Ludu U Hla
Encyclopedia
Ludu U Hla was a Burmese journalist
, publisher, chronicler, folklorist and social reformer whose prolific writings include a considerable number of path-breaking nonfiction works. He was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu Daw Amar
.
He collected oral histories from people in a diverse range of occupations which included a boatmaster on the Irrawaddy
, a bamboo raftsman on the Salween
, the keeper of a logging elephant, a broker for Steele Bros. (a large trading company during the colonial period), a gambler on horses, a bureaucrat and a reporter. These were published in a series of books titled "I the ------".
A library of 43 volumes of folk tales, a total of 1597 stories, that he collected between 1962 and 1977 from most of the ethnic minorities of Burma was a truly Herculean undertaking. Many of these have been translated into several languages. There are 5 other volumes of folktales from around the world to his credit.
During the U Nu
era of parliamentary democracy, he spent over three years in Rangoon Central Jail as a political prisoner after publishing a controversial news story in his Mandalay
newspaper Ludu (The People). Whilst in prison he interviewed several inmates and wrote their life stories as told in the first person narrative, the best known collection of which was published in The Caged Ones; it won the UNESCO
award for literature in 1958, and has been translated into English.
, and educated at the Rangoon Government High School, by the age of 20, U Hla had secured a valuer's position with the Rangoon Municipal Corporation; the Depression had hit Burma culminating in a peasant uprising and the founding of the nationalist Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association). He joined the Lu nge mya kyipwa yay a thin (Progress for Youth Club) which started as the Friendly Correspondence Club cum debating society among high school students in 1926, and his high-minded reformist zeal for all-round betterment of the country's youth had remained a lifelong passion since.
He lived over the shop in Scott Market
(renamed Bogyoke Market after independence) as a boarder, doubling as librarian, and taught night classes to children from poor families in the neighbourhood. A keen sportsman, he played football for the Municipal team, exercised regularly and remained a teetotaller all his life.
In 1932 he managed to take over the publication of the Kyipwa Yay (Progress) magazine after a false start by the chairman U Thein. He had wanted to be a writer and publisher and grabbed the opportunity. The magazine was a success with most of the day's famous writers on board and with an editorial remit of educating young people in self-improvement, health and moral discipline in the struggle for independence and for building a new united Burma. Regular columns such as Maha Swe's Nei Thu Yein's Fearless Doctrine and Theippan Maung Wa
's Letter from Maung Than Gyaung attracted a large readership. The Kyipwa Yay became the vehicle for a new style and content in Burmese literature known as Hkit san (Testing the Age), a movement started most notably by Theippan Maung Wa
, Nwe Soe, Zawgyi
, Min Thu Wun
,Maung Thuta, Maung Htin and Mya Kaytu. He also wrote articles assuming the pen names Kyipwa Yay Maung Hla and Maung Kan Kaung. A devout Buddhist and non-violent reformist at heart, he made friends with and his home became a favourite haunt of many politicians such as Aung San
, Thakin Than Tun
, Thakin Zin and Thakin Ba Koe as well as writers such as Maha Swe, Dagon Ta-ya, Zawana, P Moe Nin
, Thukha, Maung Htin and Dr Maung Hpyuu, journalists such as Thuriya U Thein Maung, cartoonists U Ba Galay, U Hein Soon and U Ba Gyan, artist U Ohn Lwin and weightlifters Ka-ya bala U Shein, U Zaw Weik and U Ne Win. The Thuriya (Sun) newspaper was where he had started as a budding writer and where he appeared to have learnt the rudiments of journalism and publishing. U Hla was tall, fair and handsome (Hla incidentally means handsome), and known for his friendly smile, gentle soft-spoken manner, even temper, clean living and generosity.
When the second university students strike in history broke out in 1936, he became friendly with one of the best known women student leaders, Amar
from Mandalay, whose Burmese translation of Trials in Burma
by Maurice Collis
he had published among her other writings in his magazine. They married in 1939 and he moved to Mandalay where he continued to publish the Kyipwa Yay. He invited on board upcountry writers such as Shwe Kaingtha ( a monk from Sagaing
and former archaeologist who was already one of the Kyipwa Yay regulars under the name Yadanabon Hpo Hmatsu) and Marla, an old school friend of Amar, in addition to the usual stable of writers such as Maha Swe, Zawgyi, Min Thu Wun, Theippan Maung Wa
, Zawana, Maung Hpyuu and Maung Htin.
:
Both U Hla and Daw Amar became involved in the Resistance movement; they formed the Asha Lu Nge (Asia Youth) in Mandalay, ostensibly to collaborate with the Japanese, and engaged mainly in rescue and sanitation operations, but it became a ready source of young Resistance fighters for Bohmu Ba Htoo in Upper Burma. U Hla was aware that his young members were in contact with both the Communist Party
and the People's Revolutionary Party (later the Socialist Party) and tried to protect them by advising the inclusion of an interpreter, who worked for the Japanese, on the executive committee of the organisation as a safeguard against the Kempeitai
. When the Allies returned U Hla wasted no time in co-founding the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
(AFPFL) in Mandalay with Rakhine
U Kyaw Yin, who parachuted into Burma with the help of the Allies, and Thakin Tun Yin,while Rangoon was still under the Japanese. A popular wartime song titled Ludu sit (People's War) by A-1 Saya Hnya was co-written by U Hla and U Kyaw Yin. U Hla was arrested and interrogated by the British after they had recaptured Mandalay.
. Their incisive political commentaries and analyses made a significant contribution to the country's yearning for independence and unified struggle against colonial rule. Their publications had never carried advertisements for alcohol, drugs to enhance sexual performance or gambling, nor racing tips, salacious affairs and gossip. U Hla had to be persuaded to make an exception of film advertisements for the survival of the paper.
