This Myanmar poem was written by Kyi Aung (Kaytu-mati) in the ‘Naing-Ngant Gon-Yi’ Magazine of September 2005 issue. My literal translation of the poem is as follows: - Resolution of a literary mann - To be able to produce literature is a literary man’s work Bashing away on writing and thinking Composing vivid literary work Makes me pleased No matter whether I’m starving or not…

MYANMAR people use the Lunar calendar. Months are counted according to the movement of the moon, so the month in Myanmar is ‘La’, the same word for the moon. There are two types of the month – 30- day month and 29-day month. The month which has 15 days of the waxing moon and 15 days of the waning moon is of the first type and the month which has 15 days of the waxing moon and 14 days of the waning moon is of the second type. These two types alternate in the 12-month calendar. The year always begins with the 29-day month called Tagu, and ends with the 30-day month called Tabaung. So it is customary for the Myanmar people to mark the day not only as the 1st day, 2nd day etc., of the month but also whether the day is waxing or waning moon of the month. The days of the month counted in this way have thus a serial of 1 to 15 for the first half of the month and 1 to 15 for the second half of the month of 30 days, and 1 to 15 for the first half of the month and 1 to 14 for the second half of the month of 29 days. The 15th day of the waxing moon is called Full Moon day, and the 15th (in the case of 30-day months) or 14th (in the case of 29-day months) day of the waning moon is called ‘Hidden Moon’ day.

THERAVĀDA Buddhism has been flourishing in Myanmar since ancient times. Myanmar especially plays a leading role among the Theravāda Buddhist countries. The first arrival of Buddha Sāsanato, this "Land of Pagodas", was associated with the history of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda.

THERE were more than 39.2 million eligible voters at the general election held on 8 November 2020, but the initial checks showed that the margin of error exceeds 10.4 million. Hence, the political parties, the candidates and the Tatmadaw made demands to the UEC, the Hluttaw and the government to solve the matter in accord with the law.

The body structures of human beings are extraordinary. According to Buddha’s words, the individuals are driven by Karma, Mind, Weather (environment) or Nutrition (energy). Scientists have studied the biomechanics of the living human body and found it working amazingly and precisely. That is called the circadian rhythm -- biological clock rhythms in Myanmar. It works precisely with the balance of the mental and physical system of a person. The digestive system adjusts to the diet and prepares the production of protein. If the biological clock does not work correctly, the human catastrophe will be lost.

THE Yangon University Students’ Union (YUSU) was the association which brought about the welfare of the students and protected their rights. It is said that it was modelled on those of Oxford and Cambridge universities in England. But its one distinction is that it produced many patriotic Myanmar students who were involved in the anti-colonialist movements which led to the regaining of Myanmar independence. So it can be said to be one of the politically historic associations which brewed on the premises of Yangon University.

THE 9th December of 2020, the National Victory Day of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar was timed to coincide with the 33rd ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF) Chairs’ Meeting organized by Viet Nam via videoconferencing, joined by the deputy minister for Planning, Finance and Industry, who is also the chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission and party during which others present were senior officials of the capital markets in the ASEAN region, the representatives of partner organizations, the ASEAN Secretariat, and Asian Development Bank (ADB).

WITH universal access to COVID-19 vaccinations in Myanmar still months away, Myanmar is entering a new phase. Keeping the number of new infections limited depends for a large part on how successful the Government will be in persuading citizens to stick to proper protective behaviour in the “new normal”.