Our Mother

This essay is written by my mum, Dr. Mya Myintzu, translated by my middle uncle, Po Than Joung and I am privileged to post this lovely sentimental piece on my blog for the dedication of my late grandma's (Ludu Daw Amar) birthday. She would be 97 on 29th of November this year if she was still alive. The Burmese version is published in Mizzima journal in Yangon this week and you can also read in http://bobolansin.wordpress.com/2012/11/.

Aphwar

After reading the passages about my mother written by my younger brother, I felt something was missing. It is not complete. As one who has left home in 1976 and was away from home for more than thirty years, his writing has limitations. He was arrested in 1966 and was released in 1972. The family did not have a chance to see him during his six years' detention in Mandalay, Inn Sein and Cocos Island jails. When they came and arrested him in 1976 owing to suspicions of his connection with Brigadier Kyaw Zaw's family who joined the armed revolution, he fled. I am sure his escapade to the liberated areas must be full of adventures and very interesting. You can easily understand why all the other family members were left with their hearts in their mouths after he had left. One of my mother's most earnest wishes was to see her son again before she died, and that could not be fulfilled. In March, 2008, my younger brother telephoned her after thirty-two years absence. When I visited her the next morning as I used to do everyday, she told me that my younger brother called her the evening before. "I couldn't make out his voice, it has been more than thirty years," she remarked.

With two younger sons, Po Than Joung (middle), Bonyo and elder daughter, Than Yin Mar

One year after the arrest of my younger brother, Po Than Joung in 1966 and in 1967, Anti-Chinese riots occurred in Rangoon. Some of the students from the University of Mandalay gathered to march to Ludu house as they considered Ludu was sympathetic with Chinese government. But, their column was dispersed by troops at a street corner not far from the campus. Perhaps, that was the action of U Ne Win (former regime) who did not wish to see riots flowing out to other places. At that time General Sein Mya was the commander of the North-west Command and Mandalay Division was under his administration. As consequence, our Ludu Newspaper, which came into existence on 19 April, 1946 had to stop publishing. My parents devoted their lives and hearts to this newspaper and one could imagine how hurt they would feel when the paper they had nurtured for 21 years had to close down. But, luckily, it was not "nationalized." If it was "nationalized" as it was with other newspapers in 1968, the buildings, machinery and facilities would all be confiscated.

In front of Ludu (The People) newspaper house, people awaited for the matriculation results

 1968 was the most unfortunate year for our family. In that year, the first son of my parents, perhaps their dearest one, passed away in a remote land. We haven't mentioned this matter in our family. However, we make donations for him every year on 30 September, his birthday, until today.  

Closing down the newspaper gave way for my parents to do other writings. They could found abundant time. My mum continued to write books on talented Burmese artists like The Artists Loved by the People, Aungbala - Po Sein - Sein Gadone (The famous traditonal artists), Shweman Tin Maung (The famous dancer/artist/director), Anyeint- a kind of Burmese street performance, Myanmar Classical Music and Shweyoe Bagalay (The famous cartoonist/ artist). She approached their subjects from a different angle not tried by other people with a pair of keen eyes of a journalist. Her books about artists of various talents left remarkable volumes of record for later generations.

At her work

Another time that our family got into deep trouble was in 1978, when my parents and my youngest brother were arrested relating with Po Than Joung's activities. My father was detained for ten days, my mother one year and one month. My father developed diabetes following his release from the jail and on August 7, 1982, he passed away after struggling against his illness for about a month. 

With Aphoe in their younger days

Two years after my mother had lost her better half, U Kyargyi Fire razed a large portion of the city including her printing house and buildings. This deprived our family of our means of living and it took two whole years to rebuild it again. The day before that fire, my mother told me, she saw my father sitting beside her bed in her dream. My father looked depressed, she said. 

In their last trip to Yangon just a few days before Aphoe passed away

During the 1988 Uprisings, my mother published The 8888 newspaper in the name of Mandalay Writers' Association. That uprising was a nationwide upheaval meant to overthrow the one party military-dictatorship. My 73-year old mother wrote editorials pointing way to democracy for The 8888 newspaper from behind the scene. That newspaper was published with the aim of providing the people with true information at the time when rumors ran wild and to politically educate the masses. But after the coup d'état on 18 September, the military intelligence ransacked our place and took away the newspapers and manuscripts.  

