August 2005 Archives

Neil, Diana, David and me

THE INTERVIEW WITH GOD

I dreamed I had an interview with God. 

"So you would like to interview me?" God asked.

"If you have the time" I said. 

God smiled. "My time is eternity."
"What questions do you have in mind for me?"

"What surprises you most about humankind?"

God answered...
"That they get bored with childhood,
they rush to grow up, and then 
long to be children again."

"That they lose their health to make money...
and then lose their money to restore their health."

"That by thinking anxiously about the future, 
they forget the present, 
such that they live in neither 
the present nor the future."

"That they live as if they will never die, 
and die as though they had never lived."

God's hand took mine
and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked...
"As a parent, what are some of life's lessons 
you want your children to learn?"

"To learn they cannot make anyone 
love them. All they can do 
is let themselves be loved."

"To learn that it is not good 
to compare themselves to others."

"To learn to forgive
by practicing forgiveness."

"To learn that it only takes a few seconds 
to open profound wounds in those they love, 
and it can take many years to heal them." 

"To learn that a rich person 
is not one who has the most,
but is one who needs the least."

"To learn that there are people 
who love them dearly, 
but simply have not yet learned 
how to express or show their feelings."

"To learn that two people can 
look at the same thing 
and see it differently."

"To learn that it is not enough that they 
forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves."

"Thank you for your time," I said humbly. 

"Is there anything else 
you would like your children to know?"

God smiled and said, 
"Just know that I am here... always." 

-author unknown 

Where Is Jesus

A Sunday School teacher of pre-schoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred for real.

He asked his class, "Where is Jesus today?"

Steven raised his hand and said, "He's in heaven."

Mary was called on and answered, "He's in my heart."

Little Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, "I know, I know! He's in our bathroom!!!"

The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response.

The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds.

Finally, he gathered his wits and asked Little Johnny how he knew this.

Little Johnny said, "Well...every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells, "Good Lord, are you still in there?!"

Got this in an email:

An Illinois man left the snow filled streets of Chicago for a vacation in Florida.

His wife was on a trip and was planning to meet him there the next day.

When he reached his motel in Florida, he decided to send his wife a quick e-mail.

Unable to find the scrap of paper on which he had written her e-mail address, he did his best to type it in from memory. Unfortunately, he missed one letter and his note was directed instead to an elderly preacher's wife whose husband had passed away only the day before.

When the grieving widow checked her e-mail, she took one look at the monitor, she let out a piercing scream, and fell to the floor in a total faint.

At the sound, her family rushed into the room and saw this note on the screen:

DEAREST WIFE:
JUST GOT CHECKED IN.
EVERYTHING PREPARED FOR YOUR ARRIVAL TOMORROW.
P.S. SURE IS HOT DOWN HERE!!

While I was going through my old files, I found this piece of paper from Purdue for my 4 years' effort.

My Purdue Degree

My Graduation Day back in May 2002

My family picture (the one in the middle in the back row is my brother whose birthday is today) Note: my sister is not in the picture.

My sister, Thi Thi Win

I went to Si Si Htun, a BARS graduate's house, for her birthday thanksgivings.The following picture was taken at her house.

A typical Burmese village house

I had a chance to talk to Saya Augurlion who just came back from the States after finishing his Master in Theology from Pittsburg Theological Seminary. He also had to go through some reverse culture shock.

He gave chocolates to the immigration officer and cigarette cartoons to the customs officer at the airport.

Augurlion and Lwin Moe chatting and relaxing

I went to the dinner hosted by the Myanmar Christian Fellowship of the Blind (MCFB). I was involved, in early days, in the project to convert Burmese fonts into Burmese Brey.

Dinner to honor Zaw Htut from MyanmarsNet and Kyaw Lin from Natural Language Processing for their work to convert Burmese fonts into Burmese Brey. Left-right: Lwin Moe, Kyaw Lin, Zaw Htut, Htay Lwin, U Thein Lwin (standing).

U Thein Lwin, the secretary of the Myanmar Christian Fellowship of the Blind (MCFB), giving a speech during dinner

Unlicensed Car Crackdown

The government has really cracked down unlicensed cars all over the country. The car in the picture was imported from Thailand through Three Pagodas border pass. People in Mon state were using those cars with fake licenses. The offical price of that car in Rangoon would be US $ 100,000, which is ridiculous and only the richest of the rich can afford. However, the price of that car smuggled in through the border would be US $ 10,000, which it should be. The control of import license is causing the jump in price for cars. The powerful are abusing the system.

Cars were smuggled in through Thailand and China border towns, such as:

• Three Pagodas in Mon State
• Mya Wa De in Kayin (Karen) State
• Muse in Northern Shan State
• Thachileik in Southern Shan State
• Laiza and Mei Ja Yang in Kachin State

Lwin Moe with an unlicensed SUV :-)

Somebody was joking that Burma is the most expensive place in the world for:

• Phones (US $ 1,000-2,000)
• Automobiles
• Prawns (Shrimps)

The situation has changed a little bit. I think it is getting slightly more open. I am saying what I think. You can call me stupid as I studied Political Science. I wrote not only about Political Science, but also about the Burmese Constitution, they became more frightened. What I want to say is, I want more Burmese to attend and participate in the international organisations and universities. I want their eyes to be more open. We have been cut off from the outside world around 40 years. We are quite behind in academic outlook, academic standard and the like. As you know, is there a Political Science in Burmese Universities? Before 1962, it is said that Political Science was taught by History departments. During the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) time, La[n]zin Youth studies political science for their propaganda purpose. If you want to have progress in a country's university education system, you can't leave aside and omit this subject, or be afraid of it. To say it openly, because of this vacuum, there are some outdated political views. I dare say it. Our mode of thinking is outdated. We are unable to think in a modern way. Our views are outdated. I want to urge young and middle-age[d] people to continue studying.