In 1963, ten from our class from SPHS received the Collegiate Scholarship of 75 Kyats per month.
After paying 15 Kyats for the school fees, those who attend as day scholars have 60 Kyats to spend.
Sad to note that Dr. Myo San (Freddie Ba San), U Maung Maung Kyi & U Aung Thu Yein (Brownie Way) are GBNF.
The number of scholarships awarded vary with the scholastic years.
In the mid 1950s, the top 25 students were awarded scholarships of 60 Kyats. There was no tuition fees for attending college.
Changes
In 1960, the top 100 students were awarded scholarships. SPHS had 24 scholarship winners.
SPHS60
In 1963, students from the private schools have to be in the top 40 to be awarded scholarships.
Stipend
In the early days, some medical students were awarded Army Stipend.
After graduation, they became commissioned officers.
In the 1960s and the early 1970s, stipends were given to eligible students.
One student who attended Dental College in 1973 said, “I received a monthly stipend of 75 Kyats. I paid 57 Kyats for the hostel fees, and 15 Kyats for the school fees. I use the remaining 3 Kyats for riding buses. The short trips cost five or ten pyas.”
YTU
Scholarships and stipends are being awarded by various organizations to YTU students.
Before the pandemic, NorCal RITAA awarded scholarships to eligible YTU students. A student was typically given $1000 for an academic year.
Note that the purchasing power of Kyat has changed drastically over the years.
Thanks to the Ko Htu’s and Ko Hta’s for making a difference in the lives of selected YTU students.
Dr. Myint Thein (M73) Doctorate from Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA
Myint Thein
Dr. L Sein Myint (M73) Doctorate from UK Worked in UK, USA, Malaysia and Myanmar
U Hla Win (M73) Roll Number 1 in most classes Member of Hovercraft Project
HE U Khin Maung Cho (M73) Member of Hovercraft Project
John Rao (M73) English Editor, Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for SPZP-2007 Organizer, M73 er Monthly Gathering in Singapore (with Saya U Tu Myint)
Hovercraft Project Members (M73) Supervisor : U Tu Myint Six members Interview with media a few years back (arranged by Saya U Moe Aung)
U Khin Maung Aye (M73, GBNF) First batch Masters student at UCC
U Htun Aung Kyaw (HAK, EC73) First batch Masters student at UCC Moved to Australia
U San Lin (Robert, EC73) First batch Masters student at UCC Moved to Singapore and USA
U Kyaw Lin (C73, GBNF) Organizer, All Civil Reunion and SPZP
U Nyunt Htay (Met73) Retired Associate Professor High School Luyechun Poet Chief Editor, Myanmar Mudita Sar Saung
RASU
U Win Naing (Maths, Science Scholar, GBNF) First batch Masters student at UCC
U Kyaw Kyaw Hlaing (Physics, Science Scholar) SMART Group of Companies Award winning author President, Professional Speakers Association
Dr. Khin Maung Maung (Physics) Chair, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Mississippi University Co-organizer, International Physics Conference in Mandalay
Dr. Rafiul Ahad (Physics) Preliminary selection for Burma Team for Hurdles First batch Masters student at UCC Post graduate studies in CS at AIT and USC Retired VP, Oracle Cloud Computing
Computer Courses in 1973
Thanks to Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe (Founder/Director of UCC, Maths Professor at RASU), the following degree courses was offered
M.Sc.(CS) Conducted at UCC Degree conferred by Maths Department of RASU
DAC Part-time two year course Post-graduate Diploma in Automatic Computing offered by Maths Department of RASU
My beloved parents. For us, every day is “Father’s Day” and “Mother’s Day“.
Raised seven children & several grand children.
Passed away in their 80s.
For a long time, I was among the lucky ones to have both parents. Now, I am among the unlucky ones to have lost both parents.
Took care of my two sons when they were young
Sad to say, they did not live long enough to see my grand children.
Let Oo Saya
During my school days, my parents gave me 25 pyas as pocket money. They wanted to make sure that I study hard.
In Standard VI(D) and Standard VII(D), Ms. Amelia Kyi (“Miss Hong Kong“, mother of U Win Kyi (RUBC Gold)) taught us English. We had to take weekly tests. She would fine 25 pyas to those who fail in a test. She would give 50 pyas to those who do well in a test.
