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BAPS Newsletter
Spring 1999
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President's Message | Member Profile | Tri-city Tour of the Mon State | Email Campaign | This Quarter's Activities | Sponsors | Credits
The Society has passed its young journey of six months. L ooking back, we have accomplished quite a few things. After making some organizational adjustments, we now h ave an organization that comprises individual groups of members, each of which is led by a group leader func tioning under the umbrella of the BAPS. These groups would be mutually interactive and supportive of each o ther. All members could contribute their best effort to help, and at the same time we would have an identifi able ownership in a group's activity. This model would be the framework for the overall function of the S ociety.
Our first newsletter came out in November 1998. We received a very encouraging response. It was a small s tep we'd taken, nonetheless, a significant one. We will strive to make it a professional publication. We see the newsletter as a key medium to connect, communicate with, and inform our members of the Society's activities and direction; to disseminate technical information; to introduce our successful members' prof iles; and to advertise for the businesses of the Burmese American community. I would like to see it become a forum for all members and readers to express their opinions in accordance with the BAPS mission and be at t he service of the Burmese American professionals.
During the past quarter, we had our first New Year's Eve party co-sponsored by BAPS and BAA. We had ou r first seminar at the end of January and a Ski trip in February. Through networking, we successfully helped a number of job-seeking fellow members obtain jobs in their area of expertise. The Society has delivered an d is delivering in accordance with its stated mission. This, of course, is the total effort and the active participation of our members.
We have challenges ahead. Our Society functions with the voluntary effort of the enthusiastic members; me mbers' times are very precious and limited. Our Society does not have a permanent location. We do not sol icit donation or contribution to fund the Society's activities or Newsletter. These constraints make our challenges all the more intense. I believe, however, our Society can grow and grow fast. We will succeed des pite the obstacles that lie before us.
Already we have a good organization structure. It is interactive, mutually supportive, it is anything but top down. Our leaders in each group are free to be creative to achieve the group's objectives, free to d raw upon the resources available from the Society, and free to interact with other groups closely to grow th e Society. I would like to call upon all our members to actively participate, to reach out to the Burmese Am erican community for new blood, to offer services in return for the community's support and contribution. We have the opportunity to do something different, and this is the time.
Nyo Win
By Edison Paw
This quarter, our member profile is the story of Mr. David Ko.
Mr. Ko has a successful mechanical components manufacturing firm in Union City. He co-founded the busine ss back in 1978 with a partner from Croatia. The two partners have since expanded their business. With appro ximately 100 employees, they currently occupy 72,000 sq. feet of space for their warehousing and manufacturi ng operations. The company is continuously growing at a rate of 5-25% per year. Ninety percent of their emp loyees started out as trainees in their shop. BAPS would like to congratulate Mr. Ko for his hard work, his dedication to his employees and his contribution to the community.
Besides his successful business, David and his late wife, Daw Sein Yone, have three wonderful and promisi ng children, two daughters and one son in all. The eldest daughter is working on her Ph.D. in Clinical Psych ology at the University of California at Santa Barbara and is expected to start her internship this year. T heir second child is in his second year at the Stanford University Medical School studying for his MD and Ph .D. program. Their third daughter is studying hair design at the Vidal Sassoon Academy.
Mr. Ko emigrated to the U.S with his family in 1973 and they have been living in Fremont since 1976. He h ad worked at the Raychem Company for five years before opening his own business. His interest in machining a nd tools started early in his life when he read Popular Mechanics and Mechanics Illustrated. He graduated in mechanical engineering from the Ra ngoon Institute of Technology in Burma. He is one of a few Asian Americans who are not only trained machinis ts but also professionals in their own right. Inspired by their keen interests in mechanical devices and acc essories, they learned, for the most part, on their own and developed their skills. However he had to overc ome many obstacles that other minorities and immigrants encounter. In the late seventies, there were few Asi an American machinists. David was constantly asked by his customers whether he was a machinist, if he knew h ow to operate a machine, and where he acquired the skills.
