Blog

UCC — General
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Introduction

In the early days, there were no computers in Burma. IBM (International Business Machines) based in the USA and ICL (International Computers Limited) based in the UK had presence in Burma. Both companies were not ready to introduce computers to Burma. They were supposedly content with leasing unit-record equipment (calculators, tabulators, …) using punched cards. The managers (U Aung Khin and U Kyaw Tha) and their staff were highly paid compared to the Government employees.

In the early sixties, Burma Railways wanted to upgrade to an ICL computer, but the Coup d’etat in 1962 and subsequent restriction of foreign currency exchange (and budget planning rules) effectively derailed the project.

Project

Dr. Chit Swe

In the mid sixties, Dr. Chit Swe (Head of the Maths Department at the Institute of Economics) proposed the need of a computer for teaching and research to Dr. Nyi Nyi (Deputy Minister of Education). Dr. Nyi Nyi suggested the scope to be extended for a computer to serve the staff and selected students of the Universities and Institutes. Thus, the UCC Project was conceived. It was approved in 1970 with UNDP as the Funding Agency and UNESCO as the Execution Agency.

Dr. Chit Swe later became Professor at Maths at RASU (Rangoon Arts and Science University). He offered space at the Maths Department for the early volunteers of the UCC Project. He then obtained permission to use Mandalay Hall for use by the UCC Project before the UCC Building could be completed in Thamaing College Campus.

UCC Founders

Dr. Chit Swe, U Soe Paing, U Myo Min and U Ko Ko Lay founded UCC.

Dr. Chit Swe served as the Founder/Director of UCC. He initiated the academic and training programs. He stressed the importance of technology transfer, leapfrogging technology, knowledge sharing (internally and externally), and challenging the staff and students to try their best.

He requested U Soe Paing (RIT Electrical Engineering) to help design and implement the UCC project.

He inquired the mother of U Myo Min (Chartered Accountant working as Systems Analyst at IBM UK) if U Myo Min would be interested to come back to Burma and help with the UCC project.

U Soe Paing recruited his friend U Ko Ko Lay (PWD, GBNF) to help with the UCC project in general and with the UCC Building Design and Implementation in particular.

April 1, 1971

U Soe Paing transferred to UCC as Manager of Systems Division.

U Myo Min joined UCC as Manager of Applications Divison.

U Ko Ko Lay transferred to UCC as Manager of Operations Division,

I was a member of Generation Zero along with my mentors and U Tun Aung Gyaw (EC69), who was the earliest and longest volunteer of the UCC Project.

Tenure

Dr. Chit Swe retired as Rector of RASU. He moved to Bangkok and Sydney. He passed away in 2019.

U Soe Paing left UCC in the eighties to pursue a career as Technical Adviser and Consultant for the UN projects in several countries.

U Myo Min migrated to USA. He taught briefly at the Nanyang Technical Institute in Singapore. He retired after serving as a Principal for Seagate Technology and Conner.

U Ko Ko Lay had the longest tenure among the UCC Founders. He served as Manager of Operations, Manager of Scientific Applications, Professor at the Department of Computer Science, and Professor of Information Technology. Sadly, he was the first to pass away among the four Founders.

Dr. Tin Maung

He succeeded Dr. Chit Swe as Director of UCC.

DCS

During his tenure, the Department of Computer Science was established at RASU. U Ko Ko Lay served as Professor & Head of the Department. U Tun Aung Gyaw was Associate Professor. I was Lecturer.

ICST

Subsequently, the Institute of Computer Science and Technology (ICST) was established with Dr. Tin Maung as Rector.

U Ko Ko Lay served as Professor and Head of Information Technology.

U Tun Aung Gyaw served as Associate Professor and Head of Hardware Technology.

I served as Associate Professor and Head of Software Technology.

Some sayas from UCC and RASU taught Computational Mathematics.

Gone But Not Forgotten
- Dr. Chit Swe (Founder)
- U Ko Ko Lay (Founder)
- Dr. Tin Maung (UCC Director, ICST Rector)
- Dr. Kyaw Thein (ICST)
- U Hla Min (SPHS64, EP70) : Initial Chief Operator
- U Maung Maung Gyi (SPHS64, Phy68) : Chief Operator
- U Maung Maung Lay (St. Albert’s, Ah Ba) : Operator
- U Aung Myint (SPHS64, Phy68)
  Maintenance Engineer
- U Soe Myint (M72, DAC) : Pro-Rector, ICST
- U Shein Soe Myint (EC83, MSc(CS)) : Passed away in Singapore while doing Ph.D
- U Mya Thein : 3rd Business Applications Manager; Visiting lecturer at ITBMU
- U Soe Thein : Business Applications Programmer
- U Kyaw Nyein : Scientific Applications Programmer; Numerical Methods & Analysis; UNV
- U Win Naing (Maths73, MSc (CS)) : Science Scholar; Scientific Applications Programmer
- U Myint Aung : Superintendent
- Daw Khin Lay Myint : initially Secretary; Branch Clerk, Admin
- U Aung Aung Thein : Engineer, Teacher
- Daw Kyu Kyu Lwin : Job controller; transferred to Social Security Board Computer Section
- Daw Win May Thaung : Offline operator
- Daw Khin Mya Swe (M.Sc. (CS))
  : Programmer; Passed away in Lesotho
- Daw Khin Toe Nyein (M.Sc. (CS)) : Programmer
- Daw Thida Aung (M.Sc. (CS))
  : Programmer
- Daw Khin San Hlaing (Cynthia)
  Librarian; attended M.Sc. (CS); worked at AIT; Passed away in Australia
- Daw Nge Ma Ma Than (DAC) : Taught at UCC, DCS and ICST; Prisoner of Conscience.
Courses at UCC

Dr. Chit Swe was Founder/Director of UCC and Professor of Maths at RASU.

He arranged UCC to conduct degree and post-graduate diploma courses under the aegis of RASU Maths Department.

UCC also conducted training courses for computer users.

Dr. Chit Swe was succeeded as UCC Director by Dr. Tin Maung.

Several distinguished Professors from US, UK and Europe lectured at UCC.

The postgraduate degree and diploma courses given under the aegis of Maths Department include M.Sc. (CS) and DAC

The Courses for computer users include
- Computer Orientation Course (COC)
- Computer Programming Course (CPC)
- Elective for Honors and Post-graduate in other disciplines
- Intensive training (e.g. for Population Census Data Processing)
- Special training (e.g. for those selected as State Scholars)
- Planning (e.g. for departments intending to purchase computers)
UCC Courses

Win Myint’s

There were three people at UCC named Win Myint.

Win Myint (1)

U Win Myint and U Maung Maung Lay

He was a High School Luyechun from Beik (Mergui). He was caught off guard when the then new Education System used ILA (Intelligence Level Aggregate) to determine the admission to the Universities & Institutes. He found himself studying Philosophy along with others who had low ILA scores.

Instead of using the marks directly, the ILA uses distribution of the marks for each subject and gives a score from 1 to 20. The ILA system helped students with balanced marks. By having marks in the top tier for each subject, a student can get reasonably good score.

But a student with low marks in one or two subjects (e.g. Burmese and English) would be penalized by the ILA system.

Philosophy is derived from Phil (love of) and Sophy (Wisdom). The highest degree is called Ph.D (Doctorate of Philosophy). It is ironic that students with low ILA scores were forced to major in Philosophy.

Ko Win Myint Gyi is an exception. He was determined to pursue a challenging career. Since he wanted to learn and work with computers, he enhanced his typing skills for both English and Burmese. It was a requirement for the position of Secretary at the newly formed UCC.