One morning in 1948, soon after Burma gained her independence from the British, however, the Kyipwa Yay Press in Mandalay was dynamited to rubble by government troops who were angry that the Ludu couple appeared to be sympathetic to the Communists. This was a time when regime change happened quite often with the city falling into the hands, in turn, of the Karen
rebels, Communists and the new nationalist government under U Nu
. The entire family, including two pregnant women, was thrown out into the street, lined up and was about to be gunned down when a number of monks and locals successfully intervened to save their lives. Although only an ardent reformist, if left-leaning, and recognised as such from the early days by his friends and colleagues, the accusing finger of being a Communist by successive governments was never to leave him, even when many in the ruling party of the day, including Ne Win
, knew him personally. Hardline leftists, on the other hand, regarded him as weak and indecisive, lacking in revolutionary commitment.
U Hla was an active founding member of the Writers Association of Burma and chaired the Upper Burma section. In 1952 he attended, with Thakin Kodaw Hmaing
, Zawana, Shwe U Daung, Dagon Ta-ya and U Ohn Lwin, the Conference for Peace in the Asia Pacific Region in Peking
. In October 1953 the AFPFL government imprisoned U Hla under Section 5 for sedition as a political prisoner which spawned a whole genre of life stories of his fellow inmates among others that he published after his release in January 1957:
Whilst inside U Hla remained active organising sporting and literary events for inmates and invited friends from the world of sport, arts and literature to these special events as a bridge between the outside world and those inside. He formed a football team and took up golf. His fellow political prisoners remembered him as having the most visitors, and that he was anxious to share all the news and the food from outside. U Hla was an accomplished public speaker with a ready smile and great sense of humour but without pride or prejudice. He was friendly and polite and concerned with the health and well-being of everyone and soon he would become U-lay Hla (Uncle Hla) to the younger inmates. He would not forget to visit them in prison after his release bringing food, books and even a radio on one occasion.
and elsewhere in Upper Burma
such as poets Tin Moe
, Kyi Aung, Maung Swan Yi, Maung Pauk Si and Ko Lay (Innwa Gon-yi), writers Maung Tha Noe, Maung Tha-ya, Maung Thein Naing and Maung Saw Lwin, artists Paw Oo Thett and Win Pe as well as old established ones such as writers Sagaing U Hpo Thin, Shwe Kaingtha and Marla and artists U Ba Gyan, U Aung Chit and U Saw Maung. The Ludu Daily carried a Monday extra dedicated to poetry, and with U Hla's encouragement the young poets published an anthology titled A-nya myei hkit gabya (Modern Poetry from Upcountry). Book reviews, critical essays on literature and research papers in local history, arts and crafts enjoyed nearly as many column inches as domestic and international news and analysis. U Hla would not try and influence the content or edit out the young writers' efforts but he would ensure that they could back up any assertions or claims they might make. He would never talk down to them although he often complained that they had talent but they lacked effort; one of his dreams was for them to form a writers' co-operative and run their own publishing house.
The paper had featured articles about the Soviet Union
and the People's Republic of China
; there had been a series of articles titled "From the Volga to the Ganges". Shwe U Daung, the chief editor, had translated "The Heroes of People's China". An old school friend of Daw Amar's father, he was famous for his excellent adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Brigadier Gerard as well as his translations of H. Rider Haggard
's Alan Quartermain novels and was arrested at the same time as U Hla but he was to remain in Mandalay Prison for the duration.
The social calendar of Mandalay was, by the 1960s, featuring U Hla either as an organiser or as a guest speaker, from anniversaries such as National Day
to hospital fund-raising and the founding of an old people's home. He served on numerous committees and the Senate of Mandalay University. He would often jokingly refer to himself as a "Mandalayan by marriage". He was liked and respected by senior Buddhist monks as well as the layfolk but he distanced himself from religious affairs as such. His popularity reached a level where a plot to assassinate him by some of the politicians, who became jealous and feared he might run for office, existed but only came to light after his death.
The Writers Association of Upper Burma reached a peak in its activities in the 1960s and the 1970s with U Hla at its helm.Sazodaw Nei (Writers' Day) in December each year eventually stretched to Sazodaw La (Writers' Month) with talks and seminars open to the public, paying obeisance to older writers, and subsequently literary talk and research tours which were very popular. U Hla insisted that these must not be a financial burden to the locals. He encouraged and ensured that the papers read at these seminars, both critical reviews in literature and research papers, were published in book form. It was during this period that he started collecting folk tales travelling up and down the country. U Hla encouraged ethnic Mon
Thakin Aung Pe and Rakhine
U Kyaw Yin to do the same among their own people. When the very first volume Kayin ponbyin mya (Karen
Folk Tales) was planned, his assistant editor pointed out that it would lose money; he was given a lengthy explanation by U Hla how profit was immaterial in an effort to bring out in print something that would contribute to better understanding among the peoples of Burma and to unifying them, and how it was far more important to make sure these cultural treasures of ethnic minorities were not lost to future generations.
U Hla had also been the same driving force behind the revival of folk songs, from the early days of the Kyipwa Yay with Yadanabon Hpo Hmatsu's Shwebo
bongyi than (drum music) and Maung htaung tay (rice-pounding songs), and Thuriya Kandi's Rakhine
tay folk songs. The poet Maung Swan Yi was delegated the task one generation later, and one of the results was Lègwin dè ga ludu tay than mya (People's Songs from the Paddy Fields). He was delighted when presented with copies of Inle taik tay and Taung-yo Danu tay, songs from Inle Lake
and around, by the local compilers who were inspired by him. The transfer to Mandalay University during this period of two of his old friends, Rakhine
U Kyaw Yin as dean and Dr. Than Tun
as professor of history, provided a boost to the literary and research activities, and the weekly Saturday seminars (Sanei Sapei Waing) came into being. The Ludu couple was well known to all foreign scholars of Burmese
and the Ludu House in 84th. street was invariably the first port of call in their itinerary in Mandalay.
It had always been a strongly held conviction of U Hla that language should be simple and easily accessible to the readers. He had advocated speed reading and easy writing to the young writers, and when they started a campaign for writing Burmese
in the colloquial form instead of the prevailing archaic literary form, he embraced and promoted it with the help of U Kyaw Yin and Dr. Than Tun while Daw Amar expressed some reservations at first. It was a very controversial movement in the history of Burmese literature, regarded as left wing and subversive by conservative traditionalists and in government circles.