In one of her local trips

My youngest brother Bonyo, writer Nyipulay, was arrested again on the Christmas Day, 1990. He was released only in February, 1999. My mother came to Pakokku, where I was working. She said she wanted to go and pay respects to Abbot Thannudaw, who was said to have extrasensory perception. However, she couldn't reach there as he was not well at the time. My mother was worried and restless as her youngest son has a wife and three young children. In fact it was not her habit to seek fortunetellers or astrologers in times of troubles. 

My parents were not lucky enough to live with their sons. The eldest son went into jungle at the age of twenty-one. The second son was arrested when he was 21 and then had to flee to the jungles after six years' detention. Once, my dad went to his sons' room and called out "Win—" (my elder brother's name is Soe Win). Then he called "Po Than-------" again. Finally, he recalled himself and called "Bonyo." At that time he intended to call out Bonyo, but his mind was occupied with all his sons missing from home. Our family members were separated from each other by death or by other means on account of the existing military dictatorship. We all have to face the ordeals through thick and thin.

with their remaining family

Beginning from 1985, we celebrated her birthday every year at Taunglaylone monastery of Sayadaw U Pyinnya in Amarapura. It used to be a day when writers, poets, artists and all those who cherish my mum gathered every year and meet my mum. We couldn't celebrate the occasion in 1992, 2006 and 2007 because the authorities didn't allow us to do so.

In her birthday, 1985

In 1998, Nadi Myanmar U Aung Khaing came to my mother and said that his dad passed during the Japanese Occupation and their family could not carry out proper burial. So he wanted to form a kind of social organization that would help people who cannot afford bury their dear ones without charge. My mother eagerly agreed to the idea and they went to ask permission from the head abbot of South Salin Monastery to allow them to set up the association in his precincts. They thought ordinary citizens would not like to see such an organization functioning in their residential quarters. The Brahmasoyah Asocciation was set up in March, 1998 with the participation of public figures from Mandalay. Many of the patrons and other members of the association who worked with my mother are still living today.

In her birthday, 2005

Since 2000, the association donated medicine for patients in Mandalay Public Hospital. It was the first organization of this kind and more organizations followed in Rangoon and other cities.

I miss these wrinkled  but kindly hands

I shall definitely say that since Burma's independence in 1948, despite civil war and dictatorships our family has stood firm for national unity, ethnic solidarity,  peace and truth.

Happy birthday, Aphwar!

Mangoes from Amay (Mum)

As a Mandalayan, mangoes are always in my heart wherever in the world I am. When I see the first mangoes of the season in open markets or at road side shops in my home town, my heart beat always races. My mum would immediately buy these for almost any reason... prayer fruits, family treats and gifts. The mango season in Burma runs between April and July. There are various types of delicious mangoes and it's difficult to choose my favourite one among them. They are all individually having  unique qualities such as flavour, texture, shape, region (where they belong to) and of course name. 

One of the first class local mangoes is called Sein-Ta-Lone (Rough Diamond). It is a naturally mutated specie, its birth place being Pe-Kin village near Kyaukse in Mandalay state. Sein-Ta-Lone is famous for its sweet-flavoured, soft texture with delightful aroma. He is well known in Burmese mango markets and is a wonderful contributor to the rice pot of mango growers from the bank of Myitnge river (The Little River). There are also other beautiful and tasty mangoes like Shwe-Hinn-Thar, Aung-Din and Ma-Chit-Su etc locally.

A few mangoes with natural fruity sourness are not as popular as those good old mangoes. They are imported to the pickle trade and go to make mango pickle salad, another mouth watering dish for all Burmese. I was slightly disappointed after trying mangoes from India and Pakistan, the world's largest mango producers, for the quality of fruit. And I won't  even count those rough, off-yellow and sour mangoes (I'm not sure where they come from) which you can buy in British supermarkets. 

Back home, we eat mango in several ways as the fruit or the side dish with rice or the dessert topping or the preserved sweets etc. I also like the immature green mangoes dipping in chilly flaked fish sauce. Fresh sweet mango matches with pork curry and if you dare to eat mango with the deep fried chopped reptile (Pa-Dat), you will be transported to a heaven that you never knew existed.

