Chelsea Flower Show and Gorgeous Gardens

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

I’m fond of flowers and gardens

I used to value and visit them

Especially while I was in England

It refreshed my mind to withstand

Worries and woes weighing wild

A fragrant flower makes me smile.

(Gorgeous Flowers, Chelsea Flower Show, London)

I remember Khin Hnin Yu’s words

“A lover of flowers has kind heart,

He would not kill a mocking bird”

It’s a useful maxim for many of us;

(Fascinating Flowers, Chelsea Flower Show, London)

The late Khin Hnin Yu was the author

Of ‘Man who blooms the flowers’

(Pan Mya Ko Pyint Ze Thu) in Myanmar

She won national literary prizes in Burma.

(Sloane Square, Chelsea, London)

So, I felt more than happy

When Betty Paddon invited me

To visit Chelsea Flower Show

It's an annual event of yore.

(Sloane Square Tube Station, London)

Betty and Percy met me at the Sloane Square Station

We walked for about ten minutes chatting and sunning

It was May with the sun and scenes scented with spring

The flower show was held in a big open ground gleaming;

(Conifer Courtyard, Chelsea Flower Show, London)

With all flowers bright and beautiful, gardens gay and gleeful

Men and women without weeping children enjoying in full

I for one gazed at the gigantic view and multitudes of people

It was like walking in a wonder land replete with all things colourful.

(Pond Installation, Chelsea Flower Show,London)

Betty was delighted that I enjoyed the show

She was amazed that I liked fragrant flowers more

She promised to take me to the Kew Gardens also

I was fortunate to have met such a friend as gold.

(Kew Gardens, Green House and Beds of Beautiful Flowers)

She was a best friend of Ms Dorothy Woodman

Renowned journalist who wrote ‘The Making of Burma’ then

She was invited by General Ne Win to see Burma under BSPP

Many of his party cadres answered about the country and party;

(General Ne Win, 1911-2002, After Retirement, Died ignominiously))

She writes it was an amalgam of Burmese folklore, Buddhism and Marxism

That New Statesman Journal was photocopied and distributed in millions

We knew Burmese Way to Socialism was just a sham for authoritarianism

It was made by U Ne Win to plunder the State for his sake and nepotism!

(Kew Gardens, the Chinese Pagoda)

The Kew Gardens was situated in the South East of England

It was a wow wonderland 300 acres wide in capable hand

There are all kinds of plants, flowers, shrubs, bushes and grass

I was struck by the vastness of varied gardens and big houses of glass

They said there were 600 kinds of grass and many tropical trees

I saw toddy and coconut palms bearing fruits as in hot country ;

(Tropical Giant Lotus in the Pond, Kew Gardens)

I also saw tropical fruits like mango, mangosteen, prune and pomegranate

What struck me most was the tall Chinese pagoda that stood great

It was in the centre of background for my photographs I usually take

I used to take many Burmese friends to it to enjoy the tropical shades

They were fascinated by tropical plants, ‘green houses’ and Chinese Pagoda

I was satisfied that I had served my country men and women with pleasure.

(Chinese Pagoda in the Kew Gardens)

Needless to say I have visited ‘The Garden of England’ several times

It’s Kent as described in tourists’ brochures and by the English guys

(Sunken Garden, Kent, England))

I went there by train, by bus and in friends’ autocars

Betty and Percy took me in their car and let me ride a steam train

Major Babtock took me by coach from London House to Kent Plains

Kent was a flat land with lovely gardens and castles on chalky terrain.

(Steam Train, Relic of Industrial Revolution, Kent)

I was awed by the Dover Cliffs

That was white, high and stiff

Julius Caesar could not land here

He landed north one thousand meters afar.

(Dover's White Cliffs)

I remember Dr Tin Win FRCS from Burma

I met him at the Russell Square Tube Station

He told Professor Ba Than of a scrotal swelling

It was the size of a cricket ball on comparison

He worked in Dover’s Hospital as consultant surgeon

He invited me to visit him in his station.

(Charles Dickens Museum)

Kent was the place of origin for David Copperfield

I read it in Charles Dickens’ novel and saw his movies

We visited the Dickens Museum to satisfy our curiosity

I have read his novels since joining the university;

(Portrait of Charles Dickens)

David Copperfield, Great Expectation, Ivory Child

His novels remind poverty and child labor in his time

They are relevant when thinking about children of the world

There are children starving and working in Asia and Africa!

(Map of Kent)

There was a house showing the relics of Sir Winston Churchill

He may be a great Englishman fighting the WW II to victory

But, he was against Burma’s independence since early

He said Burma would be in blood bath if granted liberty;

(Kent View of Chartwell Churchill House)

It was true as civil war broke out soon after independence

Britons were involved in assassination of Aung San and lieutenants

I always remember there are good and bad Britons for our country

Churchill for 3 generations was bad; Luce, Furnivall, Bowden saintly.

(Sir Winston Churchill, Grandson of Sir Randolph Churchill

Who Annexed Burma to British Empire in 1886)

Kent is actually a historic city

It saw the Norman Conquest of the country

Kent citizens fought on the side of Saxon Army

William the Conqueror defeated them decisively

Once he was enthroned, he acted magnanimously

Kent was granted semi-autonomy as border country;

It was separated from France and attacked by the Nazis

Canterbury City is in its territory with its famous Cathedral

Arch Bishop of Canterbury is the Head of Anglican Clergy

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are still famous and enjoyable.

(Canterbury Town)

South East of England is replete with history

Battle of Hastings was fought in this territory

I watched its replay as it led to William victory

It took place in the 11^th Century AD

22 years after King Anawrahta ruled Pagan country

Why was Burma colonized by British in 19^th century?

(Statue of William the Conqueror in Normandy, France)

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

27.12.2008