Ivan Lee (M69) invited several 69ers to get together at his house in New Jersey around June-July of 2015. U Aung Myint and U Sein Tin could not make it to the 2015 mini-reunion.
Fred Thetgyi (M69)
Lives in Philadelphia
Joined the 2015 mini-reunion
Drove most of the 1800+ mile trip in Ivan’s Mercedes
Except when his batteries went out, he took pictures at the mini-reunion and the trip.
He would appear only in a fraction of the photos, when someone else (Ivan, a waiter, or a stranger) took the photo.
Phil 1Phil 2Phil 3Phil 4Phil 5Phil 6Phil 7Phil 8Phil 9
New Jersey
Main Host : Ivan
Other hosts : Saya U Soe Paing & Daw Saw Yu Tint
Ivan took us on a short trip to New York
Ivan showed us around New Jersey
For several years, Ivan had hosted the RIT-UCC Gathering with Saya Dr. Aung Gyi and Saya U Soe Paing as Guests of Honor.
Photo shows two Sayas and six 69ers — Fred, TAG, HM, Alice, Toung / Tom and Ivan
New Jersey
Niagara Falls
On the way to Canada
Took photos from the US side & the Canada side
Niagara Fall
Windsor, Canada
Host : Sayagyi U Aung Khin
Saya patiently waited for our arrival.
Saya let me and my spouse spend the night in his Guest room. Ivan and Fred stayed at a motel.
Saya prepared Mohinga and Ah Kyaw for breakfast.
He gave us mementos.
U Aung KhinSaya U Aung Khin Memento
Toronto
Brief sight seeing
Saya Des Rodgers had earlier invited to drop by his house, but our schedule did not have slack time.
Napean, Canada
Host: Sayagyi Dr. Aung Gyi & Daw Emma
Saya drove us around Toronto
We spent two nights at Saya’s house.
Dr. Aung Gyi
Took a quick trip to Thousand Islands. Ma Ma Emma bought a gift for my Myee
Thousand Islands
Shrewberry, Massachussetts
Hosts : Dr. Tun Aung Gyaw (EC69) & Daw Khin Maw Maw
Since they were renovating their home, U TAG hosted us at a hotel.
Visit MIT & Harvard University
U TAGDinner
Trumbull, Connecticut
Hosts : U Toung (Tom, EC69) and Daw Khin Myint
Visit Yale University
Visit Pizza place frequented by the young Bill Clinton
Ko ToungPlace frequented by young Bill Clinton
Philadelphia
Hosts : Fred Thetgyi (M69) & Eunice
Dropped by to see Fred’s elder sister
Visit Pake Forge and Liberty Bell;
Visit my last remaining uncle U Thein Han in Maryland
Highest marks in Chemistry for HSF Only exam in 1962
11th in Burma for Matric exam in 1963
Chemical Engineering (Pulp & Paper Specialty) from Dresden University, Germany
Passed away in Wales, UK
Mg Mg Kyi
Kyaw Phone Myint / Victor Kyaw Phyo
(Early) Organizer, Combined 1st BE Intake of 64 and 65
Spouse : Hta Cho (Wun)
Kyaw Wynn
Birthday
He offered birthday soon kyway to Uzin Okkantha (Victor, Aung Chaw) and treated his former classmates (some of whom have not seen each other for a long time). The attendees include :
Aye Ngwe (Edwin)
Kyaw Win (“Birthday Boy”)
Khin Maung Bo (Alan, EP69)
Hla Min (EC69)
Uzin Okkantha (Aung Chaw, Victor, C69)
Than Win (M69)
Aung Kyi (Arthur)
Tin Tun (M69)
Khin Maung Zaw (Frank Gale, IM1 70, UK)
SPHS Novice Crew at RUBC
Maung Maung Kyi (Bow, GBNF)
Hla Min (No. 2)
Kyaw Win (No. 3, EE)
Willie Soe Mg (Stroke, GBNF)
Myint Thein (Cox, SPHS 62, B.Com 66, GBNF)
We were all awarded Full Green.
