific Applications)
    • U Win Naing (Scientific Applications)
    • U Khin Maung Aye (M73)
    • U Shein Soe Myint (EC83)
    • U Aung Aung Thein (EE 8x)
    • U Thein Tan
    • U Hla Aye (Bhaimyar)
    • U Myint Aung (Admin)
    • Daw Win May Thaung
    • Daw Kyu Kyu Lwin
    • Daw Hla Hla Win
    • Daw Khin Lay Myint (Admin)
    • Daw Khin Mya Swe
    • Daw Khin Toe Nyein
    • Daw Thida Aung
  • Win Naing (M69)

    Win Naing (M69)

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    U Win Naing (Dicky, M69, Singapore) represented RIT in Rowing. He also recruited his classmates (David, Fred, Sein Tun …) and served as their cox.

    He also played Badminton.

    He had problems with bowel movement. He relied on laxatives and medications.

    A 69er suggested him to see another doctor for second opinion.

    He was surprised to find out that he had a late stage pancreatic cancer.

    He canceled his trip to Yangon to attend a 69er Reunion.

    He spent his final months calmly at his home.

    He passed away around the Chinese / Lunar New Year.

    Due to superstition, only his family members and a few friends were present at his last journey.

    * David Myint Thein wrote :

    Gone But Not Forgotten, our dear friend as well as our Cox. May your soul rest in peace.

    * Daniel Tint Lwin wrote :

    May you rest in peace Dickie. We miss you dearly.

    Dicky
  • ဖြတ်၍မရသော သံယောဇဥ်

    ဖြတ်၍မရသော သံယောဇဥ်

    by Tekkatho Moe War

    Updated : July 2025

    Kabyar

    Irrespective of years gone by, my beloved mother and benefactor still remains in my heart.
    I wrote the poem for Thway Thauk Magazine in May 1964 in memory of my mom who passed away on March 10, 1964.

    နှစ်ကာလ ဘယ်လောက်ပဲ ကုန်လွန်ကုန်လွန်ကျွန်ုပ်နှလုံးသားထဲမှာလည်း ကျေးဇူးရှင် မေမေရှိနေသေးသည်ပဲ။၁၉၆၄ ခုနှစ် မေလထုတ် သွေးသောက်မဂ္ဂဇင်းတွင် ကျွန်ုပ်ရေးခဲ့တဲ့ ကဗျာတစ်ပုဒ်…။

    Poem

    ” ဖြတ်၍မရသော သံယောဇဥ် “
    (၁၀- ၃ -၁၉၆၄ နေ့တွင်ကွယ်လွန်ခဲ့သောချစ်မေမေ…..သို့)

    ချစ်တဲ့မေမေ…
    မြေထိ မတတ်၊ ဦးခေါင်းညွှတ်၍
    စိုစွတ် မျက်ရည်၊ ပေါက်ပေါက်မြည်အောင်
    ဖြေဆည်မရ၊ ကြင်လွန်းစွလည်း
    ဘဝ လမ်းခွဲခဲ့ရပြီ။

    ချစ်တဲ့မေမေ…
    သည်မြေကမ္ဘာ၊ သည်လူ့ရွာသို့
    သင်သာ ကျွန့်အား
    တံခါးပေါက်ဖွင့်၊ ပို့ပေးလင့်သော
    သွေးနှင့် တစ်ကြိမ်၊ သင့် သားအိမ်မှ
    စိုးရိမ် မွေးထုတ်၊ နာမ် ရုပ် တို့ပင်
    သင့်ဝိညာဥ်မှ၊ ကြင်နာတစ်ဖန်
    ဖြည့်ဆည်းပြန်မို့
    ပွင့်အန် သစ္စာ၊ သင်နှင့်သာလျှင်
    မခွာ ဝိညာဥ်၊ အသက်ရှင်၍
    သေလျှင်တူဘိ၊ ယုံကြည်မိလည်း
    မငြိတော့ပါ၊ သည်လူ့ရွာကို
    ဘာကြောင့် သံယောဇဥ်ဖြတ်သနည်း။

    ကျွန်တို့လမ်းသည်၊ မတူပြီကော…
    ညလည် တစ်ကွေ့၊ ပန်းမျိုးစေ့သို့
    ချမ်းမြေ့ သင့်မှာ၊ ရှိနေပါလည်း
    ထွန်ကာ နေဆဲ၊ မြေစိုင်ခဲ မှ
    တွဲရရွဲလှ၊ သီးမြမြနှင့်
    ဘဝဘယ်ချိန်ရောက်မည်နည်း။

    ချစ်တဲ့ မေမေ….
    မျက်ရည်ကျလျက်၊ နမ်းနှုတ်ဆက်၍
    လေးနက် ဝင်းထိန်၊ တည်ငြိမ်ကြည်လင်
    သင့်ဝိညာဥ်မှအားအင် ပြည့်ဝ၊ စဥ် မ, စ,ပါ
    ရွရွ ခွာမြန်း၊ ခြေကိုလှမ်းမည်
    မောပန်း လှစ်ဟ၊ ဆုံးဖြတ်ရစဥ်
    ကျွန့် ဝိညာဥ်ကား၊ လွင့်ပါး မစောင်း
    သင့်အလောင်းနား၊ ခုတင်နားတွင်
    လုံးလျား ငြိတွယ်နေပါပြီ။ ။

    တက္ကသိုလ် မိုးဝါ

    ၂၂. -၃ -၁၉၆၄
    (သွေးသောက်မဂ္ဂဇင်း- ၁၉၆၄မေလ)

  • Retire / Re-tire

    Retire / Re-tire

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Steeve’s Advice

    Steeve
    • U Thaung Sein (Steeve Kay, EC70, GBNF) is a Multiple Golden Sponsor of SPZPs.
    • He said, “You should not retire.
      You may re-tire (as in re-threading a tire). We will try to support you and your projects.

    Retired

    I am retired from working to make ends meet.

    Re-tiring

    • I am re-tiring as long as my physical and mental health permit.
    • Took a few on-line courses (for credit)
      Too taxing and slow
      Opted to audit 100+ courses (covering many subjects)
    • Listen to one or more Blinkist every day
    • Listen to selected Podcasts every day.
    • Ride stationary bike for 30+ minutes every day.
    • Write or revise 10+ posts every day.
  • Peter Tun — May 6, 2020

    Peter Tun — May 6, 2020

    by Hla Min

    Updated : July 2025

    Nick Prolix Comix

    Comix

    Nick (Artist / Teacher) drew Peter’s portrait with the message :

    RIP Peter Tun, associate specialist in neurorehabilitation at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading

    Min Ko commented :

    Oh wow! That’s my dad! That’s amazing!

    Nick Prolix replied :

    So pleased to be able to do something in tribute to the amazing work of folks like your dad none of whom should have lost their lives doing their jobs. Lovely to know he was an artist himself and thank you again for reaching out

    Posts

    • Dr. Peter Tun (Chronicle)
    • U Tin U