Burma-Myanma(r) Research
and its Future

Implications for Scholars and Policymakers,
Sat 21-Wed 25 September 2002,
Gothenburg, Sweden

A Tribute to May Kyi Win

Daw May Kyi Win, one of our conference organizing committee members, great friend to us all, died of cancer on Saturday 23 February 2002. She was Curator of the Southeast Asia Collection at Northern Illinois University and editor of the Newsletter of the Burma Studies Group. She was a rock solid support for the Burma studies community and would have done wonders for our 2002 conference, of which she was a principal organizer, had not cancer held her back. Professor Richard Cooler's moving message (see below) deeply touches in particular those of us who have known her long before she left Burma to work in the United States. We all feel the immense tragedy that lies behind the biographies of Burrmese academics struggling in a country where education and research are not put prioritised.

Daw May Kyi Win was renowned among scholars worldwide for her immense energy and selfless dedication to the academic research community. Without her immeasurable support, Burmese studies would not have advanced to where it is today. She had nothing but loving-kindness (metta) and goodwill (cetana) for all who sought her help - she practiced no discrimination of any sort.

We dedicate this conference to her memory, to the scholarship that she encouraged and represents, and to the goodwill and hope that she brings to humanity and, who knows, to the future of Burma-Myanmar.

Gustaaf Houtman, 28 February 2002

Dear friends,

It is my sad duty to report to you that our beloved curator and dear
friend, Daw May Kyi Win, left this life for another early Saturday
morning, February 23, 2002.

She will be long remembered for her selfless service to others and for
how well her life embodied the Buddhist values that she so earnestly
professed. As many will recall, her deep sense of charity extended to
all things, both great and small. She adopted her niece and nephew and
brought them to America for schooling. She freely provided lodging in
her home for participants in the Burma Studies Conference and on more
than one occasion, had to be convinced that providing food for all
conference participants was more than any one mortal could accomplish.
Even so, at the conclusion of each conference, she supplied a free
Burmese lunch to all who left on late flights.

The alacrity with which she assisted in finding any item in the
library, not just Southeast Asian materials, was at first shocking,
because it is was so rare, but always memorable, because it was genuine.
The library that she so loved and now has left behind will never be the
same without her: her expert assistance, her warm presence, and her
charitable spirit.

One of May Kyi Win's last wishes was that her friends should be told
that she forgives anyone who may have offended her and that she wishes
for forgiveness from anyone to whom she may have given offense.

In accord with her wishes, there will not be a service. Instead, a
simple cremation.

She will be long remembered by all who knew her.

Sincerely,

Richard M. Cooler
Director
Center for Burma Studies
(Northern Illinois University)