Maung Thaw Ka
Encyclopedia
Maung Thaw Ka was the pen name
of retired Major
Ba Thaw (Navy). He was a satirist, popular speaker and Central Executive Committee member of the NLD, National League for Democracy
of Burma.
, upper Burma
. His parents are U Hman Gyi and Daw Hman. Attended the Shwe Bo
Nation
al Government
High School
.
He passed Matriculation
and joined Navy
as a sea cadet in 1947.
of the navy
ship
No 103. He was involved in a shipwreck
while serving as the commanding officer
on a coast guard
cutter patrolling the south-eastern coastline of Burma. Lieutenant
Ba Thaw and the 26 other navy personnel on board transferred to two inflated rubber life rafts. One life raft was lost with all nine passengers on board but the second life raft was rescued by a Japanese ship 12 days later. By then, seven of the 18 men on the life raft were dead and other man died on the rescue ship. Maung Thaw Ka wrote a gripping book about the harrowing time he and his mates spent under a searing sun on the small life raft, which carried only boiled sweets and water sufficient to keep 10 men alive for three days.
He retired as a Major
from the Navy
.
He was the Chief Editor
of Forward (English) and Shae’ Tho’ (Forward in Burmese) of the BSPP official propaganda journals. He wrote a lot of articles also in the daily newspapers. His satirical speeches and poems critical of BSPP and Slorc are notable in Burma. Early in the 1980s, in one of his articles , he wrote that
Poems can change blood and tears to inkhttp://www.burmalibrary.org/reg.burma/archives/199906/msg00191.html
He not only wrote his own poetry, he translated many poems from English
to Burmese
, some of which were surprisingly romantic
: the love poetry of Shakespeare, Robert Herrick
, John Donne
and Shelley
. There was also a translation
of William Cowper
s' The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk , which he said was dedicated to himself.Perhaps it was the last verse that appealed to him.
"But the seafowl
is gone to her nest
,
The beast
is laid down in his ;
Even here is a season of rest,
And I to my cabin
repair.
There is mercy
in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives affliction a grace
And reconciles
man to his lot."
Maung Thaw Ka's irrepressible sense of humour came across in many of his writings, which could perhaps be described as satire
without malice
.
One of his witticisms became highly popular during the years of socialist
Rule in Burma. On being told that a fellow writer believed in ghosts, Maung Thaw Ka riposted: "He believes in anything, he even believes in the Burma Socialist Programme Party
!"
Dedicated to
The ones I love,
In number so few,
That I owe so much
In ways so many.http://moemaka.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/maung-yit-remembering-maung-thaw-ka/
Science
for Foreign going Sailors
.
, and had been instrumental in persuading her to appear in public during the pro-democracy uprising
in August the year before.
On the 17th. August 1988, he signed a petition to the army to stop the indiscriminate shooting and killing of the people to wipe out the dissidents. Later he was elected as the Chairman of All Burma Journalist’s Association. After the coup d'état, when military government allowed to form political parties, he continued to be the CEC member in the NLD and also act as the Sagaing Division’s Chief Organizer.
“They (Maung Thaw Ka's articles) made people laugh and at the same time fill us with anger and pain,” a Burmese from Rangoon said. He was severely tortured and beaten during his interrogation – he was also locked up in a small cell, according to his friend and fellow writer, Maung Sin Kye.
He was arrested for writing a letter to a Navy
military officer during the 1988 uprising
; he was accused of trying to cause a mutiny
in the army
. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment
with hard labour by a military tribunal
on the 5th. October 1989 http://moemaka.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/maung-yit-remembering-maung-thaw-ka/ with the 1950 Emergency Act 5 (a), 5 (b)and 5/J; 122 (1).
spondylitis, a spinal disease.
A severe beating during a hunger strike
in Insein
on the 25th. September 1990 left him paralysed
. He received only a minimum of medical care from the prison
doctors
and was denied access to specialists
.
“Ko Thaw’s health
condition has always been poor. When the military
officers
beat and kick him, it worsens his condition. When he was ill, he was denied medical care,” Maung Sin Kye said.
When students in jail
staged a hunger strike
in 1991, Maung Thaw Ka gave his full support, For that, he was badly beaten, tortured and locked in small cell without food when Slorc sent soldiers to crush the “prison insurrection”. Some students were reportedly killed by troops during the hunger strike. “They finally killed his voice,” a Burmese who was close to Maung Thaw Ka in Rangoon said.
At the time he entered Insein Jail, Maung Thaw Ka was already suffering from a chronic disease that was laying his muscles to waste
. His movements were stiff and jerky, and everyday matters, such as bathing, dressing or eating, involved for him a series of difficult manoeuvres which could barely be completed without assistance. For a man with his health problems, life in solitary confinement
was a continuous struggle to cope. And Maung Thaw Ka struggled manfully. But his already much-eroded physical system was unable to withstand the inhuman conditions of Insein Jail for long. Following a heart attack, he was sent to Rangoon General Hospital on 8th. June 1991. He died three days later at the age of 65. http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/124899.html
He was buried at Kandaw Gale Sunni cemetery.