David and his partner continue to thrive in this very cyclical business mainly because they take good car e of their employees, re-invest their earnings into their business, re-invent themselves, and expand their b usiness cautiously. Competition in the mechanical components business continues to be fierce because of new improvements in technology. In many ways, David compares technological advances in the machine industry to t hose of the software industry. Every year new models come on the market. These new products work faster and give you a whole lot of functions and features. Just as David manages his family and nurtures them carefully , he manages to nurture his business relationship with his partner and his employees quite successfully.
David, Congratulations to you and your family!!! You are a role model to everyone! It shows that the Un ited States is truly a land of opportunities. Hard work and perseverance can and do lead to success. David a nd his company are always looking for trainees.
Tri-City Tour of the Mon State
By Henry Lim
For some years before Southeast Asia was plagued with a currency crisis, an excursion or exploratory trip to Burma was much chatted about in o ur Burmese communities all over the world. Entrepreneurial spirits in us sprang up. We found ourselves full of commercial ideas, ready to plunge into what we thought was a vast Burmese market for new products and services. A lot of us rushed off to the country with a kind of zest and energy that had never been seen before.
Riding the crest of an enthusiastic wave, my younger brother and I flew to Burma one summer, making a stopover in Bangkok, Thailand. We arrived in Bangkok late in the evening , just in time to hop into the hotel beds. We had the kindest reception from my schoolmate, Mr. Kangwan Srithanesphokai, who is a co-owner of the Comfort Inn near the Don Muang International Airport of Bangkok. We stayed two nights in his hotel as his guests. We also met Mr. Harry Pan, a childhood friend of mine, who at the time was Managing Director o f a Taiwanese-owned electronics plant in Bangkok. In the next two days, Mr. Srithanesphokai and Mr. Pan took turns driving us in their luxury cars all over Bangkok and Pattaya. W e went sightseeing and gorged on rich, sumptuous foods in restaurants until we cried for a break, using gout attacks as an excuse.
Leaving our hosts with sincere gratitude and reluctance, we boarded Myanmar Airways International for a 45-minute flight to Rangoon. We flew over the tropical forest at the b order, and as the plane started to hover over the lush green vegetation near the Mingaladon International Airport, we were all smiles, ready to set foot once again on the land t hat we left 27 years ago. Then our airplane hurtled down the runway and came to a stop. While walking down the stairs from the plane, we looked around and saw a lone plane bear ing the logo of Silk Air forlornly waiting for its passengers and cargoes. It was a far cry from other international airports, where we frequently see planes taking off or landi ng on multiple runways once every five to ten minutes.
Our mood changed gears, shifting from one of elation to one of sadness. The overly quiet airport gave us an impression of an economy yet to be nurtured and improved. Our exp ectation of the Burmese economy suffered a setback. In spite of that, we were pleased to be back in the place, where our roots lie. In a moment, we were taken to the airport's only terminal in the shuttle bus to go through routine Customs formalities. As we waited in lines, we sweltered in our summer clothes for lack of air-conditioning in the buildin g. About an hour later, we passed the partition separating passengers from visitors. We shook hands with our cousin who was patiently waiting in the lobby for our arrival. My c ousin drove us with our baggage in a Toyota sedan to his house.
When our eyes were not bleary anymore after a night of sleep, our cousin went out to arrange a van for our trip to the South. He came back with a price so exorbitant, even by American standards, that we dropped the idea of renting an air-conditioned van with a driver. We decided, instead, to borrow a sedan from a friend of my brother, and, much to our delight, our cousin volunteered to be the driver.
So here we were, putting Bangladeshi longyis on, crowding into a 10-year-old Mazda and riding off to the Mon State in what was formerly known as Tenasserim Division. We drove by the Kandawglay Lake, which was shimmering under the morning sun. From a close distance, we saw the towering Shwe Dagon Pagoda soar up to the blue sky. Then we veered into a freeway, leaving Rangoon and its crowds of screaming hawkers behind us. The freeway had no lane markings, medians or overhead signs, and it was free of highway patrols!