In addition to his daily column Thaung pyaung htweila yay gyin ya-ya ("Medley Writings", later published in 3 volumes), U Hla also compiled and published during this period 3 sets of chronicles:
Two other volumes were published posthumously:
that had flared up and smouldered in turn stifling development and progress. The paper campaigned for the success of the peace talks just as it had done in the early 1950s for world peace and an end to the civil war in Burma. It turned out to be a false dawn, and as the peace process broke down U Hla's oldest son Soe Win, aged 22 and a leader of the Rangoon University Students Union, went underground with several other student leaders to join the Communists. Four years later, in 1967, he was killed with several others in a bloody purge in the jungles of the Bago Yoma range of mountains, repercussions from the Cultural Revolution
in China
which had also led to violent anti-Chinese riots in Rangoon. The Ludu couple, true to Burmese Buddhist tradition, declined an invitation by the authorities to visit their son's jungle grave. Soe Win's younger brother Po Than Gyaung (b. 1945) was arrested in July 1966 and was put in detention (without charge or trial) till May 1972 for alleged clandestine student political activities. Po Than Jaung spent the earlier part of his detention inside Mandalay jail and later on the Cocos Island in the Andaman Sea
. The military regime closed down the Ludu Daily on July 7, 1967. U Hla had been busy on the state-sponsored campaign for literacy that year in the heat and dust of Upper Burma.
When the Hanthawaddy newspaper was launched in 1969, to fill the void in Mandalay, U Hla helped the editor U Win Tin
, who was to become a leader of the National League for Democracy
, in getting the paper off the ground, just as he had helped the Mandalay Thuriya when its editor and publisher U Tun Yin died during the war and his 18 year old son had to step into his father's shoes. U Hla was a firm believer in the pivotal role of the printed word in nation building and in collaboration with others in order to achieve this common goal.
U Hla also published the letters he had received from Theippan Maung Wa
, about 500 of them, in a book titled Thu sa mya ga pyaw dè Theippan Maung Wa - Theippan Maung Wa as Profiled by His Letters. He himself wrote about 700 letters to the older writer from 1933 to 1942 until the latter's untimely death soon after the Japanese invasion. Theippan Maung Wa's plays that had appeared in the Kyipwa Yay magazine under the pen name of a woman, Tin Tint, were the next to be re-introduced by U Hla to the reading public in another book titled Tint Tint Pyazat (Plays by Tint Tint). U Hla was again instrumental in the search for and eventual publication of Theippan Maung Wa's War Diary (Sit atwin neizin hmattaan).
Travelogues were another genre among U Hla's prolific writings:
Children's books besides his massive collection of folk tales include:
U Hla was forever concerned about the youth of Burma and his endeavours in their education include:
It has been said that, in the history of Burmese literature, no other writer has been as prolific as U Hla. He appeared to have an all consuming passion for the world of letters, and an inexhaustible amount of energy in not only writing, publishing and travelling for research and to give talks but in corresponding with all his friends and his readers. He remained active in civic and communal life; the Ludu couple was invited by the authorities to give talks to students from both Rangoon and Mandalay Universities taking part in a campaign for the reconstruction of the damaged temples of Bagan
in the great earthquake of 1975.
U Hla was survived by his wife Ludu Daw Amar (b. 1915), daughter Than Yin Mar (b. 1943, rtd. professor of medicine who has started writing as well assuming the pseudonym Dr. Mya Myitzu), son Po Than Gyaung (b. 1945, current spokesman for the Communist Party of Burma
), daughter Tin Win (b. 1947, in charge of Kyipwa Yay Press), and son Nyein Chan (b. 1952, a popular writer of short stories and travelogues, he started writing after his father's death under the name Nyi Pu Lay). Ludu Daw Amar (b. 1915) died recently on 7 April 2008 at the age of 93.
Ludu U Hla was a prime example of what an individual could achieve in a lifetime for the common good, although he would be the first to condemn one-upmanship. History is full of able men who fell by the wayside and lost sight of their own goals and forsook their own principles and convictions. U Hla was of the people, for the people, and never abandoned the people he loved and set out to serve from a very young age. To paraphrase one of his younger colleagues, Ludu Sein Win, even though U Hla had never taken up arms in the revolutionary struggle from colonial times, for he had such great compassion, and if his far-sightedness and forbearance were seen as ineptitude by young radicals, he was a "saintly revolutionary", to be compared with China
's Lu Hsun, though not a revolutionary saint.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, publisher, chronicler, folklorist and social reformer whose prolific writings include a considerable number of path-breaking nonfiction works. He was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu Daw Amar
Ludu Daw Amar
Ludu Daw Amar was a well known and respected leading dissident writer and journalist in Mandalay, Burma. She was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu U Hla and was the mother of popular writer Nyi Pu Lay...
.
He collected oral histories from people in a diverse range of occupations which included a boatmaster on the Irrawaddy
Ayeyarwady River
The Irrawaddy River or Ayeyarwady River is a river that flows from north to south through Burma . It is the country's largest river and most important commercial waterway. Originating from the confluence of the N'mai and Mali rivers, it flows relatively straight North-South before emptying through...
, a bamboo raftsman on the Salween
Salween River
The Salween is a river, about long, that flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea in Southeast Asia. It drains a narrow and mountainous watershed of that extends into the countries China, Burma and Thailand. Steep canyon walls line the swift, powerful and undammed Salween, one of the...
, the keeper of a logging elephant, a broker for Steele Bros. (a large trading company during the colonial period), a gambler on horses, a bureaucrat and a reporter. These were published in a series of books titled "I the ------".
A library of 43 volumes of folk tales, a total of 1597 stories, that he collected between 1962 and 1977 from most of the ethnic minorities of Burma was a truly Herculean undertaking. Many of these have been translated into several languages. There are 5 other volumes of folktales from around the world to his credit.
During the U Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
era of parliamentary democracy, he spent over three years in Rangoon Central Jail as a political prisoner after publishing a controversial news story in his Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
newspaper Ludu (The People). Whilst in prison he interviewed several inmates and wrote their life stories as told in the first person narrative, the best known collection of which was published in The Caged Ones; it won the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
award for literature in 1958, and has been translated into English.