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of retired Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Ba Thaw (Navy). He was a satirist, popular speaker and Central Executive Committee member of the NLD, 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...
of Burma.
Early life
Maung Thaw Ka was born in 1928 at Shwe BoShwebo
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....
, 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....
. His parents are U Hman Gyi and Daw Hman. Attended the Shwe Bo
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....
Nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
al Government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
High School
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
.
He passed Matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
and joined Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
as a sea cadet in 1947.
In the Navy
He was promoted as the captainCaptain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
of the navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
ship
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
No 103. He was involved in a shipwreck
Shipwreck
A shipwreck is what remains of a ship that has wrecked, either sunk or beached. Whatever the cause, a sunken ship or a wrecked ship is a physical example of the event: this explains why the two concepts are often overlapping in English....
while serving as the commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
on a coast guard
Coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a national organization responsible for various services at sea. However the term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with...
cutter patrolling the south-eastern coastline of Burma. Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Ba Thaw and the 26 other navy personnel on board transferred to two inflated rubber life rafts. One life raft was lost with all nine passengers on board but the second life raft was rescued by a Japanese ship 12 days later. By then, seven of the 18 men on the life raft were dead and other man died on the rescue ship. Maung Thaw Ka wrote a gripping book about the harrowing time he and his mates spent under a searing sun on the small life raft, which carried only boiled sweets and water sufficient to keep 10 men alive for three days.
He retired as a Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
from the Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
.
Journalist and Poet
He wrote articles, stories, poems in Myawaddy, Sit Pyan (Veteran) , Sit Ngha Lone (Heart of the Military), Ngwe Tar Yee and other magazines and journals.He was the Chief Editor
Editor in chief
An editor-in-chief is a publication's primary editor, having final responsibility for the operations and policies. Additionally, the editor-in-chief is held accountable for delegating tasks to staff members as well as keeping up with the time it takes them to complete their task...
of Forward (English) and Shae’ Tho’ (Forward in Burmese) of the BSPP official propaganda journals. He wrote a lot of articles also in the daily newspapers. His satirical speeches and poems critical of BSPP and Slorc are notable in Burma. Early in the 1980s, in one of his articles , he wrote that
Poems can change blood and tears to inkhttp://www.burmalibrary.org/reg.burma/archives/199906/msg00191.html
He not only wrote his own poetry, he translated many poems from English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
to 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...
, some of which were surprisingly romantic
Romantic poetry
Romanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...
: the love poetry of Shakespeare, Robert Herrick
Robert Herrick (poet)
Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English poet.-Early life:Born in Cheapside, London, he was the seventh child and fourth son of Julia Stone and Nicholas Herrick, a prosperous goldsmith....
, John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
and Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
. There was also a translation
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
of William Cowper
William Cowper
William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
s' The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk , which he said was dedicated to himself.Perhaps it was the last verse that appealed to him.
"But the seafowl
Seabird
Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life within the marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations...
is gone to her nest
Nest
A nest is a place of refuge to hold an animal's eggs or provide a place to live or raise offspring. They are usually made of some organic material such as twigs, grass, and leaves; or may simply be a depression in the ground, or a hole in a tree, rock or building...
,
The beast
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
is laid down in his ;
Even here is a season of rest,
And I to my cabin
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
repair.
There is mercy
Mercy
Mercy is broad term that refers to benevolence, forgiveness and kindness in a variety of ethical, religious, social and legal contexts.The concept of a "Merciful God" appears in various religions from Christianity to...
in every place,
And mercy, encouraging thought!
Gives affliction a grace
And reconciles
Reconciliation (theology)
Reconciliation, a theological term, is an element of salvation that refers to the results of atonement. Reconciliation as a theological concept describes the end of the estrangement, caused by sin, between God and humanity. John Calvin describes reconciliation as the peace between humanity and...
man to his lot."
Maung Thaw Ka's irrepressible sense of humour came across in many of his writings, which could perhaps be described as satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
without malice
Malice (legal term)
Malice is a legal term referring to a party's intention to do injury to another party. Malice is either expressed or implied. Malice is expressed when there is manifested a deliberate intention unlawfully to take away the life of a human being...
.
One of his witticisms became highly popular during the years of socialist
Rule in Burma. On being told that a fellow writer believed in ghosts, Maung Thaw Ka riposted: "He believes in anything, he even believes in the Burma Socialist Programme Party
Burma Socialist Programme Party
Burma Socialist Programme Party was formed by the Ne Win's military regime that seized power in 1962 and was the sole political party allowed to exist legally in Burma during the period of military rule from 1964 until its demise in the aftermath of the popular uprising of 1988.-History:The BSPP...
