SITHU Dr Thaw Kaung, a prominent library expert in Myanmar’s library and literary communities and a patron of the Myanmar Library Association (MLA), passed away on 29 July.
Dr Thaw Kaung passed away at the age of 89. He dedicated his entire life to advancing library studies in Myanmar and to the long-term preservation of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts, folded-paper manuscripts (Parabaik), and other valuable literary heritage materials.
“When we were studying postgraduate library studies at Yangon University, our teachers included Saya Zawgyi, Saya Tite Soe, U Maung Maung, U Tun Aung, Daw Nyunt Myint, Daw Khin Khin Ohn, and U Thaw Kaung. Among them, U Thaw Kaung was the youngest. Yet by his early forties, he had already become the university’s Chief Librarian. He was a teacher who never became angry and was always smiling.
Later, when he chaired the National Literature Award Selection Committee, I also had the opportunity to work under him. Since he devoted his entire life to serving Myanmar’s literary and library communities and was truly irreplaceable, to say that we miss him and deeply regret his loss would be a profound understatement,” said writer Hein Latt.
The Myanmar Library Association (MLA) issued an official statement expressing its profound grief over Dr Thaw Kaung’s demise and extending its deepest sympathies to the bereaved family.
Dr Thaw Kaung was born in Yangon on 17 December 1937, to Sithu U Kaung, who was noted for signing currency notes as ‘Maung Kaung’, and Daw Thein. He was the eldest of three children.
Because of a joint disorder in his youth, Dr Thaw Kaung had to continue his education at home under the guidance of his mother and private tutors, while nurturing his love of literature through the books collected by his father. In 1954, he passed the matriculation examination with distinctions in English and Geography. In 1959, he graduated from Yangon University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in English, receiving First Class Honours and winning the U Po Hnit Gold Medal.
Beginning in 1957, he worked part-time at the library of the English Faculty at Yangon University, and in 1959 he began serving at the Social Sciences Library under the guidance of Saya Zawgyi. He later earned a Postgraduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies from the University of London, as well as the AALIA (Associate of the Australian Library and Information Association) and the FLA (Fellow of the Library Association), which was then regarded as the highest professional qualification in library studies in the United Kingdom.
He played a key role in establishing the Faculty of Library Studies at Yangon University. He nurtured numerous library professionals and new generations of researchers, serving both as the Head of the University’s Central Library and as a Patron of the Myanmar Library Association.
Dr Thaw Kaung received numerous honorary awards in recognition of his internationally acknowledged contributions, including:
• 1983 – Honorary Fellow of the Library Association (Hon FLA), United Kingdom
• 1999 – Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa), University of Western Sydney, Australia
• 2005 – Fukuoka Academic Prize, awarded by the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize Committee, Japan
• 2008 – Pakokku U Ohn Pe Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement • 2010 – National Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature
• 2012 – Excellent Performance for Arts Field (Second Class) medal and the title of Sithu
• 2015 – Thuta Swesone Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement
• 2016 – Tun Foundation Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement and Sayawun Tin Shwe Literary Award for Lifetime Achievement
Guided by the motto “Warmly Assisting Those in Search of Knowledge”, the distinguished scholar Sithu Dr Thaw Kaung devoted himself selflessly to helping others in their pursuit of knowledge. As the only library scientist to follow in his father’s academic footsteps, he left behind a vast and invaluable legacy for Myanmar’s library and literary communities.
WA/TH
TheGlobalNewLightOfMyanmar