My parents would give bonus prizes only when I did well in the final examinations.
They would buy us typewriters : Remington for English and Olympia for Burmese.
They also gave me a Raleigh bicycle, a Yashika Mat camera, and Cashprizes (100 Kyats for passing a Government examinations and 100 Kyats for each Distinction).
They would also provide us books : several types of dictionaries, Myanmar Swel Sone Kyan, Reader’s Digest, Student’s Companion, A book for Idioms, Grammar (e.g. Wren and Martin), the King’s English (by Fowler and Fowler), “How and Why”, Fun with Mathematics, Classics Illustrated, …, Saya Mauk (Bedin), Cheiro (Palmistry), …, Second World War.
Uncles and Aunts
My uncles & aunts were my adopted Parents.
They had private libraries. There was a set of Encyclopedia Britannica, books by Dale Carnegie (“How to win friends and influence people”, “Five minute biographies”) and more.
They aallowed me to play their piano and games (Badminton, Table Tennis, Carrom, Bridge).
One uncle would take us to Inya Lake for swimming followed by a feast of Buthee Gyaw.
Another uncle would take me to the Recreation Center in the Main Campus (e.g. to meet Saya Dr. Than Tun) and to the Faculty of Social Science & Library (e.g. to meet Saya U Khin Maung Kyawe (Jimmy) and Sayama Daw Myint Myint Khin (Hazel)).
A Zillion Thanks
Dear beloved parents, uncles, aunts and teachers, “I’m sure you will be in the good abodes. I want to thank you for your unbounded love and for your exhortation that “Every thing that’s worth doing is worth doing well” “.
Second Generation
My beloved spouse and I tied the knot in June 1973 in front of our parents (my father, my mother and her mother) and elders including Sayagyi Dr. Chit Swe (Founder and Director of Universities’ Computer Center).
All my siblings are alive and well.
My spouse had lost five family members.
Her father passed away in his mid 50s.
Her mother passed away in her late 80s.
Her elder brother passed away in his early 50s.
Her younger brother passed away in his early 60s.
Her nephew passed away in his late 30s.
She volunteered for social and religious events. She wrote several articles for Dhammananda Newsletter with the pen name “Neik Ban Zaw“.
She encouraged me to pay back to our parents, mentors, alma mater, society and our beloved land.
Ah Phwa and Hmyee Ma
With her support, I served for 26 years as Chief Editor of “RIT Alumni International Newsletter” and as an organizer of activities (including RIT Grand Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe).
I have written 2500+ posts in my Facebook pages and hlamin.com
Third Generation
I have two loving sons.
The elder is a Senior Industrial Engineer.
The younger is a Senior Software Engineer.
Fourth Generation
I have two kind, loving and intelligent grandchildren. They excel in Academic, Sports & Social Relations.
The Class celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the admission in 1967.
Hovercraft Project
Six final year M73 students (including U Hla Win and U Khin Maung Cho) did their project on Hovercraft under the supervision of Saya U Tu Myint.
M73 Project
John Rao organized a mini-gathering during my visit to Singapore to meet Saya U Tu Myint and selected M73 members headed by U Hla Win (formerly known as “Roll No. 1”). Saya had retired as Director from Singapore Polytechnic.
I met U Khin Maung Cho at my nephew’s house warming party in Yangon. He was a junior colleague of my elder brother at HIC.
Saya U Moe Aung arranged for a media interview (partly online and partly face-to-face) with the Hovercraft team members.
UCC Alumni
U San Lin (Robert) & Daw Hla Myint (Marina) in Dallas, Texas
U San Lin (Robert, EC73), U Htun Aung Kyaw (HAK, EC73) and U Khin Maung Aye (M73, GBNF) attended M.Sc. (Computer Science) course at UCC.
Robert worked for Texas Instruments in Singapore and was transferred to Texas. He worked for Tech Companies until retirement. He and his spouse Marina (Daw Hla Myint, EC73) hosted the first leg of our trip to Texas. They have a son (medical doctor) and two grandchildren.
HAK worked for Schlumberger before moving to Australia. I met him and his spouse (medical doctor) during our visit to Sydney in 2006.
