Tag: 1988

by Hla Min

Updated : July 2025

July 19, 1947

• See Posts

March 2, 1962

• The Coup d’etat ended Parliamentary Democracy in the Union of Burma.
• President Mahn Win Maung, Prime Minister U Nu & cabinet ministers, and Shan Sawbwas were detained.

7th July 1962

• It saw indiscriminate shooting at the student protesters.
• The official death tally was 17.
• Ko Aung Khin was hit by a stray bullet as he was returning from RUBC to his home in Windermere Road.

8th July 1962

• It saw the revered RU Student Union Building demolished.
• The then No. (1) and No. (2) said that they did not give orders for the two sad events.
• Some people reported hearing strange sounds and seeing strange images in or near the residence halls (e.g. Mandalay Hall). Some believe that there might be ghosts.

1963

• There were pamphlets and Sar Saungs commemorating the anniversary of 7th July.
• The higher authorities gave ultimatum to the hostel students to leave.
• All classes except those from the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Engineering were closed.
• Final exams were held locally (e.g. at State High Schools).
• The schools were reopened in November 1964 under a new Education System.

1964

• The use of Intelligence Level Aggregate (ILA) system and the 3 NRC rule created a Tier System among the Once Equal Disciplines.
• A sayagyi told his students, “If all of you go to medical and engineering, there will not be talent left to cover other important fields.”
• There were some exceptions. Dr. Min Oo (in 1963) and Dr. Zaw Win (a few years later) stood Second in the whole of Burma in Matric. They chose to study Maths and received their Doctorates from Germany. Dr. Min Oo retired from McMasters University in Canada. He earlier taught in Germany and in the US as a visiting professor. Dr. Zaw Win is GBNF.

Mid-1960s

• Nationalization of Schools took place on April 1, 1965.

• “Burmese Way to Socialism (Despotism, Nepotism)” created 2nd and 3rd Class Citizens.
• Shortage of rice (unheard of in the “Rice Bowl of Asia”) caused unease. The problem was redirected to create a riot known as “Tayoke Bama Ah Yay Ah Khinn” တရုပ်ဗမာ အရေးအခင်း

1974

• “U Thant Ah Yay Ah Khin” ဦးသန့်အရေးအခင်း can be read in a book with rare photos. Htein Win Sar Pay ထိန်ဝင်းစာပေ has published books about the two Ah Yay Ah Khinn in 1974 and 1988. Ko Khin Maung Zaw mailed me a copy of “U Thant Ah Yay Ah Khinn”. At the 5th ILF (Irrawaddy Literary Festival), Ko Htein Win gave me a copy of the 8-8-88 Ah Yay Ah Khinn.

Late 1980s

• There were several more closure of the schools.
• Many students lost three precious years of their lives (1988, 1989 and 1990). There were no classes, exams and Convocation for the three years. The 1st BE Intake of 1983 graduated in 1992. Those who failed the 6th BE in 1987 had to repeat again in 1991.
• Some, who witnessed the events in March and August of 1988, had a long wait before they could freely express their experiences.
• In August 1988, Dr. Tin Aung (Physics) and U Tun Aung Chain (History) were in the US as members of the Burmese Education Delegation. Dr. Tin Aung was elected in abstentia as a Patron / Nayaka နာယက of the “Sayas and Sayamas from All Universities and Institutes” Ah Phwe အဖွဲ့ supporting the 8-8-88 movement. Upon his return to Burma, Dr. Tin Aung was forced to resign.
  When Dr. Tin Aung’s pacemaker needed replacement, his former students from Myanmar and Overseas donated for his health expenses.