Kyipwa Yay U Hla
Born in Pazun Myaung village near Nyaunglebin in Lower BurmaLower Burma
Lower Burma is a geographic region of Burma and includes the low-lying Irrawaddy delta , as well as coastal regions of the country ....
, and educated at the Rangoon Government High School, by the age of 20, U Hla had secured a valuer's position with the Rangoon Municipal Corporation; the Depression had hit Burma culminating in a peasant uprising and the founding of the nationalist Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association). He joined the Lu nge mya kyipwa yay a thin (Progress for Youth Club) which started as the Friendly Correspondence Club cum debating society among high school students in 1926, and his high-minded reformist zeal for all-round betterment of the country's youth had remained a lifelong passion since.
He lived over the shop in Scott Market
Bogyoke Market
Bogyoke Aung San Market is a major bazaar located in Pabedan township in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. Known for its colonial architecture and inner cobblestone streets, the market is a major tourist destination, dominated by antique, Burmese handicraft and jewellery shops, art galleries, and clothing...
(renamed Bogyoke Market after independence) as a boarder, doubling as librarian, and taught night classes to children from poor families in the neighbourhood. A keen sportsman, he played football for the Municipal team, exercised regularly and remained a teetotaller all his life.
In 1932 he managed to take over the publication of the Kyipwa Yay (Progress) magazine after a false start by the chairman U Thein. He had wanted to be a writer and publisher and grabbed the opportunity. The magazine was a success with most of the day's famous writers on board and with an editorial remit of educating young people in self-improvement, health and moral discipline in the struggle for independence and for building a new united Burma. Regular columns such as Maha Swe's Nei Thu Yein's Fearless Doctrine and Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa , born in Mawlamyaing and real name Sein Tin, was a Burmese writer who pioneered the literary movement of Hkit San that searched for a new style and content in Burmese literature before the Second World War starting with Hkit san pon byin .-Early works:He started writing...
's Letter from Maung Than Gyaung attracted a large readership. The Kyipwa Yay became the vehicle for a new style and content in Burmese literature known as Hkit san (Testing the Age), a movement started most notably by Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa , born in Mawlamyaing and real name Sein Tin, was a Burmese writer who pioneered the literary movement of Hkit San that searched for a new style and content in Burmese literature before the Second World War starting with Hkit san pon byin .-Early works:He started writing...
, Nwe Soe, Zawgyi
Saya Zawgyi
Zawgyi , born in Pyapon, Irrawaddy Division, real name U Thein Han , was a distinguished and leading Burmese poet, author, literary historian, critic, scholar and academic....
, Min Thu Wun
Min Thu Wun
Min Thu Wun was a Mon - Burmese poet, writer and scholar who helped launch a new age literary movement called Hkit san in Burma.-Distinguished career:...
,Maung Thuta, Maung Htin and Mya Kaytu. He also wrote articles assuming the pen names Kyipwa Yay Maung Hla and Maung Kan Kaung. A devout Buddhist and non-violent reformist at heart, he made friends with and his home became a favourite haunt of many politicians such as Aung San
Aung San
Bogyoke Aung San ; 13 February 1915 – 19 July 1947) was a Burmese revolutionary, nationalist, and founder of the modern Burmese army, the Tatmadaw....
, Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun
Thakin Than Tun born in Kanyutkwin, Myanmar, was a Burmese politician and leader of the Communist Party of Burma from 1945 until his death at age 57.-Struggle for freedom:...
, Thakin Zin and Thakin Ba Koe as well as writers such as Maha Swe, Dagon Ta-ya, Zawana, P Moe Nin
P Moe Nin
P Moe Nin was one of Burma’s most prolific and treasured writers. His writing style differed from that prevalent in Burma at the time, writing concisely and clearly. Because of this, he is often regarded as the father of Burmese short story writing and the modern Burmese novel...
, Thukha, Maung Htin and Dr Maung Hpyuu, journalists such as Thuriya U Thein Maung, cartoonists U Ba Galay, U Hein Soon and U Ba Gyan, artist U Ohn Lwin and weightlifters Ka-ya bala U Shein, U Zaw Weik and U Ne Win. The Thuriya (Sun) newspaper was where he had started as a budding writer and where he appeared to have learnt the rudiments of journalism and publishing. U Hla was tall, fair and handsome (Hla incidentally means handsome), and known for his friendly smile, gentle soft-spoken manner, even temper, clean living and generosity.
When the second university students strike in history broke out in 1936, he became friendly with one of the best known women student leaders, Amar
Ludu Daw Amar
Ludu Daw Amar was a well known and respected leading dissident writer and journalist in Mandalay, Burma. She was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu U Hla and was the mother of popular writer Nyi Pu Lay...
from Mandalay, whose Burmese translation of Trials in Burma
Trials in Burma
Trials in Burma is a memoir by Maurice Collis, an English author of Irish origin who served in Burma in the Indian Civil Service under the British Empire written in 1937 describing events in 1929-30....
by Maurice Collis
Maurice Collis
Maurice Stewart Collis was an administrator in Burma when it was part of the British Empire, and afterwards a writer on Southeast Asia, China and other historical subjects.-Life:...
he had published among her other writings in his magazine. They married in 1939 and he moved to Mandalay where he continued to publish the Kyipwa Yay. He invited on board upcountry writers such as Shwe Kaingtha ( a monk from Sagaing
Sagaing
Sagaing is the capital of Sagaing Region in Myanmar. Located on the Ayeyarwady River, 20 km to the southwest of Mandalay on the opposite bank of the river, Sagaing with numerous Buddhist monasteries is an important religious and monastic center. The pagodas and monasteries crowd the numerous...
and former archaeologist who was already one of the Kyipwa Yay regulars under the name Yadanabon Hpo Hmatsu) and Marla, an old school friend of Amar, in addition to the usual stable of writers such as Maha Swe, Zawgyi, Min Thu Wun, Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa , born in Mawlamyaing and real name Sein Tin, was a Burmese writer who pioneered the literary movement of Hkit San that searched for a new style and content in Burmese literature before the Second World War starting with Hkit san pon byin .-Early works:He started writing...