U Khin Maung Aye (GBNF) worked for Railways Computing Section.
Ph.D’s
Dr. Myint Thein (M73) received his doctorate from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. He wrote articles for RIT Alumni Newsletter with the pen name Ba Thein (Atlanta). His spouse is Daw Nyo Nyo Win (T73).
Dr. Myint Thein
Dr. L. Sein Myint (M73) received his doctorate from UK. He co-hosted the first RIT Alumni Reunion in East Coast.
East Coast Reunion
Dhamma Lecturers
U Jotika
Sayadaw U Jotika (EE73) is a distinguished lecturer and author. He spent a vasa at Taung Pulu Kaba Aye monastery in Northern California. He made Dhamma Duta missions to Singapore and USA.
U Ohn Kyaw (EP73) has visited and shared dhamma in the USA. He also had a mini-reunion in Los Angeles with his former classmates.
ChE73
U Kyi Aung (Roland Chen, ChE73) submitted the Class Photo for the first ex-rit website.
ChE73
Ko Roland offered to give us a ride to attend gatherings hosted by Saya U Aung Myaing (ChE72) and Daw Gyn Yu (ChE72). He shared some anecdotes. One was “why he was offered to test ride the M73 hovercraft”. Another one was about his Final Year Computer Programming Class taught by Dr. Maung Maung Win (GBNF). He did all the assignments at UCC. At the final exam, he saw a single question “If you have done the assignments, leave them in the exam hall”. His two friends (who had not diligently done their assignments) were caught by surprise.
The first Hovercraft was fabricated and submitted as a thesis by 1973 Mechanical students as a partial fulfillment for the Bachelor Of Engineering degree. Their supervisor was Saya U Tu Myint.
Updates
Singapore Oldies
Singapore Oldies
Saya U Kyaw Sein, Saya U Thein Lwin, Sayama Daw May Than Nwe and U Myint Thin (M71) are GBNF.
U Tu Myint retired from Singapore Polytechnic.
John Rao invited me to meet Saya U Tu Myint, U Hla Win & some M73 at a lunch gathering.
Hovercraft Follow up
The next batches submitted thesis on improvement of the first one.
VIP test drive was performed for the Minister for Industry at that time, Col. Maung Cho. The test drive was performed on the lake beside Insein Locomotive Maintenance and Repair Shop. The invention was a success.
U Kyi Aung (Roland Chen, ChE73) had the honor to drive the first ‘Hovercraft’ invented by M73 students. Ironically, further improvement projects were stopped for no reasons.
Additional information
Article by Dr. Myint Thein (M73)
Interview of the Hovercraft team (arranged by Saya U Moe Aung)
Many of us (siblings and cousins) grew up in “Ein Gyi” (အိမ်ကြီး Big House).
Later my father and his siblings built their houses in the Compound.
Beloved Parents
P 1P 2My father
Supported us to have a decent education
My Let Oo Saya
Wrote about them in several posts : Father, Mother, Beloved Parents, Countdown to SPZP
Collegiate Scholarship
HM 3
Stood Seventh in Burma in the Matric exam of 1963.
Awarded Collegiate Scholarship of 75 Kyats per month
Honored by the school (St. Paul’s High School) and the alumni association (Old Paulian Association)
Additional information can be found in posts related to SPHS
RIT Days
Attended Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT) from 1964 to 1969
Additional information can be found in my post “Memories of a 69er”
RIT Student
HM 1
Passed the last ever I.Sc.(A) exam
Admitted to the first ever 2nd BE in November 1964
320+ classmates.
Sad to note that 128 are GBNF
In Aung Min (M69) & team maintain the GBNF list
EE Association
EE Association
EC (Class Representative) of the RIT Electrical Engineering Association. Ko Shwe Win was the Secretary.
Later : Joint Secretary & Secretary
EE Magazine
EE Magazine
Member of the Committee for the publication of “Hlyat Sit Sar Saung”
Saya U Moe Aung (Tekkatho Moe War) was Chief Editor
Ko San Oo, Ma Than Yi and Ko Myo Myint were Associate Editors.
Luyechun
Luyechun
Selected to attend the Inlay Khaung Daing Luyechun Camp in the Summer of 1965.