Mangoes also remind me of my late grandma, a veteran Mandalayan who knows a lot about this versatile fruit. Her favorite method of preparation was to peel the skin off the mango and to make the slices off were magic. 

The kids are always excited to get the stones from cut mangoes as a bonus. Have you ever extracted the juice and slight flesh from mango stone? It is still a fun for me every time I de-flesh a mango.

No matter how harshly the monsoon winds get rip the immature mangoes from the trees or how many hundreds of mango lorries are been driven across the Chinese border to be exported, Burmese still have a chance to eat local mangoes properly and cheaply. 

(This post is dedicated to my mum who collected the facts, took the pictures of mangoes and wrote the beautiful piece in Burmese. This is loosely based on her essay. )

Burmese Egg Curry, "Kyat-Oo-Hinn"

I cooked Burmese egg curry yesterday as I chose not to go food shopping in the drizzling rain after finding some eggs in the fridge and the basic ingredients at home. Egg curry is pretty easy to cook if you are not raw to Asian cooking. You just need a little patience and a love of spicy flavour. I learnt cooking from my Dad who is the family chef and egg curry was one of the first cuisines he taught me. 

Chicken eggs are my favourite food since I was very young. My younger brother is opposite to me in term of eating eggs. Two half-boiled eggs in breakfast always scared him when he was a little boy. I used to frequently request my Dad for egg curry and the menu would be lentil soup with vermicelli, egg curry and fried Chinese sausages on that day. Fried sausages were actually for my brother who doesn’t eat egg but I was privileged to eat those as well. These foods remind me of my happy simple childhood. 

Egg is nutrient rich for the third social-classed Burmese people who barely afford just to live a day-to-day life. I remember that when my mum worked in the Falam general hospital in Chin state as a physician twenty-five years ago, her then patients used to bring to her some chicken eggs as the thankful present. I was the happiest child ever counting the eggs in the kitchen cupboard (we didn’t have the refrigerator by that time).

This is the recipe of egg curry for four people. 

Ingredients

8 hard boiled eggs

2 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of tamarind paste

150 ml vegetable oil

3 onions

3 garlic cloves

2 cm fresh ginger

a small bunch of coriander, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

1 teaspoon of paprika

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric 

1 teaspoon of garam masala

Tamarind sauce preparation

Put the tamarind pulp in a small bowl and pour some boiling hot water. Leave until the water is warm enough and remove any stones and fibres using your hand or fork. Then make the paste by mashing up.

Directions

Finely chop the onion, garlic and ginger or make the paste of these using blender. 

Half the boiled eggs and fry them until they become lightly golden. Remove them aside.

Add the chopped onion-garlic-ginger or the paste one and chopped tomato in the remaining oil then fry them until the mixture has caramelised. Stir the mixture regularly. 

Add chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, fish sauce and tamarind paste just before the caramelisation.

Add the fried eggs and some hot water to coat the eggs with gravy. Simmer until the liquid has reduced and the oil has come up. 

Scatter with chopped coriander and garam masala.

 

You can eat this curry with rice or bread.
Please let me know your experience of cooking Burmese egg curry by leaving a comment below. Bon appétit! 

 Su Su

Will you fall in love with Burmese music?

Hi guys,

I'm here again. It seems a long time ago I published my first post. Since then as some of you know I've been to the BBC 2012 community reporters scheme to be trained one day a week over three weeks; to brainstorm the stories, for two production days and in the fourth week to make those ideas into short films in mid June. This training was a part of the London 2012 cultural Olympiad. 

The idea of how the World Service could contribute to communities in London was planted a year ago and we were lucky to be happy guinea pigs in this training. This was a good chance for us all to get a taste of the industry and see if the media is a career for us. There were four girls from Burmese community and the Chinese service brought eight young people as they belong to a much bigger community compared to minority Burmese. 

Burmese trainee reporters

London is so diverse with foreigners who came for the greener grass and as such is always lively with different cultures under the usual dull weather. These people have brought flavours, religions, cultures, life styles and the most important thing – amazing and exotic people to London. There are many untold unique stories in these communities and these are worth sharing with wider audiences. 

