Dear Sayas and Colleagues,

In my RIT days, there were two Saya U Tin Hlaing(s). U Tin Hlaing (1), Head of Agricultural Engineering, a sub-department of Mechanical Engineering, was known as a quiet but athletic teacher. Sad to say, he did not live long enough to see the First Ever Reunion and Saya Pu Zaw Pwe. U Tin Hlaing (2) [now Dr. Tin Hlaing], known to his friends as "Byte", is currently Chief Engineer, Dynaglass in Singapore.

The following is a tribute to Saya U Tin Hlaing by Saya U Aung Khin.

========================================
TRIBUTE TO LATE SAYA U TIN HLAING

by Saya U Aung Khin
Fomerly Professor of Mechanical Engineering
========================================

It was the academic year 1958-59 and I was teaching the final year mechanical engineering students at the dome buildings. Having returned from the United States two years prior, I was still a novice at the trade. I had to put in many hours of lesson preparation because the class was filled with a number of bright students eager to learn and ready to throw questions at me from every possible angle. Among them was late Saya U Tin Hlaing. Upon graduation, he was appointed an Assistant Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering Department. A must for junior staff member was to take charge of First Year Drawing classes and U Tin Hlaing gave his hundred percent and more. It was a time when contract staff were gradually phased out, being replaced by returning State's Scholars and at the same time the buildings at Gyogon were readied to accommodate the Faculty of Engineering, which later changed to BIT/RIT. Plans were also afoot to upgrade the staff by sending members abroad for further studies and U Tin Hlaing along with Saya U San Tun were selected from the Mechanical Engineering Department. U Tin Hlaing obtained admission to Purdue University and U San Tun to MIT.

Upon successful completion of his studies, U Tin Hlaing returned to RIT to assume more responsible teaching duties and his specialization was in Theory of Machines. He was also involved in other activities besides teaching and his gentle nature coupled with respect for fellow workers endeared him to all who knew him. His depth of knowledge and guidance was very much appreciated by the students. When RIT underwent further expansion, U Tin Hlaing was made Head of Agricultural Engineering department, in which capacity he managed to coordinate the classroom activities with field applications. He was also actively involved in academic pursuits and authored a number of books besides contributing towards Burmese technical vocabulary. He was a member of the staff tennis club and his participation in the club activities contributed to evenings of joy and laughter at the court. He was a devoted husband and father, being a family-first man. Unfortunately, his health began to fail at an early age and passed away in 1978. His demise was sorely missed by his colleagues and all those who came into contact with him, however remote. I, for one, felt a great personal loss and having had a loyal colleague and friend like him will forever be embedded in my memory.

=========
Epilog
by Hla Min
=========

Several years ago, we went to the [now defunct] Kyandaw Cemetery to pay last respect to my college Ko Hla Min (EC 70), known to his colleagues as "Pauk Si". He went to St. Paul's High School, graduated from RIT, worked for UCC (Universities' Computer Center) as Chief Operator, and also taught "Introduction to Computers and Programming" at Worker's College. He was strong and healthy, but he succumbed at an early age to liver failure [a consequence of Viral Hepatitis, ...] On his bed side, he reminded us to take care of the parents, the sayas and ourselves.

As we approached the cemetery, Ko Moe Hein (ChE 69) looked as if he has seen a ghost. Asked why, he explained [logically]: "I've come to bury you. I learnt from some people that you had died. But, your brother [at work] did not say a word and he did not seem to care. So I took leave and came here, because I thought you would need a friend like me by your side."

Ko Moe Hein [known to his friends as "Ajala"] regularly finished the Inya cross-lake 2000 meters swimming contests and also played for the RIT water polo team. Ko Moe Hein would have had a bigger laugh had he known that two departments where I had given guest lectures called UCC to say that they had bought wreaths for ME.

The Burmese say that the "tone kyaw" (leapt over a log) incident was good for me. May be fate had it that I should survive such incidents to be able to write/compile "Count down to the Reunion" series.

That's all for now.
With metta,
Hla Min