My Leisurely Life in Lashio

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

Epilogue

I was transferred from Mongton to Lashio in a warm weather so that I could go leisurely as Captain Myo Myint who was to relieve me in Mongton arrived in February 1963. I had to wait for one month to catch the plane at Monsat to fly back to Namsan and thence to Loilem. I handed over everything to Captain Myo Myint from my bed to the OPD a few days after arriving in Mongton.

(Panoramic View of Lashio City, Northern Shan State)

He brought with him his wife and three children, a daughter and two sons, all younger than ten years of age. I played with Maung Maung, his second son most of the time. I slept on a camp cot in the Office. We ate together as we all are Burmans capable of eating anything, we’re omnivorous. Captain’s Myo Myint’s wife Ni Ni was very sporting and she joined us in our talks as well as in our walks. Captain Myo Myint was also sociable and gregarious in character and soon he became friends with 5^th Buregt personnel as well as with the Thai workers. So, I was very much relieved of the routine duties and waited for the plane coming next month.

(Gokteik Bridge with Train on Mandalay Lashio Rail Road)

New Location for the Military Hospital

The No. 7 Field Hospital was now changed to No. 4 LAS (Light Advanced Dressing Station) of No. 232 Medical Battalion and I duly changed the new sign board. Captain Myo Myint was surprised to see the neat and tidy hospital and smooth working of the daily routines as he was never given an independent charge of a hospital. He was now under the command of the No. 232 Medical Battalion as previously in Lashio.

(Meiktila Kandawgyi or Great Lake)

He congratulated me for my efficiency and good work. “ Ko Nyo, you a very good job here. I did not expect it to be as good as now”, he said. “ Thank you, Ko Myo Myint. I was following the footsteps pf Gordon Seagrave in Namkhan from the military side”, I replied half- jokingly. “ That’s good, Ko Nyo. You might marry a Shan or Kachin girl”, Ni Ni butted in and teased.

(British Troops Entering Meiktila in 1945; They Defeated the Japanese

in the Meiktila Battle.)

Then, the whole 5^th Buregt had moved from the Loilem location to the new compound for them in Mongton. It was situated to the south of Mongon town and a few miles away. The buildings were of brick-knogging type and all were newly built by the Thai contractors. Our hospital was situated o the north of Mongton and it was difficult for the soldiers and family members to come to the hospital without a transport vehicle. And we’re not supposed to visit the homes of the army personnel and treat there.

(Thazi Train Station)

I therefore asked the Commanding Officer of the 5^th Buregt to allocate a building for OPD in their compound and if possible to move the whole hospital near them. Colonel Mya din and Major Tin Shwe whole-heartedly agreed and they easily gave a new store house to be used as an OPD. It was 60 foot by 25 foot large and it could accommodate the MI Room, Dressing Room and a small operating theatre. What we now needed was to have a building for inpatients and the quarters for the medical officers and his men.

(Thazi Landscape)

I suggested that an officer house reservd for a company commander be allocated to the Medical Officer and that a family line barrack be allotted to the families of the medical corps to look after the soldiers in the OPD at all times while half of the medical staff would still live in their old abodes. The CO of 5^th Buregt readily agreed and Captain Myo Myint and his family moved to the new quarters before I left Mongton. Later on I heard that all the hospital staff were housed in the military compound destroying the old No. 7 Field Hospital and its buildings, mostly made of timber and bamboo. Colonel Mya Din thanked me profusely for arranging the transfer of the military hospital into their compound for the convenience of all the military families. He therefore made a farewell party for me.

(Hotel Cottages for Guests in Inle, Southern Shan State)

Farewell Party in Mongton

One night all the officers in the Mongton area were invited to the Bth Buregt Officers Mess to attend the Farewell Party to me and Captain Phone Kwe of the garrison Engineers and to welcome Captain Myo Myint to Mongton. About 20 officers attended the ceremony.

(General Aung San Speaking in Panglong 1947)

Colonel Mya Din, CO of the 5^th Buregt and Station Commander, spoke first prasising my spirit of serving all patients, either military or civilian, and my efforts to improve the health standard of the Mongton Army personnel and their families as well as the civilian population. He particularly commended me for enthusiastic efforts taken to transfer the location of the military hospital to a place near the army compound despite being transferred from Mongton and having handed over the duties to Captain Myo Myo Myint.