When the schools were closed following the first Anniversary of 7th July, Kyaw Win and Maung Maung Kyi applied for scholarships to study in Germany.
Maung Maung Kyi received Dip Ing in ChE. He worked at Sittaung Paper Mill and PPIC before moving to Wales, UK.
Kyaw Win had a higher calling. He and his friends protested in front of the Burmese Embassy. The higher authorities were alarmed at their movement and recalled back to Burma. Fortunately, he was able to complete his EE in Rangoon.
I am following the noble tradition of honoring pioneers and outstanding people. I am trying my best to present their achievements and contributions. I an privileged to have known many seniors, contemporaries and juniors.
Who’s Who, Twentieth Century Impressions of Burma, Five Minute Biographies တွေ ကို နည်းယူပြီး ကျွန်တော် က Old Burma တုန်းက ထူးချွန်သူ တွေ ကို မှတ်တမ်းတင် ဂုဏ်ပြု နေတဲ့ ရှေ့မှီ နောက်မှီ (ဘေးမှီ) သူတယောက်ပါ။
I volunteered as a Docent at the Computer History Museum (CHM) for two years. CHM’s programs include Hardware & Software Artifacts, Exhibits, Oral History, Lectures, Panels and Award Ceremonies.
The Old Burma Group has posts about History, Notable (Famous as well as Notorious) people. I appreciate the invaluable posts as a reader and contributor.
Old Burma Group ဟာလည်း သမိုင်း နဲ့ ထူးချွန် / ဆိုးသွမ်း (Famous as well as Notorious) ကို မှတ်တမ်း တင် နေ တဲ့ အဖွဲ့ မို့ Contributor တယောက် အနေ နဲ့ ဝမ်းသာ ကြည်နူး မိပါတယ်။
I request the Group Administrator and Moderators to approve my posts.
ကျွန်တော် ရဲ့ posts တွေကို တင်ပြခွင့်ပြုပါ Admin နဲ့ Moderator များ ခင်ဗျာ။
ကျွန်တော် က I am
Founder & Chief Editor of RIT Alumni Newsletter
Owner & Admin of RIT Updates FB Group
Member of HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Education) : အဖွဲ့ဝင်၊
ကံ့ကော်မြေ (တက္ကသိုလ်ရာပြည့်) Former Moderator of RU Centennial Group : Moderator ငြိမ်း၊
U Myo Myint (Retired Deputy General Manager of Burma Railways) is an accomplished Painter, Cover Designer and Cartoonist. He drew Pon Tu’s of selected RIT Sayas, Sayamas, and colleagues. I am honored to receive his present.
ပန်းချီ မြတ်မျိုးမြင့် ရဲ့ လက်ဆောင် မွန် Pon Tu gift from Bagyee Myat Myo Myint / U Myo Myint (M)
Pon Tu
1964 – 65 Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT)
I was admitted to 2nd BE (Bachelor of Engineering) in November 1964.
The photo was taken at the Gyogone campus.
2nd BE student
1964 – 65 ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် ဒုတိယနှစ် သင်တန်းသား 2nd BE Student at Rangoon Institute of Technology
1965 Summer Inlay Luyechun Camp
I was selected as Luyechun (Outstanding Student).
The photo was taken at the Welcome Ceremony by the Head of Shan States.
LYC
1965 နွေရာသီ အင်းလေး ခေါင်တိုင် လူရည်ချွန် စခန်း တက္ကသိုလ် နဲ့ အထက်တန်း လူရည်ချွန်များ Inlay Khaung Daing Luyechun Camp in the Summer of 1965
1969 December Poem for 5th SEAP Games
Burma hosted the 2nd SEAP Games in 1961, and the 5th SEAP Games in 1969.
The photo shows a page from the Forward Magazine. Maung Thaw Ka (Bohmu Ba Thaw, GBNF) was Chief Editor of the magazine.