Before we knew it, we were pushing close to Pegu. Hungry as we were when we arrived there, we got out of the car, flexed our muscles, and walked into a teashop packed with cu stomers. As we settled ourselves on the wooden stools (also called "dog feet" in Burmese), a young waiter, about 14 years old, came over from one corner, dropped a few plates of dim sum and pastries on our table, and took our orders. We glanced at the foods and noticed that the bottom of the pork buns was pasted with small, round pieces of newsprint cu t out of some newspaper. The pastries inside the greasy plastic wrappers looked stale. Our appetite being somewhat reduced by the state the foods were in, we picked out what we thought were the least stale pastries, reluctantly munching on them. At the same time, we desperately blew at the steaming hot coffee in our cups, hesitantly gulped it down, and beckoned to the waiter to collect our money. The boy walked over to our table, looked over the dirty cups and plates, counted them, mumbled some multiplication functions, and ta llied up the bill in a few seconds. We were amazed by the speed with which he mentally performed the computations. It was a pity that he was born and growing up in a wrong place to shine with his talent in mathematics. To be continued in the next issue
By Michael Yin
BAPS is in the process of compiling a list of e-mail addresses of the members and friends of this Society . Starting with our February issue, we would send our Newsletters to you via e-mails so that you would recei ve them on-screen as soon as it is prepared, edited and ready for distribution. For those members, who pres ently have no e-mail addresses on file with us, we will continue to send our Newsletters to you by regular m ail. However, for faster and efficient delivery of our Newsletters to you and your loved ones, we highly r ecommend that you send in your e-mail addresses to Mike_yin@hotmail.com
Members who have access to a PC connected with a modem yet do not have e-mail addresses in-place are requ ested to contact us as soon as possible. We would provide you with a free Juno software or give you informa tion on where and how to get the free Juno e-mail service, which does not require you to sign up with an int ernet service provider. For members who already have an ISP service, free e-mail accounts can be signed up at the following web sites: www.h otmail.com, www.excite.com, www.yahoo.com, www.altavista.com, and www.tritiumnetwork.com.
Events Calendar
- 2/27/99 BAPS Dinner Party
A dinner party for all BAPS members, families and friends. A time to get together, to celebrate the Chinese New Year, to nominate new candidates for the upcoming electio n at the BAPS annual meeting, and to honor the retirement of BAPS Honorary member U Htin Paw.
- 3/20/99 M&Ko Corp Plant Tour
We'll have a chance to see David Ko's highly automated, computerized machines engaged in volume production. David is an EC member, an enthusiastic supporter of BAP S. David's company now employs over 100 people. This is a good opportunity for those members, who are int erested in the field, to get a glimpse of mechanical parts manufacturing operations.
More BAPS Activities
BAPS is planning more activities in 1999. These events are in tended to provide opportunities for our members to network and to share common interests. We hope that some of you can help us organize some activities. Please contact one of our officers if you have any suggestions for activities. we would be glad to hear from you all. Some of the planned activities/events are:
New Year's eve Party Lunch social
Movie night Ice skating
Seminars Field trip/plant tour
Job fair Ski trip
Halloween party Camping trip
Picnic White water rafting trip
Bowling & pool nights Karaoke night
Hiking Friday night roller blading
Newsletter Sponsors
OUR HOME ON SKYLINE
Elderly Care
Richard Ng
Proprietor
330 Skyline Blvd.
Oroville, CA 95966
(530) 589-2708
Fax: (530) 589-2433
License # 045000743
Henry Lim : English language
Thein Aung : Burmese language
Nyo Win
Roger Sha
Readers' Opinions
Your views and opinions are very important to get us going and moving forward. We are committed to make this Newsletter one of your favorite publications. Please write, call, or e-mail us with your comments and suggestions. We welcome your participation in our activities and invite you to send job information and art icles to this Newsletter.
Henry Lim
