dear stan & ko than naing oo,
thank you very much for your appreciation and encouragement.i'm fond
of biographies and profiles since my childhood. i read dagon
taryar's "Yoke-Pon_Hlyar (Profiles)" in 1955 or 56.i read dr maung
maung's "Profiles" in the "Guardian" magazine regularly. it came out
in book form in 1962.i bought both books and kept at home.dagon
taryar gave a copy of his book and asked me to write a foreword for
second printing, but i lost his book and could not fulfill his
wish.however, i wrote about his poems in the kalyar magzine and he
was pleased.we have been good friends since his release from the
insein prison in 1973 or 74.i met dr maung maung in dr myint maung
maung's office in the early 1980s before he became the president of
burma.he was visiting his daughter-in-law's child-birth and we were
introduced by dr myint maung maung, the ObGyn.i commended
his "Profiles' and critisized his style of writing as being
journalistic.he said that's all he was capable of writing.he told me
he also had read my books.good old man, he dead.
now, i like to tell you about dr tin tun oo, the prolific writer,
editor and publisher of knowledge magazines and periodicals in burma
at present.he has become a full time journalist and he is a doctor
(physician) in name only.i still remember his mother complaining to
me that he was not practising medicine at all and he had forgotten
all the medicine he has learnt as he was engaged in writing and
publishing full time. it was about
twenty years ago when i met her at
her daughter's wedding, that of the only sister of dr tin tun oo.
tin tun oo is a clever fellow and he has been a good student
having won the "Lu-ye-chun Award" six times during his school and
university years.he was a collegiate (Lu-ye-chun) scholarship holder
and his academic records were good.he passed his final part 2
examination with distinction in medicine, a difficult subject even
to pass with good marks/grade.but, he did not pursue medicine as a
career or speciality as he chose publish health as a posrgraduate
specialisation.he got a master of science in public health early in
the 1970s.he was a junior colleague of dr aung khin sint.they worked
together at the department of health as health educators.
however, he ventured in writing very early.he approached me to
learn about writing when he was at the second mb class and he
requested me to introduce him to the editors.i willingly took him
and his articles to min-yu-way, at the time the editor -in-chief of
myawaddy and ngwe-tar-yi maagazines.min-yu-way published his
articles in those magazines and other periodicals like teza, shwe-
thwe, doh-kyaung-tha and so on.he devoted to writing full time after
graduation.of course, he opened a private clinic at pan-so-dan road
(Phyare Street)to please his parents, but he did not sit regularly
there. he even invited me to sit at his clinic if i desired so. i
declined his invitation with thanks.
his wife and brother-in-law are also my former students at IM2.dr
khin moe moe, his wife, complained that he had forced her to write
and take part in his publishing endeavour to publish "Thu-Ta-swe-
sone (Knowledge)" magazine in the early 1970s. since then,the couple
have been successful in the publication business.they have donated
cash and kind to the
poor students etc several times. they made a puja-pwe to maung thin,
me and linyon maung maung at the "Strand Hotel" in one year before
1988.we are good friends and he once invited me and my wife to his
home for dan-pauk (Biryani).he gave me a good royalty for my
articles published in his maagzines.he invited dr nan ommar and me
to write regularly in his magazines and journals that have grown in
number with time.
yes, he has resigned from the government service during the SLORC
regime. he was friendly with the then minister for health vice-
admiral than nyunt.some people may say differently, but tin tun oo
has the knack how to approach a person.he is very suave and
polite.he was included in the executive committee of the myanmar
writers and journalists association together with dr tin shwe and me
at the initial organising stage after the 1988 events.all of us were
easily elected as the official members at the official congress of
the writers and journalists in 1991 or 1992.i proposed him to be the
joint general secretary of the association and all the members
agreed.i declined the post of general secretary as i was very busy
at that time.
he worked hard for the association and he was sweet and
generous.every body liked him, so he was sent to china, usa and
malaysia as a goverment delegate.i think he is not a politician
trying to curry favour with those in power.i'm sure of that.but, he
is obliging,accommodating and is trying to publish what he wants.
so, there may be "give and take" occasions with the presnt
government in burma.that may be the reason he is surviving in burma,
nay, successful.for me, he is a devoted health educationist, a
sincere writer and a budding journalist in a doctor's gown for the
benefit of the people.he has been awarded the national literary
prize twice in the science knowledge category. he must only be about
55 years of age now and he has many more years for writing in the
future.i wish him well.