All in the Family

U Kyaw Tun
This is the story of my uncle U Tha Din. Written in Deep River, 960101.

The sun never set in the British Empire. Imperial Japan was no match for the British Navy. Indeed, Britannia ruled the waves.

Yet the Japanese forces pushed into South East Asia. There was nothing to worry, with the impregnable fortress of Singapore, and two battle-ships patrolling the area - HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse.

The Japanese air planes sank the battle-ships, and Singapore with its naval guns pointing out to the sea fell to the Japanese forces coming down the Malaysian peninsula over land.

The seat of the government of British Burma had to move from Rangoon to Mandalay 400 miles north and away the seacoast.

When the evacuation orders were given to the public servants to move to Upper Burma with Mandalay at the centre in February 1942, the evacuation was not orderly but turned quickly into a rout.

My father, U Tun Pe, a government employee in an area near Rangoon fled up the Irrawaddy (ay ra wa. te) river and then to a place west of Pakkoku (pa. kok ku). One of my mother's cousins, U Ah Waing from Rangoon, had gone much further north to Monwya (moan ywa) , also on the bank of the Irrawaddy.

My father's ancestors were from Upper Burma, and it's quite easy to run into one of his relatives in most of the small towns along the river. And so, when he had to stop in Nyaung-bin-gyi (nyaugn pin kre:) village across the river from Monwya, on his trip to his headquarters in Mandalay, he made it a priority to meet one of his first cousins, U Tha Din.

The funny part of the story was, my father had never met his cousin. And when they did meet, as was the tradition in the family, the younger man U Tha Din acknowledged U Tun Pe as an elder brother. Close cousins are still considered to be siblings, and as such, the younger must always give respect to the elder and carry out the wish of the elder to the best of one's ability. Thus, was my father able to tell his younger "brother" U Tha Din to look after the family of his mother's "brother".

Sometime after U Tha Din and U Ah Waing were introduced to one another, the war situation in Burma worsened. The British had to flee without ceremony into India. Monwya, being a large town was no longer considered safe, and U Tha Din came to fetch U Ah Waing and his family. He helped them move into a toddy plantation, where large huts were constructed with toddy palm leaves for roofs and walls, and bamboos for posts.

U Ah Waing and his family were Sino-Burmese, but had Chinese looks. And nobody dared think of what would happen to the Chinese in Burma at the hands of the Imperial Japanese soldiers, after the Nanking massacre in China.

U Tha Din was a regular visitor to the family of war-refugees, and his presence alone gave them some protection from the local Burmese bad-hats. U Tha Din, being the grandson of Bo Yan Shin, one of the former war-lords of the area, was well known, respected and feared. Yet, Daw Kin Mwe, wife of U Ah Waing, was never at ease. Her eldest daughter, Myint Myint, though in her teens was quite good looking, and then there was a younger son, and the youngest daughter.

Being from Lower Burma, where the climate was mild and humid, the family really had to cope with heat and dryness. And what was there to eat? An Upper Burman could easily find edible vegetables all around. But the family was from Lower Burma, and the principal city at that.

Daw Kin Mwe knew U Tha Din's wife ran an inn. Surely, he must know all the local vendors, those who supplied meat, fish, and vegetables to the inn. So, the next time, when U Tha Din, came to visit them, she said:

"Ko Tha Din, can you tell us where we can buy some pork?"

"Don't worry, I'll send you someone with pork."

The next day, a young woman came with a tray of pork on her head. Daw Kin Mwe was delighted. She sorted out what she would like to buy and asked the woman, how much. The woman, answered:

"Don't bother. It doesn't cost anything."

"Surely, I must pay you."

"No. I'm the wife of U Tha Din."

The next time U Tha Din, came along, Daw Kin Mwe thanked him. Gingerly, she asked about his relationship to the pork-seller. Without much ado, U Tha Din said she was wife no.2. Again, Daw Kin Mwe, asked U Tha Din to send some vendor with fish. Daw Khin Mwe got her fish and another surprise. The vendor was U Tha Din's wife no. 3. Then came the vegetable vendor - U Tha Din's wife no. 4. etc. etc.

Only then, it dawned on Daw Kin Mwe what was meant by "all in the family".

(Note: Aunty Daw Kin Mwe related the story to my mother and I, sometime after the Second World War, in Rangoon. But as always, the reader must take it with a pinch of salt - a story not a history and it's told not as fact. In 1966, I went to Nyaung-bin-gyi village. It was very easy to locate the first family of U Tha Din. U Tha Din had already passed away, but I met U Sein Nyo, his eldest son - who acknowledge me as his elder brother!)