, Zawana, Maung Hpyuu and Maung Htin.
Wartime Kyipwa Yay
During the Japanese Occupation (1942–1945), the Kyipwa Yay continued to come out even though the whole extended family had fled the war to the countryside north of Mandalay. It featured as before cultural essays, literary reviews, and articles on travel, rural development and health education. U Hla and Daw Amar translated into Burmese and published all three best-selling wartime novels of the Japanese soldier writer Hino AshiheiHino Ashihei
was born in Wakamatsu and in 1937 he received the prestigious Akutagawa Prize for one of his novels, . At that moment he was a soldier for the Japanese army in China....
:
- Soil and Soldiers - Shun hnint sittha and
- Flowers and Soldiers - Paan hnint sittha by U Hla
- Wheat and Soldiers - Gyon hnint sittha by Daw AmarLudu Daw AmarLudu Daw Amar was a well known and respected leading dissident writer and journalist in Mandalay, Burma. She was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu U Hla and was the mother of popular writer Nyi Pu Lay...
who also translated "The Rainbow" (Thettant yaung) by the PolishPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Communist writer Wanda WasilewskaWanda WasilewskaWanda Wasilewska was a Polish and Soviet novelist and communist political activist who played an important role in the creation of a Polish division of the Soviet Red Army during World War II and the formation of the Polish People's Republic....
in 1945.
Both U Hla and Daw Amar became involved in the Resistance movement; they formed the Asha Lu Nge (Asia Youth) in Mandalay, ostensibly to collaborate with the Japanese, and engaged mainly in rescue and sanitation operations, but it became a ready source of young Resistance fighters for Bohmu Ba Htoo in Upper Burma. U Hla was aware that his young members were in contact with both the Communist Party
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma is the oldest existing political party in Burma. The party is unrecognised by the Burmese authorities, rendering it illegal; so it operates in a clandestine manner, often associating with insurgent armies along the border of People's Republic of China...
and the People's Revolutionary Party (later the Socialist Party) and tried to protect them by advising the inclusion of an interpreter, who worked for the Japanese, on the executive committee of the organisation as a safeguard against the Kempeitai
Kempeitai
The was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945. It was not an English-style military police, but a French-style gendarmerie...
. When the Allies returned U Hla wasted no time in co-founding the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League
The Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League , or hpa hsa pa la by its Burmese acronym, was the main political party in Burma from 1945 until 1962...
(AFPFL) in Mandalay with Rakhine
Rakhine people
The Rakhine , is a nationality in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 5.53% or more of Myanmar's total population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of...
U Kyaw Yin, who parachuted into Burma with the help of the Allies, and Thakin Tun Yin,while Rangoon was still under the Japanese. A popular wartime song titled Ludu sit (People's War) by A-1 Saya Hnya was co-written by U Hla and U Kyaw Yin. U Hla was arrested and interrogated by the British after they had recaptured Mandalay.
Post-War Ludu
During the period of post-war austerity, U Hla continued to publish using any kind of paper that he could get hold of including coloured matchbox packing paper and used office paper with printing on one side. He would also still manage to send his new books as gifts, about 200 on each occasion, to all his friends in Rangoon at a time when communication lines and road and rail transportation had all but broken down. It was in 1945 that he launched the fortnightly Ludu (The People) Journal with his wife as assistant editor. The following year saw the launch of the Ludu Daily newspaper and subsequently the couple came to be known as Ludu U Hla and Ludu Daw AmarLudu Daw Amar
Ludu Daw Amar was a well known and respected leading dissident writer and journalist in Mandalay, Burma. She was married to fellow writer and journalist Ludu U Hla and was the mother of popular writer Nyi Pu Lay...
. Their incisive political commentaries and analyses made a significant contribution to the country's yearning for independence and unified struggle against colonial rule. Their publications had never carried advertisements for alcohol, drugs to enhance sexual performance or gambling, nor racing tips, salacious affairs and gossip. U Hla had to be persuaded to make an exception of film advertisements for the survival of the paper.
One morning in 1948, soon after Burma gained her independence from the British, however, the Kyipwa Yay Press in Mandalay was dynamited to rubble by government troops who were angry that the Ludu couple appeared to be sympathetic to the Communists. This was a time when regime change happened quite often with the city falling into the hands, in turn, of the Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
rebels, Communists and the new nationalist government under U Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
. The entire family, including two pregnant women, was thrown out into the street, lined up and was about to be gunned down when a number of monks and locals successfully intervened to save their lives. Although only an ardent reformist, if left-leaning, and recognised as such from the early days by his friends and colleagues, the accusing finger of being a Communist by successive governments was never to leave him, even when many in the ruling party of the day, including Ne Win
Ne Win
Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...
, knew him personally. Hardline leftists, on the other hand, regarded him as weak and indecisive, lacking in revolutionary commitment.
U Hla was an active founding member of the Writers Association of Burma and chaired the Upper Burma section. In 1952 he attended, with Thakin Kodaw Hmaing
Thakin Kodaw Hmaing
Thakin Kodaw Hmaing is considered one of the greatest Burmese poets, writers and political leaders in the 20th century history of Burma. He is regarded as the Father of Burmese nationalist and peace movements as well as a literary genius...
, Zawana, Shwe U Daung, Dagon Ta-ya and U Ohn Lwin, the Conference for Peace in the Asia Pacific Region in Peking
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. In October 1953 the AFPFL government imprisoned U Hla under Section 5 for sedition as a political prisoner which spawned a whole genre of life stories of his fellow inmates among others that he published after his release in January 1957:
- Lei hnint a tu - Along with the Wind, translated into Japanese
- Htaung hnint lutha - Prison and Man, winner of the Sapei Beikman award in 1957
- Hlaungyaing dwin hma hnget nge mya - Young Birds in a Cage, translated into English under the title The Caged Ones and winner of the UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
award for literature in 1958. - Ah lone kaung gya yè lah - Are You All All Right?
