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Chapter-11
2018, June, Armenian Church, downtown Yangon
Lin had managed to organize a team of ten Chinlone (cane ball) players for a spectacular Chinlone performance at the space in the compound of the Armenian Church. When he explained to the players the purpose of the performance, the players showed much eagerness and willingness to take part in the heritage festival as well as they would like to display their sports skills of playing a Myanmar Chinlone game.
At the office, John asked Lin to prepare certificates of appreciation for the players because he thought that they deserved appreciation and recognition. They also denied accepting any fees for their outstanding performance as they preferred going pro bono.
“Lin, can you go and print certificates for them because I want to give them today at the ceremony. Do you know any printing shop that can carry out that?” asked John.
Lin replied quickly, “I th
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An English Writer Chapter-12
2018, July, Thakin Mya Park, YangonThe first Sunday of July had seen the closing ceremony of the heritage festival. John and his team held it at a spacious ground of the downtown park and the program would include a live performance and a screening. Invitations were sent via their Facebook page and other social media to outreach more people.Lin arrived at the park before 4 pm though he knew that the ceremony would start at 4:45 pm. He took a bus to get there. When he reached the park, he saw some commuter buses were taking a break from their diurnal activities, parking around the park.He was strolling into the park, looking here and there until he found some sculptures displayed in the park. A sculpture named “A Garbage Man” attracted his attention and he stopped by it. It was a bronze sculpture portraying a garbage man who was pushing a trash trolley.In the trolley, they put some rubbish bags. It seemed that it w
An English Writer PART-4: Following the Footsteps of the Author
2018, July, Yangon It was a Saturday morning in the second week of July. Last night, it was raining heavily and Lin could not sleep well because of the noisy pattering of raindrops on the corrugated roofs. He also heard coconut trees and mango trees in front of his house were hushing and swaying wildly when the strong wind blew. So, he closed all the windows not to let rain in. He guessed all were drenched with rain and the gutters attached to the roofs would overflow with rainwater. He knew that some parts of the city would be flooded if the drainages were blocked with rubbish and plastic bags. Last night, making more sense of the Rainy Season that set in at the beginning of June, he also read a poem titled “Rain” by C. J Richards that started with some lines: (“Ne daing, ne daing mo ywa de.”)/ Waso, Wagaung, ye hpaung baung!/ See the rain come pouring down / On the fields and on the town./ Cats and dogs come down togeth
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2018, July, Sarpay Beikman Building, YangonBefore Lin left the house, he paid respect to his uncle U Myint Thein for receiving blessings and auspiciousness. He conducted this because he believed that showing respect to elders before embarking on a new job would grant him blessings and auspiciousness. After that, he left quickly to catch a bus that would take him to a bus stop near the magazine office at Pansodan Tower which lay at the corner of Pansodan Street and Anawrahta Road, that is one of the five main roads of downtown Yangon.Though it was in the Rainy Season, everyone felt the heat as soon as the rain stopped because the fierce and playful sun came back from its temporary jaunt. Attentively, Lin took his umbrella to protect the sun and rain. He wore a white shirt and a blue striped longyi for a formal meeting. He looked neat and tidy with his crew cut hair well-combed and coconut oil applied.He knew that it was not e
An English Writer Chapter-3
2018, July, Sule Square, YangonAs soon as the rain lessened, Lin hurriedly walked out of the Sarpay Beikman building to meet Eli at Sule Square. He glanced at the watch that said that it was only fifteen minutes to one. He quickened his steps to reach there on time but his flip-flop hindered him.He cursed faintly, “Damn!” It was really difficult to walk on the wet pavement and he had to control his composure. The more he walked hurriedly, the more he dodged among people and cars.He crossed Merchant Road first to walk down until he reached Mahabandoola Garden Street (previously called Barr Street). He entered the park, from which he emerged through the gate facing the City Hall.He found a crowd of people waiting at the bus stop because they knew that when the rain came down, the arrival of buses would be delayed because of traffic jams and flooding at some junctures. He crossed Mahabandoola Road again and walked tw
An English Writer Chapter-4
2018, August, Ga Hmone Pwint Shopping Centre, Yangon Being free today, Oo was slouching on the couch in the living room of his flat and he was just drifting with the song he liked when a telephone rang up. He picked it up and heard the voice of his girlfriend, Pan Che who said that she would be in his flat in fifteen minutes. She did not tell why she came to him. After declaring their engagement to Lin and Eli, she called him often to talk about the marriage arrangement and preparations. She seemed quite excited about them. Oo also understood that there would be a lot of things to be planned before a marriage. They surely needed assistance and help from their best friends, Lin and Eli. These days, Lin was busy with taking notes and visiting places for writing assignments. Oo could not meet Lin often but they talked on the phone mostly and he knew how Lin liked his new job working for the magazine. Oo envisioned that Lin would be successful in
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2018, Oct, City Hall, downtown YangonLin was quite tight up with his writing schedule and so, he could not meet Oo these days. He needed to focus his attention on the subjects he had to write for the magazine. Last time, when he met Eli, he said that he would write about the City Hall which was one of the significant buildings and architectural structures in downtown Yangon.When he researched the history of the building, he found many interesting facts with respect to it and the story behind it. He was thankful to his uncle because his uncle brought some Yangon history books for him.After reading about it, he realized that he could use the metaphor “The Triumphant of Myanmar Architecture” because it would be very much suited to that sense. Among other remnants of colonial buildings in downtown Yangon, the architecture of the city hall is a fusion of Asian and European styles.People who came to Yangon had a chance to see th
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2018, Oct, a day’s tour in Yangon, Part-ILin continued to visit other significant buildings in Yangon for his monthly contribution to the magazine he was working for. He thought that he should visit them when he had time to keep his writing assignment punctual.For today, he chose to visit St. Mary Cathedral which is situated on the upper block of Bo Aung Kyaw Street and so, he took a cab there. When he reached the gate of the cathedral, he got off the cab after paying the fare to the cab driver. Before he entered the church, he stood at the gate and looked at it in wonderment.The magnificent and awe-inspiring St. Mary Cathedral is located in Bo Aung Kyaw Street. It is as grand as ever. Every visitor to Myanmar feels fascinated by its splendor and grandeur. The cathedral never fails to store respect in every visitor's heart. Being situated downtown, it can maintain its importance, compared to any other buildings in Yangon.It has
An English Writer Chapter-7
2018, Oct, a day’s tour in Yangon, Part-IIThe National Museum After visiting the Holy Trinity Church for note-taking and photographing for about forty minutes, Lin thought that he should visit the National Museum because he knew that he would learn quite a lot visiting the museum.He took a bus to the museum. It took only ten minutes to reach the museum. As soon as he entered the museum, big bronze statues depicting ancient Myanmar warriors were waiting for him.They were so grand to look at. Standing at the entrance, he was waiting for the entry into the museum. He needed to keep his bag and cell phone in the locker box and only his notebook could be brought into it. He needed to pay Ks-500 for entry fees. And the ticket collector tore his ticket to make sure he had paid for the entry fees.On the ground floor, there were displays of Myanmar alphabets according to successive periods-Bagan, Pinya,
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