Ko Sein Shwe, Ma Khin Than Myint Tin & Ko Zaw Min were also selected as RIT LYC.
RUBC
Magazine
Willie Soe Maung (Stroke), Kyaw Wynn (3), Hla Min (2), Maung Maung Kyi (Bow) and Myint Thein (Cox) were Senior Novices Runners-up in the Monsoon Regatta in 1963. Three — Willie, MMK & MT — are now GBNF
Awarded Full Green at the end of the season
Elected Honorary Treasurer in the last ever General Election
Became Vice Captain the following year
I was denied to be Captain by the higher authorities who abolished the Bye Laws
Contributing Editor for the 90th Anniversary Issue of RUBC Magazine in 2013. Wrote the Prelude for each section. Also wrote three articles.
My Beloved Spouse
HM 2
Caring mother of two sons, and and Grandmother of two lovely Myees
Golden Jubilee in June, 2023.
Three Generations
HM 5HM 6
My parents
My spouse and I
Elder son
Anniversaries
HM 4HM 7
Some friends hosted lunch or dinner for our birthdays and wedding anniversaries.
Modern Olympics was a revival of the ancient games held every four years at Olympia.
The four year interval is called an Olympiad. The ancient Greeks use Olympiad instead of years when describing dates.
Pierre de Coubertin created the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894.
IOC selects a city or cities to hold the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. The two Olympics are interlaced.
Drama in the Olympics
Summer Olympics has its share of drama.
Berlin (1936)
The 1936 Summer Olympics was held in Berlin and was attended by Adolf Hitler (who promoted the supremacy of the Aryan race). Jesse Owens, a black athlete from the USA, won four Gold medals : 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m relay, and Long Jump.
The drama occurred in the Long Jump event. Jesse Owens was having some problems in the Long Jump when the German competitor Lang supposedly advised him to leave about six inches gap behind the broad to prevent overstepping and getting disqualified. Jesse took the advice, regained his poise and went on to win the Long Jump Gold.
Munich (1972)
1972 Olympics in Munich saw both good and bad.
Mark Spitz (USA) won seven Gold medals in swimming : 100m & 200m Freestyle, 100m & 200m Butterfly, 4 x 100m Freestyle relay, 4 x 200m Freestyle relay, and 4 x 100 Medley relay. He saved energy by not competing in the trials for selected relay events.
Olga Kolburt (USSR) was awarded a couple of Perfect Ten in Gymnastics.
Eleven Israeli athletes were kidnapped (shown live on TV) and murdered by Black September. Mossad took several years to track down and decimate Black September.
Boycotts (1980 & 1984)
USA boycotted the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow.
USSR retaliated with a boycott of the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles.
Olympians
Some went on to have illustrious careers.
Johnny Weissmuller, swimming champion, gained fame as Tarzan in the movies.
Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., Light Heavyweight Boxing Champion, went on to become Mohammad Ali, three time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion.
Media Coverage
During my SPHS days, there was no television in Burma. I received a ticket from Brother Austin as a prize to see the “1960 Rome Olympics” documentary at Thamada (President) cinema.
I was in the UK and was fortunate to see the 1972 Munich Olympics on a Color television.
U Thein Aung (M72) presents the differentiation with U Thein Aung (Met72).
I am Set Hmu — Maung Thein Aung စက်မှု — မောင်သိန်းအောင် (I am Maung Thein Aung — Mechanical Engineer.)
He is Set Hmu Maung — Thein Aung စက်မှုမောင် — သိန်းအောင် (He is Thein Aung, who won Mr. RIT award and Sa Lwei Thaing in 1968).
Transformation
During his RIT days, U Thein Aung (Met72) was “Ba La Gyi ဗလကြီး “ full of strength and prowess).
Lately, he has become “Ba Lar Gyi ဗလာကြီး” nothing notable left).
Sargalay
At a 69er gathering, Daw Saw Yu Tint (T69) greeted U Khin Maung Win (EP69, GBNF) as Sargalay (စာကလေး “sparrow”).
He replied, “I am no longer Sargalay. I have become a La Da (လဒ “vulture”).
