Respect Paying Ceremony: Contributions to the Doyen Literati

The Myanmar Writers Association organized a respect paying ceremony to doyen literati on Friday.

Union Minister for Information U Maung Maung Ohn attended the ceremony, held at the City Hall in Yangon.

This is the 35th time of organizing such a ceremony to mark Myanmar Literati Day or Sarsodaw Day which fall on the 1st Waxing Day of Nattaw according to the Myanmar Calendar.

Secretary, Myanmar Writers Association, Nyunt Tin said "In this year respect paying ceremony, there are almost 250 doyen literati. Among them, Some couldn’t attend the ceremony due to health and some other circumstances. In today ceremony, we can make donations more than previous years. Moreover, the Chairman of State Administration Council, other related Ministries and Department also donated cash and kinds. We are also trying to organize this kind of celebration continuously, as a legacy for the next generation."

The respect paying ceremony to doyen literati is held annually starting 1,980 and the ceremony was not able to organize in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19 global pandemic.

In this year, about 250 doyen literati of 80 years old and above were invited by the Myanmar Writer Association. Among the invitees, over 240 doyen literati attended the ceremony.

Sein Hlaing, Doyen Literati said "I have been enjoying composing poems and writing novels for 60 years. But mostly, I use to compose poems. After graduating the M.A degree, I wrote religious literatures. Previously, I attended this kind of ceremony every year as an audience but starting from 2019, I have been invited as doyen literati to be paid respect. I am very pleased to meet my colleagues at this ceremony."

Over 57.98 million kyats and over 5.8 million kyats worth various items were donated to the doyen literati.