Ko Win Myint’s interview at PSC (Public Services Commission) was fast and smooth. When he said, “I am Bet Thar (or similar) meaning ‘I am from Beik (Mergui)’”, the PSC Chairman who was from Beik validated Ko Win Myint’s appointment as Secretary.

He not only typed very fast, but he learned Computer Science and Applications quickly and proficiently. He became a programmer.

Win Myint (2)
- He majored in Mathematics and received Masters.
- He worked for SLR (Settlement and Land Record) department.
- He got appointment in UCC as programmer.
- He was initially UNV at PG.
- After working on UN projects, he returned home.
Win Myint (3)

He operated the cyclostyle (Gestener). The lecture guides were printed mostly on Sittaung (Sittang paper) and some on the Ye Ni paper.

Lecture Guides

Some may remember “Introduction to Computers”, “Introduction to Computer Programming” and several Guide Books by Saya U Soe Paing, Saya U Aung Zaw and me. We thank Ko Win Myint (1) and Ko Win Myint (3) for the production.

Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :

I had a different story about getting a job. I had only done 8 month internship, one of the tutors in medicine was transferred out. When Saya U Ba Than asked whom the professors wanted to replace her, they asked for me. I was called in by the Rector about posting me as tutor. When I told him I could not join not having finished my internship, he was so upset that “You want to erase with your feet, what I has written by hand”. I was made to report for duty. I went back and with the professor’s permission, I returned to finish my internship to get my medical registration.

Soon, my friends and I had to go for interview with PSC. The Chairman of PSC was U Khin Maung Phyu. Both he and Dr U Ba Than were classmates with my father. As I went in U Ba Than said to U Khin Maung Phyu, “Ko Khin Maung Phyu, he is Ko Kyaw Myint’s son and I have already posted him to Department of Medicine.” U Khin Maung Phyu said, “How is your father?” I replied that my father was good. Then he said that I could go !!! Must be the shortest interview in PSC.

History

I Love History

I was a Docent at Computer History Museum.

I was a member of the History of Myanmar Engineering Education project. I and U Ohn Khine (M70) compiled the CD Supplement for the HMEE book.

Why study History?

Dr. Than Tun said, “So that one would not be stupid or dumb.”

There’s an old adage, “History repeats itself”.

The historian from Smithsonian said, “There is no single correct history. There are often multiple competing histories.”

A historian should present facts and not give opinions.

My spouse said “You should pay back to your alma mater and your country.”

Saya U Tin Maung Nyunt (M60) said that I should record my oral stories and put them to print for posterity.

UCSY sayamas requested me to help with the commemorative issue for the 30th Anniversary of ICST/UCSY.

My beloved parents said, “Any thing that’s worth doing is worth doing well”.

I have shared my memories about the early days of Computing in Burma.

I revise the posts as time and energy permit.

I hope that the readers will help “fill in the blanks” and correct errors and inconsistencies.

We can transform the posts into a historical document worthy of printing (or at least publish as an e-book).

Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :

When we conducted the Perinatal Morbidity and Mortality Study, the data analysis was from me at UCC. Ko Ronnie Myo Min and many UCC staff helped us with the data analysis.

Dr. TOKM added :

The next project we did was “Risk Approach in Delivery of MCH Care”. We did a prospective study on the risk of mothers dying during pregnancy and child birth. As the outcome was measured by “relative risk” and “absolute risk” it was much easier to analyse the data.

Our team used 1MB handheld Sinclair computer for our study. Our team did not have monitors nor printers. Your nephew Peter (Khin Tun) worked out RR and AR on Sinclair, read the result on Saya U Tin U’s old TV and copied out the results by hand. Peter still had a copy of the final report. I left my copy at home and got lost.

Gatherings

Over the years, I attended several mini-gatherings and gatherings hosted by UCC sayas and alumni.

Yangon

Saya U Soe Paing regular hosts gatherings (usually dinner meeting) at his house. Sayagadaw Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice, T69) was my class mate. She also attended CPC course.

U Thein Oo, Daw Than Than Tint, Daw Tin May Lwin and several others help organize the gatherings.

U Thein Oo, U Htin Kyaw, U Aung Aung and several others provided us transportation to or from Saya Paing’s house.

UCC 40th Anniversary Gathering
- The “40th Anniversary of UCC” was the Reunion of Staff, Teachers (Past and Present) and Students.
- Daw Ngwe Tin, Aye Aye Myint and sisters, Maung Myint, who maintained the UCC building rooms were among the attendees.
- Saya Dr. Tin Maung (GBNF) was represented by Sayagadaw and Saya’s daughter.
- There was fun and laughter, music and dances, and good old memories.
- Daw Khin Lay Myint joined UCC as Secretary and then worked as Administrator Officer. She is now GBNF.
- U Soe Myint (M72) joined UCC as Operator. He served as Shift Lead, expert in Mechanical Drawing and AutoCAD, and retired as Pro-Rector of ICST. He is also GBNF.
UCSY Gathering

In January 14, 2018, I attended the 5th UCSY Acariya Pu Zaw Pwe as “Generation Zero” representative and the “Most Senior” (not by age). Several attendees started their studies and/or careers at UCC.

Sao Yan Naing, son of Dr. Saw Naing (Wesley, SPHS59), gave me a ride to the Pu Zaw Pwe. SYN is a nephew of Dr Myo Khin. He is a cousin of Soe Lin Maung (UCC).

Sydney in 2006

During my visit to Sydney, Australia in 2006, I met several UCC alumni.

Saya U Aung Zaw and Ma Kyawt organized a Reunion and mini-PZP for Saya Dr. F Ba Hla and Saya Dr. Chit Swe. They were helped by U Sein Myint Maung and Daw Khin Aye Mu, U Htay Aung (Victor) and Daw Tin Tin Hlaing to name a few. I met Daw Thanda Htwe and “UCC Pha Yaung Daing”.

U Sein Tin hosted a dinner and also created a short music video.

USA

Dr. Raiful Ahad (Fremont, California), U Khin Zaw (Cupertino, California), U Aung Myint Oo (EC84) and Daw Thida Khin (Fremont, California), U Sein Myint (EC76) and Daw Sao Mon Sint (New Jersey) and U Toung (EC69, Connecticut) hosted UCC gatherings (especially to welcome and alumni visiting US).

U Khin Maung Oo (Ivan Lee, M69) hosts an annual joint gathering for UCC and RIT sayas and alumni at his home in New Jersey.

Singapore

U Tin Aung Win (C80), U Zaw Tun and Daw Pale Shein organized buffet gathering. U Aung Aung, and Daw Kyin Mya are regulars at the gatherings.

U Shein Soe Myint (EC83) is GBNF.

Some (e.g. U Win Latt, Daw Myint Myint Thein) have moved (temporarily or permanently) to Myanmar.

Activities

Table Tennis (Ping Pong)

U Saung Tin (CSO) and U Thein Oo are excellent players.

Volleyball

Rafiul Ahad (who was 3rd in Burma in Hurdles) hurt his knee.
Daw Nwe Nwe Win (Judy) is often the sixth member of an all-male team.

Soccer (Football)

UCC team (including Saya U Ko Ko Lay and U Kyaw Nyein) played ad hoc match against other teams (in and around Hlaing Campus).

UCC Dobat

U Win Hlaing played the Dobat. Others (e.g. Maung Myint, U Hla Pe) would play Wah Let Khote (bamboo clapper) and Ya Gwin.

Donlaba

UCC used to celebrate Thingyan and Su Paung Donlaba.

Dr. Chit Swe, Win Maung, Hla Min, Tun Aung Gyaw, Soe Myint, Khin Maung Aye, Daw Khin Khin Latt

UCC had a Su Paung Donlaba for several years at Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung and other monasteries.