Cartoon
Saya U Aung Myint (Pet69, Kyant Ba Hone, GBNF) drew a cartoon:
“Ah Ba, Kar Ku La Thin Char (ကာကုလသင်္ချာ Calculus) is fascinating. If you differentiate a La Da, you get a Sargalay. If you integrate a Sargalay, you get back a La Da.”
Palindrome
It reads the same when read forward or backward.
There are palindromes in languages, music and art.
The Pulitzer Prize winning book on Escher (Painter), Godel (Mathematician) and Bach (Composer) discusses threads that are common to Mathematics and Computer Science, Arts and Music. One such thread is a palindrome. For example, a musical composition (which is a palindrome) can be played from the front to back, and vice versa.
Palindrome #1
The earliest palindrome supposedly occurred in the Garden of Eden. MADAM I’M ADAM and the reply EVE
Palindrome #2
Napoleon Bonaparte is the first Corsican to attend the French Military Academy. He rose to be a young General, and then an Emperor. He supposedly lamented as follows: ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA .
Palindrome #3
There were two early Canals (Suez and Panama) to shorten the sea routes. The degree of difficulty was not the same. It took meticulous planning to build the Panama Canal. It gave rise to the palindrome : A MAN, A PLAN, PANAMA
Parent #1: My son’s only four and he can already spell his name backwards. Parent #2: Oh? And what’s his name? Parent #1: Otto.
Jokes
In our younger days, there were Newton jokes. Later, there were Einstein jokes. It is possible that someone created a joke about an absent minded professor and then attributed to a famous person.
Joke #1
It was raining. Einstein took off his hat and hid it in his coat. A student asked “Why?” The reply : “My hat is new and can be damaged. But my head cannot be damaged by the rain.”
Joke #2
A ticket inspector boarded a train. Einstein searched for his pockets. The inspector said, “You need not show me the ticket. You are Einstein.” The reply : “I do not know which stop I should get down.”
Joke #3
Einstein was carrying a stack of books. He collided with a lovely student. The books fell down. The student collected the books and returned them to Einstein. Einstein asked, “Which way was I going?” The student replied, “You were going towards the school.” Einstein felt relieved and said, “Then, I must had my lunch at home.
My uncle took us to Inya Lakes. He taught us to float. We swam in the shallow waters. After swimming, we were treated with “Bu Thee Kyaw”.
RU Swimming Pool
The membership rules might have changed over the years. The pool was not Olympic size, but it was good enough for the early RU competitions for swimming, water polo & diving.
2nd SEAP Ganes
Burma hosted the 2nd SEAP Games in 1961.
Swimming & diving events were held at the then new National Swimming Pool.
The Burmese team won most of the gold and silver medals.
Tin Maung Ni (GBNF) won 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m and 4x100m freestyle events.
Tin Maung Ni also won in the Asian Games. He competed in two Olympics. He passed away in his 30s.
Mya Thee & Aung Than topped the 100m freestyle. Maung Kyi won the 100m breast.
RU Athletes for 2nd SEAP
Two RU swimmers — Aye Kyaw and Derek Lynsdale — represented Burma.
Swimming Clubs
They include Kokkine and Mayo Marine.
RIT Swimmers
Htay Aung
During our times, Htay Aung (M69) was the dominant swimmer at RIT and Inter-Institute. He later found his match in Lyn Aung Thet (IM1).
Saya U Hla Myint (Charlie, M65) led the RIT Swimming and Water Polo teams. Htay Aung, Han Sein (GBNF), Sein Myint, Moe Hein, Hla Kyaing and Win Maung (Lake) are some 69ers who represented RIT in swimming and water polo.
Htay Aung represented Burma in Water Polo at the 5th SEAP Games in 1969. His spouse Than Than (sprinter) won Gold Medals at SEAP and Asian Games.
Htay Aung
Miscellaneous
Evolution
Swimming techniques and swim wear have evolved over the years.
Female swimmers have broken the record set up by Johnny Weissmuller (of Tarzan fame).
Mark Spitz (USA)
Won seven golds in the 1972 Munich Olympics.
Won 100m and 200m freestyle, 100m and 200m butterfly, 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays, and 4x100m medley relay.
Michael Phelps (USA)
Won eight golds in a single Olympic and 20+ golds over multiple Olympics
HlaMin 