Kaung Thant a Garden on a Far-Flung Peak

CHAPTER 7 INTRODUCING A NEW HEADMASTER I climbed up a small hill where the school was situated. There were three buildings. The space opposite to the buildings was tough and seemed to be bright. There was a flag post. The national flag was raised on which was in a terrible state. It was about 10 ft high and a little better than a simple bainboo pole bent to the left and frail. The decency of a school depends on the flag post. I made into in my mind to fix the flag post as the first task that needed to be carried out. The building just behind seemed to be the school office. Say Cin came out and welcomed me. He led me to the office. The right hand side of the ofiice seemed to be the teachers' common room. At the left hand side was the Headmaster's office. Khin Suan Mung who came to my home yesterday gave me the keys. The headmaster in-charge, a junior assistant teacher, Ngul Khan Hau had left for Teddim on business and hadn't yet got back as he might not finish doing office work. I opened the two cupboards with the keys provided by Khen Suan Mung. I found the service books of the staff and attendance books. When I asked for student enrolment 39

registration books, Khen Suan Mung brought them. I checked one of them and found it was incomplete. Not yet recorded and signed for the last year results of the students. I realized I needed to do a lot. The complete one was no other than the salary list. Without this, it would be impossible to draw the salaries. The salary list was drawn up to the previous month. At that time Saya Cin arrived. He informed me that all the students were gathered outside and would like to be introduced to the new Headmaster. I went out to the assembly ground. All the teachers took their places in front of the flag post. They left a place for me in the middle. The students were in Indian file according to their sections When I got there , saya Cin introduced me to the teachers. They were U Ngul Khan En, a junior assistant teacher, U Pau Khan Khup, U Kai Do Pau and Daw Yung Ngaih Man. With saya Cin and U Ngul Khan Hau, it would becol11_e total numbers of six. \"Another lady teacher has been attending a training course. She 'II be back soon\" said U Ngul Khan En. For the middle school level there were only four teachers including I myself. There was one section each for Grade 5, 6, 7 and 8. At the primary level, there were five sections from kindergarten to the 4th grade. Only four teachers were appointed and one was attending a training course. How were they managing to have teachers in all the classes? 40

I had to make a note of this as another task to carry out. Then Saya Ngul Khan En said he would introduce the Headmaster to the students. He spoke to the students in Chin language. I didn't know what he was saying. The children looked at me and burst out laughing. Then Saya En explained that he told the students that our Headmaster looked like an actor and so they laughed. Then I was only 31 years old. Due to my \"anywhere\" application, I was promoted to be a middle school headmaster after earning only 9 years service. I was young but not that handsome. People told me I had fair complexion. Anyhow, laughing frankly earned good relationship and was much better than keeping quiet to indicate the due respect and regard to their headmaster. I was very pleased with the current atmosphere. When I looked at them carefully I saw that they were not clean enough. In fact I could say \"dirty\". Due to the low temperature they didn't need to take a shower. They also didn't comb their hair to be neat and tidy. That was another task for me to do. I noticed that their dresses were not bright and fresh like those worn by the students in the plains. Not clean enough. Some of those from the higher grade level could be seen wearing green sarong school uniforms. The majority wore trousers. 41

I felt so sad after observing them. Looking upon them as my own children, I considered the ways I could raise their living standard. At that time Saya En requested me to talk to the students and I halted my thoughts. I started talking. \"Dear students I come from a very far-away place from Hmaw Bi in Yangon Division. I' II teach you to become clever and good.\" \"Excuse me, Sayagyi\" Saya En interrupted and he translated my words into their mother tongue, Chin language. He told me,\"Sayagyi they don't understand Burmese especially if you speak continuously\" I suffered more after hearing Saya En's words. Oh what a pity, they didn't understand what I had said. If so how about reading, lessons were written in Burmese. How could they study? This was also another task. I recorded this fact in my mind agam. Students, if human beings spend their life-span without consideration, they would be no differentfrom animals. So we need to make necessary changes.\" \"In the stone age humans ate raw fish and meat. Later after discovering fire, they roasted the meat and progressed gradually up to the present day stage of cooking properly.\" 42

\"From the stage of not wearing the clothes, human beings managed to upgrade their lives by wearing clothes. Now I also want to see development and progress in your lives.\" \"I'll try my best and you must too\" \"Without literary knowledge, our intelligence level will be low. Knowledge could lead to a better life\" 'In life there must be changes and progress\" \"Tomorrow must be better than today with such progress.\" \"To achieve progress in life we need to try continuously. Intelligence can drive you to grab necessary progress in life.\" \"To become an intelligent person, you need to read a lot, you need to study a lot. Reading makes a perfect man.\" 'In this way your life will become more developed than ever before.\" \"Therefore, dear students, you must try hard and study the school lessons thoroughly. If you do so, you'll pass the exams every year.\" \"Please try your best. I' II also try my best\" Whatever I said to them was translated into Chin language by Saya En. I was not at all satisfied. I would try my best to teach them to be able to understand Burmese language one day without any interpreter. I made a note of this. After the introductions and the speeches, the students were asked to return to their respective classes. The children ran to 43

their sections making all sorts of noises. It seemed that after keeping silence, their voices burst out, and shouting to one another. This was also another task for me to take proper action later. I gazed at them, lost in thought. 44

