A Memorable Milestone in My Life

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

My heart pounded as I was informed
Our textbook has been printed now
Ready to be sold to students in a few days
It was the sweetest news for us I would say.

It was a book written by Nan and I together
During two or three years ago at free hours
We collected questions and questionnaires
From the staff and students at seminars
On gross anatomy, histology and embryology
They should and must know for certainty.

Then we read textbooks monographs and journals
That was prescribed and recommended formal
To look for answers and explanations as factual
We compiled them with diagrams and photos especial.

Our aim was to integrate the anatomical sciences
Gross structure with microscopy and clinical relevance
Relating its development if it explains its significance
Like undescended testis and inguinal hernia occurrence
Or a blue baby with interatrial septal defect
Mixing of blood from two atria explains the fact.

This is a new approach in teaching anatomy
Developed for easy understanding and memory
Students like it and appreciate the new pedagogy
An integral part of the Problem-Based Learning strategy
The book is named Essentials of Integrated Anatomy
It will be of great use to medical students and faculty.

It’s a milestone indeed for us
As the textbook in English first
We have published so far thus
Though we have published such stuffs
On many topics in Burma together
This is the first time ever abroad here.

We are glad not only for our selves
But also for our friends we felt
Those working in Malaysia as teachers
In various medical schools for years
It’s a work they can certainly talk about
It’s an achievement we can share aloud!

The book is sold today at the Faculty
Students come flocking to study
They look, they push and they book
To buy it as it is sold out like Hula Hoops
The publisher proudly tells them to wait
The book will come tomorrow date
“It will not be too late; don’t be afraid!
It sells like hot cake, but it’s durably made”

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
31.3.2010 (Original)

Being a Burmese Benefits

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

Being a Burmese makes you proud
Eating speaking and meeting about
In Burmese or English quite loud
It’s our culture not to speak in doubt!

(General Aung San during the Japanese Occupation)

We can do what other people do
Reading writing or running a school
However we can’t offset army rule
That’s the only weakness and taboo.

(General Tin Oo of NLD on 27.3.2010)

But I can do what I like
I can freely read and write
Outside of Burma of course
Does it matter as a rose?

(Sule Pagoda in Downtown Yangon)

When I visit my country again
People recognize my name
They make way for me and help
It’s Burmese custom heart felt.

(Colonel K Ko Gyi, the first Dean of IM2, now a university)

When I ask for appointment
They give it on an instant
There is no denial or delay
It’s Burmese friendly way.

(A Burmese Meal hosted by a Friend in Yangon)

I write an autobiography as an essay
My publishers jump with joy to pay
For the cost of printing and publishing
Whether it sells or sinks on finishing.

(Burmese Disches Displayed before a Meal)

My elder friends agree to write their forewords
Even though they are busy with their own works
There is no pretension or inhibition on their part
How fortunate I’m to be friends with such stalwarts!

(Dr MMN and Dagon Taryar)

Dagon Taryar and Paragu started writing their Ovada
It’s so with the poet and plastic surgeon Nyunt Wai (Katha)
Dr Nyunt Wai, Tekkatho Sein Tin and U Kyaw Shein
too in this endeavor

(Nyunt Wai (Katha) alias Dr Thein Nyunt)

Dr Khin Maung Aye has sent his draft altogether
I’m pleased with myself and thank the authors
It’s a big benefit of being a Burmese in Burma.

(The Great Shwedagon Pagoda giving Pride and Peace to

all the Burmese)

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
20.3.2010 (Original)

Burmese not Welcome in USA

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

Burmese not welcome in USA
A Midwest shop signboard says
Like the "Chinese and dogs" in the old days
It’s racist and forbidden in the Shanghai bay!

These Burmese are mostly refugees
Coming from Burma’s peripheries
Mostly Karen Shan Mon and Karennies
They don’t know anything about courtesies.

But what about the Burmese in the States
Would they hide their identities for their sakes?
No wonder many non-Burman shy to say Burmese
They all are frightened like tortured tortoises.

Be proud to be a Burman or Burmese
Your land has a history of huge feats
Pagan Mandalay and Shwedagon are built
By unselfish untiring invincible creeds
Solely to establish a nation with good deeds
It still exists as a sovereign country for keeps.

