Maung Tha Cho - Contemporary Chalk Lines

New King 

(Southeast Asia, the days and nights of drugs and alcohol)

I once met a friend who, after drinking, could speak in a way that made others think he was almost Socrates. He was known as a tutor, a writer, and an editor. But he only taught, wrote, and edited under one name.

You are new,

Bio New Year,

Writer Min Thit,

Editor Min Thit.

I can't remember the shop very well. The liquor store was a liquor store. Was it at U Bo's shop on 55th Street, at my mother's house in Pazundaung, on Station Road, or on 42nd Street? I don't remember. I can't remember the people either.

Yamon, Ko Kyaw, Maung Mauk Okkal, Saw Daew, Myint Oo Oo Myint, Ko Yan Paing, Ko Thin Khaing, Zaw (Pyin Mana), etc... etc...

There were maybe three or five of them. Maybe a group of four. I can't remember the exact pairing. I do remember one thing. We were all drunk.

At that time, I was a very intelligent person and taught Ko Min Thit, who was a tenth or two generations older than me.

Regarding alcohol.

"Whether you want to be angry with me or not, Ko Min Thit, this is a bar. Yes, this is a bar. I hate to talk about the bad things about drinking in a bar like this. But I'll say it anyway."

I think Ko Min Thit is the most undisciplined among us when it comes to alcohol. If only other people had a day off, there would be. Ko Min Thit doesn't have it, and Ko Min Thit doesn't have the water balance either. I think we should think about it a little. That's a kind word. I say it with kindness."

“Here, Maung Thar Cho, Maung Rint’s words are wrong, very wrong, Maung Thar Cho, Min Thit is not an alcoholic, do you understand? Min Thit has never been an alcoholic, right?”

As he spoke, Ko Min Thit struck the table two or three times. The table was made of a pine box, which was called Kamattasara, and was turned upside down, so Ko Min Thit could not resist his blows, and they became confused. One of them was holding a plate of rice. The candle had gone out, but they had to light it again.

"You are never an alcoholic. You are not drinking alcohol, you are drinking Abhidhamma, you are drinking Abhidhamma."

I met Maung Tha Cho, I will drink Abhidhamma. I met Ko Chit Oo Nyo, I will drink Abhidhamma. I am so fond of Min Thit Abhidhamma that I am drinking alcohol. I just want to drink alcohol, so I can fill it up at home, right?”

Ko Min Thit downed the glass of white wine in one gulp. As he drank another glass of water, the wrinkles on his face smoothed out. Water dripped from his cheeks. The people around him were also laughing, drunk, and smoking, like smoke from a mountain fire.

Oh, Abhidhamma, Ko Min Thit, and Socrates, Ko Min Thit.

Ko Min Thit and I became close in the 1980s. I think it was around 1983. Before that, I had only heard news about Ko Min Thit.

Ko Min Thit, who used to be an editor at Moe Wai Magazine,

Some of the albums of singer Twan Tay Thein Tan include songs written by Ko Min Thit,

Ko Min Thit, who used to be a high school teacher,

Short stories, poems, and a few scattered pieces of Ko Min Thit...

Around 1975, I was a tenth grade student. I heard the name Ko Min Thit when I was taking a biology class in tenth grade.

That's right. Stereobio, the new king.

He teaches biology in an apartment building across from the central fire station on Sule Pagoda Street.

I used to sing songs about cockroaches, frogs, and plasmodiums in the voices of stereo singers like Than Naing and Pale.

In his class, cockroaches ran around on electric guitar strings. Frogs jumped on drums.

All those songs were on the lips of the tenth grade students at that time. They sang, sang, memorized, and remembered them. At that time, Ko Min Thit was a superstar. He once served rice to some current poets and artists. He arranged plane tickets and went to Pyin Oo Lwin for tea and salad.

Ko Min Thit and I met in 1983. The place we met was at Yangon University, which coincidentally happened to be the day my friend, Ko Htay Thein, was appointed as a Burmese language instructor. Ko Htay Thein was very happy. He also had no money and could not take care of his friends.

“Let me take care of it the next day,” Ko Min Thit walked in just then. “This is Ko Htay Thein, aren’t you happy today?” “Of course you are.” “Okay... can we move that feeling to a later date?”

Everyone fell silent. That day, with the good will of Ko Min Thit, we all went to the Inya Lake Hotel.

Alcohol had built a bridge between Ko Min Thit and me in the Chinese room.

After that, Ko Min Thit and I went through the closest years. In some of the pages of those years, I began to read Ko Min Thit's image more.

A man confused by the characteristics of a new drug addict, a new artist, a new teacher, and a new socialite.

It's enough to say that Min Thit is a drunkard. He drinks and drinks and drinks. No matter the place, no matter the person, no matter the alcohol, no matter the time.

Once, we were drinking at a bar in Kukkai. A young man, claiming to be hungry, arranged for us to rent a car and arrived at the Inya Lake Hotel. When we left Inya Lake, he took us to his farm on Kamaryut Station Road, claiming to be hungry, and there he made us drink Htwe Nyo and Kone, and other wild alcohol.

