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
In the Weightlifting competitions, there were three categories:
[Military] Press
Snatch
Clean and Jerk
Later Competitions
In the later competitions, there are only two categories:
Snatch
Clean and Jerk.
Medals
There is a medal for each Catergory, and the best Total.
Olympics
U Zaw Weik
“Thiri Pyan Chi” U Zaw Weik competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics as a member of the British India team.
After Burma’s Independence, he founded the Burma Olympic Club.
U Aung Gyi
In the 1972 Munich Olympics, U Aung Gyi set an Olympic record in the Flyweight division.
SEAP Games
Burma won many Gold Medals.
In 1969, Burma dominated the event.
See posts by sons of U Ba Thein (Mandalay)
Five Bala (Strength / Prowess)
Kayabala ကာယဗလ
“Kayabala” (Physical Prowess) is one of the five Bala (strength). It is complementary to “Nyanabala” (Mental), “Bawgabala” (Wealth), “Meiktabala” (Friendship), and “Carittabala” (Moral).
Members of Kayabala
Kayabala U Shein was manager and mentor of U Zaw Weik.
Kayabala U Than Tun and others continued to help with weightlifters and body builders.
Body Building
Early Maung Bama (Mr. Burma)
Bohmu Maung Maung
U Ba Kun
U Sein Maung
RIT
Saya Dr. Kyaw Sein (M65) headed and managed the RIT Weightlifting and Body Building team.
Salwe for Mr. RIT
RIT won trophies in the Inter-Institute Tournament.
Ko Jimmy Kyin (T69), Ko Khin Win (EP69), Ko Than Htike (70) & Ko Thein Aung (Met72) are some well-known Weightlifters and Body Builders.
Ko Thein Aung won “Set Hmu Maung” (Mr. RIT) in 1968.
In the early days, there were many newspapers, news agencies and reporters.
Journalists
U Ba Cho (Deedok ဒီးဒုတ်)
U Law Yone (Nation)
U Sein Win (Guardian)
U Ba Than (UPI)
U Nyo Mya (Oway အိုးဝေ)
U Ohn Khin (Bama Khit ဗမာ့ခေတ် later Mogyo မိုးကြိုး)
U Thaung (Kyemon ကြေးမုံ)
U Thein — ဇဝန
U Ohn Pe — တက်တိုး
U Hla & Daw Ah Mar (Ludu လူထု)
They were some of the journalists and/or publishers.
After 1962
Only six newspapers : four in Burmese and two in English.
News Agency Burma (NAB), collected news from the news agencies, selectively translated them and distributed them to the newspapers.
There was a silver lining. Working People’s Daily (WPD) and Guardian had interesting Columns & Supplements.
WPD
U Khin Maung Latt was the first Chief Editor. His successors include U Than Saw & U Ko Lay.
U Ko Ko wrote the “Motley” column.
Had Sunday Supplement & Special Issues for Thadinkyut, Sar So Daw Nay, etc. Featured Translation of Modern Burmese Writings (e.g. Short Stories, Poems). I received fifty Kyats for translating “Nge Thay Loe ငယ်သေးလို့” short story by U Thu Kha). U Thu Kha was given fifty kyats.
Translation in WPD
Daw Khin Swe Hla (Editor) wanted to encourage fledgling writers. She earlier founded the “Dawlay’s Circle” at Guardian & held Essay Contests for young writers. The winners included Hla Yee Yee, Winsome & Katherine Ba Thike, Errol Than Tun (Bobby Myo Tun), LRC Trutwein and Tin Maung Aung. Subsequent “Dawlays” include Mr. Tim Marshall and Mr. P. Aung Khin (Paul).
Guardian
U Soe Myint was Chief Editor. He is the eldest son of U Thein Maung (Htin Lin) and the son-in-law of U Than Saw (his former boss at WPD).
Poem in Guardian
My poem “Men on the Moon” honoring the Apollo 11 astronauts was published in the Guardian in July 1969. Ashin Ananda gave a copy of my poem to Mr. Hall (USIS), who forwarded to NASA. Mr Hall also put me on the USIS mailing list. I received “Lin Yaung Chi လင်းရောင်ခြည်” and translations of selected books.
Writer
I became a free lance writer.
I received fifteen Kyats for writing poems, articles, translation of poems in WPD, Guardian and Forward Magazine.
Poem in Forward Magazine
The later magazines (Pan — ပန် Veda — ဝေဇဒ) offered 25 to 50 Kyats.
HlaMin 