Daw Mar Mar Aye—Burmese classical and popular singer

Passed away on Thursday in Fort Wayne, IN.

I last saw her in 2008 at a Burma Studies Conference in DeKalb, IL.

https://www.niu.edu/burma/conferences/2008.shtml

She was a great lady-- had sung for many VIPs in the1960s and 1970s.

I first met her in 1998 when she came to Radio Free Asia.

I turned a corner and there she was--in a grey faux fur coat.

She recognized me too as she said she had worked at BBS Burma Broadcasting Service with my cousin, writer Min Shin.

I wanted her to create an opera sung in Burmese, but she thought I meant light opera.

I took her to lunch at the Indian restaurant at once.

We sat down and then we started to call each other Ma Ma (Elder Sister) politely.

It turned out she did not know her exact age, she was the child of itinerant troopers, traveling since she was 4 or 5--and made her big break with ThetTant paw hmar kasar me. "We'll play on the rainbow."

I had an inkling the junta-inclining SOB would offer her a "job" she could not accept, and he did.

$200 per week for an essay--who can live on that?

Having seen a lot of society people, she was an astute observer--

she said of someone K.Y.--"That woman is too slick." https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Mar+Mat+Ayeyoutube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e763e5bc,vid:koVxGtqykSo,st:0

She was always immaculately groomed, loved frilly blouses.

She had a natural affectionate manner--calling a dissident's pregnant wife--"Ma Bike" "Miss Belly."

This one was to honor the monks in the 2007 Saffron Revolution--who walked in the rain chanting the Metta Sutra. "The monks' red blood has fallen to the ground." https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=Mar+Mat+Ayeyoutube#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:6d83d792,vid:Keb2fodZk4Q,st:0

One interviewer asked her during the so-called transition period if she would return to Burma--She replied graciously

"I thought I'd be here a while so I made appropriate plans. How can I get up and return just like that?"

Solzhenitsyn used to say “When my books are freely available inside Russia."

During 1988, she said she was leaving to attend a demonstration and her then-husband said,

"If you go out that door, don’t ever come back."

S

he left. I've heard of another singer whose in-laws would not let her sing--Phyuu Thee--"So Fair".

Rest in Art and Beauty, Lady, Lady,

Kyi May Kaung

1-9-2024