N 136 The World is nearing its end

Everything have its beginning and end. Nothing is permanent. The Earth which is the only planet where living things live is 4*5 billion years old (according to AI ) Such a long,long time, but as I had said it is nearing its end.There were towns and empires and monuments in this world which had become extinct and only its history remains such as , Pompeii, Aztec and Maya empires and Bagan of our country . But these are only a few examples. And oh....the extinction of dinosaurs  can be said to be the most significant example. 

What I want to say now is the whole world, the world we people and living things, trees ,plants and every existing geographical features will also become extinct someday. And there will be many causes for their extinction. But if we summarise the causes they will come to only 2.They are natural  and man made disasters. Natural disasters include  climate changes, El Nino and La Ninya, typhoons, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, draught and  abnormal rainfalls, forest fires , floods and many more. People of the world have to face these disasters that happen in their respected places. And they themselves are also making the world  become deteriorate in many ways.

War is one where people have to face death, fires, houses and buildings being destroyed , families lost and all unpleasant things and they are man made. The most distinctive war in the world now is the Russian- Ukraine war started by the greedy President  Vladimar Putin. We , Myanmar people are also unlucky enough to have to face a nasty war, where people are unjustly jailed, killed, raped, misplaced, running for their lives, facing starvation and all kinds of difficulties.The great USA is also at war with Iran ,which affect oil exporting that many countries are facing oil needs.

Many other countries are  not at peace. There are the Israel - Hamas conflict, wars in African states of Sudan, Yemen etc. We cannot know when these wars, including Myanmar, will come to an end, and even when one war has come to its end, another will break out again. Because we are already seeing some countries provoking another one , like North Korea to Japan, China to Taiwan, etc. 

These conflicts and wars are results of greed,ignorance and anger.(လောဘ ဒေါသ မောဟ greed, ignorance,anger which Buddha preached ) If one thinks carefully one will see that it is true .If people are not very greedy they will not make war on other countries , but will be at peace in their own country.But there are also thousands of reasons for a country to  be agressive or hostile to others.

After wars, that is making the world disruptive is the invention of  platforms like Facebook, Tik Tok, Utube etc .... They are useful in someways, but are also disrupting people's lives that even some countries are banning the use of them especially for the  young people.Social networks and games are making people's lives become jeopardy. Adults are so fixated into social network that their normal routines are neglected , while children and young people get so much obsessed with games , that they cannot focus on their studies and at the same time causing damage to their eyesight and brain. Beside these drawbacks they are often used for scamming.

Now came the invention of AI. I am not a netizen  engaging in online activities and I must confess that I don't know much about AI. I know that it is fake intelligent that  can do many useful things like translation , summarizing and many other things. But one disadvantage is that because it is so able that companies are using  AI in place of their usual staff that people are losing their jobs.And anything they do like writing novels or poems,I think that because they don't come from people's brain,they are not genuine and there is not true value in them.But it is now progressing so fast that people in power are trying to slow it down.

There are uncountable problems in the world now.Let me jot down some that I can think of..... population burst, not enough food  and shelter for everyone, pollution of air, rivers and oceans and seas, excessive extract of natural resources,unequal distribution of wealth among the haves and havenots, unlawful emigrating to countries that cannot accept them, corruption among people who have power, drug related problems and now scamming, which has become a big problem.

One problem I haven't mentioned above is sex related crimes.Raping of women,girls and even children are  happening everywhere.On campases, in schools, in homes, and even in churches by priests,in mosques, in detention centres ,everywhere. Incest are committed, in homes by fathers  and even grandfathers to their daughters and grandaughters, brothers to sisters , sometimes resulting in child or teens pregnancy.Pornography is one impulse to rape.On the other hand women's too revealing clothes may be one cause.

Many people don't have right moral virtues now.The head abbott Dr Nandamarlar preached( according to Buddha) that millennias  ago human's lives span were so long, by tens of thousands. But that had become shorter and shorter as virtues are lost and incest become common ,that it has reached a hundred years by now. This is the era when the world will come to its end. Apocalypse is also mentioned in the Bible as the end of the world.

 What Buddha preached is right or wrong , the reasons I have mentioned above are sufficient causes for the world to come to its end. Anyway according to the law of impermanence this day will surely come.So let us pray and live a good virtuous lives as long as we live.....

Because of my views will you dub me a pessimist ? And truely I am a pessimist......

N 135.... We once lived in Golden Valley....

Golden Valley former called Windermere is the most prestigious and expensive ward in Yangon, where only the rich and famous , and people with high positions  reside. 

How did we come to live in Golden Valley ..... 

After I retired in 1997 we moved to Yangon ,the capital. The apartments I bought or rented initially were not convenient for our family, so we craved for a house with a piece of land. My husband USTM started to look for a house which we could afford, which took him to Golden Valley , the priciest place in Yangon. The broker led him to a piece of land with a run down house on Than Lwin Road.  Actually it is not the main Than Lwin Road but a branched out road, but also called Than Lwin Road. 

After some talking with the owners, an old couple who had two grownup daughters,he became friendly  with them and gained their trust. After visiting them a few times, maybe with some presents and some coaxing they agreed to sell to him, from among many who wanted to buy. They agreed upon the price of 245 lakhs, which would make people of this age amazed and in awe. But that really was the price of land in Golden Valley at that time. With about 400 lakhs we can get a land with a nice house then. But we didn't even have 245 lakhs, so our daughter with her husband chipped in 100 lakhs which made them owned 40 % of the land. Oh I forgot to mention the area ; it is about 65 by 80 feet.

But he also repaid them with a good deed. He promised them that he would look for a smaller house with lesser price for them, which he really found one,also in this GV . It had a nice house , although smaller, which they can live comfortably. Come to think about prices then.... why didn't we collect some money then,buy land to keep....and make billions by now? But who knows.... as the saying.... if someone knows what is going to happen he will not be poor.

And so the building of the house began. To build a big pucca building in this country takes about 2 years.... I am over 60 of age by then, and as I am a pessimist I always wonder ... will I live long enough to live in a new house.....but I survived ,not that house in GV but even in a house in an alien land.

As I remember the cost of the building reached 700 lakhs ,which their father ( I call him their father ) took care of. We had to sell many properties , including the brewery in our hometown, one in Myingyan,which I remember brought 60 lakhs , and some I cannot recalled.

The house could be said big.5 master bed rooms , 3 guests rooms, a wide veranda, and fairly big kichen and dining room. We lived there for  over 10 years. A big family with all 4 children, 4 granddaughters and 1 who came later. Sometimes 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter absent as they went to study abroad. As all families there were some feud , some squabble sometimes, but mostly we live  peacefully.

Our house is close to Paditarama monastery. So commotions and noises of pots and pans and kitchen wares could be heard even  before light comes.It had been a nuisance for those who got up late but for us old people we got used to it.There are other facts that I liked about it. The plot is on the off road, which can be reached  after passing 3 houses on a little raised ground.In the rainy season when the road which is lower than us  are flooded we didn't encounter this mishap. We could not hear sounds of motor engines because cars  didn't come passing our private road. If we went out on to the veranda we can hear sounds of birds chirping, especially cuckoo's in spring, which is their season. In some mornings I went walking around the ward by myself. It is peaceful, only a few cars, surely could be called a pleasant environment.

Round about 2015 the granddaughters had all grownup that they were needing their own bedroom. So their father and us decided to renovate the house ,to put one more floor  with more bedrooms. The cost estimated was  2000 lakhs but in the end it finished at 4000 lakhs. Now there were 8 bedrooms with their own baths and toilets attached. I remember what my granddaughter Nang Saw once told me...." Granny .... can you imagine  our house has 11 toilets now  " With the bedroom toilets and 3 for guests  and helpers the number of toilets came to be 11....

But the dear house did not stay with our family forever. About 4 years ago their father decided to give the house to our eldest daughter Ying as inheritance. The other children also had their share of properties. Before long Ying who was struggling with finances sold the house for about 35000 lakhs. Property prices are still rising frightfully.  Some said if she sell now it will get about 3 times more than that. But after selling it Ying seems to get better  in her business. Now she has already had acquired a new house in a good surrounding even if it is not Golden Valley.

After the house was sold I even dream to buy a new house in GV. I like GV not because of its prestigious situation , but because it is peaceful and not far from the city, and I think it is safer. But we cannot afford the skyrocketting price. Now I don't want to live there anymore, because people will think very highly of us, and I won't like it .So I will just say, " the grapes are sour "

N 134 Foods We Eat

 N        134     Foods We Eat.....

 Food is one of the main things a living being need  for sustenance.There is a Burmese saying , without food a person can stay alive for a week, but without water it will be only one morning.  So we cannot live without water as well as food.

      Consuming food and water began since unfolding of life began.The way human beings ate would not be advanced then. The cave men or early stone age men , since they hadn't discovered  fire would have eaten their food raw,or uncooked. Fire was said to be discovered by Neanderthal men, 400,000 years ago.