I'm proud to be a Burman
Whatever happen to my land
It's a land of Anawrahta, Bayinnaung and Alaungpaya
It's a land of palms, palaces, pious people and pagodas!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
15.3.2009 (Original); Reference:

At Peace of Mind

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

My heart leaps up when I rise up from bed
There is mist around the blue mountain head
It’s like the Shan State I have visited and valued
Now I live in Kuching the cleanest City we knew.

(Kuching in the Mist)

White clouds hover over heads and tiny town
Rain comes sudden as though someone pours down
From high above the mountain to douse and drown us
Then suddenly the sun shines with a rainbow to cheer up.

(Kuching Under the Clouds and Mountains)

It’s cool after the rain
You can forget the pain
Of living near the equator
Now you’re high in Himalaya.

(The Shimla Range in the Himalaya )

I always think of Shimla
Like a Tamvadinsa or similar
As described by one Burmese author
Where Dorman Smith conjured
Plans to recapture Japan’s Burma
Thein Pe Myint opposed it for ever
He was for Burma’s independence
We got it as the consequence.

(Lashio in the Shan State)

Without him or Aung San
Burma will be undone
No one will benefit
All the people will perish.

(General Aung San During the Japanese Period)

Now we still have identity
We can enjoy our itinerary
To any country in the world if prefer
Standing tall speaking loud and clear
Our own language or English
The lingua franca as it is
Forget about the British Colonial days
We’re independent and sovereign any ways.

(The Great Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar)

I know Burma is in trouble
No one likes to travel
For fear of unrest and riots
That the junta resorts
To control the populace
In destitute and disgrace
Denied of democracy and decency
They demand diligently and doggedly.

(The Niagara Falls)

Able and educated people leave the country
For clean water and greener grass perfunctorily
People in distress do without thinking systematically
But I always think of the people at large sympathetically.

(The Magic Kingdom in Disney World, Orlando, Florida)

For me I can eat three meals a day
I can read and write as I like to stay
I can sleep with snoring so soundly
Even dogs can bark on end profoundly.

(At a Dinner in Kuching; L to R: Drs Nan Ommar, Phyu Phyu Aung,

Yin Yin Nwe, Dr Tin Win, Dr Myat Moe, Dr MMN)

I have a peace of mind now a days
No distraction or discussion can sway
To futile arguments angst and angers
My mind has matured as Buddha renders.

(The Senate House, University of London, England)

I still miss lively and lovely London
The heart and head of enigmatic England
But Malaysia has all what London had in the sixties
A British colony has developed to the point of princely.

(Snow-covered East Lansing, Michigan, USA)

I still remember Michigan and the Midwest
Hearth of hard work and hotbed
Where Black and White vie for supremacy
Asians and others look on with timidity.

(The Grand Canyon)

America is a Goliath sleeping in state
As Nobel Laureate poet Eliot indicates
Full of new ideas and inventions
But many perish without insurance or renditions.

(The Mandalay Fort and Moat)

I have a peace of mind
That is sensitive and sublime
My wife and children are the same
They’re happy and healthy like a game.

(My Family)

I am satisfied with my self
I don’t need any outside help
Thanks to my fate and Karma
I pray every day to the Buddha
That I may keep going strong
To help others and bring them along!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo
10.3.2010 (Original)

Is Ignorance Bliss

Dr Maung Maung Nyo



(Mandalay Hill, Moat and Fort)

There’s a saying amiss

Ignorance is bliss

Really it is

I find them plenty to deal with.

(Thanbuddhay Pagoda, Monywa)

Some Buddhists think

Upekkha is its hint

When a learned man denies

They say they’re blind!

(Kaunghmudaw Pagoda, Sagaing)

Some non-Buddhists say

There is only one way, their way

There is only one God, their God

Only He knows all in their thought.

(Pagan at Sunset with Silhouettes of Pagodas)

He wants to learn it from others

By asking silly questionnaires

When true answers are provided

He declines to accept t them right.

(The Great Shwedagon Pagoda)

I have wandered in this land long

I did not find anything strong

In philosophy, argument and premise

What a land so barren and brutish!

(Buddha at the End of Buddhist Lent Coming Down from

Tavareinsa Abode of Dewas)

An English man says with derision

Two Burmese make three teams

I did not believe it so before

Now I know why he says so

There is so much ignorance galore!

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

3.3.2010 (Original)