The Donlaba monks would be offered Soon at the UCC Thingyan.

There would also be Water Throwing and occasionally “Ye Pet Khan” to selected mandats.

Ad Hoc Trips

U Aung Zaw led some trips (e.g. to Maw Tin Zun).

Soul Mates

Some found their soul mates while working or studying at UCC.
- Aung Aung & Kyin Mya
- Aung Myint Oo & Thida Khin
- Boe Ba Shan & Phyu Phyu Win
- Kyaw Zwa Than (Jaws) & Khin Khin Kyu (K-cube)
- Htay Aung & Tin Tin Hlaing
- Myint Oo & Tin Tin Hla
- Myint Swe & Nge Ma Ma Than
- Myint Zaw & Nwe Nwe Win (Judy)
- Sein Myint (Bei Gyi) & Sao Mon Sint (Cindy)
- Sein Myint Maung & Khin Aye Mu
- Soe Than & Wai Wai Than
- Than Maung Maung & Khin Si Thoung
- Thaung Tin & Tin Tin Aye
- Thein Oo & Than Than Tint
- Win Hlaing & Thida Kyi
- Win Myint & Nu Nu Aung
U Soe Myint (M72, GBNF)
- The M72 friends call him “Phone Gyi Soe Myint”.
- At UCC, he is known as “Sunlun Soe Myint”.
- His father U Thein Nyunt (Retired Secretary of Religious Affairs) was a friend and an early devotee of Sayadaw U Vinaya. U Soe Myint also served as Kappiya from his younger days.
- He came to see me during my last visit and shared his knowledge about U Lokanatha (Italian American monk) and how he provided financial support to buy the land for Kaba Aye Sun Lun Gu Kyaung.
- He gave me a “Chone Hte” (for monk) to take back to the US.
- On a subsequent visit to Yangon, we were sad to learn of his untimely demise.
- On the fateful day, he made two trips to the Kaba Aye Sunlun Gu Kyaung monastery, because he forgot his donation on his first trip. He also visited his nephew and niece who were having dialysis treatment. May be because of his karma or because of the trips he took that day, he passed away around 3 AM.
Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ) wrote :

Ko Soe Myint Gyi was one of the very humble people I have ever known. He spoke very soft, never see him angry nor heard him raise his voice. Even though I am some years junior to him (he’s M72 and me EC76) he always treated me with dignity and respect. I really miss him, may his beautiful soul rest in peace.

Anniversary Soon Kway

U Thein Oo and Daw Than Than Tint Soon Kway at Yaw Sayadaw’s Kayung Daik.

Attendees include
- Saya U Soe Paing and Daw Saw Yu Tint (Alice, T69)
- U Myint Swe
- Daw Tin Moe We (Sweetie)
- Daw Myint Myint Thein (Susan)
Dr. Htay Lwin Nyo
- He matriculated from SPHS in 1968.
- He was admitted as Roll Number One to 1st BE.
  He graduated among the top of the EP74 class.
- He studied Computer Science at UCC.
- He received a Ph.D. in EE from Syaracuse University, New York.
- His final job was as Part Time Professor at San Jose State University (SJSU).
- He used the spare time for his hobbies : (a) Tinkering old cars (b) Painting (c) Cooking (d) Stock Market (e) Writing movie scripts
- He did not miss a class. When he did not show up for a few classes, the students were alarmed and requested SJSU authorities to check his home. They found the doors locked. After a few days, they broke in to find Dr. Htay Lwin Nyo lifeless on his bed. Postmortem indicated an aneurysm.
- Since Dr. Htay Lwin Nyo was single and had no next-o-kin in the USA, SJSU asked the Burmese Community to help. Members of the “RIT Alumni International” and BAPS helped with the fund raising for the final journey of HLN.
- I was honored to push the incinerator, and later to scatter the ashes in the ocean. There was no next-of-kin of HLN in the USA. KMZ remembered that Kyaw Swa Than (Jaws, UCC) was HLN’s cousin. The missing link was supplied by some alumni (including Ko Ko Kyi). KMZ set up special web page for HLN. My poem was also posted there. I wrote about HLN’s Sea Burial for BAPS Newsletter.
Memorial Pages

U Khin Maung Zaw (EC76, KMZ) set up the “HLN Memorial Pages” in the ex-RIT web site (which is now defunct). I wrote a poem “HTAY LWIN NYO“.

BAPS Newsletter

I also wrote “A Sea Burial for Professor Htay Lwin Nyo” for the BAPS Newsletter and the RIT web site.

Ko Ko Kyi (EC72) wrote :

Ko Hla Min, sad to read about Htay Lwin Nyo’s sea burial. I played a small part in notifying his first cousin Myo San Than in Toronto, when my brother called me from Birmingham, UK and informed me about HLN’s demise. Apparently, someone from California had contacted a friend of my brother’s and asked him to inform me, as he knew that HLN had a cousin living in Toronto. I informed HLN’s cousin Myo San Than, who called his elder brother living in Winnipeg, Canada. Subsequently, this cousin went to the US for HLN’s funeral. HLN was a good friend of mine, although he was two years my junior at RIT.

Khin Maung Zaw (KMZ, EC76) wrote :

I was actually a former classmate of HLN’s younger brother Aung Lwin Nyo in St. Paul’s High School [SPHS (6) Botataung]. All their brothers were OPs, HLN was 2 years senior to us, Old Paulians. I did not know HLN that well until we met again, the third time, at UCC. Of course he was part of our rival group while at RIT. Both of us ended up in US, he was several years earlier than me.

We met again when he moved to West Coast, namely San Jose, California while I was in Seattle. We visited him in San Jose, went Yosemite among other places, he visited us in Seattle, went up to Vancouver, Canada. Couple of years moved, he became upset with me for a reason unknown to me at the time, refused to take my calls. I eventually met him on one of my visits to California, forced him to tell me why he did not want to talk to me any longer. According to him, there were some rumors back in Yangon about his demise, his parents were very upset and he surmise that it could have been me who spread these rumors. I had to swear to him that those were nothing to do with me at all, as I lost contact with everyone, family and friends, back in Burma at that time.

So one could imagine my despair when I received a call, a year or so later, from Maurice Chee (M75) that HLN was found dead in his apartment, asking me if I knew him and also requested me to make an announcement on www,ex-rit,org site. I had to explain Maurice the background story, told him I would not do so until I have a solid information. I ended up calling HLN’s head of department at SJSU, San Jose State University. She assured me that they went to HLN’s apartment, broke it inside with the help of the Police. Sad news indeed. While Maurice Chee, Ko Banny Tan (M70), U Hla Min and RIT Alumni at BAPS, Bay Area alumni group, started working on the funeral, I called a friend, HLN’s cousin, in Manitoba, Canada, Kyaw Zwa Than (ex-UCC), to get the contact of HLN’s family back in Rangoon. I finally spoke with the elder brother, Ko Kyaw Lwin Nyo, who requested us to proceed with the funeral.

PS: I met HLN’s elder brother for the first time, this passed November 2018, at the OPA, Old Paulians’ Association, dinner. My OP friends told me that Aung Lwin Nyo met similar fate, passed away while in his bed some years back. Myo San Than (as mentioned in U Ko Ko Kyi’s comment) is the younger brother of Kyaw Zwa Than. KZT’s family : KZT, his wife KCube (Khin Khin Kyi) and their two sons, Alex and Nicholas, have since moved to Denver, Colorado, USA.