<< My eyes didn't get used to this scene as I couldn't see the usual items found in every class and every school, especially a drinking water pot or stand and mugs. After running and playing, didn't they feel thirsty? Didn't they drink water?\">> 45

CHAPTERr:::g SCHOOL WITHOUT WATER POTS OR MUGS When I reentered the office, all the staff were waiting for me to come back. \"We would like to have a welcoming ceremony for you Sayagyi.\", Saya Ngul Khan En said. My office and their common room were close to each other. The partitions were the two office cupboards. A chair was placed at the top of a long table. The teachers took their seats along both sides of the long table. The total number was five. I had a heavy heart thinking how could I run a middle school with only five teachers? When l asked,\" ls that all?\" They replied \"Currently it is\" \"A junior assistant teacher now left for Tedim on business. Saya Tuan Kau Cin , Saya Ngul khan Hau and I myself are three junior teachers. lncluding.Sayagyi it'll be four. For primary level,Saya Pau Khan Khup, Saya Khai Do Pau, a lady teacher Yung Ngainh Man and then sayama Daw Bonny Num kao Cin , the one who has been attending the training. Altogether seven\" Said Saya En. I got tired after listening to Saya En's word. 46

At primary level there were five sections. The number of teacher was three. I was worried that lack of teachers in every class would give the chance for the students to be very noisy. Saya En must have read my inner mind. \"We assigned Sayama Bonny to teach Burmese in the middle school level classes. At the primary level, we hired two volunteer teachers who have already passed their Basic Education High School Examination (Matriculation Exam) and even joined University Correspondence Courses. They are Man Sian Ngaih and Khain Khan Mung. Bu_t today they are not here. \"They went to Tedim \"said Saya En. \"For what purpose did they go to Tedim?\" \"They said it's about the University Correspondence Courses.\" \"Did they submit leave of absence?\" \"Just informed me verbally, Sayagyi\". Let it be. When you are in Rome, do as Romans do. I just kept quiet. Saya En continued in his welcoming speech. \"They were very glad to know that a new headmaster would come and they had been waiting for a month. As the school has a Burmese headmaster the children would have chance to listen to the Burmese language and study in Burmese. So they would be very lucky.\" I also told them that very glad to meet them. We had to work together unitedly for the betterment of the school. Only when there was discipline, we would progress and be able to achieve 47

success. We should do our best. I spoke briefly and closed the welcoming ceremony. The teachers left for their respective sections. I went back to my office and asked Khen Suan Maung to open the cupboards. There were some sports gears in the first cupboard. They were footballs and other things. In the second one, there kept the salary list, Register (A) and (8) books. There were very few books. There were not very many things inside. No complicated lists. I asked for the time tables of the teachers. They had drawn one. I found that everyone had a full workload. It was very different from those schools in the big cities. If a teacher needed to take 25 classes per week, there was complaint. Some had only 12 periods a week. As I was the one who drew these time tables, I knew very well. Here in this middle school, there were four classes and only three teachers. Well including myself it would become four. All must take classes without a break. I wouldn't get enough time for both corrections and office work. When Sayama Bonny came back from the training, only one teacher could take one period break. I sat at the table with the thought of drawing the time table again. No time table was posted on the wall. 48

As it was too much to do, I didn't know where I should start. But one good thing was that I had accommodation. I had an office with cupboards and a chair with armrest for me. After school I planned to call a meeting. I would inform them to follow both disciplines for teachers and students. Then I had to put effort to encourage them to follow the discipline. Sitting in the chair I was thinking of this and that. Later I got an idea to observ~ and inspect all the classes. The school buildings were built in the English letter U shape. In the middle, the headmaster's office and teachers' common room were situated. The right- hand side building was occupied by classes of middle school level while the left hand side was for primary level. Very simple and not complicated. I went and looked at the middle school level classes. Inside the classroom, I saw nothing but a black board and benches. Not like the classrooms of the schools in Yangon which were decorated with table cloth, flower vase, drinking water stand, broom etc. There was nothing and it was very simple. My eyes didn't get used to this scene as I couldn't see the usual items found in every class and every school especially drinking water pot or stand or the mugs. After running and playing, didn't they feel thirsty? Didn't they drink water? After observing all classes, I looked around the school compound. In the lower level of the middle school class building, there was a football pitch. There was also a volley 49

ball court on the right hand side of the primary level building.\" Village lads always came and played there\" I was informed. \"From afternoon till late in the evening, they played happily. Sometimes these youths put their chins on the window sills and watched the teachers teaching.\" I was told. I had to face so many things. I would slowly make necessary changes. Rome could not be built in one day. It would take time to build. The students looked at me with their round beady eyes, may be to query what sort of headmaster I would be. The teachers might think of their own way of how to deal with fair-complexion, short and thin headmaster. As for me, I would try my best to become a respectful, · impressive and reliable headmaster for them. As soon as I got back the office, I asked for the order book and started to write down the order No. 1/83 to invite the teachers to the meeting. While I was jotting down the facts for the meeting, my mind ran away....... . Far .. far away to my beloved daughter Mya Witt Yee. Did two year -old baby miss her father? Did she remember the kisses given by her beloved father after he got back from school? \"Has she been looking for her father and calling out \"dad where are you?\", with these thought I suffered. 50