From that time on people would know how to cook their food, at least to roast or boil their food for eating which make them more delicious. 

    People, now are of different races and living at different places around the world.Generally we can say the white people which consisted of the Europeans  and Americans live in Europe ,America and Australia. The black people live in Africa,  whereas yellow skin people live in Asia.

       Foods these people eat differs according to the  places where they live, their environment and  physical features of their land. Europe and America are big  continents with rolling plains and grasslands, which are suitable for growing grains like wheat  or barley and oats. So bread and foods made from these grains become staple food for the white people. The grasslands which enable animal breeding also give milk and dairy products and meat for consumption.

      Africa a large continent with 54 countries do not have a common diet but vary according to regions, geography, and local traditions. But I learnt that   a heavy , starchy soup made of cassavas or yams, sweet potatatoes ,vegetables , sometimes with meat or fish  and spices is a common dish for Africans. Meat , fish, flat bread,and rice are also eaten according to regions.

      I have been writing  only an introductory rough sketch about various foods people eat around the world. What I am really aiming to write is about our food, the Myanmar  and Shan food. 

        Ours is an Asian country which sits between 2 big  nations , India and China.  These countries and ours differ in everything, from the origins of people,culture, religion, language  etc....But  the climate and rainfall of our countries enable rice growing. So most Asian countries grow rice and it become our staple food.

      When  I say the Myanmar and Shan and also other tribes in our country eat rice ,it is not only rice, but with some sorts of curry. Myanmar curries are cooked using ingredients like onion, garlic,tomatoes, curmin, chilly powder and  some other herbs as necessary.First the ingredients are pounded and fried to become a paste, and then the meat or fish is put in and leave on the fire until they are well cooked and the meat or fish is left with only the gravy and oil.This is called si pyan hin and I  think it is much inflluenced by Indian cooking.In a Myanmar meal this is the main curry ,but there are also many other side dishes.

         Myanmar has a variety of soups which are cooked using onion,garlic, ngapi or fish paste and vegetables.There are also side dishes of fried vegetables or salad. There is one dish, which may be called an appetizer and which Myanmar people  are fond of called ngapi yay gyo. It is made with fermented small fishes, boiled with some water,and added with garlic, chillie powder and roasted onion and tomato. Fresh vegetables are dipped into this and eaten heartily . Some who cannot afford much for meals have to do with only this dish.

continuation of  Foods We Eat.... Last part 

       

While people in Myanmar proper eat this way people in other parts of the country adopted some ways of cooking of their neighbours. Those who live near the Chinese border take on some ways of cooking of the Chinese. Those who live near the Thai border become aquainted with Thai foods.That is the reason that many people in Myanmar have now come to like fermented foods, Marlar Shangkaw, Marlar hin  of the Chinese and Som Tam, Tom yam kung, and  spicy food of the Thais.

      But deep inside the Shan State the Shan people are still eating the way they have been eating centuries ago. Some Shan people like to eat sticky rice, instead of simple rice. They use fermented soy bean in some curries as an ingredient. When cooking meat and fish, these are marinated with salt, onion, tomatoes, chillies,soybean powder, a little oil, coreander and some herbs ad wrap in  banana leaves or put in a bamboo and kindle over fire until they are well cooked.

      Like Myanmar people Shans also have a variety of curries to eat with rice, which are fried or make into salad. Soup is made mostly using vegetables with soy powder as base. And as Myanmar people eat nga pi yay, Shan people also eat an appetizer called nam hpit poo.This side dish is made of soy powder mixed with other ingredients like nga pi yay.When eating, people take some green vegetables, dip them in the dish and eat. About Myanmar people's eating by hand, some people are  astonished about it. They think people use their whole hands and getting dirtied ,that they feel disgusted by the custom. While having a chance I want to explain about that. That eating by hand doesn't mean that we are using the whole hand, but only the tip of one hand. And Shan people wash their hands before and after eating.

So every nationality in the world have their own food, their own way of eating. But not everybody have enough to eat. Those who have enough to eat can be said to be blessed, because there are many, many people who don't have enough to eat, because of coflicts, of unfavourable climate and other factors. So those who have enough to eat , those who are blessed 'shouldn't waste their food and share what they have with the needy as much as they can as a kind of dana, which will enable them to have a good life in the next life.

N 129 My childhood days in Kunhing.