Daw Nge Ma Ma Than (GBNF)
- Ma Nge (Nge Ma Ma Than, Theresa, GBNF) is the youngest child of U Aung Than (brother of Boyoke Aung San and Arzanee U Ba Win).
- She matriculated from MEHS.
- She graduated from RASU.
- She studied and taught at UCC, DCS and ICST.
- At UCC, she and Judy (Nwe Nwe Win) were considered as “UCC Twins”. Grapevine says that some guy approached them and gave each a copy of his “Yee Zar Sar” (love letter).
- She found her love life U Myint Swe (ex-UCC).
- During the Adhamma Era, she, her brother and U Myint Swe were detained by the higher authorities.
- She became a Prisoner of Conscience.
- I last met her at the 5th Acariya Puzaw Pwe of ICST.
- Her health declined, but she kept on smiling. She did not complain about the aches and pains.
- U Myint Swe reported the journal of Ma Nge’s hospitalization and medical treatment.
- Even in her final days, her thoughts were with former Prisoners of Conscience.
Ma Nge at the hospital

Ma Nge and her cousin

Four Decade Old Photo
- Win Hlaing
- Henry Maung Maung (Census, GBNF)
- Kyu Kyu Lwin (GBNF)
- Khin Si Thoung (Busi Baung – USA)
- Khin Khin Win (Five Star Line – USA)
- Phyu Phyu Win (Singapore)
- Win May Thaung (GBNF)
- Tin Tin Yi (Port Authority)
- Hla Hla Win (Wa, GBNF)
- Aung Myint (AM, GBNF)
- Soe Myint (Sunlun, M72, GBNF)
Seven of the eleven in the photo are Gone But Not Forgotten.

DAC Grads

Epilog

Computer Science and Technology is continually evolving.

There are two (or more) early definitions of Computer Science.
- Computer Science is the study of phenomena surrounding Computing.
- Computer Science is the study of Algorithms and Data Structures.
The first definition has the same flavor as a definition of Physics. It is general to say, “Physics is the study of natural phenomena.”

The second definition might sound restrictive, but it still covers a lot of topics and application.

There is a book called “PROGRAM = ALGORITHMS + DATA STRUCTURES”.

Professor Donald Knuth (Stanford University) thought that he could finish his 7-volume book “THE ART OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING” in a couple of years. It was an under-estimate of the growth of Computers, Computer Science and Applications. It took over two decades to complete and revise the first three volumes and part of the fourth volume. One reason was that his book contributed to the growth of the Design and Analysis of Algorithms.
- I have covered some topics in the early days of Computing in general and UCC in particular.
- I missed out several people. I mentioned many names, but did not elaborate on some of them.
- I did not cover in-depth the PDP configuration and use, the introduction of PCs, and robots.
- It would take a long time and I would not be able to fill in all the blanks.
- I believe an idea that characterizes Jules Verne. “If one can dream, others can fulfill”.
- I had a personal experience to support that idea. In 1999, I started “RIT International Newsletter” and dreamed that sayas and alumni will get reconnected electronically and physically. With the help of sponsors (including five Golden Sponsors), able and dedicated sayas and alumni, volunteers, supporters and well-wishers, the First RIT Grand Reunion and SPZP (Saya Pu Zaw Pwe) was held in San Francisco in October 2000. The world-wide SPZPs were subsequently held in Singapore in 2002, 2007 and 2010, and in Yangon in 2004, 2012 and 2016.
I had paid back to RIT.

I now have a chance to pay back to UCC, DCS and ICST.

Thanks to my family members for supporting me in the endeavors to pay back to the institutions and my mentors that helped me develop to where I am today.

I dream that sayas and alumni of UCC and ICST/UCSY will enhance my document into one that professional historians will envy.
June 9, 2025
Saya Moe
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

U Moe Aung

Brief Bio
- Matriculated from St. John’s Dio
- Enjoyed playing soccer (mostly as goalkeeper)
- Attended Yankin College, RU Faculty of Engineering and BIT
- EC of RU Literary Committee & RUESU Magazine Editor
- Joined Electrical Engineering Department after graduation
EE Sayas
- EC of RIT EE Association; Editor of Hlyat Sit Sar Saung
- Editor. (and later Chief Editor) of RIT Annual Magazine
- Worked in Singapore
  Organized Alumni events (e.g Thingyan, SPZP)
Gathering in Singapore
- After retirement, moved back to Yangon
  Writing articles & poems
  Courses at Electrical Inspectorate
U Moe Aung & U Thet Lwin

Activities & Accomplishments
- Pen name : Tekkatho Moe War
- Mentor : Daung Nwe Swe
- Editor, RUESU Annual Magazine
RUESU Magazine
- Member, RU Ka Laung Ah Phwe
RU Literary Association
- Chief Editor, RIT Annual Magazine
RIT Magazine
- Chief Editor, Hlyat Sit Sar Saung
- Chief Editor, Swel Daw Yeik Sar Saung for SPZP-2002, SPZP-2007 & SPZP-2010
- Chief Editor, Swel Daw Yeik Magazine for ShweYaDu-2014 & SPZP-2016
Editors for Swel Daw Yeik Magazine
- Author of Books, Articles & Poems
Book of poems by U Moe Aung
- Contributor, Poetic Art Series
- Zat Saya & Manager, RIT Ah Nu Pyinnya Ah Thin
- Chair, SPZP-2002
SPZP-2002
- SPZP-2007
Sayas U Moe Aung, U Kyaw Sein (GBNF) and U Ohn Maung
- Chair, SPZP-2010
- SPZP-2012
- Entertainment, SPZP-2016
Entertainment Program for SPZP-2016
- Patron, Swel Daw Yeik Foundation
- Patron, Alumni Association
- SDYF Song
  Composed with U Than Po (GBNF, M75)
Memories
- Birthday
Birthday Celebration
- Pu Zaw Pwes
Pu Zaw Pwe
- Discussion
U Moe Aung and Maung Sein Win (Padeegone)

Presents

Saya & me

With Saya
- Saya gave me Magazines, Books and a Pasoe (from his daughter’s company)
Book Present

My Translation

Saya’s Poems
- Shwe YaDu Lann
Shwe YaDu Lann
- Poem Gift
- The Power of Poem
- Computer in my heart
- Search for beauty
- Heritage of Bagan
- To the Shwe Duo
  …
Saya’s Articles
- Sea of Men
- History told by a Thousand Kyat Note
- My heart aches & Tears well in my eyes
Feedback

Saya U Moe Aung wrote :

Thanks, Ko Hla Min, for your endeavours, not to mention that they wouldn’t be possible otherwise. Realistically speaking, archiving is not as easy as one thinks.

My reply to Saya Moe Aung :
- I am paying back to my alma mater, mentors, alumni and benefactors.
- I have completed 25 years as a messenger, organizer, archivist and disseminator for the RIT Community.
- The smiles on my sayas and colleagues give me Second Wind to keep me going the extra mile.
- I hope and pray that we will be able to have some publications to celebrate the Centennial of Engineering Education in Burma / Myanmar & the Silver Jubilee of my RIT Volunteer work.
- My dream of getting the sayas and alumni get connected electronically and physically was materialized in 1999 and 2000 with RIT Alumni Newsletter & Website and SPZP-2000.
- My dream of compiling the Oral and Written History of our alma mater and alumni has only been partially completed. I was a member of HMEE project and compiled a CD Supplement for the book with U Ohn Khine (M70). I have 2500+ articles in my website hlamin.com. I broadcast 220 short talks between August 2020 and January 2021.
- It needs Passion and Perseverance to maintain Projects. Several of my early Collaborators and Supporters no longer have time and resources to help me.
U Aung Min (M69) wrote :
Be healthy and long live Saya.
Please keep going on with your pen.