Early in the morning she would be woken up by the kisses of her father and she replied with a pleasant smile. She would put her head on her father's shoulder and would like to take a rest. Such a lovely daughter. Will you ask about your father's whereabouts? What about my 9 year-.old son Htet Htet? Would he feel depressed because of absence of his beloved father? I wondered whether he might be looking after his younger sister and going to school\" \"As their father was far away and not having his guidance, would they feel lack of self- confidence?\" \"I wondered whether their mother could go to school regularly with two children or not. House work and schoolwork would definitely exhaust her. My parents who were in Tarchilek might have been worried for their son who was in Chin State. My thoughts were wandering. Looking through the window of my office I could see those mountains surrounding the village. When would I be able to go and see my family members by climbing over these mountains? While I was lost in thought, I heard the school bell for lunch break. I had to go back for lunch. 51

<<I was far away from my beloved family. I missed them a lot. Fate was really cruel. Though there were many places in the plains for me, why was I here in a place surrounded by mountains, where it was very difficult to travel to other places?\" 52

CHAPTER9 TEACH FOR THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING, TESTS FOR SUCCESS. At home I had a bunch of bananas and biscuits, and also a cup of goat's milk offered by someone. I shouldn't eat rice As I didn't want to make fire again, l divided what I had cooked, half each for morning and dinner. I had eaten half in the morning. I left half for dinner. No rice for lunch. My lunch was three slices of biscuit, a banana with a cup of goat milk and a small cup of green tea. I took a nap. I slept on my back and practiced listening to the pulse like a meditation practice. Put my hands on my tummy and tried to listen to the pulse; I felt like I could hear the pulse with my own ears. Listening to the pulses, I felt sleepy. But I practiced to automatically waking up at ten minutes to one in the afternoon. I always woke up at ten to one. I couldn't get any sound sleep; l tried to calm down and just lay down on the bed for a rest. During that period I had no won-ies but a peaceful mind. To be able to be happy and healthy, one shouldn't say only prayers, one must eat a proper diet and take exercise. 53

To be happy one needs to control one's mind. It is possible to grab calmness via meditation practice. Without controlling and maintaining one's mind to keep calm it may become wild. The mind may easily look for devilish activities. I had known the nature of my mind. Thus I tried to practice keeping my mind calm. But I didn't make such a practice only under such miserable circumstances. Since I was a university student, I had practiced meditation. After reading a lot of books I learned some techniques on how to live our lives peacefully. The more I knew, the better I could control myself to be peaceful. As a result I was able to live in the hilly region like Chin state very peacefully alone. With such thoughts I climbed up again to the school. When l got to my office, the school bell rang. 1 ordered Khen Suan Mung, the office boy, to look for the intra-office instruction file. What were the instructions from the upper level? What had been done? How many tasks were left? Urgent matters were done. Long term tasks were not yet carried out. No problem. There was good enough time left to do them. l checked the registration book (A) and (B). Register (B) was a record book for student's enrolment. It is the most important book for a school. It is needed to record the pass or failure of 54

each and every individual student at the end of every academic year. The headmaster must sign that record. After carefully checking the results, the headmaster records and signs it. It is the most vital task and cannot be ignored. This task must be done as soon as the academic year is over. When a student requests his transfer certificate or any kind of testimonials, the headmaster needs to check with that registration book (B). It is the duty of a headmaster to follow the instruction of the directorate. As that register (B) is so important, it is necessary to keep it in a cupboard or a locker by the headmaster himself. If there was fire, it must be given first priority to be saved and taken away. Register (B) which I paid much attention was not that bad except that one academic year's result was needed to be recorded. Checking the result, I thought I could do it easily. Whatever tasks are to be fulfilled, I would do them by myself. I didn't want to put the blame on others. All the (A) registers were kept by the class-teachers. By the end of the month, I could check and find out the exact numbers of students then. Register (A) means the attendance list. After reading a lot of documents, I got tired especially my eyes. Moving towards the window for the second time today, I gazed away. 55

I saw the gloomy mountain range only. What was there behind that mountain range? Where would I arrive ifl were to pass over these mountains? I didn't know whether Hmaw Bi, a town where my family members lived was situated behind that mountain range or not. Where it might be, I didn't know. Where were my beloved friends? Did they know my current whereabouts? I was far away from my beloved family. I missed them a lot. Fate was really cruel. Though there were so many places in the plains for me, why was I here in a place surrounded by mountains where it was very difficult to travel to another places? I felt dissatisfied with myself. Self-inquiry explained that I was the only Buddhist Burmese (Barnar) in this village. I had no one to talk to and was very lonely. It made no difference to put the blame on fate. No immediate transfer would be granted. If fortune favours me with lime, I should prepare to make lime juice. Releasing a sigh I took a deep breath. \"Come on, let the sorrowful thoughts out, welcome the energetic mood and devote yourself in your office work. Don't let yourself idle and be happy with work.\" I had to teach myself. Thinking about what to say during the meeting, I tried to control my wandering mind. 56

