Category: Community

Articles on Burmese community with the following sub sections – Letters, Memory, Portrait, Talks, Experience, Travelogue, Others, Burmese Overseas

Khet Mar: Interview with editors, James Byrne & Ko Ko Thet

Bones Will Crow: An Anthology of Burmese Poetry | Sampsonia Way Magazine

James Byrne

James Byrne

James Byrne is an editor and co-founder of The Wolf poetry magazine. He has worked for the Poetry Translation Centre in London and has translated poetry from the Middle-East and the Balkans. For The Wolf he has published the work of Burmese poets Zawgyi, Saw Wai, Hyma Ein, Manorhary and Phone Thet Paing. Byrne recently lived in New York City from 2009-2011, where he was an Extraordinary International Fellow at New York University. His most recent collection is Blood/Sugar, published by Arc in 2009.

SF Burmese Community to Hold 88 23-years Commenmoration Event

 San Francisco Burmese Community, together with 10 sponsors invites you to the 8.8.88 23-year Commenmoration Event. 

 

Event Schedule of August 6, 2011 

[11:00a.m – 12:00p.m.] Alms to monks and Buddhist ceremony in memoriam of the fallen colleagues at and since 8.8.88 

[12:00p.m. – 1:00p.m.]  Refreshments will be served

[1:00p.m. – 4:30p.m.] Performance, Exhibitions, and Presentations

Ko Mya Aye

Thar Gyi (AAPP)

March 14, 2011

Our first meeting was in the union of graduate old students which was born in Rangoon University. Mya Aye was actively involved in 8888 people’s uprising. Then, a place on Maung Htaw Lay street became a rallying point for our association which we called ‘GODSA’. After that, we met again together in cell block 5 of Insein prison in April, 1990.

Burmese in Milwaukee Welcome 21st Century Pin Lon of Burma

MoeMaKa Reporter (Milwaukee)

March 3, 2011

 

 On February 27, as an activity to welcome 21st Pin Lon conference, Karen, Myanmar, Mon, Chin, Rakhine, and other Burmese nationals gathered and held together the second ceremony of ‘Htamane’, the Burmese traditional food, at Pyinnyar Yama monastery in Milwaukee in Wisconsin State. The arrangements of this successful fair include such as ‘lunch for the audience attended’ and ‘listening to the sermon’.

Thee Brothers Teaching Burmese Dance to Displaced Children

MoeMaKa Ywar Saw Gyi

February 24, 2011

Kyal Thee, a comedian of Thee brothers, stated that they started teaching Burmese traditional dancing to displaced Burmese children for free at their home in Chiang Mai. According to their announcement posted on their blog http://theelaytheet4t.blogspot.com, the dancing class would start at 11:00 am on Saturday and it is free of charge. He also added that the course will only last for 2-3 months.

“We believe that Burmese traditional arts, music, and dance will greatly help them to feel happy, and soothe their tired minds and bodies while these stateless Burmese children, who had to cross from their homeland to another country, are both physically and mentally suffering from harshness of life, poverty and pressures of different surroundings. It is also our wish to do so,” said Ko Kyal Thee.

Burmese in Singapore Celebrate Burma Union Day and Birthday of Suu’s Father

MoeMaKa Reporter (Singapore)

February 14, 2011

Yesterday, the admirers and prople of Burma in Singapore gathered and were able to successfully commemorate the Union day of Burma and the 96th birthday of Bogyoke Aung San, the founding-father of Burma’s independence and the father of present NLD leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. It is reported that the organizers had to negotiate repeatedly and faced many obstacles to obtain the permission for the ceremony site in which, to hold the event, hence they could not make it widely known to Burmese in Singapore.

A friend of Moemaka told that this is the first ceremony ever organized in Singapore regarding Burma history. The desired banner for the event “Birthday of Bogyoke Aung San” was not allowed by Singapore authority. So, we had to use the co-banner read “The Union Day and Bogyoke’s Birthday.” The shows of national costumes and music concert of ethnic nationalities brought the celebration alive.

As far as Moemaka could inquire, Singapore government granted the permission for the celebration only at the last minute. “MoeMaKa world-wide readers did not, in advance, learn of the event as being Saturday in Singapore when the invitation was posted in Ywa-Saw-Gyi section of its blog”, said informants from Singapore. It is also seen that few people could manage to attend to the commemoration because the organizers had to urge and invite as much as they could reach in a very short time.