- Yèbaw hnint maung gyi hnama - Soldier and Maiden
- Sit achit hnint htaung - War, Love and Prison 1960, translated into English under the title The Victim.
- Za-nee hnint tha thami mya tho htaung dwin hma payza mya - Letters from Prison to Wife and Children
- Sit peeza htaung daga - Post-War Prison Gates
- Ma-nee dè bawa hka-yee - Life is a Long Journey
Whilst inside U Hla remained active organising sporting and literary events for inmates and invited friends from the world of sport, arts and literature to these special events as a bridge between the outside world and those inside. He formed a football team and took up golf. His fellow political prisoners remembered him as having the most visitors, and that he was anxious to share all the news and the food from outside. U Hla was an accomplished public speaker with a ready smile and great sense of humour but without pride or prejudice. He was friendly and polite and concerned with the health and well-being of everyone and soon he would become U-lay Hla (Uncle Hla) to the younger inmates. He would not forget to visit them in prison after his release bringing food, books and even a radio on one occasion.
Military era
U Hla had nurtured a new generation of young writers and artists from the University of MandalayUniversity of Mandalay
Mandalay University is a public liberal arts university located in Mandalay, Myanmar. Formerly an affiliate of Rangoon University, Mandalay University is the second oldest university in the country, and the largest university in Upper Myanmar...
and elsewhere in Upper Burma
Upper Burma
Upper Burma refers to a geographic region of Burma , traditionally encompassing Mandalay and its periphery , or more broadly speaking, Kachin and Shan States....
such as poets Tin Moe
Tin Moe
Tin Moe ; November 19, 1933 – January 22, 2007) was a famous Burmese poet.-Early life:Tin Moe Tin Moe ; November 19, 1933 – January 22, 2007) was a famous Burmese poet.-Early life:Tin Moe Tin Moe ; November 19, 1933 – January 22, 2007) was a famous Burmese poet.-Early life:Tin Moe ( was born Maung...
, Kyi Aung, Maung Swan Yi, Maung Pauk Si and Ko Lay (Innwa Gon-yi), writers Maung Tha Noe, Maung Tha-ya, Maung Thein Naing and Maung Saw Lwin, artists Paw Oo Thett and Win Pe as well as old established ones such as writers Sagaing U Hpo Thin, Shwe Kaingtha and Marla and artists U Ba Gyan, U Aung Chit and U Saw Maung. The Ludu Daily carried a Monday extra dedicated to poetry, and with U Hla's encouragement the young poets published an anthology titled A-nya myei hkit gabya (Modern Poetry from Upcountry). Book reviews, critical essays on literature and research papers in local history, arts and crafts enjoyed nearly as many column inches as domestic and international news and analysis. U Hla would not try and influence the content or edit out the young writers' efforts but he would ensure that they could back up any assertions or claims they might make. He would never talk down to them although he often complained that they had talent but they lacked effort; one of his dreams was for them to form a writers' co-operative and run their own publishing house.
The paper had featured articles about the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
; there had been a series of articles titled "From the Volga to the Ganges". Shwe U Daung, the chief editor, had translated "The Heroes of People's China". An old school friend of Daw Amar's father, he was famous for his excellent adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Brigadier Gerard as well as his translations of H. Rider Haggard
H. Rider Haggard
Sir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
's Alan Quartermain novels and was arrested at the same time as U Hla but he was to remain in Mandalay Prison for the duration.
The social calendar of Mandalay was, by the 1960s, featuring U Hla either as an organiser or as a guest speaker, from anniversaries such as National Day
National Day
The National Day is a designated date on which celebrations mark the nationhood of a nation or non-sovereign country. This nationhood can be symbolized by the date of independence, of becoming republic or a significant date for a patron saint or a ruler . Often the day is not called "National Day"...
to hospital fund-raising and the founding of an old people's home. He served on numerous committees and the Senate of Mandalay University. He would often jokingly refer to himself as a "Mandalayan by marriage". He was liked and respected by senior Buddhist monks as well as the layfolk but he distanced himself from religious affairs as such. His popularity reached a level where a plot to assassinate him by some of the politicians, who became jealous and feared he might run for office, existed but only came to light after his death.
The Writers Association of Upper Burma reached a peak in its activities in the 1960s and the 1970s with U Hla at its helm.Sazodaw Nei (Writers' Day) in December each year eventually stretched to Sazodaw La (Writers' Month) with talks and seminars open to the public, paying obeisance to older writers, and subsequently literary talk and research tours which were very popular. U Hla insisted that these must not be a financial burden to the locals. He encouraged and ensured that the papers read at these seminars, both critical reviews in literature and research papers, were published in book form. It was during this period that he started collecting folk tales travelling up and down the country. U Hla encouraged ethnic Mon
Mon people
The Mon are an ethnic group from Burma , living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai–Burmese border. One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Burma and Thailand...
Thakin Aung Pe and Rakhine
Rakhine people
The Rakhine , is a nationality in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 5.53% or more of Myanmar's total population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of...
U Kyaw Yin to do the same among their own people. When the very first volume Kayin ponbyin mya (Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
Folk Tales) was planned, his assistant editor pointed out that it would lose money; he was given a lengthy explanation by U Hla how profit was immaterial in an effort to bring out in print something that would contribute to better understanding among the peoples of Burma and to unifying them, and how it was far more important to make sure these cultural treasures of ethnic minorities were not lost to future generations.