While I was thinking of this and that, the school was over. I felt like the time was flying. I wished the coming days would be the same. I made secret wishes. Teachers gathered in the office. I greeted them and the meeting started. I told them what I had expected regarding school work one point aft~enther. But they didn't jot down anything. They did not r,r..y. nything on which to take notes. They were not used to n taking practice. No problem. For this time, I would try to persuade them. I told them to work in unity. The result of grade eight must be a new record which had been previously recorded as zero percent success. To achieve a better result for the grade four level, we would try our best. Discipline plays an important role. Encourage the students to attend the classes regularly. Please teach all the lessons in the syllabus thoroughly. After one academic year, there should be no failure. If a student fails, the parents have lost a lot and the child may get mental trauma and that is also the loss for the nation. No one gets any benefit. I told them to pay attention to each individual student and teach for thorough understanding and test for the success. They asked what they wanted to know and also presented what were needed. L Except the prescribed text books, they had nothing to read. They didn't even have any note books. These note books were only issued using a quota system according to the numbers of students. No quota for the teachers. 57

To buy books on their own, no book shop in the village. Even ball-pens and pencils were barely available. They also wished to achieve good results. They voiced that if there were a good leadership, they would try their best to be successful. I was really heartened. They were the teachers who would assist me in every aspect. We were in the same boat wearing the same shoes. They were my comrades and my partners. Making good and utmost use of their strength, I would put great effort for the development of this Laitui School. 58

<< When young, it was somewhat like making fire with partially wet firewood and one may come across unexpected difficulty. Then you need to try to overcome the problem. Like cooking of rice, when we build our life we need to make many necessary adjustments to become neither to be too rigid nor so flexible.>> 59

COOKING RICE POT, SMOKING A LOT At six sharp I always wake up. After washing my face and brushing teeth, I ran up the small hill. I took freehand exercises for health. I took breathing exercise as well. These exercises have been taken since my schooling years. Looking back to the past I was once a sprinter or a champion in track and field events during my years in both middle school and high school. I used to be a champion of 100 meter and 200 meter sprint events of inter-school level at the sport competition held to celebrate our nation's Independence Day. At the Rangoon Institute of Education, I was the champion of short distance races such as 100 and 200 meter sprint events for four consecutive years. During the final year I was busy preparing and submitting a long term-paper and was unable to take part in the sport competition. I still remembered that during that period nobody could beat me in 100 meter, 200 meter and 400meter races. Another guy called Ko Myint was the champion for 800, 1,500 and 5, 000 meter races. Both of us used to be famous at the Rangoon Institute of Education as champions' for short and middle distance races. 60

r Every year in those days, news about us together with our photos were published in the then newspapers such as, \"The Working People's Daily\" and \"The Guardian\" that was published in English. It is really pleasurable to recall the memory especially for those red- letter days. Everybody might have these red-letter days at one time or another. Some may even achieve success so many times in their lifetime. Recalling those red-letter days are truly pleasurable but if someone blows his or her own trumpet repeatedly and fi:_equently, that person might be regarded as an idiot by others. I checked whether I did so like that or was able to be a considerate person. Taking exercise and lost in thought made me unable to notice the beauty of the moving clouds and the mist. I could not identify if these are mist or foggy dew that passed my body. I opened my mouth and felt like I was eating the cloud. I wish I could take my photograph of that time seeming to eat cloud on the peak of a mountain situated at over 6,000 feet above sea level. At that time my headmaster salary was not high enough to buy a camera. Being lost in thought, I forgot to cook rice. I had to go back home in a hurry in order to cook before school hours. As soon as I got back I tried to make a fire. As usual, the fire wood was got wet and no flame was made. I needed to use lots of pine sticks. Column of smoke came out for a long time and 61

again made me cry. Tears welled in my eyes without crying and rolled down my cheeks. I cleared the tear with sleeve of my shirt. After successfully making fire with flame, I put a pot of rice on the stove. Looking at the smoke my thoughts forcefully pulled me back to the state High School, Htandabin in Taungoo Township. When 1 was first appointed as a senior assistant teacher there, 1 had my meals at Daw Hla Tin's Restaurent on monthly basic account. Other partners in this category were U Htain Win, the Township Officer andU Aung Than, the Bank Manager. I spent the meal times together with them, teasing the spinster, Daw Hla Tin happily. She prepared meals with variety of dishes for us with benevolence. However I couldn't eat the prepared meals at the restaurant for a long time. So I got on the self -catering track. Then another senior assistant teacher Saw John Cay and I myself shared. But he was an alcoholic and didn't want to eat meals properly. In fact he was a dipsomaniac. He drank only alcohol every time he had a chance out of sight. I had a great pitiful feeling for him as he was addicted to alcohol. He could eat so little like a cat. Sometimes he prepared the meals. He could cook very well and his curries were very delicious. There were lots of wood and it was very easy to make fire and cook a pot of rice. Now trying to make fire with wet wood was different and yearning. 62

But I shouldn't be upset about difficulty of making fire and I also could not spend time without cooking. Without meals I couldn't survive. Thus I needed to carry out the task by any means. Sometimes in life we would come across such a difficult situation. Then we must face it and try to overcome it. Feeling upset would not work out well for anything. I encouraged myself and tried to make the fire until I succeeded and then cooked rice. When the water boiled and rice seemed to be soft, I poured out the boiled water from the pot into another big bowl. In other words I drained off the surplus water while rice was being cooked. After that I put the rice pot on fire which was not as intensifies as before. To be able to cook properly you need to follow a certain system. You need to pick up some rice with a flat wooden spatula and check if the rice is soft enough to take the boiled water out of the pot by pouring into another bowl. If it was over-soft it would become a pot of porridge and it would be impossible to pour the boiled water out. If that happens, you need to add some more water into the cooking pot and then pour out the water. When the rice is about to get cooked and one was forgetful to reduce the intensifying of the fire, the rice would be burnt and overcooked. In other words, the meal would be burnt to a crisp. Well, lite is quite similar to that of cooking -rice in the traditional way. 63