(Buffalo Boys in Southern Shan State)

Then , he welcomed Captain Myo Myint to maintain the good rapport existing between the 5^th Buregt and military hospital. He then said farewell to Captain Phone Kwe of the GE for fulfilling the needs of the army buildings. I said the words of thanks as the army personnel and their families were so friendly, cooperative and obedient to me that I felt at home here and Loilem and that I loved Mongton and its people as this was my maiden posting. I guaranteed that Captain Myo Myint would be no less dedicated to the job than I was.

( A View of Hsipaw: Note the Rice Fields.)

They presented me with a Thai jerkin as I was going to Lashio in Northern Shan State that was colder than Mongton in the winter. We’re feasted with drinks and Dan-Pauk (Byriani) as he families of the 5^th Buregt had moved in to Mongton and they could cook now. Besides a few eatery shops like Chinese noodle shops and Muhamadden food shops had opened in Mongton with the influx of new people.

Return Trip to Loilem and Taunggyi

Captain Ko Lay sent me back to Mongsat in March 1963. It was the dry weather and the road was quite firm and smooth now. We slept only one night at the Mongsat Officers Mess.It was supervised by 44^th Buregt, I think. The CO Colonel Hla Shein was happy to see me going as he liked to send his wife and son to Loilem. I had to escort her from Mongsat to Namsan and then looked after her as she was having motion sickness on the plane. I gave her Piriton and Stemetil tablets and she was relieved. Then she told me she would continue her journey to Heho and thence to Rangoon. She asked some antiseptic and tonic for her that I easily complied. I had a bag of some medicines for emergency as well as for social delivery and I was glad that I was using the medicines rightly.

(Taunggyi City Entrance from Shwe Nyaung; Note the Rewinding Climb.)

I put up at the 5th Buregt Officers Mess again as they had to maintain a stationary post in Loilem for correspondence and other assignments. Mongton still had not yet got a post office. All my letters were collected by the th buregt and forwarded to me through their dispatch service once a month.

(Panglong Column Marking the Signing of the Panglong Agreement)

Money for the salaries of my soldiers were also cashed by the adjutant officer of the 5^th Buregt and sent to me by official courier once a month so that I could disburse the salaries in time. I calculated the money cashed and deposited at the Treasury Office in Loilem and found that I had overdrawn Kyat 5000. I dutifully returned the excess money to the treasury officer. My CO Colonel Maung Maung Aung could not believe that I was so particular with money and returned it without fail. He said other officers would have stayed quiet to keep the money for personal use.

Taunggyi and Inle (Inlay Lake)

I saw Drs yash Pal and Hla Maung again, they gave a Shan dinner as usual consisting of steamed glutinous rice, fried soy bean cake and chicken curry. “They have split”, Dr Hla Maung told me gleefully. ‘Who are they that split?” I asked smiling, not knowing what he meant. “The Revolutinary Council. Brigadier Aung Gyi had split from General Ne Win and Brigadier Tine Pe”, he said satisfactorily. “Well, Ko Hla Maung, the army will carry on even if the Chief of Staff leaves or dies”, I replied him.

(A Beautiful Scene of Inlay Lake with Boats and Leg Rowers ready for Fishing)

“You may sleep in my room as I have prepared it”, Dr Hla Maung invited me. “ His sister and her husband came here on their honeymoon and they just left yesterday”, Dr Yash Pal explained. “Oh, you mean Captain Hla Myint and San San Myint?” I said.” Yes, How do you know?” Dr Hla Maung asked. “Captain Hla Myint is a Company Commander in the 5^th Buregt. He said he is going to marry a Muslim girl that her parents do not approve. Her brother is Panthay Dr Hla Maung. He requested one month leave to CO Colonel Mya Din. We’re close. So I know.”“You know even this small thing. You should continue politics”, Dr Hla Maung said. “ I’ll when the time comes, but not now”, I replied.

(Pa-O Women)

I left for Taunggyi the next day and put up in Dr Thein Nyunt’s house. He had visitors from Yangon, his uncle and aunt and their daughter, a university student. He introduced me to all of them and we became good friends. Captain Hla Maung took me in his car wherever I liked to go. “Thank you, Ko Nyo for going to Mongton on my behalf”, he said. “It’s OK. I was happy there”, I replied. “Yes, we know. You are well known there”, Captain Hla Maung said. This Hla Maung was different from Loilem Hla Maung. Taunggyi Captain Hla Maung is the son of U Kar, minister for education during caretaker government during 1958 to 1960. Loilem Dr Hla Maung was a Panthay, born in Taunggyi and later killed by SSA in the jungle whil hunting.