U Hla had also been the same driving force behind the revival of folk songs, from the early days of the Kyipwa Yay with Yadanabon Hpo Hmatsu's Shwebo
Shwebo
Shwebo is a city in Sagaing Division, Myanmar, located 113 km northwest of Mandalay between the Irrawaddy and the Mu rivers. The city, also called Ratanasingha , was the capital of Myanmar from 1752 to 1760 during the Konbaung period....
bongyi than (drum music) and Maung htaung tay (rice-pounding songs), and Thuriya Kandi's Rakhine
Rakhine people
The Rakhine , is a nationality in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 5.53% or more of Myanmar's total population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of...
tay folk songs. The poet Maung Swan Yi was delegated the task one generation later, and one of the results was Lègwin dè ga ludu tay than mya (People's Songs from the Paddy Fields). He was delighted when presented with copies of Inle taik tay and Taung-yo Danu tay, songs from Inle Lake
Inle Lake
Inle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar . It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of , and one of the highest at an altitude of...
and around, by the local compilers who were inspired by him. The transfer to Mandalay University during this period of two of his old friends, Rakhine
Rakhine people
The Rakhine , is a nationality in Myanmar forming the majority along the coastal region of present day Rakhine State or Arakan State. They possibly constitute 5.53% or more of Myanmar's total population but no accurate census figures exist. Rakhine people also live in the southeastern parts of...
U Kyaw Yin as dean and Dr. Than Tun
Than Tun
Dr. Than Tun was an influential Burmese historian as well as an outspoken critic of the military junta of Burma. For his lifelong contributions to the development of worldwide study of Burmese history and culture, Professor Than Tun was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 2000.-Overview:A...
as professor of history, provided a boost to the literary and research activities, and the weekly Saturday seminars (Sanei Sapei Waing) came into being. The Ludu couple was well known to all foreign scholars of Burmese
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
and the Ludu House in 84th. street was invariably the first port of call in their itinerary in Mandalay.
It had always been a strongly held conviction of U Hla that language should be simple and easily accessible to the readers. He had advocated speed reading and easy writing to the young writers, and when they started a campaign for writing Burmese
Burmese language
The Burmese language is the official language of Burma. Although the constitution officially recognizes it as the Myanmar language, most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese. Burmese is the native language of the Bamar and related sub-ethnic groups of the Bamar, as well as...
in the colloquial form instead of the prevailing archaic literary form, he embraced and promoted it with the help of U Kyaw Yin and Dr. Than Tun while Daw Amar expressed some reservations at first. It was a very controversial movement in the history of Burmese literature, regarded as left wing and subversive by conservative traditionalists and in government circles.
In addition to his daily column Thaung pyaung htweila yay gyin ya-ya ("Medley Writings", later published in 3 volumes), U Hla also compiled and published during this period 3 sets of chronicles:
-
- Thadinza mya thi thamaing go pyaw nei gya thi - Newspapers Chronicle History
- Thadinza mya pyaw pya dè sit atwin Myanma pyi - Wartime Burma as Chronicled by Newspapers
- Thadinza mya pyaw pya dè sit peeza Myanma pyi - Post-war Burma as Chronicled by Newspapers 1969
Two other volumes were published posthumously:
-
- Kyundaw sa-daan kyundaw ahaan mya - My Seminar Papers, My Speeches 1983
- Hnit ta-ya ga auk-pyi auk-ywa - Lower Burma One Hundred Years Ago 2002
Demise of the Ludu Daily
The peace talks of 1963 marked a very exciting time in the post-war history of Burma. Expectations ran high and the Ludu family was no exception in looking forward to a new beginning for the country with peace in the offing, after 15 years of civil warCivil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
that had flared up and smouldered in turn stifling development and progress. The paper campaigned for the success of the peace talks just as it had done in the early 1950s for world peace and an end to the civil war in Burma. It turned out to be a false dawn, and as the peace process broke down U Hla's oldest son Soe Win, aged 22 and a leader of the Rangoon University Students Union, went underground with several other student leaders to join the Communists. Four years later, in 1967, he was killed with several others in a bloody purge in the jungles of the Bago Yoma range of mountains, repercussions from the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
which had also led to violent anti-Chinese riots in Rangoon. The Ludu couple, true to Burmese Buddhist tradition, declined an invitation by the authorities to visit their son's jungle grave. Soe Win's younger brother Po Than Gyaung (b. 1945) was arrested in July 1966 and was put in detention (without charge or trial) till May 1972 for alleged clandestine student political activities. Po Than Jaung spent the earlier part of his detention inside Mandalay jail and later on the Cocos Island in the Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....
. The military regime closed down the Ludu Daily on July 7, 1967. U Hla had been busy on the state-sponsored campaign for literacy that year in the heat and dust of Upper Burma.
When the Hanthawaddy newspaper was launched in 1969, to fill the void in Mandalay, U Hla helped the editor U Win Tin
U Win Tin
Win Tin is a politician and former political prisoner in Burma. Arrested in July 1989 because of his senior position in the National League for Democracy and for his writings, he spent 19 years in prison...
, who was to become a leader of the National League for Democracy
National League for Democracy
The National League for Democracy is a Burmese political party founded on 27 September 1988. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi serves as its General Secretary. The party won a substantial parliamentary majority in the 1990 Burmese general election. However, the ruling military junta...
, in getting the paper off the ground, just as he had helped the Mandalay Thuriya when its editor and publisher U Tun Yin died during the war and his 18 year old son had to step into his father's shoes. U Hla was a firm believer in the pivotal role of the printed word in nation building and in collaboration with others in order to achieve this common goal.
Ludu Books and Kyipwa Yay Press
The printing machines in 84th street had no time to gather dust as U Hla concentrated his efforts in bringing out volume after volume of books, his own and others' including Daw Amar's translations and analyses in international politics and her treatises on traditional Burmese theatre, dance and music now that they could no longer write about domestic politics. He began interviewing people from all walks of life so he could retell their stories to his reading public and the result was a series of kyundaw books:-
- Kyundaw byu-ro karat - I the Bureaucrat 1970
- Kyundaw sa-tee pwèza - I the Steele Broker 1970
- Kyundaw thadindauk - I the Reporter 1971
- Kyundaw hlei tha-gyi - I the Boatmaster 1972
- Kyundaw myinthama - I the Gambler on Horses 1972
- Kyundaw thanlwin hpaungzee - I the Salween Rafter, translated into Japanese
- Kyundaw hsin oozi - I the Elephant Driver
- Kyundaw hsa-chet thama - I the Saltmaker, published posthumously in 1986
U Hla also published the letters he had received from Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa
Theippan Maung Wa , born in Mawlamyaing and real name Sein Tin, was a Burmese writer who pioneered the literary movement of Hkit San that searched for a new style and content in Burmese literature before the Second World War starting with Hkit san pon byin .-Early works:He started writing...