When young, it was somewhat like making fire with partially wet fire wood and one may come across unexpected difficulty. Then you need to try to overcome the problem. Like the cooking of rice, when we build our life we need to make many necessary adjustments to become neither to be too rigid nor so flexible a person. Try to be careful with everything, not to become an extremist person. When it was about to be successful, if you used force it might be somewhat like a rice pot which was nearly cooked might become a porridge pot due to the influence of flames. During the course of cooking I was lost in thought and as a result I forgot to go out and pick the gaurakha fruit.I put a spoon of sugar into the surplus water drained off from the rice pot mixed up with another spoon of salt. Then I went do~n and picked gaurakha fruits. I cut only half as I could not finish eating the whole. In my heart I said a debt of thanks was owed to the person who had grown that gurakha plant. When I got back, I drank the congee and peeled off the fruit. After cutting them into small chips, I cleaned them with water and put them into the frying pan. I poured cooking oi I and salt then put it on the stove. Then I poured water and capped the pot with its lid. When it was about to be soft, I removed the pot from the stove. If I fried the onion first it might be tasty but now I just cooked to be able to consume. Even local people did not fry like I myself. They had never used oil. They did like any condiment or flavor to add. They usually boiled the corn and gurakha 64

fruits together and then consumed it with salt. It was very easy and cost-effective. Without using cooking oil it might be more or less healthy. Some even consumed only boiled corn since birth until death. Never think off complicated ways of cooking. Sometimes they put some vegetables' in their boiling bowl. All the time they consume the same thing. There was no market in the village. If you could afford it and would like to eat chicken, you could buy it from someone who breeds the chicken. And then you yourself had to slaughter it and pluck the feathers before you cooked. Those who wanted to have pork needed to buy a pig by sharing money then they slaughtered it and divided it. If you wanted to taste beef of domestic wild ox, you needed to wait until a festive time. You may want to ask me if I avoid consuming chicken, pork and beef, I should select fish or prawn. This suggestion would be very impractical as there were no fish or prawn on the hilly region of over 6,000 feet. Fish was available but rather expensive. Thus I became a vegetarian. This was my only selection as I had no other choices. l thought too much that l might be late for school. I divided half of the rice and then put one half onto a plate. I put the fried gaurakha fruit into a bowl and started eating my early morning meal. I put fried peanut and a bottle with sour pickle tea leaf salad on the table like a side dish. 65

In not even ten minutes time, the meal was over. After sinking all the dishes in the water which had been used for cleaning rice before cooking, I dressed myself. I wore a T-shirt underneath, and then a long sleeved jumper .On top of these I put on a white shirt without collar. Then I wore our traditional jacket, tait-poun. Over the top was a coat. I also wore a green sarong. After combing my hair, I was ready for school. 66

<< I decided to offer my loving kindness and parental love to keep them warm. When - they would become educated persons, they may escape from such poverty. I must do everything goodfor them. Benevolent inspiration for them stealthily entered and was strongly rooted in my heart.>> 67

BENEFIT GAINED FROM TEACHER WHEN I WAS YOUNG When I went up to the school, I saw many children playing on the pitch. Please don't misunderstand that the school buildings were double storey as I had said I went up. My house was underneath the hill where the school was located. Among many children I noticed a child. I saw a fat boy with big cheek only wearing a vest, running and playing around in such extremely cold weather which sort of courage made him able to resist such an icy condition? I felt curious and asked the boy. \"Don't you feel cold?\" No reply. The child simply gazed at me with blank eye. He might be afraid of the headmaster. As I smiled, his lips seemed to be smiling. He didn't understand what I had said. Then I realized that only middle- school level students could speak Bunnese. Even then if it's a rather long conversation they can't make it out. This boy might have heard Burmese language for the first time from me .My predecessor was a Chin and the whole school might not use the Burmese language. Only when they were studying the Burmese subject, they might speak the Burmese language. It might be quite similar to those who studied English using Burmese explanation. 68

English was taught with Burmese explanation and it is natural to learn Burmese through their mother tongue, Chin language. Only then might they understand thoroughly. Being unable to communicate with that boy, I went back to my office. I saw teacher En in the teachers' common room. I wanted to show tea~her En that boy but he had left already. He might be happily playing in his classroom. I told teacher En the rough description of that child and inquired how c9me a child could withstand such cold weather wearing only a vest. Teacher En also knew that boy like I myself. \"His parents are very poor and unable to buy clothing. He could withstand this cold weather and is wearing only a vest.\" I felt lots of pity for him. I decided to offer my loving kindness and parental love to keep them warm. When they become educated persons, they may escape from such poverty. I must do everything good for them. Benevolent inspiration for them stealthily entered and was strongly rooted in my heart. Then I heard the school bell. The students were at the assembly ground. All the teachers and I myself took our places in front of the students. When all arrived we turn to face our national flag. Then teacher En called out the order to pay due respect to the national flag. After that all sung the national anthem together. 69