( A Mosque in Lashio, Northern Shan State)

One day, Dr Thein Nyunt told me he was taking his relatives to the Inle (Inlay lake) and asked me to accompany. I said, ”Yes” and accompanied them. It was a pleasant trip enjoying the silted houses on the lake, boats rowed by leg rowers and floating market. I had been there once before, but every trip made me excited and happy. I bought Inle silk Longyis (Sarongs) for my mother and sister. Inle people speak a language of arcane Burmese. It’s believed that their ancestors came her with King Alaungsithu of Pagan (Bagan) and their language is akin to Tavoyan (Dawei Laguage). Both Intha and Dawei people belong to the Burman race as the Rakhine (Arakanese) and Yaw people do.

( Various Armed Forces in the Shan State)

Taunggyi to Meiktila

“I’ll take you to Meiktila in my car,’ Captain Hla Maung told me. “Oh, good, why are you driving?” I asked. The CO wanted all medical officers o be with him one day. So, he asked me to take you to Meiktila before you go to Lashio”, he explained. Thus Captain Hla Maung and I went to Meiktila in an army jeep ambulance to attend a conference with the Commanding Officer. We stayed in the Officers Mess of the No. 232 Medical Battalion.

(Meiktila Clock Tower in Town Centre)

“ Brigadier Aung Gyi resigned from the Revolutionary Council and as Vice Chief of Staff Army due to his errors. The errors are as followed:

(1) He used to answer policy position without the permission of the RC (Revolutionary Council) when asked by foreign correspondents

(2) He went abroad without teling the RC

(3) He did not support nationalization of businesses in the country

(4) He had a habit of promoting his friends (Nepotism)

(5) He did not agree to one party system that RC is promoting in the country

(6) He did no take responsibility for what he said and did”, said the CO. He then continued, “ Please spread this message to your subordinates and let them sign that they understood.” We said, “ Yes Sir” and the meeting or conference was over.

(Lashio Market with Foreign Tourists)

I boarded the Express Train from Rangoon to Mandalay at the Thazi Junction the next day and reached Mandalay the same evening. I put up in a friend’s house and we roamed Mandalay as when we were in the premedical matriculation clas in 1953 and 1955. We had a good dinner and slept early as I had to catch the Lashio train at 4.00 AM. The Up Lashio Train left at 4.30 AM in a slow snail pace and we passed through Maymyo, Kyaukme, Gokteik, Hsipaw and so. I arrived at the Lashio Station only at about 5.30 PM.

(Outside View of the Myoma Market, Lashio)

“The train is late today”, said Major Maung Htwe who was waiting to welcome me. He was the Officer in Charge of the Military Hospital in Lashio nd I had to work with him. I commanded a separate Unit called the No. 2 LADS as in Mongton. Captain Myo Myint was the previous OC and now I was inheriting his unit. I had to work smoothly with Major Maung Htwe. He was an old LMP having joined the Army since the early BIA days. The LMP diplomas were no longer trained after Burma’s Independence in 1948.

(Chinese Temple, Lashio)

I was given a room in the OPD building of the military hospital that was small and inappropriate for a medical officer. I later got a separate Officer House in the Officers Quarters that served the MO after me. Majot Maung Htwe though we should live like bachelor NCO in an improvised way. He had not lived in a university hostel.

My Routines in Lashio

During the resting period at the base when I was not accompanying the troops to the frontline I had to work in the Military Hospital at Lashio assisting Major Maung Htwe. Since there were two separate units in the Hospital, one for men and another for women and children I was first entrusted with the after unit looking after the women and children of the army in the Lashio area. Majot Maung Htwe took the OPD for men and looked after the inpatients, but he would call me to see inpatients too.

(Laokai, Capital of Kokang State)

If he was not in Lashio like going to Meiktila Headquarters I had to see both male and female patients as ell as children. I did them very well and I was gradually known as very efficient, dedicated to patients and well versed in medicine. But there was a Staff Nurse at the Family Wing who was the favorite of Major Maung Htwe and she rported my popularity to his detriment to him. Immediately, I was to look after the male OPD and all the inpatients in the male Wing. Major Maung Htwe would take care of the Family Wing. He sometimes slept there. He married that Staff Nurse after I left in 1964.

