Eulogy for Dr. Sein Win. P.M. of the Burmese Exile Government, d. Feb 6, 2026.

I first met Dr. Sein Win in about 1999, when I went to see him about a job, as I was undergoing severe job harrassment at RFA Burmese Section, while my broadcast programs became more and more popular inside Burma.

Previously, I had heard about him in the Burma Newsletter.

The NCGUB, the National Coalition Government of Burma (The Democratic Government in Exile of the Union of Burma) similar to the Polish Exile Government based in the UK during WW II,had just been formed.

Dr. Sein Win was not able to offer me a job right then,but he said that his wife, Daw Si Si Thwe who was pregnant when he had to flee Burma, was now in Norway and they would be reunited soon. I was very happy for him.

Shortly after in Feb of 2001, I was pushed out of RFA without notice by the then Burmese language chief, whom we all thought was junta-inclined.

After 8 months on unemployment insurance I received a position as Sr. Research Analyst at The Burma Fund, a think tank without walls affiliated with the NCGUB.

I found Dr. Sein Win to be an easy to work for, mild-mannered gentleman who dealt kindly and equitably with all his staff.

I never once saw him or heard him say anything harsh about anyone, he never played any cat and mouse games with anyone like the turd at the radio station, he treated everyone kindly, like the lesbian woman who sometimes drove him places, and eventually ended up living with his family after a severe illness, including going blind in one eye.

Have you ever heard of a junta general doing that?

Si Si eventually arrived and I first met her at a Free Burma Coalition Conference at GWU (George Washington University).

Their children La Pye and La Yaung grew up beautifully. I have never seen such a harmonious family.

I was already a member of the TAN--Technicaly Advisory Network.

With TBF I traveled many places, mostly to SE Asia--Sydney, Australia; Helsinki, Finland; Chiangmai and Bangkok; Singapore; DeKalb, IL to the Burma Studies Center etc.

The Sein Win family lived very humbly. I learned from the accountant that their pay was very low.

In 2008-9 I prepared A Plan for Democracy and Development for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD in Burma. Dr. Sean Turnell, Dr.Nancy Hudson-Rodd, Hon.Janelle Saffin coontributed related papers.

I like to think that this executve summary resulted in almost 10 years of democracy of a sort in Burma until the Feb 1, 2021 coup.

I last spoke with Dr.Sein Win when I called him after my colon cancer surgery in the winter of 2021-22, and he was saying how sad he was that my long-time mentor, Dr. Ronald E.Findlay, Ragnar Nurkse Professor or Economics, Columbia University, had already passed away. He was so kind as to say, "Of all the people who came to work with us, you were the best."

Now everyone is gone. My other mentor, Prof. Josef Silverstein and Mrs. Silverstein, almost all my U.Penn mentors.

I get scared to read the news.

Rest in Protest, Dr.Sein Win.

As his nephew Ko Khine Win told me in Thailand, "He's every laid back, but he does have guts."

That cannot to said of most people I have encountered in the Movement.

Kyi May Kaung (Ph.D.)

2-12-2026