Forward
Forward မဂ္ဂဇင်း — ဒီဇင်ဘာ 1969 ပဥ္စမ အကြိမ် အရှေ့တောင်အာရှ ကျွန်းဆွယ်ပွဲ အတွက် ကဗျာ စပ်ဆို ခဲ့ Poem about the 5th SEAP Games
Mid 1970s Universities’ Computer Center (UCC), Rangoon
The photo was taken with the Teachers and Students of CPC (Computer Programming Course).
Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) succeeded Dr. Chit Swe (UCC Founder, GBNF) as Director of UCC.
UCC
တက္ကသိုလ်များ ကွန်ပျူတာ ဌာန က ပို့ချတဲ့ သင်တန်း တခု Computer Course at Universities’ Computer Center (UCC), Thamaing College Campus
1999 Aprilto 2025 Chief Editor of RIT Alumni International Newsletter
2005++ Paying Homage to Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa
U Silananda
ဆရာတော် ဦးသီလာနန္ဒာဘိဝံသ (ပါချုပ်ဆရာတော်) အထိမ်းအမှတ် မော်ကွန်းစာစောင်အတွက် အဖွဲ့ဝင် & စာတည်း Contributing Editor for the Book published in memory of Sayadaw U Silanandabhivamsa
2010 December Saya Pu Zaw Pwe in Singapore
SDY Sar Saung
2010 စင်ကာပူ မှာ ကျင်းပတဲ့ စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် ဆရာပူဇော်ပွဲ အထိမ်း အမှတ် စွယ်တော်ရိပ်စာစောင် Wrote an article “A Sad and Short Clip: EE Sayas” for the Commemorative Issue of Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for SPZP-2010 in Singapore
HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Project) HMEE Book published in 2012
HMEE
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အင်ဂျင်နီယာ ပညာရေး သမိုင်း ပြုစု တဲ့ အဖွဲ့ Member of HMEE (History of Myanmar Engineering Education) U Ohn Khine (M70) and I compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE Book published in 2012 Copies of the Book were donated to Libraries
CD
2012 နှစ် မှာ ထုတ်ဝေခဲ့တဲ့ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အင်ဂျင်နီယာပညာရေး သမိုင်း စာအုပ် ရဲ့ နောက်ဆက်တွဲ စီဒီ CD Supplement for the HMEE Book Photos and articles (in English) to supplement the articles (in Burmese) in the HMEE Book
ရန်ကုန်စက်မှုတက္ကသိုလ် ရွှေရတု အထိမ်းအမှတ်စွယ်တော်ရိပ် မဂ္ဂဇင်း (2014) Wrote an article “Memories of a 69er” for the Commemorative Issue of Swel Daw Yeik Magazine for Shwe YaDu 2014
2016 September Alumni Appreciation Award
Award
2019 December RUBC 96th Anniversary Regatta
Regatta
RUBC 96th Anniversary & Regatta (2019) U Tin Myint (GBNF), U Sein Htoon, U Khin Maung Latt, U Hla Min
2019 December Golden Jubilee of Graduation of RIT 69ers
GJ
2019 — 1969 နှစ် ဘွဲ့ရ အင်ဂျင်နီယာများ ရဲ့ ရွှေရတု မနက်ပိုင်း — ကြို့ကုန်း မှာ ဆရာပူဇော်ပွဲ 2019 — Golden Jubilee of Graduation for RIT 69ers Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe at Gyogone Campus
Matriculated from St. Paul’s High School in 1963. Stood 11th in the whole of Burma and won Collegiate Scholarship.
Joined Rangoon Universities’ Boat Club. Our Paulian crew — Mg Mg Kyi, Hla Min, Kyaw Win, Willie Soe Mg and Myint Thein (cox) — was Senior Novices Runners-up in the Monsoon Regatta. All became RUBC Full Green.
Rangoon University was closed citing security concerns after the protests of the 1st Anniversary of 7th July. Mg Mg Kyi and Kyaw Win applied for Government Scholarship to study Engineering at Dresden University.