, about 500 of them, in a book titled Thu sa mya ga pyaw dè Theippan Maung Wa - Theippan Maung Wa as Profiled by His Letters. He himself wrote about 700 letters to the older writer from 1933 to 1942 until the latter's untimely death soon after the Japanese invasion. Theippan Maung Wa's plays that had appeared in the Kyipwa Yay magazine under the pen name of a woman, Tin Tint, were the next to be re-introduced by U Hla to the reading public in another book titled Tint Tint Pyazat (Plays by Tint Tint). U Hla was again instrumental in the search for and eventual publication of Theippan Maung Wa's War Diary (Sit atwin neizin hmattaan).
Travelogues were another genre among U Hla's prolific writings:
-
- Indonesia anauk hma ashei tho - IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
West to East - Japan pyi ta-hkauk - A Sojourn in JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
- Naga taungdaan dazi dazaung - A Glimpse of the NagaNagalandNagaland is a state in the far north-eastern part of India. It borders the state of Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh and part of Assam to the north, Burma to the east and Manipur to the south. The state capital is Kohima, and the largest city is Dimapur...
Hills
- Indonesia anauk hma ashei tho - Indonesia
Children's books besides his massive collection of folk tales include:
-
- Su htoo pan yaukkya - A Man of Supreme Wish, written for his oldest son Soe Win, aged 3, during the war in 1944
- Ko Pyu nè Ma Pyone - Ko Pyu and Ma Pyone Cartoons by U Ba Gyan, the first book to be published by the Kyipwa Yay Press in Mandalay
U Hla was forever concerned about the youth of Burma and his endeavours in their education include:
-
- Lu ta lone - A Person of Substance 1977
- Ayet-thama a-hma ta htaung - One Thousand Errant Ways of an Alcoholic
- Ayet-thama a-hma hna htaung - Two Thousand Errant Ways of an Alcoholic
- Beinbyu thama a-hma gaba - A World of Errant Ways of a Heroin Addict 1974
- Sayleik nè lutha - Tobacco and Man, co-authored with Daw Amar who smoked from age 8 till her 40s and whose family business was tobacco
It has been said that, in the history of Burmese literature, no other writer has been as prolific as U Hla. He appeared to have an all consuming passion for the world of letters, and an inexhaustible amount of energy in not only writing, publishing and travelling for research and to give talks but in corresponding with all his friends and his readers. He remained active in civic and communal life; the Ludu couple was invited by the authorities to give talks to students from both Rangoon and Mandalay Universities taking part in a campaign for the reconstruction of the damaged temples of Bagan
Bagan
Bagan , formerly Pagan, is an ancient city in the Mandalay Region of Burma. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana and also known as Tambadipa or Tassadessa , it was the capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma...
in the great earthquake of 1975.
Final years
U Hla was imprisoned for the fifth time in 1978, this time with his wife Daw Amar and their youngest son Nyein Chan (b. 1952) who were both released later than U Hla in 1979. His second son Po Than Gyaung had gone underground in 1976 to join the Communists like his brother before him. U Hla's death at the age of 72, in August 1982, was unexpected by most who knew him as someone who had always lived a healthy life, although he developed diabetes later in life. He was suddenly taken ill just as he was about to be interviewed by a Japanese woman researcher accompanied by the writer Maung Tha-ya, rushed to hospital, and he died the same evening.U Hla was survived by his wife Ludu Daw Amar (b. 1915), daughter Than Yin Mar (b. 1943, rtd. professor of medicine who has started writing as well assuming the pseudonym Dr. Mya Myitzu), son Po Than Gyaung (b. 1945, current spokesman for the Communist Party of Burma
Communist Party of Burma
The Communist Party of Burma is the oldest existing political party in Burma. The party is unrecognised by the Burmese authorities, rendering it illegal; so it operates in a clandestine manner, often associating with insurgent armies along the border of People's Republic of China...
), daughter Tin Win (b. 1947, in charge of Kyipwa Yay Press), and son Nyein Chan (b. 1952, a popular writer of short stories and travelogues, he started writing after his father's death under the name Nyi Pu Lay). Ludu Daw Amar (b. 1915) died recently on 7 April 2008 at the age of 93.
Ludu U Hla was a prime example of what an individual could achieve in a lifetime for the common good, although he would be the first to condemn one-upmanship. History is full of able men who fell by the wayside and lost sight of their own goals and forsook their own principles and convictions. U Hla was of the people, for the people, and never abandoned the people he loved and set out to serve from a very young age. To paraphrase one of his younger colleagues, Ludu Sein Win, even though U Hla had never taken up arms in the revolutionary struggle from colonial times, for he had such great compassion, and if his far-sightedness and forbearance were seen as ineptitude by young radicals, he was a "saintly revolutionary", to be compared with China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's Lu Hsun, though not a revolutionary saint.
External links
- The Rightful Owner Karen Folk Tales by Ludu U Hla
- The Cocksparrow and the Hensparrow a Kayin folktale as retold by Ludu U Hla
- Ludu U Hla (1910-1982) - writer, journalist The Myanmar Chronicle, January 2006
- The Wedding a short story by Nyi Pu Lay
- Half a Century of Publishing in Mandalay by Anna Allott (PDF full article), Center for Burma Studies, Northern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois UniversityNorthern Illinois University is a state university and research institution located in DeKalb, Illinois, with satellite centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford, and Oregon. It was originally founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895 by Illinois Governor John P...
, USA - Junta Reins in Mandalay Writers Yeni,The IrrawaddyThe IrrawaddyThis article is about a newsmagazine. For other uses of the term, please see Irrawaddy.For the Second World War battle honour, see Battle of Pokoku and Irrawaddy River operations...
,October 17, 2006 - Ludu Daw Amar celebrates 91st birthday at different venue Mungpi, Mizzima News, November 29, 2006
- Ludu Sein Win hospitalised Mizzima News, February 8, 2007