I was born in Kunhing in Southern Shan State which is 140 miles from Taunggyi ,the capital of the State. When I was about 5 years old our family moved to Taunggyi for some reasons . In those days cars were not very plentiful. So to go to Taunggyi we had to rely on some lorries which transported people and goods to Kengtung, and maybe there were  a few jeeps too. 

Like many other people who moved away but couldn’t forget their birthplace, we the children would like to visit Kunhing whenever we had a chance,though it was not even a town where many people resided,but a few houses scattered here and there. In the early years my grandmother was still alive, so we had grandmother and an aunt with her family to stay with. 

They would dote on us , children,with special foods they have. We ate sticky rice with fried fresh carp from Nam Pang  river. The fishes caught from Nam Pang river then were so delicious, because they were natural. Fried pork or some fermented meat with sticky rice was also a common food . On market days when we entered the small market our nostrils were met by the smell of Shan mount ti. We ate this with eggs and fried dried pork skin. Eggs in those days were natural and they were sold by putting in small woven bamboo strips. There were also other Shan snacks like Khao moon part , khao moon haw and some other khao moons.

 

The other attraction of Kunhing is the Nam Pang stream.Though it is called stream it actually is as big as a river with its head in Mernghsu, a town north of Kunhing. It may be about 300 yards at its widest and would be deep because of its emerald green color. There was a wooden bridge across it in those days with some space between the planks that it was frightful for us children to look down to the water.

    

As long as I can remember, nobody swam across the stream. But I heard that my mother when she was young swam across it, but surely with company,  which would be her cousins.I learned that they swam not the whole length in one stroke, but rest on boulders which are plentiful in the stream. And my mother and her cousins when they did boating in the stream would be reckless enough to choose the smallest boats. They were young and could swim well then , and if something happen help would surely come from nearby.

We children never had opportunity to bathe ,to swim in the Nam Pang river. Our bathing time was in the evening ,when we were taken to a small waterfall made by some planks to have water from a small stream flow down to a lower place, where we bathe under it.There also was a platform made of thick wooden planks to wash and do washing clothes .There also was a rice mill with a waterwheel near there, which was running night and day.We children were happy and satisfied to go and bathe at this small waterfall and would be looking to the time to go there.

Kunhing is hot as it is only 1615 feet above sea level with no high mountains. I recalled  a unique way of how we kept cool during the summer months while we were there. A big bamboo mat which maybe about 8 or 10 feet ,bounded by bamboo strips at the edges were secured to a beam by ropes was let hanging down. This mat was pulled backwards and forwards by maids to let cool air  fill the space while family members sit or lie down on the floor mat. I never saw this way of keeping cool anywhere,but only there in those days. 

As I mentioned earlier Kunhing is 140 miles away from Taunggyi. Even there were no effective means of traveling in the early days ,for some reasons people were going places. Around 1930, when my mother was at the age of 15/16 she travelled to Taunggyi with her mother . I learned that the two of them traveled in a bullock cart with only the cart driver as their company. At night they slept in the cart while the driver slept on the ground.My mother who was dubbed “Golden Tree “because she always wear heavy jewelry, would then be wearing jewelry ,but the country under British rule by then was peaceful with no robbers or dacoits ,that they had nothing to fear of.The journey took them 10 days to reach Taunggyi. 

Even in my mother’s time I think the road between Taunggyi and Kunhing was paved with asphalt. The author  Morris Collision seemed to reach Kunhing in one day, and then next day he even reached Kengtung riding in lorries. The road between Kunhing and Taunggyi sometimes passes through lowlands, though there are curves and bends occasionally, but after Loilem the region is mountainous, that it is dangerous for cars to pass through. On one side are massive rock walls that cannot be blown  to widen the road, and on the other side deep precipices, where sometimes cars fall down and caused casualties.

The  name Kunhing comes from the word Kunhaing which means a thousand islands,because there are many islands in the Nampang Stream.After my grandparents time more people came and settled on the west bank and gradually it grew to become a town. As for now it had became an important town because of its location, which is on the Asian Road, the capital of a township with departmental offices and a fair population.

N 130 Domestic Travels ( To Mogok )

The travels I am writing about are mostly what I took  long ago, round about 1990s when I was working as the principle of BEHS 2.It usually would be during Christmas ,or early summer holidays. Once we chose to go to Mogok,the famous ruby producing town.Beside that Mogok was a place we hadn't been ,there was another reason that we chose to visit it.Our niece  Nang Ku's ( Mya Win May )family was doing mining in Mogok and as their house is in Mandalay we had no problem of staying for the nights, either in Mandalay or Mogok.  