Mg Mg Kyi received the Masters (equivalent) in Chemical Engineering with specialization in Pulp and Paper.
He worked for PPIC (notably Sittang and Yay Ni Paper Mills).
He found his love Khin May Than (Che72). They raised two sons — Rimon Than & Khemar Than.
The family moved to Wales, UK.
Dr. Rimon Than
Rimon
Elder son of U Maung Maung Kyi and Daw Khin May Than.
Medical Doctor / Specialist
Experienced Mountain Climber
Squadron Leader in Royal Aut Force
Accomplished “Rescue Team Leader”.
Sadly, he passed away on February 15, 2013 during a mountaineering training in Scotland due to an avalanche.
Mg Mg Kyi and Khin May Than were visiting Yangon at the time. They had to fly back to Wales to attend the funeral service with military honors.
Ogmore by the sea
Mg Mg Kyi and Khin May Than were deeply hurt by the untimely loss of their elder son.
Their younger son (Dr. Khemar Than) moved back from Japan to be close to his parents.
MMK and KMT gave their house to Khemar, and moved to Ogmore-by-the-sea.
MMK invited me to see his new home.
Visit to Wales
In 2017, we visited UK.
My cousin nephew Dr. Khin Tun (Peter) drove us to Wales to visit Mg Mg Kyi and Khin May Than at their new home Ogmore-by-the-sea.
See the posts about the mini-gathering.
Maung Maung Kyi
Updates
Dr. “Peter” Khin Tun (MRCP, Former Associate Dean of OxfordUniversity) was a victim of Covid-19 and the lax Guidelines of NIH. He passed away on April 13, 2020. The news and TV coverage about the sad story led to reevaluation of procedures and support for NIH doctors and staff combating Covid.
Maung Maung Kyi passed away peacefully in November 2024. His younger sisters — Dr. Kyi Kyi Hla, Daw Khin Thitsar and Dr. Khin Sabai — performed Soon Kwyay Dana for the 1st Anniversary of Maung Maung Kyi’s demise.
Soon Kyway
Memories
Khin Sabai, Khin May Than & Mg Mg Kyi Top Matriculates from SPHS 1963SPHS Std VIII (A) Mg Mg Kyi 1 Mg Mg Kyi 2
9th month of the old Roman calendar. Nov means nine.
11th month of the Gregorian calendar.
It has 30 days.
Events
Birthdays
Saya U Mg Mg (George, ChE66)
Daw Aye Aye — Spouse of Saya U Aung (C70)
Son of Saya U Aung Myaing (ChE72) and Daw Gyn Yu (ChE72)
My Daughter-in-law
November1
It is “All Saints Day”. It is preceded by Halloween (which falls on October 31st).
Sunday following Halloween
DST (Daylight Savings Time) requires resetting the clock according to “Spring forward. Fall back.” Currently, DST is set back in Fall (Autumn) on the Sunday following Halloween.
November 2
Dr. Ye Myint (cousin nephew) and Daw San San Aye
Daw Kaythi (cousin niece) and U Soe Min Oo
Aung Myo Myint (cousin grand nephew) and Demo
November 8
It is the Anniversary of my beloved parents.
My beloved parents
November 11
Three generations chose November 11 for their Wedding or Reception
Dr. and Mrs. Chan Taik
Daughter Margaret Chan Taik and Dr. Myo Tint (cousin)
Granddaughter Ma Kay and Soe Min Oo (both EC 93) — reception; the wedding was on November 2
November 22
John F Kennedy (President of the United States) was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.
Conspiracy Theory about his assassination survives.
A few days earlier, President Kennedy gave his speech in Hoston, Texas : “Before this decade is out, we will send men on the moon and bring them safely back to earth.”
Tazaungdaing
It often falls around November.
Kathein robe offering often take place in early November. It must be held during one month following the Full Moon Day of Thadinkyut (which usually falls in October).
Veterans Day
November 11 is celebrated as Veterans Day in the USA.
It is celebrated as Armistice Day in the UK and France.