He chose no place.

Sometimes I see Ko Min Thit around Sayar Tin Moe. Sometimes Ko Kyaung, sometimes friends from the past, sometimes, sometimes... people don't choose.

Once, Ko Min Thit and I met at a small bar in the forest. Anyway, I was joking about the forest. Ko Min Thit was not like that.

After taking a sip of alcohol, his mouth tingled with the taste,

"Brother Thar Cho, try drinking it, this forest is good, the taste is not bad, I don't think it's even a forest... Try drinking it, try drinking it, what's the taste?" We used to get tired of the discussion group. Once, we were sitting at Inya Lake -

“Let’s drink something special, I’m looking for whiskey, this guy is a dick, bro.”

We used to miss the whiskey labels that were labeled as "Something Special" and "Something Special." When I asked if Yamon had any regular cigarettes, Ko Min Thit got angry.

“Ha-Yamon, you are so low, ordinary cigarettes are what the rich people of the forest smoke, lol.”

"He said, 'What's the deal?'" he said, and then he asked.

"How does it feel to smoke that cigarette, brother?"

Yamon stared and blew out cigarette smoke, and the other man looked on.

"I don't feel anything, Ko Min Thit Yar."

"It's gone down, it's gone down so low, this cigarette makes me think I'm the king of the house, if it weren't for milk, my brother wouldn't even smoke a cigarette."

Ko Min Thit laughed out loud. He took a sip of whiskey. Ko Min Thit, who doesn't drink alcohol, was a man of few words.

Once, a new friend of mine came to my home in North Okkalapa at an untimely time. He was making noise in front of our house, making it hard to wake us up while we were sleeping in the middle of the night.

“Hey, Min Thit, you came to befriend someone, you understand? I didn't come to drink alcohol.” • Etc. ...

When he got home, he mistook the oil bottle on the cat house for a bottle of rum and lifted it up. He was angry and asked if there was any alcohol. But it was a waste of time.

I understand that Ko Min Thit has enough art to be called an artist. I have read his quatrain poems that were composed in the correct tone of the Moe era. Then, short stories such as “Apoy Pauk General Market”, “London Moekhare”, and on the other hand, Cherry’s novels such as “Ten Thung Tuy Vut Thhu” and “Yan Sitthi Wi Aung Aung” are notable.

Ko Min Thit once responded to a critic who insulted the poetry world with a novel. Pan wrote "Berlin Dream (1988)".

We respect him for the novel. He also

"Here, if you're not sure, don't do anything. It's not just a simple Min Thit. The Min Thit (The Min Thit) has the definite article before its name."

Etc...."

I once saw Ko Min Thit throwing a tantrum at an art debate. Regarding Existentialism.

"What is Exist? The new king does not accept that Exis. The new king will never accept it. It is a useless educated and ignorant ideology."

Once, in a bar, Saw Daewo made fun of Ko Min Thit's tutoring advertisement, which said, "Once you have been treated, you will accept it, and then continue to study as usual." Ko Min Thit, a drug addict, had already exploded.

"Hey, Daewol, you're still too young, too young. It's been a long time since you wrote poetry. This is not something to be laughed at. People who are 2,000 miles away from art are making fun of you. Here, you're a guy who's been to Southeast Asia, right? You're a guy who's been to Southeast Asia."

After that, he would say, "Hey, Maung Thar Cho, give me about ten bucks," and then go home.

There is one thing that bothers us about Ko Min Thit. It is that the ghost of his teacher haunts him everywhere outside the classroom. Ko Min Thit lives outside the tutoring room on Sule Pagoda Road, where a sign reads, "Here is the Min Thit you are looking for."

Once, he was explaining his textbook issues to Yam.

"Yamon, my bio book is a part of a book, so how much is twenty-five four li?"

"One hundred..."

"Okay, remember that one hundred, I've printed about 3,000 copies, so let's divide 3,000 by four, four seven li."

"That's 750." "Yes, that 750 is multiplied by 100..." "Seventy-five thousand." I couldn't help myself.

"Ko Min Thit Ya, you can calculate it yourself and say it. I'm still doing the question and answer**

He laughed softly when he said that, but that didn't stop him from being cheerful.

Once, I was pointing out the location of Cherry Magazine to a local poet. With paper and pen.

"This... isn't Anawrahta Road? This is the road we're standing on now, 33rd Street, so this is it."

"34th Street.."

"Yes, this is..."

"Mahabandula Road"

"Yes. This is..."

"35th Street..."

"Okay, this is..."

"36th Street..."

"Yes, this is... a wide road."

"Pansodan Road..."

"This is" "37th Street..."

"Yes, this is it." "38th Street..."

"Yes, there's a wide road here."

"Seaport Road..."

"Okay... Brother, turn to the upper block. On the left, about forty-five rooms in, it says Cherry Magazine."

“Oh, tell me about the block on Seikangtha Road at once, Ko Min Thit.

The Milinda Panchaya is very beautiful.