Burmese in NYC With 30 Food Vendors to Raise Fund to Help Burma

MoeMaKa Reporter (New York)

February 15, 2011

It is reported that over 30 food stalls will participate in the charity sale of the Burmese and Asia traditional food, planned to be held in Woodside compound of New York city coming February 23, Sunday. The residents of NYC are collectively hosting this fund-raising and members of Citizen of Burma (CoBA) New York chapter and World Arakanese Organization (WAO) formed by local well-wishers, will volunteer their services to do sundry tasks and chores.

“We will collect donations by selling foods and drinks. We are going to cook and serve favorite dishes of Burmese families such as Mohinga(rice noodles with gravy), Shan noodles, Wet-thar-dote-htoe(well-cooked, sliced meat and entrails of a pig, skewered and served with chilli or tomato sauce),Tofu salad, Phet-htout-gyaw(minced meat, wrapped in dough, fried), Samusa(fried-stuffed pastry) salad, as well as buttered rice with chicken curry, Kyet-thar-kala-thar-hin(rustled up chicken curry) and other varieties of Rakhine traditional food. We will donate what we have earned from this sale,” an organizer explained the arrangements of the fair to MoeMaKa.

Burmese in Singapore to be drafted for Tatmadaw

Reader from Singapore January 22, 2011 Dear MoeMaKa team members, Burmese nationals in Singapore cannot stay away from Burmese embassy. Unavoidably, we have to go there for renewing passports, paying tax, and requesting endorsements, etc. It is now widely rumored…

CoBA SF chapter raised over US$ 10,000 for 2011 Award and Ceremony.

 

MoeMaKa reporter (002)

January 24, 2011

Yesterday afternoon, Burmese families from CoBA SF Bay chapter hosted a fundraising  event, selling various kinds of Burmese and Asian food at Newark pavilion in Bay area. The charity event was successfully held with warmly collective efforts, vigorous support, and generous contributions by Burmese residents of SF Bay area, organizations, individuals from religious associations, local community leaders, and students of all ages.

Mingalar Monthly launched for SF Bay Area Burmese community

MoeMaKa reporter (002)

January 17, 2011

 A news bulletin in Burmese based in Sanfrancisco Bay area was lunched yesterday. The bulletin states a monthly publication of Burmese American Heritage Foundation, called “Bay Area Burmese Bulletin” (in English) and “Mingalar Monthly”(in Burmese.) The fact that it is an independent periodical and not affiliated with any news agency, politics, or religion, is clearly described. It also states that this bulletin will provide news from inside Burma, reports of Bay area Burmese community, and information about Burmese culture and honorable activities of Burmese nationals.

CoBA SF chapter to host fund raising in coming January 23

MoeMaKa Ywarsaw Gyi,

January 8, 2011

 The second awarding ceremony of Citizen of Burma Association (CoBA) will be held on May of 2011. The first was convened in L.A. The association is planning to hold this 2nd event in the San Francisco Bay area. Thus, CoBA SF chapter will launch a fund raising in coming Jan 23, so that CoBA will be able to present its award by majority vote to non-profit social organizations and individuals from inside Burma.

Maung Wunna, the writer and director

Farewell Notes to the passing of Maung Wunna

(Maung Wunna & his Wife seen together at U Pe Thein’s home, 2008 – Photo by Junior Win)

 Junior Win

January 11, 2011

For the first time I met Saya Maung Wunna on the birthday of U Pe Thein, a great cartoonist. At that time, Saya said “I will take your book ‘Alice’ if you sign on it and give it to me or I won’t”. I knew what he meant and I replied “Yes, I will”.

Greeting Saya’s wife standing next to him, I told him that I really like his short stories ‘Maung Sein Thaung and Ma Hnin Yee’. My parents have still tell me how my grandfather Ba Ba Gyi U Khin Maung Latt was fascinated Saya’s movies.

His movies ‘Katipar Phinat Si Shwe Htee Saung’ had been shown in theatres in Burma before I was born. For being so enchanted with his film, my grandpa rented all seats in the circle of a cinema from Maenigone and invited his pupils to watch it. My parents also had to join the show. My dad and mum said that they like that movie too. You can see how much my grandpa like that picture. I have heard that it is my granddad’s favorite movie although I did not watch it.

NLD initiates support network for political prisoners

 

MoeMaKa reporter 005, Yangon

January 5, 2011

In order to support political prisoners and their families, the drawing lots event that chooses a volunteer for each of those activists was held in the Independence Day ceremony at the NLD’s headquarter today.

It is a programme that the badges, with inscribed names and addresses of prisoners and the name of prison where he or she is being held, were selected by drawing lots. The chosen prisoners and their families will be contacted and supported by NLD members and well-wishers who participated in the event.