(Gambling in Kokang)

Fighting and then Friendship with SSA

Once I had to accompany a column of Burma Army troops to the Kokang area to fight against the SSA troops. We reached Mongkaung after passing throughTantyang a Panthay town. More than 90 % of the town’s people were Panthay.The Government also sent Panthay Officers there to serve them. I met Panthay lady doctor in charge of the civil hospital, her husband Panthay Senior District Officer, and Panthay Police Officers. Only the army personnel were Buddhists.

(A Kokang couple in Kokang)

While we were camping in Mongkaung the news reached us that the RC in Rangoo had reached an agreement with the SSA to negotiate nd here would be ceasefire during the negotiation. Besides, the Commander of our Military Column must escort the SSA delegates from Kokang to Lashio. Thus we became friends with the SSA instead of fighting. We put them up in the Mongkaung Military Camp and we ate together, we played volleyball together and we talked together. The leader of the SSA delegation was Colonel Kyaw Khin and his Deputy was Major Myo Myint. I became friends with them. I wrote short stories while I was free.

(Pangsan, Wa State, formerly HQ of CPB and Wa State National Army))

Mongmaw in the Barren Wa Land

One day, Colonel Aung Pe, the Deputy Commander of the Eastern Command, took me to Mong Maw in a helicopter. Mongmaw was a town in the Wa Region. It was a barren land. He was greeted by the Army Officers and Wa leaders. There were also Wa populace, mostly naked. I did not see any trees around and only the read earth seen every where. It was very cold at the time and I had to wear several layers of warm clothes.

(General Khin Nyunt and Bao Yu-Sheng)

“How do they get water on this mountain?”, I enquired. “They have to go down the mountain to reach a stream and then fetched water every day. They also have to grow their own vegetables. Otherwise, they eat on tin provisions”, a captain answered. I remember the Burma Air Force dropping ice slabs by plane when there was fighting between the Wa Communist Forces and the Burma Army here.

(Poppy Field in the Golden Triangle with a Child)

“How do the Wa earn money?” I asked again. The captain said,” They earn money by growing poppy, Saya. The Ka-Kwe-Ye (Paramilitary Forces) led by Lo His-Han escorted the opium to the Thai-Burma border. The whole Wa State grows opium poppy”, he told me.

Kokang

I have been to Pangyang and Pangsang of the Kokang area by helicopter as well as on foot. Those areas were still under the control of the Burma Army and CPB forces had not yet taken over. They did so only in1973 or 1974. Kokang was a hilly region and nothing grows except poppy. I saw stretches of poppy plants in the Kokang Area, formerly known as the Kokang State. It was a State carved out of the Northerb Hsenwi State (Theinni State).

(Processing Utensils for Opium in the Golden Triangle)

It was a no-man land between the Royal Burma and Manchu’s China. Many bandits and criminals ran into it to escape arrest and Yang Shien Tsai established it as a State in 1739 paying tribute to the Hsenwi Sawbwagyi. His lineage continued governing the Kokang State and they resisted the Japanese in collaboration with the British in 1942. The Kokang Sabwa was taken into India and the British promised him a full state for his continued cooperation in the fight against the Japanese. Thus after the WW Ii, the Kokang Area was recognized as a separate state and the Federated Shan States had 34 instead of 33 states.

(Kokang Development Signboard Promising Eradication of Poppy Planting)

Jimmy Yang led an army against the Burmese Army in 1963 and Lo Hsi-Han was trained as a guerilla leader to oppose Yang’s forces by the Burma Army. But Lo His-Han was growing poppy and transporting opium from Kokang to Mongton on the way to Thailand since then. The Burmese Government had good and bad relations with him until he was imprisoned in 1973. His children now have big business dealings with the SPDC Government. I met one of Lo His-Han’s relatives in Mongton. He entertained us to a fest on the occasion of Chinese New Year and he said he was receiving goods from Lashio and forwarding them to Thailand. Captain Ko Lay told me those goods were opium.

(Poppy Field Near Muse and Namkham)

Muse

I have been to Muse several times as an army medical officer. Muse in 1963-64 was a small border town on the way from Lashio to Namkham and from lashio to Kyukok and Wandind. There were only a few hundred houses, mostly bamboo or teak then. But, now it has become a major trading post between Burma and China.