!"
Dedicated to
The ones I love,
In number so few,
That I owe so much
In ways so many.http://moemaka.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/maung-yit-remembering-maung-thaw-ka/
After retirement from government
He conducted English Speaking tuition classes and lecture courses in NavigationNavigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
Science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
for Foreign going Sailors
Sailors
Sailors is the plural form of Sailor, or mariner.Sailors may also refer to:*Sailors , a 1964 Swedish film*Ken Sailors , American basketball playerSports teams*Erie Sailors, baseball teams in Pennsylvania, USA...
.
NLD Central Executive Committee (CEC) member
He was a close associate of the opposition leader Aung San Suu KyiAung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
, and had been instrumental in persuading her to appear in public during the pro-democracy uprising
Rebellion
Rebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
in August the year before.
On the 17th. August 1988, he signed a petition to the army to stop the indiscriminate shooting and killing of the people to wipe out the dissidents. Later he was elected as the Chairman of All Burma Journalist’s Association. After the coup d'état, when military government allowed to form political parties, he continued to be the CEC member in the NLD and also act as the Sagaing Division’s Chief Organizer.
“They (Maung Thaw Ka's articles) made people laugh and at the same time fill us with anger and pain,” a Burmese from Rangoon said. He was severely tortured and beaten during his interrogation – he was also locked up in a small cell, according to his friend and fellow writer, Maung Sin Kye.
He was arrested for writing a letter to a Navy
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
military officer during the 1988 uprising
8888 Uprising
The 8888 Nationwide Popular Pro-Democracy Protests was a series of marches, demonstrations, protests, and riots in the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma...
; he was accused of trying to cause a mutiny
Mutiny
Mutiny is a conspiracy among members of a group of similarly situated individuals to openly oppose, change or overthrow an authority to which they are subject...
in the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
. He was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
with hard labour by a military tribunal
Military tribunal
A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and civil proceedings. The judges are military officers and fulfill the role of jurors...
on the 5th. October 1989 http://moemaka.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/maung-yit-remembering-maung-thaw-ka/ with the 1950 Emergency Act 5 (a), 5 (b)and 5/J; 122 (1).
In the Insein Prison
Before his arrest, he had been suffering from chronicChronic (medicine)
A chronic disease is a disease or other human health condition that is persistent or long-lasting in nature. The term chronic is usually applied when the course of the disease lasts for more than three months. Common chronic diseases include asthma, cancer, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.In medicine, the...
spondylitis, a spinal disease.
A severe beating during a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in Insein
Insein
Not to be confused with Insein, KaleInsein Township is located in the northern Yangon. The township comprises 21 wards, and shares borders with Shwepyitha township in the north, Hlaingthaya township in the west, and Mingaladon township in the east and south...
on the 25th. September 1990 left him paralysed
Paralysed
Paralysed or Paralyzed may refer to:*the state of paralysis, the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups- In music :*"Paralyzed" *"Paralysed", a song by Gang of Four from their 1981 album Solid Gold...
. He received only a minimum of medical care from the prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
doctors
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and was denied access to specialists
Specialty (medicine)
A specialty in medicine is a branch of medical science. After completing medical school, physicians or surgeons usually further their medical education in a specific specialty of medicine by completing a multiple year residency to become a medical specialist.-History of medical specialization:To...
.
“Ko Thaw’s health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
condition has always been poor. When the military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
officers
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
beat and kick him, it worsens his condition. When he was ill, he was denied medical care,” Maung Sin Kye said.
When students in jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
staged a hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
in 1991, Maung Thaw Ka gave his full support, For that, he was badly beaten, tortured and locked in small cell without food when Slorc sent soldiers to crush the “prison insurrection”. Some students were reportedly killed by troops during the hunger strike. “They finally killed his voice,” a Burmese who was close to Maung Thaw Ka in Rangoon said.
At the time he entered Insein Jail, Maung Thaw Ka was already suffering from a chronic disease that was laying his muscles to waste
Waste
Waste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...
. His movements were stiff and jerky, and everyday matters, such as bathing, dressing or eating, involved for him a series of difficult manoeuvres which could barely be completed without assistance. For a man with his health problems, life in solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
was a continuous struggle to cope. And Maung Thaw Ka struggled manfully. But his already much-eroded physical system was unable to withstand the inhuman conditions of Insein Jail for long. Following a heart attack, he was sent to Rangoon General Hospital on 8th. June 1991. He died three days later at the age of 65. http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/124899.html
He was buried at Kandaw Gale Sunni cemetery.
External links
- Dr. Lun Swe, Saya Maung Thaw Kahttp://democracyforburma.wordpress.com/2009/06/12/saya-mg-thaw-ka-by-dr-lun-swe/