Saya’s reply :
Yes, Ko Aung Min.
And thanks for all your encouragements which will definitely be a driving force for me, especially for my longevity.
June 9, 2025
1969 RIT Graduates Reunion

by Tint Lwin (Danny)

Updated : June 2025

Danny (Leftmost)

The 1969 RIT Graduates Reunion was held in Rangoon/Yangon,

Burma/Myanmar on Saturday, 20 February 1999 at Sait-Teng-Kya Restaurant near Kandawgyi lake.

The idea was mooted three years ago when a few of us were having dinner together and thought of having a gathering in 1999. After that most of us have forgotten about the idea until around the end of November 1998 when a group of our friends led by Ko Yee Pinn (Tavoy), Ko Myint Maung (aka “Bu”, RIT Volleyball selected), Ko Shwe, Ko Win Lwin, etc. decided to have a grand re-union in February 1999. They also decided that to be more meaningful we should invite our Sayas to pay them respect as well and, hence, it became the reunion cum Saya-ga-daw-pwe.

On that very day the guest trickled in starting from about 4.00 p.m at the restaurant. The guests were required to fill in their names and contact numbers. The organizers promised to compile the name list and send to everybody who attended. By 6.00 p.m. about 30 Sayas and about 120 of our graduates were in the restaurant. The master-of-ceremony, Ko Win Lwin, announced the start of the ceremony.

The programme started off with a few speeches, led by Nyi Hla Nge, representing the graduates in Rangoon, followed by Danny, representing the graduates overseas, Sai Aung Win, representing graduates outside Rangoon and last but not the least, by Saya U Kyin Soe, representing all the Sayas.

After that we gave respect to the Sayas. All the Sayas were seated on the stage and all of us sat on the floor. Some gifts were distributed to the Sayas followed by photo taking session and then the sumptuous dinner began. About 9 to 10 dishes were served but, most of us were too excited to notice what we were eating. Halfway through the dinner some of us went up the stage and sang some songs for entertainment. Even all the ladies, led by Alice and Naw Mu Mu Aye were on the stage as well. The crowd went wild.

The party ended at about 9.30 p.m. with some of the graduates not so sober. It was indeed a memorable gathering and we all vowed to meet again in December 2000 at place and date to be announced early next year. Three cheers to the organizers and those who have one way or the other help in making this event a great success.

Daniel Tint Lwin visiting SF Bay Area

June 9, 2025
Dr. Aung Gyi
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Dr. Aung Gyi

(1) Suggestions

Ko Hla Min,

I read through your updates shown in hlamin.com and my suggestions are given below.

I feel that your book should reflect the love of RIT students for their alma mater, the respect and gratitude shown by RIT students towards their respective teachers, the attachment, bond and friendship among RIT students; and the love for their motherland by RIT students. In short, it should reflect what we call “RIT spirit”. You can base the preparation of the book, beginning from the establishment of Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University, on your updates and other relevant sources. The word RIT includes all different names of Engineering Institutions in Myanmar, past and present.

Having said all of the above, the following headings come to my mind for your proposed book:
1. SPZPs/Reunions involving all disciplines which had taken place in Myanmar and abroad.
2. Establishment of alumni associations abroad and in Myanmar to help RIT and motherland.
3. Establishment of Swe Daw Yeik Foundation.
4. Establishment of healthcare fund for RIT teachers in Myanmar.
5. Fund drive and contributions to upgrade the RIT/YTU library.
6. Various activities/ mini-reunions / get-togethers among groups of RIT students/teachers which reflect the life and also bond among RIT students/teachers, established in the past ,during RIT days.
7. Other interesting episodes related to RIT.
The above gives you a few thoughts I have for your book. I would like to recommend that you also get suggestions from others for your book.

Good luck and best wishes.
Aung Gyi

(2) Keynote from SPZP-2000

Mr. Chairman, my Sayas, my former colleagues, friends, RIT graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I begin to say anything, I would like to request you to take the word “RIT” as to stand not only for Rangoon Institute of Technology but also BOC College of Engineering and Faculty of Engineering, Rangoon University. I am using RIT only, just for convenience sake.

Having said that, it is with a chestful of emotions that I am standing before you, trying to say a few words appropriate and befitting to this important and joyful occasion. My overwhelming emotion is, needless to say, happiness – happiness which results from seeing my Sayas, my friends, my former colleagues, and RIT graduates alive and well, after so many years. My happiness is also mingled with a certain amount of pride: pride arising from the knowledge that we have fond memories and a sense of belonging and attachment to the good old institution as well as to one another.

We are fortunate that we could all gather here to exchange our life experiences, both good and bad, and to reminisce about our past when we were at RIT. While we are doing that, we all must have noticed that all of us have changed quite a bit since we last saw one another, at least physically, some more so than other. We all now have a few gray and also less hair, we have a few wrinkles on our face; maybe we also lost a few teeth and cannot see or hear as well as we did before. Some of us also lost the memory a bit and become forgetful about lots of things such as forgetting names for example. This, as we all know, is life and nature of things. Everything changes and nothing is permanent. Bur fortunately we still have our values. Our values such as respect and gratitude for the elders and teachers, caring of our respective children and family members, helping our friends, and attachment, and gratitude to the institution which nurtured us to meet the challenges of life, are still with us. They have not changed. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and reunion is a testimony to those values.

I must now pause and thank and congratulate the Organizing Committee for their untiring and selfless efforts to make this event possible and successful. This Saya Pu Zaw Pwe and RIT Alumni reunion is, as far as I know, once-in-a-life-time event. As far as I am concerned it is already a resounding success with the cooperation and great enthusiasm that I have seen. I hope this will be the beginning and not the last of our get-togethers. When my wife and I paid visits to Myanmar in 1996, 1997 and 1999 we had mini get-togethers with RIT Alumni. When I was here a few years ago we also got together with a few RIT Alumni. I understood that Saya U Aung Khin also had one mini get-together here some years ago. But these get-togethers were not on a grand scale as the one that we are having here now. However the spirit of camaraderie and friendliness among RIT Alumni mini get-togethers, was the same as the one that we find here now. If you look around you, you will find that all of us came here from different parts of the world, indicating the great attachment and respect that we all have for our old institution and also for one another.

While I was preparing for this speech, fond memories of the years that I spent as a student, as a teacher and later as Rector at RIT came flashing through my mind. Without going into details, I remember that all my teachers, including Saya Num Kock and Saya U Ba Toke who are here with us, were good inspiring teachers with kind hearts. When I became a teacher and later the Rector at RIT, I noticed that my colleagues were good and dedicated people who tried their best to teach what they had learnt from good Universities and Institutions abroad.

They made conscious efforts to raise the level of education at RIT so much that the students were fully occupied with classes, studies, projects, and homework. I have to mention here that my Sayas and my former colleagues were, and still are honest, compassionate, gentle and kind people. Within this context I would now like to take this opportunity to offer my humble apologies to my Sayas and colleagues for the wrong things that I may have done or said which might have hurt them in any way in the past.

As for the students, I remember that they were good, intelligent, and energetic students in general. Since I was also involved in extracurricular activities of the students, I had more interaction and gained more understanding of their needs and feelings. Like most of the other teachers I tried my best to be helpful to them not only in their studies but also in any other problems that they needed my help. Because of the compassion that I had shown for them they became more communicative, and listened to what I had to say most of the time. Like a breath of fresh air, the first batch of female engineering students were among us, I believe in 1958. So far as I remember they did as well as or some even better than the male students in their studies. I remember that as a teacher I felt very good and satisfied whenever some students did well in their studies or did well in their careers after they left school. These are fond memories that I still have with me about the students at RIT.

As you probably know, I left RIT and Myanmar in 1977 to join UNESCO. I then migrated to Canada to join International Development Research Centre (IRDC) in 1981. For your information, IRDC is a Canadian Agency which funds research projects for development in the developing countries. I retired from IRDC in 1997. Looking back to the past, I must say that I spent the best years of my life at RIT, challenging and troubling at times, but on the whole happy and satisfied with the job that I was doing.

