94 year old Sao Noan Oo  was born in Shan State as a princess, being the daughter of the Sawbwa or Sao Hpa of Lawksawk, a state in the Federated Shan States or Mong Tai. She has been fighting for the rights of the Shan people for almost all of her long life.  And she hasn't given up yet.

Sao Noan Oo was studying in England at the time of the 1962 coup and her scholarship was cancelled.   Given what happened to her family and other Shan families after that coup she has never returned to Myanmar.  She married an Englishman and is now known by most people as Nel Adams.

Nel has written her life story entitled "My Vanished World".  The book is currently out of print but some second hand copies can be found in ebook sites like Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/My-Vanished-World-Story-Princess/dp/189931024X

Nel firmly believes the fate of the Shan as an independent country was sealed by the signing of the Panglong Agreement on 12 February, 1947.  Some, but not all, of the spirit of the Panglong Agreement was contained in the first Burmese Constitution which was agreed to on 24 September, 1947 by its Constituent Assembly. This Constitution is known as the 1947 Constitution, although it only came into effect upon independence from the British on 4 January, 1948.

According to the 1947 Constitution, the peoples of the Shan and Kayah States were bound to be part of the Union of Myanmar (then Burma) but under Article 201 each would have the right to secede after 10 years at a referendum approved by a majority of 2/3rds of its "eligible voters".  

Nel has carried out substantial research into the history of the Panglong Agreement and, if you click on the link below, it will take you to the detailed document she has produced.  There are some minor points where I differ with Nel in that, in my opinion, the Panglong Agreement did not give the  specific right of the Shan (and Kayah) State to withdraw from the Union.  That was contained in Article 201 of the 1947 Constitution.  But certainly the full spirit of the Panglong Agreement was lacking in the 1947 Constitution and General Ne Win's coup in 1962 suspending the Constitution ignored the specific rights of the peoples of the Shan and Kayah States to withdraw from the Union.  These rights have been ignored ever since.

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/0c9XsZXa2Lg5ucDP_9haboOjg#Unravelling_the_history_of_the_Panglong_Treaty_by_Sao_Noan_Oo-Nel_Adams_2025.  You may need to copy and paste this address into your browser to download the document.

Nel as a 16 year old was present with her family at the Panglong Conference leading to the signing of the Agreement in 1947 and her memory of that conference is contained in My Vanished World and I will read the relevant chapter for this podcast.

Thank you for listening.

Peter Church

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Sao Noan Oo was born in 1931 in Shan State as a princess, being the daughter of the Sawbwa or Sao Hpa of Lawksawk, a state in the Federated Shan States or Mong Tai.

Sao Noan Oo was studying in England at the time of the 1962 coup and her scholarship was cancelled.   Given what happened to her family and other Shan families after that coup she has never returned to Myanmar but has tirelessly fought for the rights of the Shan people.  She married an Englishman and is now known by most people as Nel Adams.

Nel has written her life story entitled "My Vanished World".  The book is currently out of print but some second hand copies can be found in ebook sites like Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/My-Vanished-World-Story-Princess/dp/189931024X

She has also written a history of the Tai (or Shan) people which is available at Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Unravelling-History-Tai-Yai-Noan/dp/1527209474.

This chapter deals with the disastrous long term consequences for the Shan people following what has become known as  Martyrs Day when,  on 19 July 1947,  a number leading Burmese and ethnic leaders in pre independent Burma were assassinated.  This included U Aung San (the father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi) and a Shan leader, Sao Sam Htun, the Sawbwa of Mongpawn.

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Linda Lewin, using the recollections of her 94 year old father, Boh Lay Desmond and other family members and friends, has written the story of her family covering a number of generations.  In this episode we hear how her grandfather's life ended in Bassein (now Pathein) during the Japanese invasion in 1943 and also hear of the adventurous life of her great uncle, San Po Thin. 

The book, My Faraway Country Myanmar was written by Linda Lewin and published by Gold Hare in 2023 and may be purchased via its website, www.goldenharebooks.com.

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This interview was first published in 2021 and received many downloads. U Maung Nyi (commonly known as David) was born in Kyaukse on 15 April, 1936.  He was educated in Kyaukse, Mandalay, Yangon and Otago (New Zealand).  As a mining engineer he spent many years working at Bawdwin, Myanmar's famous lead, silver and zinc mine which during colonial times was the largest such mine in the world.  Herbert Hoover, the 31st US President, made his fortune investing in Bawdwin.  David eventually became its Mine Superintendent from 1983 to 1986 and was then promoted to become General Manager of a new copper mine at Monya (known as No. 1 Copper Mine).  His resignation from this role after the 1988 riots and coup had far reaching consequences on the lives of all his family.

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This interview took place in 2018 and I am republishing it now as there was a lot of interest when it was first published.

U Nay Oke is the founder of a well known English language school and was born in 1943.  There is a short short postscript where U Nay Oke told me the story of how as a very young man, as a result of a bizare circumstance, he ended up selecting Western movies for General Ne Win.

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Linda Lewin, using the recollections of her 94 year old father, Boh Lay Desmond and other family members and friends, has written the story of her family covering a number of generations.  In this episode we hear a little about her great grandparents U Tun Hla and Daw Bu Ma and learn how her grandparents, Sa Po Lwin and Lucienne Auberhoffer met and married in London and moved to Bassein (now Pathein) in the Myanmar delta where her grandfather practiced law.  We also learn of the eventual flight of Lucienne and her three children, including Linda's father Boh Lay, from the Japanese army in early 1942.

The book was published by Gold Hare in 2023 and may be purchased via its website, www.goldenharebooks.com.

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This interview was originally made on 8 December 2017.  U Than Htay made some interesting comments about the colonial and Japanese occupation of Burma.

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Dr Than Oo, born 1928, prominent educator, former DG of Basic Education, the key player in raising the literacy rate in Burma in the 1960's and for the re-establishing of the teaching of English to primary school children after a gap of many years, former Chairman of the Academy of Arts and Science.

This interview was first published back on 5 March 2018.  As many of you only became listeners in recent times and may not have heard this interview, I hope you will find this interview of an extraordinary man inspiring.  

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This was the second interview I made for Myanmar Oral History back on 4 December, 2017.   Many of you have signed up in recent years and I hope you will find some of these earlier interviews of interest.

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U K Ba Thaung (1931-2022) - interesting stories of his relationship with General Ne Win, including observations regarding the death of General Aung San and the involvement U Saw and more personal first hand observations of General Ne Win's many unusual superstitions and remedies such as bathing in buffalo blood and his methods to increase his virility.  

I was fortunate to interview Kenneth twice before he passed away on 22 May, 2022 at the age of 91.  We must ensure the life stories of elderly Myanma are recorded in some way or they will be lost forever when they pass away.  

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U Kenneth Ba Thaung (1931-2022), his life and career as a military officer including discussing his relationship with General Ne Win and his career running the Pearl and Fishery corporation, as Commissioner of Salt, the establishment of Polo 9 cigarette company and the 7 1/2 years he spent in Insein Prison.

I was fortunate to interview Kenneth twice before he passed away on 22 May, 2022 at the age of 91.   We must ensure the life stories of elderly Myanma are recorded in some way or they will be lost forever when they pass away.  

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