So as usual we gathered  people who would be going with us, relatives and friends. Most were relatives, including Nang Ku's parents and relatives who came down from Kunhing. I didn't remember well ,but I thought we travelled in two cars.The road from Taunggyi to Mandalay is 210 miles and smooth ,so we reached Mandalay before dusk fell and drove right to Nang Ku's house which is on the Mandalay Sagaing Road. 

N 133. Thingyan in Chiang Mai 2026

Days shift into months, months into years, and so our stay in Chiang Mai had extended to over 3 years, though we hadn't expected to stay this long.

We are Shan people of Myanmar, and like many Myanmar have taken refuge in Thailand at present. Though we are staying in Thailand, many are yearning to go back to our own country, to our own people, and to our own homes and customs.  But being not able to do so at present, we try to maintain a peaceful life, follow our customs as much as we can , especially Buddhist traditions, because most of us are Buddhists. 

Now.... the most anticipated festival has arrived. The Thingyan Festival, where water splashing over each other is the most significant and enjoyed by mostly young people, in Myanmar, Thailand, and some other countries. My husband and I are old people,so enjoying the water festival is out of the question for us. But we have to follow some other merit-making activities.

Welcoming Thingyan is one activity every household does in our country.  We usually fill an earthen pot with some herbs and plants that people think would bring us luck and at the same time ward off dangers and evil beings, with some flowers and decorated small umbrellas made of gold paper and triangular flags, and put it on an auspicious place for a few days.

And then every Shan household would make khou moon haw, a snack made with sticky rice powder and juggery, wrapped in a banana leaf and then steamed. This snack is made to offer to the Buddha and also to distribute to neighbours. Other merit-making activities include paying homage to elders, going to monasteries with offerings, pouring clean, fragrant water on Buddha statues, etc....But for young people, it is needless to say that they enjoy merry making of pouring water on each other, that this has come to be known as ' Water Festival ' the most important festival of the year....

Though merry making is not for us, I can still follow other traditions like going to monasteries with offerings. So I try to go to a monastery, even if not to many, without fail at Thingyan and Thadingyut. Chiengmai is a city with countless wats and pagodas, and monasteries. But we cannot go to Thai monasteries because offerings and blessings are in the Thai language that we don't understand. I learned that there are also many Shan monasteries where Shan people attend on auspicious days. I enquired from people who know and also search for them on the internet, and I have come to know some of them.

Until now, I had been to six   Shan monasteries, and I want to share them with friends who may want to know. This is also an English version of my Facebook post of yesterday...

1..... Wat Pa Pao.... there is an old  Burmese-style pagoda and some old buildings there, and it is in the centre of the city on the Canal Road. I think this is the best-known Shan monastery here...

2.....Wat Hsai Moan.... this is a Myanmar/ Shan monastery located on the Canal Road opposite Wat Pa Pao. The residing monk is from Myanmar, and Karen, Shan, and other ethnic people attended there. Once attending there, we encountered a festival, packed with people at its fullest.

3.....Wat Ku Man Mongkon  Chai....Situated on Doi Saket Road, the construction was still going on when we attended in 2024. We encountered a Shan novitiation ceremony there....I didn't notice the name of the monastery then, but got it only from the photo taken there. (Photos are of great use because they show not only the date, but also the place ) 

4.....Wat Ku Tao..... A Shan monastery with an exquisite pagoda like 5 watermelons stacked on one another. It is famous among the Shan people, and there are novitiating ceremonies every summer.

5....Wat Ta Gradat....Yesterday we attended this monastery. Learned about it from an acquaintance and the location from the net. The most significant building at this monastery is a prayer hall with a brick ladder decorated with big coiled dragons on both sides.

6....Wat Tiya Sathan.....Attended this monastery last Thadingyut.When we came out, our grandson Sai Ollie was nearly bitten by a dog. Not serious, but just a scratch with its teeth on one finger. But we were worried and hurried back to go to a clinic to get vaccinated, so we couldn't get photos except 2, which I took hurriedly.It is also from this photo that I got its name. After my Facebook post, a friend commented that this monastery was primarily built by a Shan man, U Tiya. 

As I have mentioned above, there are endless wats and monasteries in Chiang Mai. We believe we gain merit to go to monasteries with offerings because it is a kind of dana(giving ), which would be a help for a better next life. Besides this meeting and mingling with our own Shan people in our own dresses is also a pleasant experience. So  I will try to go to more Shan places of worship in the future if my health still permits me.....