Now please let me take a few minutes of your time to share with you my thoughts, which I believe are some important elements of life. You might not agree with me to what I am going to say. At least, in that case, you might take them as food for your thoughts. If I sound like lecturing to you now, you must remember that the habit of a former teacher dies hard.
When I was young and immature. I had great admiration for people with high I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). I also tended to think in those days that I was quite intelligent. After going through life experiences with ups and downs I became to realize that high Emotional Quotient (E.Q.) or emotional mastery is more important in life than high I.Q., to cope with adversities, disappointments, failures and sometimes even tragedies. No one that I know of, escapes the negative impacts of life in one form or another. If you have emotional mastery you can deal with and overcome these negative impacts and still get ahead in life and be relatively happy. One thing that can help us is to have optimism, hope and courage in life and to minimize the negative thoughts and creeping pessimism. It will be wrong to classify anything in life in opposites either in black or white. One can neither be fully optimistic nor fully pessimistic all the time. There is a gray area which is neither black nor white, and so long as the dominant part of this gray area is optimism, things will turn alright in the end. I read in one of the books long time ago that the Chinese word for “crisis” denotes both risk and chance (opportunity). A pessimistic person would tend to look at the crisis as the big risk and will despair and do nothing, whereas an optimistic person will look at it as a challenge and opportunity and will do something with courage and determination and overcome the crisis. He or she might fail in doing something. But without failures one will not know success. In short, although we will not be able to master the circumstances, and situations in life, we sure can try to master our thoughts and emotions to meet the challenges of life. Here are the spiritual sides of us or our respective religions might be helpful.

Now that I am getting old and getting inflicted with aches and pains here and there, especially when I get up in the morning, I begin to realize that the important part of my life is to keep myself in good health. There are lots of books and doctors telling us how to keep ourselves in good health. The simple gist of the whole message is to have some form of physical exercise or activity to keep our weights down; and to eat nutritious food and avoid or cut down fatty, sweet, salty and high cholesterol food which are harmful to our health. As you know, it is easier said than done. What I know is we do need to make conscious efforts to keep ourselves in good health by taking physical exercises and by eating nutritious and non-fattening food. One thing is for sure, if we are not in food health we will not be able to enjoy our success or good things in life, and we will be, relatively speaking, unhappy.

When I was young, my grandmother used to tell me to get ahead in life I would need luck, brain, and industriousness. She was right of course. But one important element in life that she missed telling me was to develop and have good social relationships will all the people that I would come across in life, including family members. No one can live and get ahead in life alone. Each one of us at some stages of our respective lives needed and got help from someone to move on with our lives. From my personal experience, I noted that one must be non-egoistic, not too aggressive, be polite, be helpful, and tries to understand and respect other person’s points of view, needs and feeling, to develop good social relationships. Here I would like to add that each of us can judge who is good, who is bad, who is untrustworthy, etc. and avoid bad people and associate with good people to the extent that each of us can.

Each one of us had twenty four hours a day and the one who can budget and manage his/her time day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year according to his priorities and short term and long term goals will get ahead in life better. One should use the time and even manipulate it and not waste it to achieve one’s short term and long term goals. One must also be patient if the short term and long term goals are not achieved in budgeted time. So long as the time is used and not wasted, one will reach his/her goads in due course.

I hope everyone present here will agree with me the importance of financial management at the personal or family level as well as at the business level. At the business level there are of course financial plans and budgets for the present as well as for the future. One should likewise have financial plans and budgets at personal/family level for the present and future, to spend, save and invest within one’s available means. As you know money is neutral. If you are wise, money will treat you well; and if you are foolish it will not stay with you for long. Like time, one’s hard-earned money should be used and not wasted.

The last thing that I would like to point out to you is the danger of complacency. If you own a business and if you are complacent after a certain level of success, your business will suffer, simply because you fail to keep up with the changes in the market conditions and because of the intense competition one faces nowadays. Likewise at the personal level we should be wary of complacency. We should try not to be complacent by improving ourselves and keeping ourselves busy mentally and physically. Life thrives on activity and activity is the proof of our existence. No one is perfect and there is always something that each of us can improve upon. If we do that, at least we will not be bored, and may achieve some fulfillment in life.

With these remarks I now conclude my speech. May you all be successful and happy in life. May you have a pleasant stay in SF.

(3) Memories

After attending the 2nd year engineering class from June 1952 to September 1952, I went straight to MIT on a state scholarship to continue my studies. Saya U Min Wun and I went together to MIT and joined the academic session, starting from September 1952. We met Dr Freddie Ba Hli at MIT, who was already studying for his Ph.D in electronics or electrical engineering. He was one of the nicest and helpful persons that I have ever met in my life. He gave us briefings and guidance so that we were able to assimilate into the American education system and American way of life without any difficulty He also helped us with our home works when we had some difficulties in the beginning. I am forever grateful to him for his kind help. I am sure U Min Wun feels the same. Saya U Khin Aung Kyi, Saya U Sein Hlaing, U Percy Lao, U Win Htein, U Kyaw Min, Robin Aw, U Kyaw Thein, U Aung Kywe, U Aung Myint and U Sein Hla came to MIT for further studies at a later date. U Percy Lao later became Rangoon City Engineer (water and sanitation), U Win Htein who is an architect became a Rangoon City Building Engineer, and the late U Kyaw Min became a free lance architect [and also taught part-time at the Architecture department for some time]. All these three professionals taught some time at RIT. I do not know what happened to Robin Aw. The late U Kyaw Thein was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became a lecturer at the Civil Engineering Department at RIT. U Aung Kywe was a Director (water and sanitation) at the Construction Corporation. U Aung Myint became the Chief Architect at the Construction Corporation. U Sein Hla was an engineer at the Construction Corporation and later became the Registrar at RIT under Rector U Yone Moe. Later more batches of Burmese students came to MIT when I was no longer there. I am describing all these things to point out the fact that the standard of engineering education in Burma at that time was quite good. None of us had to go through the entrance examination to get into MIT. They trusted our grades and our education standard. Maybe the visiting Professor Horwood from MIT was quite impressed with the Faculty of Engineering and put a good word for us to the MIT admission authorities.

I will not go into details of the activities of all the various students’ associations, societies and clubs, as there were so many of them. But I would like to mention briefly about the hostel life, that I had experienced at that time. Every hostel had what we called a social and reading club . There was an adequate room reserved for this club at the ground floor of the hostel. In general, newspapers, popular magazines, a chess board, a carom board and a table tennis were provided so that the hostel students could read, play chess, play carom board, and play table tennis and socialize to get to know each other well. Even without the social and reading club, all the hostel students ended up knowing each other well sooner or later, as they met each other almost everyday at the hostel and at the dining hall. The hostel students were in general well behaved. I hardly saw the Warden or Hall Tutors at Ava Hall and Prome Hall, as there were very few student problems which needed attention of the Warden or Hall Tutors.

Based upon my experience, I feel that these extra-curricular activities and hostel life gave the opportunities to the students to broaden the knowledge of the different parts of Myanmar; and they also created a better understanding of the different culture, food, habit, dresses, dialects etc of the country. Most of the students developed life-long friendships through these activities which contributed to well-beings of these students throughout their lives. Sport activities also taught the students about hard work, cooperation, team work, competition, winning and losing. The extra-curricular activities also triggered, developed and enhanced the hidden talents of some of the students. These activities therefore formed part of the University education of the students, in addition to the education that they received from the classrooms. Another benefit of these activities was the bonding and a better understanding, which developed between the students and the teachers who were involved in these activities.