This is an essential duty of a school. By doing so it made school definitely look like a school. Next I had to deliver a speech to them. As they didn't understand me, teacher En needed to translate into their mother tongue. Today I talked about individual cleanliness or hygienic matters. If anyone ignored individual hygiene, he or she might be suffering either from diarrhea or dysentery. Viruses can enter into our stomachs from all the dirt in our nails. Before eating any meals, it's necessary to check the nails. Also one needs to comb the hair and one must have a shampoo at least once a month. Otherwise the fleas in the hair might make one itchy and one had to scratch the head at all time. After speech, I inspected the hands of the children and found that lots of dirt was there in their long nails. Some girls' hair looked messy and seemed to be auburn. The worst was that they could not bath regularly due to the very cold weather. As a consequence their clothing and bodies -especially on their neck, face and hand were covered with grime. I felt so sad for these young children. I couldn't ignore the current circumstances by thinking that this was their local life-style. I'd like to cleanse their grime. I'd like to see them wearing school uniform, white shi1i and green sarong, having their hair combed and with their nail clean and tidy. In fact, it was so terribly cold that using water with bare hands might be 70

undesirable. I myself took shower and washed clothing only once a week. Not running around like these children, clothing seemed clean and due to the low temperature I didn't get sweat. As a consequence there was no dirt on the collar. On the sunny days, during the day time it might be hot but the winds made me not notice the heat. Anyway I needed to take a shower on week end. I would encourage the students of the school to take a shower at least once a week. Afl:er assembly, this thought occupied my mind. I was thinking of a solution. Then I recall my high school student days and experience I got when I was in grade 9. The then headmaster was U Thein Pe. He was the man of discipline. He was also a benevolent person. His way of teaching English was admirable. I still remembered that at the beginning he didn't allow us to use text books. He started with grammar lessons. He took extra classes from 3p m to 5 pm every day. He gave us homework every day. He himself took the burden of typing many exercises in Burmese and we had to translate them into English. Every evening I had to do his homework. Sometimes it took me until midnight to finish all. Especially on week- ends homework became double or triples that of the week-days. 71

The next day before the school bell rang we had to submit our homework. Those who did not do so were summoned by the headmaster to see him in his office. Four sticks of canes in different size were kept in his office. To face the music, the student himself had to select the cane of his preference. After being punished for one or two times by the headmaster, nobody would dare not to finish his homework in time. After studying grammar lessons, we learned the prescribed text book. At that time it seemed to be a bit easier for us to read the text- book called \"Empty Drum\" which was written by Leo Tolstoy, a famous Russian author. When I have become author, Kaung Thant , I translated all the short stories in that book, \"Empty Drum\". I also looked for other stories written by that author as I like \"Empty Drum\" so much. Whenever I read and I liked the story, then I translated it into Burmese. I published the book in both languages. That is the benefit gained under the guidance of the headmaster, U Thein Pe. I feel like \"I owe a debt of thanks to him up to now.\" Our headmaster was not only clever in teaching English but good at carrying out extra curricula activities also. Recalling his technique, I was thinking of \"wearing the same shoes\" like him. 72

<< The task they had done was not at all an easy one. They fell down a tree and cut all branches. Then they had to carry the log on their shoulders while climbing the 5,000 ft high mountain. Then they needed to follow my instructions to build a proper flag post.>> 73

FOUR HOUSES AND THE SCHOOL FLAG POST. The headmaster had complemented the tasks and activities for all four houses. There were houses namely Kyansitthar, Bayint Naung, Ahlaungphaya and Bandoola. Kyansitthar represents yellow whereas Bayintnaung takes green. Alongphaya holds red while Bandoola carries blue colour. All the activities which were done before school and during the break periods were given marks. The daily absentee list was submitted to the headmaster and marks were deducted according to the numbers of absentee in the different houses. The more numbers of absentees, the more marks lost. Moreover, those who failed to do homework were recorded and the same procedure of deducting marks for their respected house was also followed. Before the school started, the students needed to keep the compound clean, neat and tidy. If cleaned up to the standard, 50 marks was gained and also another 50 marks went to those who helped in building small muddy lanes to become better by filling up with bricks . Those who put the bricks painted white around the pine trees could also earn 50 marks. The highest scores were given to those who cleaned both boys and girls toilet with water. Expecting to get the highest marks 74

for my house I still remembered how I once cleaned the toilets covering my nose with my hand. The flags of the houses indicated the performance of the different houses in terms of sports, mis etc. Whichever activity was done, it would be given scores. Students tried their best to be able to fly their flag on the top of the flag post. At the end of an academic year, all marks were accumulated and a shield was given to the winning house. The winning team members ran around the compound and celebrated their triumph. The headmaster gave incentive in the fonn of scores and both discipline and co- curriculum activities were developed. The resulting percentage was also getting higher and higher. The discipline of the students became better and better. The whole school was alive with activities, happiness, energy and unity. I missed my high school days. I immediately got the idea to follow the steps of my headmaster, U Thein Pe. Thus I asked them to organize four different houses. The teachers were also assigned to perform their duty in their respected house. Students in every class were divided into four houses. Then the competitions started. A blackboard was placed in front of the school mentioning the daily marks of each team. Depending on their scores, the flags of the teams were placed accordingly. On top of the post was the national flag. On the 75