A hundred years ago, Truce was called between the Allied Forces and Germany. The Truce occurred at 11 AM, marking the event with three 11s.
WWI (First World War) ended a year later with the Versailles Treaty.
US Elections
The second Tuesday of November is scheduled for US Elections at the various levels.
The Presidential Elections occur every four years.
The mid-term elections occur every two years. The House of Representatives serve two year terms. One third of Senators are elected every two years.
Local races for Elections and Resolutions are held every year.
Senators serve six year terms. To ensure continuity in the Senate, the election of the Senators is staggered into three groups.
Commercialization of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November.
Black Friday & Cyber Monday following Thanksgiving have massive sales. Some start their Black Friday early.
Several English words (e.g. November, Black Friday) have lost their original meaning.
Baseball
Game 7
Game 7 of the 2025 World Series started on November 1 and ended on November 2
Toronto Blue Jays led in the game until Miguel Rojas (9th place in the batting order) hit a tying home run for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 9th inning.
Will Smith hit the game winning home run for LA Dodgers in the 11th inning.
The Dodgers became repeat champions in 25 years.
Yoshi Yamamoto started Game 6 and ended Game 7. He was voted the World Series MVP.
In December 1920, there were three significant events.
On December 1, 1920, Rangoon University was established with Rangoon College and Judson College as the constituent colleges. The colleges are also known by other names (e.g. Government College, Baptist College)
On December 5, 1920, the First RU Students’ Strike took place. They protested the 1920 Rangoon University Act as too narrow and restrictive.
On December 26, 1920, Saya U Ba Toke was born as a Phwa Bet Taw of the above two.
Rangoon University(RU)
Initially had three Faculties and eight departments (including Law)
Initially had six professors
RU gradually extended its offerings (beyond Science and Arts)
The opening of engineering classes was planned around 1923 and executed in 1924.
In 1927, the first batch of engineering students (who had Bachelors degree) graduated with the “accelerated courses” option.
In 1928, the second batch of engineering students (who joined after finishing the I.Sc.) graduated.
RU was closed from 1942 to 45. RU Silver Jubilee was celebrated much later (and without high key).
RU celebrated the Golden Jubilee (GJ) in 1970. Dr. Aung Gyi (Professor of Civil Engineering) and U Thet Lwin (Burmese saya at the Institute of Economics) were some of the GJ organizers. The RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Shins took part in the GJ Entertainment Program as “Swel Daw Yeik Troupe“. The term “Swel Daw Yeik” became synonymous with RIT [its predecessors and its successors]. Swel Daw Yeik Ah Nyeint (စွယ်တော်ရိပ်အငြိမ့် with Minthamees မင်းသမီး and Lu Shwin Daws လူရွှင်တော်), HteeYein (ထီးယိမ်း RIT Belles with colorful Parasols) and Da Bin Daing Ah Ka (တပင်တိုင်အက) were hits at the GJ celebration. I was a volunteer member of the “Zay Nay Yar Cha Hta Yay” subcommittee headed by Saya U Hla Tun Aung (Geography). Those who applied for stalls and/or stage included Actor Maung Maung Tar (promoting his make up) and the then amateur band “Playboys” requesting a high stage (for security concerns).
RU celebrated the Diamond Jubilee in 1995.
RU celebrated the “Yar Pyie Ah Kyo” in December 2019. The opening song was “Mya Kyun Nyo” composed by Maung Ngwe Hlinne (Saya U Thet Lwin).
RU Centennial Celebrations were planned for November and December of 2020. Due to the pandemic, many events were held virtually. Kyemon and Myanar Ah Lin newspapers featured articles about RU. The TV stations featured interviews, songs …
First RU Students’ Strike
Eleven “senior” students led the Boycott of the Rangoon University Act of 1920.
They were unhappy with the restrictions of the RU Act and decided to hold a boycott (strike) on December 7, 1920.
Due to a news leak, the protests were moved to December 5, 1920.