After getting my Bachelor degree in Cvil Engineering in 1955 and my Master degree in Civil Engineering in 1956 from MIT, I worked for Engineering Companies for a year, which involved both design and fieldwork in engineering construction projects. I then came back to Rangoon in 1957 to join the Civil Engineering Department as an Assistant Lecturer. I was promoted to become a Lecturer in 1958 and became also more or less Head of the Civil Engineering Department. The policy in place at the University of Rangoon under the Ministry of Education at that time stated that a teacher/ any person could become a lecturer / professor only if he/ she had a post graduate degree. Sayagyi U Ba Hli was the Professor of Civil Engineering and Dean of the Faculty at the same time. U Aung Khin was Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department, U Sein Hlaing was Head of the Electrical Engineering Department, U Khin Aung Kyi was Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, U Soon Sein was Head of the Mining Engineering Department, U Thit was Head of the Metallurgy Department, and U Maung Maung Than was Head of the Textile Engineering Department. I think Mr Johnson was Head of the Architecture Department. I do not remember who was the Workshop Superintendent at that time. We were quite happy as we had new facilities near the Prome road in addition to the B.O.C College of Engineering building. These new facilities comprised of a tall administrative building (with offices, conference/meeting rooms, library), classrooms, lecture theaters, laboratories , offices for the teaching staff and a small assembly place under the copper dome roof in the corner of the campus. The dome roof looked like a turtle back, and pretty soon this new campus became known as “turtle dome /leik khone” campus. After our arrival from USA, UK etc, the foreign teachers under contract were let go, as we gradually replaced them, except for a few teachers from UK or USA. I could recall Prof. Neale? in Electrical Engineering Department, Mr Redpath and Mr Skelton in Mechanical Engineering Department and Mr Johnson and Mr Nagler in Architecture Department.

As a young teacher I was surprised and pleased to see a few pioneering female engineering students (not more than ten) at the Leik Khone campus. They and their parents overcame the social uneasiness and they decided to study engineering/architecture to become lady engineers /architects. I do not know exactly when they first joined the 1st year engineering class; but It was one of the important turning points in the history of engineering education.

As young teachers, most of us were struggling to learn how to teach effectively at the beginning. I noticed that we were teaching about 15 to 20 hours per week which included lectures, laboratory and drawing classes. The contact hours of learning for the students remained the same as the time when I was an engineering student i.e. about 30 hours per week. The passing grade for the students also remained the same. i.e. 40% for each subject and 50% average for all the subjects combined. The medium of teaching was still in English. The laboratory and workshop facilities were quite good and adequate for the student population that we had. But the library looked quite small when I compared it with the library that they had in MIT, although it had a few good engineering books and journals. I felt that it needed a lot of investment to become a top notch engineering library.

It was with enthusiasm and hope that most of us were busy trying to build up our respective departments and trying to improve the engineering education in general. While we were busy, Professor and Dean U Ba Hli retired some time around 1961, and in place of U Ba Hli we had a succession of temporary Deans, Professor of Chemistry U Po Tha, Professor of Geology Dr Tha Hla, and Professor of Physics Dr Maung Maung Kha for about 6 months. The Faculty of Engineering also had to move to a new campus in Gyogone in 1961. Before our relocation to Gyogone, the Faculty of Engineering was one of the Faculties of the University of Rangoon. The academic and administrative related policy decisions were made by the Senate and Administrative Council of the University of Rangoon respectively so as to maintain and improve the standard of education of all its Faculties, including the Faculty of Engineering.

As you all know, Gyogone campus was built with the aid of Russia; and I understood that the Government of Burma paid back the cost in rice. I do not know whether it was true or not. In any case it was and still is an impressive looking campus. The buildings accommodated classrooms, laboratories and workshop, big assembly hall with a movie projector, library, offices for the administrative and teaching staff,and student hostels. There were also houses for all the staff, dining and kitchen facilities, small medical clinic, and open space for sport activities. All the buildings, houses etc occupied and still occupy a large area in a compound.
June 9, 2025
RIT Alumni Newsletter
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

I founded the Newsletter in May 1999.

We published a commemorative issue of the Newsletter for RIT Alumni Reunion & Saya Pu Zaw Pwe in October 2000.

Newsletter for SPZP-2000
- Front cover has my poem “SAYA PU ZAW PWE”
- Back cover has a list of the SPZP-2000 Organizers
- 16 pages
Newsletter for SPZP-2000
June 9, 2025
Three Parents
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Ivan Lee (M69)

Ivan
- Youngest in the family
- His father passed away when he was a few years old.
- His mother raised the family, and also lived long to have great grand children.
- He e-mailed us when his mother turned 100. It showed the birthday card sent to his mother from the 43rd US President George W. Bush.
- He e-mailed again when his mother turned 101. It showed the birthday card sent to his mother from the 44th US President Barack Obama.
- His mother passed away at the tender age of 102. She was alert until the final days. It could be because she played two hours of Mah Jong daily.
- On a bright note, he has two loving daughters and six grandchildren.
Timothy Hla’s Post on June 21, 2020

Dr. PR Mohan & Dr. Daw Hnin Yee

Tribute to his parents Dr. PR Mohan and Dr. Daw Hnin Yee

Today is a special day for me and my family. First and foremost, we celebrate my Mom’s birthday. Even though we cannot be with her physically in Seattle, she enjoys the company and excellent care by my sister Mona T. Han and is showered by love from all family members and her friends and former students in the Institute of Medicine 1, University of Rangoon. In addition to raising four children, taking care of her husband and running a busy household, she was a career woman who was able to balance a successful career (she became the Professor and Head of the Department of Medicine) and a busy life with grace and charm.

Second, today is father’s day. I am enjoying my family (wife Jeanne Wadsworth-Hla, and grown children Hilary May, Jon Matthew and Audrey Hla who will be here to have dinner. Very grateful for them to be here to celebrate my fatherhood. It is one of the happiest aspects of my life and I am most grateful. I also remember and honor the memory of my Dad (PR Mohan) who passed away over 15 years ago. He was an orphan who grew up in poverty with 9 siblings in Burma, overcame lots of obstacles to get an MBBS degree in 1939, worked as a military doctor during the WW2 with the allied forces for which received many medals and citations, used his pension from the army to get trained as a Cardiologist in London (Royal Brompton Hospital and National Heart Institute) with the famous Cardiologist Paul Wood, returned to Burma to give back to his native land despite various lucrative job offers in the UK, and served honorably by establishing the first Cardiac Department at the Rangoon General Hospital, established the first coronary care unit and brought cutting edge cardiology care to Burma. He also trained a cadre of younger physicians. I even came across an article he wrote about congenital heart diseases in the local medical journal in 1955 in PubMed. Many of his colleagues and students remember him as a no-nonsense Physician with a rough exterior but with a kind heart. My fondest memories of him were his love and dedication to his family and friends. He also introduced me to his love of various music genres of the world, and appreciation of fine food and libations.

