Myanmar Oral History Project - life stories

94 year old Sao Noan Oo  was born in Shan State as a princess, being the daughter of the Sawbwa or Sao Hpa of Lawksawk, a state in the Federated Shan States or Mong Tai. She has been fighting for the rights of the Shan people for almost all of her long life.  And she hasn't given up yet. Sao Noan Oo was studying in England at the time of the 1962 coup and her scholarship was cancelled.   Give...

Sao Noan Oo was born in 1931 in Shan State as a princess, being the daughter of the Sawbwa or Sao Hpa of Lawksawk, a state in the Federated Shan States or Mong Tai. Sao Noan Oo was studying in England at the time of the 1962 coup and her scholarship was cancelled.   Given what happened to her family and other Shan families after that coup she has never returned to Myanmar but has tirelessly fought...

Linda Lewin, using the recollections of her 94 year old father, Boh Lay Desmond and other family members and friends, has written the story of her family covering a number of generations.  In this episode we hear how her grandfather's life ended in Bassein (now Pathein) during the Japanese invasion in 1943 and also hear of the adventurous life of her great uncle, San Po Thin.  The book, My Fa...

This interview was first published in 2021 and received many downloads. U Maung Nyi (commonly known as David) was born in Kyaukse on 15 April, 1936.  He was educated in Kyaukse, Mandalay, Yangon and Otago (New Zealand).  As a mining engineer he spent many years working at Bawdwin, Myanmar's famous lead, silver and zinc mine which during colonial times was the largest such mine in the world. ...

This interview took place in 2018 and I am republishing it now as there was a lot of interest when it was first published. U Nay Oke is the founder of a well known English language school and was born in 1943.  There is a short short postscript where U Nay Oke told me the story of how as a very young man, as a result of a bizare circumstance, he ended up selecting Western movies for General Ne Win...

Linda Lewin, using the recollections of her 94 year old father, Boh Lay Desmond and other family members and friends, has written the story of her family covering a number of generations.  In this episode we hear a little about her great grandparents U Tun Hla and Daw Bu Ma and learn how her grandparents, Sa Po Lwin and Lucienne Auberhoffer met and married in London and moved to Bassein (now Pathe...

This interview was originally made on 8 December 2017.  U Than Htay made some interesting comments about the colonial and Japanese occupation of Burma. Send us Fan Mail

Dr Than Oo, born 1928, prominent educator, former DG of Basic Education, the key player in raising the literacy rate in Burma in the 1960's and for the re-establishing of the teaching of English to primary school children after a gap of many years, former Chairman of the Academy of Arts and Science. This interview was first published back on 5 March 2018.  As many of you only became listeners...

This was the second interview I made for Myanmar Oral History back on 4 December, 2017.   Many of you have signed up in recent years and I hope you will find some of these earlier interviews of interest. Send us Fan Mail

U K Ba Thaung (1931-2022) - interesting stories of his relationship with General Ne Win, including observations regarding the death of General Aung San and the involvement U Saw and more personal first hand observations of General Ne Win's many unusual superstitions and remedies such as bathing in buffalo blood and his methods to increase his virility.   I was fortunate to interview Kenneth t...

U Kenneth Ba Thaung (1931-2022), his life and career as a military officer including discussing his relationship with General Ne Win and his career running the Pearl and Fishery corporation, as Commissioner of Salt, the establishment of Polo 9 cigarette company and the 7 1/2 years he spent in Insein Prison. I was fortunate to interview Kenneth twice before he passed away on 22 May, 2022 at the age...

General Ne Win (1910 -2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander who served as Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also as President of Burma from 1962 to 1981.  He was the country's military dictator during the Socialist period from 1962 to 1988. I wonder how many of those listening to this podcast know that the name "Ne Win" was a nom de guer...

Dr. Maung Maung was not only a giant in terms of his legal scholarship - being awarded two doctorates from prestigious international universities - but was also a thorough gentleman and patriot in the important years of Burma's pre and post independence.  He was heavily criticized by some for being too close to General Ne Win, but others saw him as a loyal servant of the State and who tried t...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Guy Slater was born in Lahore (then India) in 1941, the eldest son an Englishman who worked for the Indian Civil Service (as did several earlier generations of the family).  Following India becoming independent in 1947 his father became a diplomat and was posted at one time to Burma.  On leaving school Guy spent 8 months in Rangoon between school and university with his parents during which time E...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Charles Haswell Campagnac (1886 to 1970) wrote much of his autobiography before he died and we have his grand daughter, Sandra and other members of his family to thank for pulling all of his notes together and producing The Autobiography of a Wanderer in England and Burma published in 2011 and available at Amazon and other ebook stores. Charles Campagnac's role as a barrister, a Councillor of...

Sithu (a very prestigious award for bravery and gallantry) Colonel Raymond Campagnac was born in August 1921 and passed away in November, 1989.  He was Anglo Burmese as were both his parents. His daughter Sandra Campagnac - Carney has written a biography of his life entitled Burma's Son (published in 2020 by Blue Mist Publication and available in several ebook shops).  I was made aware of his...

With significant assistance from Professor John Ingleson and Dr Ian Black (then both at the University of New South Wales) I published the first edition of A Short History of South East Asia in the late 1990s.   The current 6th edition was published in 2017 by Wiley and, if you are interested, is available for purchase on all the major ebook sites. The catalyst for writing the book was a 1980 spee...

With significant assistance from Professor John Ingleson and Dr Ian Black (then both at the University of New South Wales) I published the first edition of A Short History of South East Asia in the late 1990s.   The current 6th edition was published in 2017 by Wiley and, if you are interested, is available for purchase on all the major ebook sites. The catalyst for writing the book was a 1980 spee...