The strike resulted in the establishment of Amyotha Kyaung (National Schools) and Amyotha Kaw Leik (National College). The event is celebrated as Ah Myo Tha Aung Pwe Nay (National Day). The Burmese date (10th Waning day of Tazaungmon) is used for the Celebration.
Arzani U Razak was an early graduate of the National College. He served as Principal of a National School in Mandalay. He became Minister of Education in Bogyoke Aung San’s cabinet.
Prime Minister U Nu, United Nations Secretary General U Thant and Ahmyotha Pyinnya Wun / Educator / Writer U Po Kyar are notable sayas from the National Schools.
The boycott was responsible for the amendments to the RU Act. e.g. opening of schools for engineering and medicine,
A pillar was set up on Shwe Dagon Pagoda in memory of the Boycott.
Sayagyi U Ba Toke(Dec 26, 1920 – Dec 2, 2020)
He is one of the oldest and senior sayas. Some senior sayas (e.g. Daw Hla May / Anne Sine) passed away in early 2020.
Received A.M (Master of Arts in Mathematics) from Harvard University.
Served as Assistant Lecturer, Lecturer and Professor of Mathematics at RU and RASU.
Promoted to Rector, MASU.
With his own volition, he transferred to RIT as Professor of (Engineering) Mathematics.
As a Saya of engineering sayas (e.g. Dr. Aung Gyi, U Min Wun and U Khin Aung Kyi), he was invited to attend SPZP-2000 and give a speech.
Saya attended all SPZPs except SPZP-2002 (which he had to forgo due to Sayagadaw’s health).
Played Chinlon and Soccer.
Co-chair of RU Sports Council Managed the Soccer program.
Headed the Burmese delegation to the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Until his 80s, Saya was active (e.g. walk to Shwe Dagon Pagoda with his dhamma friends).
In his 90s, Saya had physical limitations, but his mental faculty was strong as ever.
Saya Dr. Khin Maung Swe (Tekkatho Maung Thin Char, GBNF) interviewed Saya. Sayama Daw Myint Myint Khaing (daughter of Arzani Mahn Ba Khaing) transcribed the tapes. The book covering Sayagyi’s Life Journey was published by the RU Thin Char Mi Thar Su for Sayagyi’s 80th birthday.
Sayagyi gave me an autographed copy.
Two Sayagyis
U Ba Toke & U Ba Than
Pu Zaw Pwe (PZP) — paying homage to mentors — is a noble tradition. They are also known as Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe.
There have been micro-PZPs, mini-PZPs and grand PZPs.
Saya U Ba Than (born on October 2, 1930) usually visits and pay homage to his saya Sayagyi U Ba Toke at least once every year.
Paying homage to Sayagyi U Ba Toke
During my visits to Yangon, I paid homage to Sayagyi U Ba Toke.
On one visit, Sayagyi gave me an autographed copy of “Life Journey of Mathematics Professor Sayagyi U Ba Toke”. The book was written by Saya Dr. Khin Maung Swe (Tekkatho Maung Thin Char, GBNF) based on his interviews with Sayagyi U Ba Toke. It also covers the early Thin Char Sayagyis. The book was published by Rangoon University Thin Char Mi Thar Su for Sayagyi’s 80th birthday.
In January 2017, Pansy Ba Toke (Thynn Thynn, ChE 74) asked her son-in-law and daughter to pick up Sayagyi U Ba Than, Saya U Tin Htut and me at Winner Inn to see her father Sayagyi U Ba Toke. Sayagyi had some problems with mobility and vision, but his mind remains crisp and clear.
Pansy was a member of the Swel Daw Yeik “Htee Yein” at the Rangoon University Golden Jubilee in 1970.She has offered transportation to the Sayas who want to visit her father.
Sayagyi sometimesdefer celebrating his birthday so that his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren — far and near — could join the celebration.
Sayagyi is pre-deceased by his beloved spouse, his second son (Soe Win, 6th out of his 8 children) and his second daughter (Kitty, 3rd out of his 8 children)
HlaMin 