A Burmese spiritual dancer dancing

We were trained in story development, script writing, interviewing and camera skills by BBC Training department. My favourite topics were storytelling and script writing but my camera skills were so-so. We were provided editorial and technical assistance before and during production. Five short films were made in this scheme, two are from the Burmese community. 

I wanted to make a film about the Burmese migrant workers in Camden market but there were some strong reasons which stopped me to pen that script and tell that story, but one day I will find a way to make that documentary, when I have the help of some eager real-life actors! I therefore chose to document the visiting Burmese musicians and their exotic cultural music. This content is rich, unique and big enough for  a half hour long programme, so it was harsh to scale down into two minutes and something film. The title was decided to be ‘’How do you make London fall in love with Burmese music?’’.

The camera is pretty heavy

The world was the apple and the sky was the limit before meeting up with some conservative Burmese people who were unhappy with us taking the video of the preparation of the Burmese orchestra fundraising gig on our first production day. Those people gained the contract of shooting the official DVD for that gig and they thought that we would spread the video(s) around social networks before their DVDs were released. That nonsense idea is the least thing I would think. It was difficult to explain to those business people what we were actually doing and the situation was tense until the venerable monk negotiated between us. As a result we missed our chance to shoot the actual performance of musicians on the stage, but apart from that minor disruption, the monks and musicians were very helpful and were happy to repeat the interviews or replay the music when the retakes were needed. I am really grateful to these gentlemen.

My teammate Su Mon with our film editor Ron in editing stage

The visit of these musicians is important to the London Burmese community as the traditional instruments are always covered with alter cloths in the monastery unless the pros are in the town. They have performed a few gigs including Daw Suu’s encounter in the Royal Festival hall and BT River of Music in Battersea park to celebrate the cultural Olympiad.

So we've made our little film and I'll be posting the link when it is available online. I’m very delighted that I’ve done something beautiful for my community and adopted a new interest which is film making. :-)

Su Su

Getting started - Laphet

Hey guys, 

This is my first blog and I've taken ages to start this because I'm not too sure about my written English. However Matt has encouraged me to create my own blog for my nature of loving food, styling my clothes and finding fun in my little world as much as I can. So here I come with my little silly things!!! My love of my fashion will be posted occasionally as I need new clothes for those posts :). Joking! 

Food and cooking will go under "Pickled Tea Leaf" as I love pickled tea leaf salad from my bones as a Burmese. Burmese and pickled tea leaves are always together from the birth to death. We offer it from birthday parties to funerals traditionally. They look gross for someone from a different culture but I guarantee that the taste is perfectly good. The salad is called "Laphet Thoke" in Burmese. The recipe is really easy to make. You just need to mix the tea leaves, bean fritters, fish sauce, bean powder, ground dry shrimp powder (optional), groundnut oil, chopped green chillies, thinly sliced garlic, finely sliced cabbage (optional), sliced tomatoes and a good squeeze of lime. The biggest problem is you cannot find tea leaves and bean fritters easily outside Burma. 

In Burma you can get this salad from roadside sellers to restaurants. When I was a teen, my elder cousin and her friend used to take me to the salads shop which is around the corner from Aphwar (grandma's) house. I remember that those two girls are pretty enough to get teasing from boys from tea shop which is next door of salads shop. I was only a skinny shy girl by then and they kept telling me not to care about the teasing. We ordered different vegetarian salads and pickled tea leaves salad is the main one although we can make and eat it nearly everyday at home. We went there with a box of rice so we didn't need to buy boiled rice to eat with salads. The shopkeeper never rejected our naughtiness as I guess there must be a lot of people like us. 

When I started interesting in cooking, my Dad showed me how to preserve the tea leaves to get my favorite taste - spicy and sour. In Burma, you can buy the fermented tea leaves from local markets. Then you can preserve these by adding groundnut oil, salt, fresh green chillies, lime juice and garlic. Then you can eat and even keep these in the fridge for a few months. Most people buy the ready made pickled tea leaves from famous brands which are also good but those have too much MSG for me. Since I now live abroad, mum occasionally sends the fermented tea leaves for her daughter who always misses local food. I'm happy to make my own pickled tea leaves by mixing the raw leaves with hands harshly, squeezing the green bitter liquid out and trying to find the authentic smell of tea leaves which came from the other side of the world.

Su Su

(photo courtesy of Ma Nwe`)