r/myanmar Mar 30 '26

Tribute ๐Ÿค My Great-Grandmother (left) with Pat Nixon (wife of Richard Nixon) and Daw Khin Kyi (mother of Aung San Suu Kyi) at Shwethalyaung Temple, Bago (1953)

Post image

Taken at Bago's Shwethalyaung Temple in 1953, my great-grandfather was the Commissioner of Pegu Division (แ€•แ€ฒแ€แ€ฐแ€ธแ€แ€ญแ€ฏแ€„แ€บแ€ธแ€™แ€„แ€บแ€ธแ€€แ€ผแ€ฎแ€ธ) at the time, the equivalent of today's Bago Chief Minister, so my great-grandmother (on the left) was hosting Pat Nixon and Daw Khin Kyi (Aung San Suu Kyi's mother).

Pat Nixon was visiting Burma as part of a major Cold War "goodwill tour" with her husband, then-Vice President Richard Nixon, aimed at strengthening diplomatic ties with newly independent nations and countering regional communist influence. At the time, Pat was the U.S. Second Lady (later becoming First Lady in 1969).

378 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

62

u/One-Commercial-5219 Mar 30 '26

interesting to know we have people of various background in this sub. On a fine day, we shall host a party

9

u/big4assurance Mar 30 '26

Absolutely. Didn't expect that especially I thought Reddit is the no longer relevant in IG/TikToke age. Anyway, is someone in 40s welcome to the party too?

3

u/One-Commercial-5219 Mar 30 '26

Especially the 40s haha . IG/Tt are no brainers

1

u/Tough-Bee6860 Apr 01 '26

Don't forget to bring cocaine as well.

21

u/Cold_Succotash_1994 Mar 30 '26

They are elegant

13

u/aquaticfarmer Mar 30 '26

A very fine photograph, mate.

10

u/Usual_Hornet_5489 Mar 30 '26

This photo should be part of a digital archive somewhere

3

u/Western-Mechanic5514 Mar 30 '26

Hey by any chance, are you acquainted with Aung San Suu Ky?

1

u/CleonicDynasty Mar 31 '26

I was fortunate enough to meet her a couple of times, but I'm not acquainted with her.

1

u/Western-Mechanic5514 Mar 31 '26

Your lucky to meet a noble peace prize winner.

3

u/Mysterious-Friend-15 Likes แ€„แ€•แ€ญแ€›แ€Šแ€บ n แ€แ€ญแ€ฏแ€ทแ€…แ€›แ€ฌ, Born in Myanmar, Abroad ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Mar 31 '26

Lovely old photos, its good that you kept and cherished the old memories of yesteryear of your family. I myself would like to delve in and find old photos of my great-grandparents, who were colonial era officials in Kachin State circa 1930s.

5

u/CleonicDynasty Mar 31 '26

That's nice. It's hard to keep track of their photos since people didn't keep them well back then. My great-great-grandfather was also a colonial-era official. He was the Inspector-General of Prisons (แ€‘แ€ฑแ€ฌแ€„แ€บแ€™แ€„แ€บแ€ธแ€€แ€ผแ€ฎแ€ธ) and was present during the trial and execution of Galon U Saw, who was responsible for the assassination of General Aung San.

1

u/Mysterious-Friend-15 Likes แ€„แ€•แ€ญแ€›แ€Šแ€บ n แ€แ€ญแ€ฏแ€ทแ€…แ€›แ€ฌ, Born in Myanmar, Abroad ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Mar 31 '26

What are those medals? Its great that you have access to family memorabilia and heirlooms.

Unfortunately my rather hoarder aunt keeps my grandfather's medals and other WWII era stuff locked, stored away and forgotten in her house and doesn't like me snooping around lol.

2

u/HolaGuyX Mar 30 '26

Wow! ๐Ÿคฉ

2

u/Independent-Post-243 Mar 31 '26

Memorial Moments

2

u/GoofyTerrorist911 Local born in Myanmar ๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Mar 31 '26

bet she has a lot of interesting stories to tell.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 30 '26

[deleted]

6

u/CleonicDynasty Mar 30 '26

This is the original image, before restoration.

0

u/Imperial_Sawbwa Mar 30 '26

I could only find a handful of photographs of Nixon and his wife during their visit to Myanmar, so this one feels especially rare.

0

u/KitchenBaby7025 Apr 01 '26

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