right hand side underneath the national flag , was the flag of the team on duty and on the left hand side the flags of the teams were being raised according to their achieved scores so far. Before raising the flags, I had to make proper preparations regarding the flag post. The school janitor cum office boy, Khen Suan Mung was given that task. He went down the hill together with four middle-school students. When they got back, they brought a wooden post of 4 inches in diameter. I ordered them to make it 21 ft high with a rounded figure at the top. I also asked them to shape it round but it would be square at the bottom. From 3 ft below the top I asked them to prepare a bar of 6 ft in order to raise the teams' flags. · The task they had done was not at all an easy one. They felled a tree and cut all branches. Then they had to carry the log on their shoulders while climbing the 5,000ft high mountain. Then they needed to follow my instr-uctions to build a proper flag post. Actually they didn't have any tools of a carpenter. What they had was no other than a 1ft long local sword and with that they could successfully carry out the task. They could use their knife so skillfully and successfully make a good flag post. I wanted to recognize their labour by offering them something but the school had no fund to do so. The school usually 76

collected 40 kyats per head as a PTA fee (Parents Teachers Association) .It was not allowed to collect more than 20 Kyats per family. It was their tradition. The numbers of student at that time was only one hundred, not that many. Moreover, at the beginning of a new academic year whatever should be spent had also been spent and nothing was left when I got there. I consoled them with words of gratitude. Although I would like to complement some tasks, lack of fund hindered me to do so. If more funds were collected, it would become a great unbearable burden for the parents. It might be worse if the current students left the school as they were unable to pay that extra fund. Therefore I planned my own way to raise the fund. There was a huge area of land that belonged to the school. It might not be difficult to raise the necessary fund so long as there were human beings and their labour. I called a meeting and decided to grow cabbages in the field. I would need money to buy seeds. No problem. It would be from my own pocket and later I could claim for reimbursement It was also necessary to use fertilizer. It wouldn't be a great issue as I planned to assign the four different houses to collect cow's dung, a natural fertilizer. Daily care such as watering was needed. In Laitui, water was scarce. \"How could these plants be watered?\" the teachers asked. Each and every house would take that duty and the better team would achieve 50 more marks. Just to follow my instructions without any 77

conviction, teacher would perform their duty but what about the students? The teachers didn't have any trust in the students. Some said this might not be successful. I told them that to be able to achieve the school's development, money played very vital role. So we had no choice but to grow cabbages If the size of a cabbage was big enough it would be possible to earn 50 to 100 kyats per one cabbage. If we grew 1000, we could expect to earn 100 thousand kyats. An award offering ceremony and school development tasks could be within our reach. Did I build a sand castle in the air? I needed to expect the unexpected. The seeds were bought with my money and a pitch was prepared near my house to grow cabbages. Students carried the cow dung with banana leaf. They carried water with army lunch boxes .They poured water with it. The plants started to grow. Both teachers and students were heartened. As soon as they arrived they just went to their plants to water them or they were busy weeding out the undesired plants like grass. All seemed to be happy. I myself looked the cabbage plantation out of the window and dreamed of selling them and raising a 100,000 kyat-school fund .At that time one hundred thousand kyats meant a large amount. As a headmaster, my salary was only 550 kyats .After raising fund, I would build a school library and buy books. I would also buy a net, bats and ping-pong balls for the students 78

as the ping-pong table was already there. I would also buy clocks for both the teachers' common room and my office. With such dreams I was rather happy. But bad news woke me up from my pleasant dreams. It arrived early in a morning so it was morning news but was not auspicious news. Cabbages had been eaten and destroyed by horses. 79

<<I had the duty and responsibility to protect the school from any damage. I needed to take proper action. This meant performing my duty>> 80

CHAPTER 13 SCHOOL CABBAGE PLANTATION AND CATTLE I went and checked the plantation. I was upset to see the footprints of horses spread all over the field and many cabbage plants had been destroyed. I asked the students to count the numbers and found that 135 cabbage plants were destroyed. The two horses didn't leave the field. In fact, they-were quite close to the plantation. I ordered that these two horses be caught and tied up to the flag post. I summoned Teacher En to come to my office. I inquired about the status of the owners of the horses and was told that they were quite wealthy. Due to the damages by their animals, the owners had to face the music. So I prepare a claim letter and asked Khen Suan Mun as the messenger to send it to them. Then post a notice in front of village Council office informing all that if any animal damaged the cabbages, the owner must give compensation to the school. That notice must be written in Chin language. If in Burmese, they may not be able to read it and problems may arise. Saya En realized what he needed to do and he took prompt action. Khen Swuan Mung fetched the two owners. 81

The owners looked worried with gloomy facial expression. They might be afraid of what the headmaster might ask. I gave them a warm welcome and they seemed to be relieved. Then I explained them about the school development plan and also told them that I tried to help the children to become well- educated and bright students. But to be able to do so the school needed money. Without any money nothing could be done. My special purpose was to give the students prizes for their effort. I explained gradually. When I saw they gave attention to my explanation I was happy and kept on giving explanation. I told them that we had started growing plants in order to raise funds for a prize giving ceremony. When the cabbages became big enough to sell, I guessed we could earn up to one hundred thousand. Now because of the damage made by these horses, it was impossible to meet our expectation and I was upset. The two owners looked at each other and then talked to Teacher En in Chin language. According to Teacher En, they were sorry for what had happened and would like to offer some compensation money but not a big amount as it was beyond their capacity. \"If so, please tell them they have to settle 5 kyats per one damaged plant\" Teacher En told them in Chin language and both spoke each other in their mother tongue again. 82

