Interesting Places of The Past In Yangon

By Maung Khine Zaw

The author was determined to write articles about the situation of Rangoon, ie. city hall, cinema halls, garden, independent monument and many other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Today Publishing House
• Release date: Dec 15, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311677914

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Interesting Places Of The Past in Yangon

Maung Khine Zaw

Cover Design by Zar Lin Htet

Published by TODAY PUBLISHING HOUSE Ltd. at Smashwords

Copyright November 2015 TODAY PUBLISHING HOUSE Ltd.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations, not to exceed 400 words, without the prior permission of the publisher.

First Edition November 2015

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CONTENTS

Forward

Acknowledgements

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar (in Bref)

Where to visit in Myanmar

A Short History of the Independence Monument

Round Abouts in the City of Yangon

City Halls in the City of Yangon

Cinema Halls in the City of Rangoon

Kandawgyi (Its Past and Present)

Gardens and Ahnyein

Prominent and historic Building in the City of Yangon (Pre-war Era)

Prominent and Historic buildings in The City of Yangon (Post-war Era)

FORWARDS

The author has taken great interest in the city plan of Rangoon Yangon since his boyhood days. In October 1958 when General Ne Win took political power from Prime Minister U Nus Clean AFPFL Government, Rangoon Municiple Commissioner Mayer Colonel Tun Sein removed squatters from various parts of the city and settled them in North Okkalarpa, South Okkalarpa and Tharketa. Since then the city had been clean and tidy for a certain period. As the population of the city has been increassing year by year, it has become dirty with rubbish again.

In those days the author was determined to write articles about the situation of Rangoon, ie. city hall, cinema halls, garden, independent monument and many other. In 1990 his imagination materialised, and he began to write and contribute many articles of account of the part in the city of Rangoon to the City Magazine (Myolaw Magazine) published monthly by the Yangon City Development Committle (YCDC). In 1994 he published his collection of articles which had appeared in the City Magazine for about twelve months on a book entitled Account of the Past in the city and its suburbs (Myodaw Takhwin Ahtate Phitsin).

In 2013 the author published his book again as the second edition with many corrections and addition. Readers have taken interest in his newly edited book as it contributes appreciably to the Yangon Heritage Trust.

The author has translated some of his interested articles in Myanmar Language into English version. The editors have published the authors' English translated articles in their Traveller Weekly Journal on every Monday.

As the author has a strong desire of letting the foreigners like diplomats, members of the UN organisation, Tourists and globe trotters know the accounts of the past in the city of Yangon, he collected his artical, and publishes them as a book entitled Interesting Places of the Past in Rangoon.

Maung Khine Zaw

(18.3.2015)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author wishes to express his sincere thanks to (1) the publisher of Gonhto Sarpay (2) the pulisher of Thuriya Sarpay for publishing his book entiteled "Account of the Past in the City of Yangon (Myodaw Takhwin Aktate Phitsin) (3) the editors of Traveller Weekly Journal for publishing his English tranlated articles in their popular journal regularly.

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THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR (IN BRIEF)

Historical Background

Myanmar History dates back to the early 11th century when King Anawrahta (1044-77AD) unified the country and founded the first Myanmar Empire in Bagan more than 20 years before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The Bagan Empire encompassed the area of the present-day.Myanmar and the entire Menam valley in Thailand. It lasted for two centuries. The second Myanmar Empire was founded in mid 16th century by King Bayinnaung. King Alaungpaya founded the third Myanmar Dynasty in 1752 and it was during the zenith of this Empire that the British moved into Myanmar. Like India, Myanmar became a British colony but only after three Anglo Myanmar wars in 1825, 1852 and 1885. During the Second World War, Myanmar was occupied by the Japanese from 1942 till the return of the Allied Forces in 1945. Myanmar has become a sovereign independent state since 4th January 1948 after 62 years under the colonial administration. BogyokeAung San, our national leader, unified the country and established the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. It is remarkable to note that Myanmar is the country that regained her independence first, though she was the last country occupied by the British in this region.

Geography

Myanmar has a total area of 676, 577 sq-km, it is twice the size of Vietnam and about the size of United Kingdom and France combined. Geographically, Myanmar is the largest country in South-East Asia Peninsula sharing borders with Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand.

Climate

Myanmar has the effects of the monsoon climate in different parts of the country. Temperature varies from 38ºC to 19ºC; humidity from 82.8 to 66.

Seasons

Myanmar has three distinctive seasons, viz: hot (March to May), rainy (June to October) and cool (November to February).

People

Myanmar is a union of many nationalities; speaking over one hundred languages and dialects. The term Myanmar embraces all nationalities. The major races are the Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Bamar, Mon, Rakhine, Shan. There are seven states and seven divisions (now regions) in the country.

Population

The population of Myanmar is at present over 52 millions. Nay Pyi Taw is the seat of the Myanmar Government and the capital of Myanmar. Yangon (Rangoon) was formerly the capital of Myanmar and is now the commercial capital. It has a population of nearly 6 million. Other cities with large population are Mandalay, Mawlamyaing, Bago and Pathein.

Language

Myanmar is the lingua franca. English is widely used in cities like Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, etc. Cantonese, Fukienese and Mandarin can also be used in the business circles here.

Religion

Over 80 of Myanmar