(Jiegao-Muse Border)

The Shweli River lies just behing Muse separating it from Ruili (Shweli Town) of China. The rice fields on either sides of the road from Muse to Kyukok were eye catching and pleasant. I took several photographs of them. I also enjoyed crossing into Wanding and buying the Chinese goods for souvenir. I bought a vase and a fan. My married assistants bought Chinese Batik skirts and printed cloths for their wives. What a difference as I was single at the time!

(Jiegong and Muse Border Doing Good Border Trade)

Namkham

Namkham was quite familiar to me by name as it housed he Namkham Hospital of Dr Gordon Seagrave, the Burma Surgeon. He operated a lot of surgery there mainly on the goiters. The Shan and Kachin people there looked upon him as akind of savior. He also trained a lot nurse.

(The Namkham Hospital)

Some of his nurses joined the Burma Army and they talked highly of him. I visited his Hospital one day after he had left and the hospital confiscated by the Military Government.

(The Namkham Nurses Trained by Dr Gordon Seagrave, in the 1950s)

An Indian doctor welcomed me and showed the hospital around. It was a granite stone building, two storey high. I did not see any difference from other similar hospitals like the one in Monywa. Monywa had the Distric Civil Hospital opened ina granite stone building near the Strand Road. It was called the Kyauk-Taik-Kyi.

(Dr Gordon Seagrave of Namkham; The Burma Surgeon)

The Indian doctor gave me a cup of tea and he was very friendly. He later took a beautiful nurse from the hospital on his way back to India. The Shan nurse returned empty handed when she met the Indian wife of the doctor in New Delhi.

Red Cross Society in Lashio

I was elected as the General Secretary of the Lashio Red Cross Society for the year 1963/64. The Commissioner (Taing Min Gyi) was the President, Major Maung Htwe and Dr U Khun Oo, the Civil Surgeon of the Lashio Civil Hospital, were vice presidents. Dr Albert Ai Lun, a Chin GP, was an EC member.

(Namkham River)

We increased the awareness of the Lashio people in the Red Cross activities by teaching First aids to the interested townspeople. I remember the reporters, literati and teachers attended the first course that lasted for a month. Then the government servants were taught. I gave most of the lectures and demonstrations as I had the experience of teching first aids in Maymyo. My friend Dr Ivan Win Pe accompanied me every lecture and he was very impressed with my teaching. He was an assistant surgeon at the Lashio Civil Hospital at the time.

(Opening of Trade Between Burma and China in Muse, 2008)

I then proposed to open a Blood Bank at the Civil Hospital and we collected donations for that. I had to go down to Mandalay to collect the necessary literature equipment for blood transfusion. Dr Ramdev from the Mandalay General Hospital, my old teacher, gave me all out support. I hand ed over all the funds and equipment to Dr Saw Than Win when I was recalled to Rangoon in March 1964.

(Dr Albert Ai Lun, a Chin GP and EC Member of Lashio Red Cross Society)

Health Education Talk

There was an outbreak of cholera first and then influenza in Lashio in 1963/64. We gave health education talks at the State High School in Lashio and in the Government Offices. I remember giving the talks in the State High School. It was attended by hundred s of students and scores of teachers. I met an old childhood friend from Mandalay there. She was Daw Ohn May who attended the No. 1 State High School in Mandalay when she stayed with Saya U Tin U’s family like me. She greeted me warmly and she introduced me to her colleagues.

(Sudaungpye Pagoda in Lashio)

I became their friends and I used to visit them at free times. I was particularly close to one teacher, Daw Kyin Mu, who later married my childhood friend Brigadier-General Khin Soe, as she was afan of my short stories. He was a graduate of the third DSA (Defence Services Academy) course and we were in Monywa together. He and his wife invited me to a dinner at their home when we met again in Rangoon in the 1980s.

(Drug Refineries in the Shan State in 2008 from Bangkok Post)

Epilogue

My time in Lashio was not so hective like in Mongton. I had some leisurely hours as there were two doctors in the military hospital for the army and one Civil Hospital with more doctors for the civilian populace. We had a good relationship with civil hospital either professional or personal. I had the opportunity to visit many places in the Northern Shan State as well as in and around Lashio. I would say it was a time well spent. Dr Ivan Win Pe joined the Burma Army Medical Corps to the surprise of many, to imitate me. He said he liked what I was doing, selfless, smart and sincere. No better commendation could have come to me sweeter than his words.

Dr Maung Maung Nyo

20.02.2009