A few minutes later teacher told me that they wanted to pay 2 kyats for each one instead of 5 kyats. \"Fine. This time I would agree with their proposal of 2 kyats. Later on, the rate of compensation would become 5 kyat per one plant. Please tell them\" When they heard what I said they nodded their head as an agreement. They might understand Burmese but were feeling insecure to speak it and tried to communicate through teacher En. It was somewhat like when we feel insecure to talk in English. Then they left. Before leaving they shook my hands. They told me through teacher En that they would pay compensation money tomorrow through their children. Anyway and anyhow, the school obtained a sort of compensation. It was not asked by force. The labour of the students should not be wasted. I would ask for any relevant amount of compensation for my students. It was the duty and responsibility of a Head Master, wasn't' it? I discussed the matter with Teacher En, Teacher Cin and Teacher Ngul Khan Hau for the future preventive measures. Teacher Ngul Khan En was a native of this village. So he knew very well about this village. Teacher Cin came from another village but he was interested in the school development program. Teacher Ngul Khan Kau used to be in charge of the school before I got here and a reliable person regarding office work. 83

After discussion with them, I assigned the night watch guy the duty to look after the plants. He must catch the cattle that enter our plantation red handed. As his duty was during night time, we offered him 10 kyats per one horse or cow caught by him. A notice was posted at the village headman's house mentioning that for every damaged cabbage the responsible person had to pay 5 Kyats compensation money. So many horses and cows destroyed our plants many times and all were caught red-handed. Then the owner was charged for compensation and then we grew the plants again. Although it made us very busy with claiming compensation and growing plants again, it was worth being busy as the school could raise fair amount of funds. But those owners who gave compensation were recorded as donors during the P T A annual meeting. After cattle case, what came to the spotlight next were those who played football between the school buildings. The school buildings were built like the English letter U and in front of these buildings there was a wide pitch good enough to be used as a foot-ball ground. In the lower part of the school there was a foot-ball ground. This was also the one and only ground for the village. Thus all youths in this village came and played there. Some played in the football ground and others played between the buildings. Before I got to this village, they had played football between these school buildings. There were a lot of ball marks on the walls of the school. 84

They looked very ugly. Those who played football didn't understand that a school should look like a school with a decent image. The only thing they wanted was to play football. On weekends their strikes made noises loud enough to make it unbearable for me to hear. I would like to do as a Roman when I am in Rome. But whenever I saw the ball mark printed on the school walls, 1 suffered a lot. Those who played football were from all walks of life including adults and even some under the influence of \"khaung,\" a local alcoholic wine. If I asked them not do so, I was not sure whether they might attack me as I was alone and feeling insecure. But then the thought struck me and warned me that \"this is your school\". The nation had trusted and assigned me to take good care of the school. I had duty and responsibility to protect the school from any damage. I needed to take proper action. This meant performing my duty. Even if I were killed by evil persons during my duty, it's worth scarifying my life for my motherland. For what I believe, I must protect my school. My school walls must be saved from those ugly ball-marks. After making clear cut decision, I had enough courage to do something protect the walls. But courage wasn't everything. Systematic administration was essential for a proper action. 85

I called a meeting of the Parent Teacher Association's Executive Council. I requested the village council's chairman to coordinate and co-operate the school. Playing football between the school buildings would not be allowed and was prohibited. The village Chairman who attended the meeting told me that he would make an announcement in black and white. He truly co-operated. But the noise of the ball had not yet stopped. Those youths had no job and were free. Playing football might be their out let for their unfulfilled desire to work. But it was better playing football than drinking alcohol and spending their time fighting each other. Instead of using authority and order, I should create another way out for them. How could I create a good way out? What should be a good and correct outlet for them? Almost the whole night I couldn't fall asleep as I kept on thinking and thinking of a way out for their joblessness. 86

<<Although I made many other children happy, I couldn't do anything for my own children. Was I like the light of a candle? Candle light cannot give any radiance at its bottom although spreading rays over a wide area.>> 87

CHAPTE:a;::14 LET THESE YOUNG PERSONS BE HAPPY The next morning, I went to school early and checked the cupboard in which sport materials were kept. Fortunately I found the volleyball net and balls. I also found the table tennis bats, balls and net as well. I gave them to teacher Pau Khan Khup and asked him to make necessary mTangements for the students playing volleyball in the evening. I also told him to allow the youths from the village to play volleyball at school. That evening I heard noises from volleyball court at the foot of the hill behind the school. They were playing volleyball happily During lunch break it was overcrowd around the volley ball court. Even on weekends like Saturdays and Sundays, the volleyball court was fully crowded. With the arrangement of teacher Pau Khan Khup, I played football. It reminded me of the time practicing football during inter class football matches at the Institute of Education. I informed them that I would organize a football team for the village and give training. They were interested in it. They would take part in the tournament for the Teddim Township Council Chairman's shield. As all the quarters and villages had to take part in that match, it needed someone to lead and give 88