In the late 1920s, two young students fell in love while attending Rangoon University. Separated during the long summer months, they communicated to each other by publishing poems in a journal, unwittingly creating immortal poetry and literature that is still studied and cherished today. The star-crossed lovers were Myanmar’s national poet, Min Thu Wun, and celebrated poet Khin Saw Mu, the speaker’s mother whom he lost soon after his birth. In this poignant and captivating talk, Nay Oke’s tells the family story behind some of Myanmar’s most significant literary works.

U Nay Oke is an educator who set up the Institute of English, the biggest and most successful private language school in Myanmar, that teaches English to over 5,000 Myanmar students a year. Before setting up the school in 1976, he was a lecturing tutor with the Faculty of English at Yangon University.

Today, U Nay Oke is an active participant in civil society doing humanitarian work with various local as well as international organisations in health and education sectors; sitting on the boards of several NGOs, schools and vocational institutes, providing staff and teaching materials to free-tuition and monastic schools across the country, conducting training courses for language teachers and making appearances on television talk shows on education.

U Nay Oke comes from a literary family, his mother being the renowned Myanmar poet Daw Khin Saw Mu.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx.