Burmese dictionary is mainly based on the Myanmar-English dictionary published in 1993 by the Myanmar Language Commission and republished in 1996 by Dunwoody Press (ISBN 1-881265-47-1)
Dr. Kyaw Thet gave a lecture at the once-prestigious Rangoon University. The clip was
taken from 1957 CBS Edward Murrow's "See It Now" program on "Burma, Buddhism, and
Neutrality".
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You will see the predicted Burmese words based on the dictionary order
as in the following picture.
Warning about fonts
If you use Zawgyi font, you won't see the correct rendering
of some characters, especially subscript forms. Zawgyi is incompatible with the
Unicode standard.
Our dictionary uses the old Unicode standard with UTN #11 (the documentations
are listed below)
I went to Laos last week on a business trip. I met some of my former students from Laos.
I gave them IT training while I was working for
Digital Divide Data in Vientiane.
Lwin with his Laos students at the Friendship bridge on the Thai-Laos border
I have been reading George Orwell's 1984. I am half way now. I want to share some quotes I like.
One of these days, thought Winston with sudden deep conviction, Syme
will be vaporized. He is too intelligent. He sees too clearly and speaks too plainly.
The Party does not like such people. One day he will disappear. It is written in his
face.
Everything faded into mist. The past was erased, the erasure was
forgotten, the lie became truth.
Orwell, in my opinions, probably wrote this fiction based on his experiences about
the British colonial rule in Burma. Orwell used to live in Katha and Moulmein
(Mawlamyine) while he was serving in the Indian Imperial Police. He hated imperialism
and quit the job. He later pursued his writing career.
The book vividly describes the danger of being watched and brain-washed by a
government. The main character, Winston Smith, works at the Records Department of a
fictional country called Oceania. The department is responsible for
producing records that are in line with the Party's agenda and deleting those
that are not.
I went to Chatuchak
weekend market today. It was probably my fourth or fifth visit.
Chatuchak is a very famous tourists destination in Bangkok. A visit to Chatuchak is
like an exotic cultural experience for tourists, especially for westerners from
developed countries. Everything from Thai silk to modern fake Levi jeans can be
found at the clothing stall booths as far as the eyes can see. The shops sell almost
everything under the sun --- antique handicrafts and modern furniture, books and
collectable items, plants and pets, and you name it.
The visits to Chatuchak made me think about the cultural differences between people
from developing and developed countries. Western tourists would look for
antique ethnic handicrafts whereas the locals would not even care about those
sections of the market.
In my observations, people from industrialized countries tend to appreciate this kind of
picture.
Sunset in Bagan (Photo source is unknown and may have copyrights
held by the photographer)
Life in Burma (Photo by Rev. Wo Le)
On the contrary, people from developing countries tend to be impressed
by this kind of picture.
Developing countries want to develop faster and faster at the cost of
natural and cultural beauty. China, for example, is growing very fast
at the cost of social stability, the income gap between the rich and poor
becoming wider and wider [1].
They even want to build more dams in Burma [2].
Big international businesses are moving to less developed countries not only for cheap
labor, but also for less strict environmental rules and regulations.
Developed countries, on the other hand, want to go back to history and preserve natural
beauty. To tell you the truth, the air quality in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA (where I
went to college) is better than the air quality in my home town, Mudon, Mon State in
Burma. Thanks to cheap Thailand and Chinese made motorbikes and no rules regarding air
pollution, the air quality in my hometown in Burma is getting worse these days.
The fact that every factory in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has to follow strict environmental rules
and regulations has made the environment very nice for the citizens of the
town.
I, for one, am looking forward to the days when leaders in developing
countries, Asean in particular, will start to talk about putting the interest
and basic human rights of their own people ahead of the economic development. I hope that
our region will grow without sacrificing our natural and cultural beauty.