Me

My beloved parents

My father

Grandkids
- I am fortunate to have parents who lived beyond 80.
- I am not fortunate enough to have them around to see my Hmees, who are excellent in their studies and in their hobbies.
- They would have smiled to hear my grand daughter say, “Are you at home? Who’s your doctor? What happened?” after I returned from the colonoscopy screening. She added, “I’ll take care of you. I love you.” She must have inherited the loving kindness of her great grand parents.
- They would be delighted to see her awards including “Super Reader” and a top student of her class.
- They would be impressed to see my grand son dribbling a standard basketball for 30+ seconds, scoring goals in a competitive tournament and learn that he is also a top student of his class.
June 9, 2025
Nyunt Wai (Victor)
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025
- Classmates in Standards VIII A, IX A and X A at St. Paul’s HS.
VIII A
- Stood 4th in Burma in Matric of 1963 and won Collegiate Scholarship.
SPHS63
- Graduated from Institute of Medicine (2). Wrote articles and drew paintings & cartoons for IM(2) magazine.
- Doctorate from UK
- Taught Physiology at IM(1), IM(2) and a Malaysian University.
- Has compiled a list of Professors of Physiology.
- Attended the Soon Kyway for Sayadaw Beatson (Physics teacher & Scout Master at SPHS).
V Nyunt Wai 1
- Artist and painter. He illustrated a book by Ashin Ananda (Reverend F Lustig, Laureate Poet).
- Writes blogs, poems (including Kauk Kyaung Kabyar ကောက်ကြောင်းကဗျာ and Sagar Pariyae စကားပရိယာယ်).
V Nyunt Wai 3
- Dr. Nyunt Wai wrote :
  I’m no painter or a poet. Just occasional excursions to these fields. And I’m not a visiting Professor. Had to apply for this job in Malaysia just like any other expatriate from India or Bangladesh. So I’m no 3 “P”s. This reminds me of “No 3 P policy” of the now extinct Yahoo group Alumni-Myanmar-medical-institutes founded by Saya Johnny Thane Oke Kyaw-Myint, which served well as a lively forum for us until the advent of Facebook.
  
  Dr. Thane Oke Kyaw Myint wrote :
  Yes AMIM was a tight small group of us. Those who became friends then remain now as close friends. On FB, there is short attention as well as being bombarded by posts that we have no interest in.
V Nyunt Wai 1

Posts
- Matriculates
- Sagar Pariyae
- St. Paul’s High School
June 9, 2025
Myo San
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025
- Aka as Freddie Ba San
- Classmates in Standards VIII A, IX A and X A at St. Paul’s HS
Myo San (3rd row, 5th from left)
- Stood third in Burma in the Matric of 1963 and won Collegiate Scholarship.
Myo San (Seated right)
- Mastered phonetics and read lots of English books.
- One would not be surprised that he scored distinctions in English, Maths, Physics and Chemistry.
- A little bit older than me and that might have given him an advantage.
- Gave me a quiz. “How do you pronounce GHOTI?” I gave an answer which he corrected as “FISH”. He had read George Bernard Shaw, who posed the quiz as a lesson on the eccentricity of English.
GH is phonetically equivalent to F as in ROUGH.
O is phonetically equivalent to I as in WOMAN.
TI is phonetically equivalent to SH as in ATTENTION.
Thus, GHOTI is phonetically equivalent to FISH.
- Became a surgeon
- Stress caused him to take early retirement.
- He had mini-reunion with SPHS63 classmates. In the photo, the three (seated) — Freddie, Alan and Tin Tun — are now GBNF.
Myo San (Seated Left)
- He has two younger sisters : Elsie and Ivy.
Siblings

Posts
- GBNF
- Old Paulians
- Scholarship
- St. Paul’s High School
June 9, 2025
Dhamma Books
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Sunlun Sayadaw U Vinaya
- Chief Resident Monk of KabaAye Sunlun Gu Kyaung ကမ္ဘာအေးစွန်းလွန်းဂူကျောင်း
The Yogi & Vipassana

In the Buddha’s Words
- Mr. Li Chan (Buddhist Chaplain) taught at the Summer Dhamma Camp at Dhammananda Vihara, Half Moon Bay, California, USA.
- He gave me the book as a dhamma gift.
In the Buddha’s Words

Milinda Panha
- Ashin Nemeinda (Taungyi Thein Daung Taik) taught courses during his visits to California
- One course covered the book about King Milinda (မိလိန္ဒ မင်း) & Ashin Nagasena (အရှင်နာဂသိန်)
Milinda

Dhamma Dana by U Ba Than & Family

U Ba Than
- U Ba Than is Retired Professor of Mechanical Engineering at RIT.
- He offered Birthday Soon Kyway and gave dhamma gifts.
Things that every Buddhist should know
June 9, 2025
Commerce
by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Video Broadcast on October 14, 2020

Introduction
- Started as Option of Economics Department in the Faculty of Social Science
- Became a separate department
- Later : department in the Institute of Economics
Sayas
- Saw William Paw : Professor and Head of Department;
  Chair, Rangoon University Sports Council; Succeeded Sithu U Tin as President of RUBC; During my tenure as Treasurer of RUBC, I had to see him frequently.
- Dr. Khin Maung Kyi : Attended RU as a monk. Known for his debates and writings. Taught at Commerce Department and later headed the Research Department. Performed Research in Malaysia & Singapore. During my visit to Singapore, I had to see Saya and gave him the package presented by Saya U Myo Min (UCC)
- Dr. Khin Maung Kyawe (Jimmy) : Became DG of BERB.
  First met him when my uncle Saya U Than Lwin (Eric) took me to the Social Science Library. Uncle Eric taught Economics and also served as Librarian. He would give rides to the sayas including Saya Jimmy.
- U Maw Than : Auditor General. Used APL in his studies.
- Dr. Mya Than taught and/or did research at the Institute of Economics, Singapore and Thailand. Before going for further studies, he taught at PBRS (Private Boundary Road School). Spouse : Daw Kyi May Kaung
- Daw Yi Yi Myint and Daw Hla Myint : Attended UCC courses prior to their studies in the USA
- U Mya Thein (GBNF) : Transferred to UCC as Business Application Programmer/Analyst. Retired as Manager of Business Applications at UCC.
  Also taught at ITBMU.
- U Thein Oo : Transferred to UCC as Business Application Programmer/Analyst. Taught at UCC, DCS and ICST. Co-founder, MCI. Founder, Ace
- U Khin Nyo : RUBC; Became Registrar, Mawlamyine College / University
Alumni
- U Myo Min : First in I.Com in 1960; First in B.Com (Accounting) in 1962;
  Chartered Accountant (UK);
  Systems Analyst (IBM UK);
  Per request from his mother and Dr. Chit Swe, he came back to Burma to help co-found UCC. In April 1971, he joined UCC as Manager of Business Applications. Taught classes at UCC and the Institute of Economics. Moved to Singapore and then to USA.
  Passed Thingyo examination.
- Dr. Yi Yi Chit Maung : First in B.Com (Management) in 1962;
  Studied in Canada; Retired in USA
- U Kyi Soe : Secretary, CGA (Commerce Graduate Association); Rowed for Eco;
  Attended UCC; Worked for MOC
- Uzin Kondannadhaja (“George” Chan Min) was the de facto leader for the Institute of Economic Rowing teams (including Htin Kyaw and Soe Thin). Worked for EPC and found soul mate (Engineer).
  Attended courses at UCC.
  Moved to the USA. After retirement, he decided to become a monk. For the transition, he asked me to be a temporary monk with him for a week. He resides at Dhammananda Vihara in Half Moon Bay, California. Per request from his brother Dr. Patheda Tin, he spent one vassa at the Chan Myei Yeiktha in Springfield, Illinois.
- U Kun Pe, U Kyi Khin and U Ohn Myint : Classmates of Uzin Chan Min; Accountant / Auditor; Volunteer for social and religious organizations in SF Bay Area
- U Than Maung Maung : Worked for UCC and TSC; Moved to the US
General
- Per request of Ko Kyi Soe, I taught Mathematics of Finance & related topics at a course conducted by CGA
- I succeeded U Myo Min as Business Application Manager at UCC
- Chambers of Commerce :
  Burmese, Chinese, Indian
- e-Commerce
- B2B : Business to Business
- eBMS : e-Business Management System
- @hmin3664
YouTube Channel for my Videos
June 9, 2025