"Harbor" by Thukhamein Hlaing

Illustration for Thukhamein Hlaing's "Harbor" by Kenneth Wong

Throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s, if you had ventured into a curbside teashop in Burma, the cassette tape music transmitted through the venue's loudspeaker would most likely include Burmese adaptations of popular international hit songs, a large number of them made possible by Thukhamein Hlaing. Making a living as a songwriter, musician, and lyricists, Thukhamein Hlaing composed many local hits, sung to recognizable American and European Rock & Roll tunes.

In Thukhamein Hlaing's deft hands, Neil Young's "Heart of gold" became "I'll get married on a Sunday" by Min Min Latt; and Rod Stewart's "You've got a nerve" became "A shipwreck at sea" by Zaw Win Htut. His adaptations even included a few Indian songs, made popular by the presence of an Indian diaspora in Burma and several local cinema houses that regularly featured Bollywood movies in their lineups. Thukhamein Hlaing was responsible for a duet called "Were we wrong [to fall in love]?," sung by Than Naing (Playboy Band) and L. Khun Yi, set to the melody of the Indian song "Jana."

Burmese artists and musicians at the time adopted the Flower Child aesthetics from the Summer of Love (long hair, bell bottoms, and slim physique). They infused their songs with the same longing for a better world, a sunnier future. Thukhamein Hlaing's lyrics were memorable for their simplicity and poetry.

His Burmese lyrics for "I'll get married on a Sunday":

On a blue-clouded Sunday, a wedding's taking place;
Such a happy occasion, my love.
Say, don't you envy them, my love?
Seasons are changing, always.
Don't you change on me, my love.
I want a wedding, as much as someone else.
What do you say, my love? Let's get married like them. 

And his Burmese verses for "A shipwreck at sea":

Like blue clouds, my soul chases you;
My butterfly spirit still wonders in a garden,
Still in search of its love flower.
My ship sailed across your sea,
Happy in its colors;
Then a storm came
And my heart-ship was killed.
Newton found out
The earth has Gravity;
My ship was crushed
By Love's Gravity.
In legends, during shipwrecks,
The angel Maykhalar would appear;
But in your sea
My ship simply sank.

In parallel to his songwriting career, Thukhamein Hlaing also wrote and published hundreds of poems, some in book form, many in the pages of literary and lifestyle magazines. "Harbor" first appeared in Pan Wai Thee magazine in September 1995. In the following month, culture and literary critic Hmaing Nwe singled out "Harbor" in his column ("Yin Khone Taung Gyar" or "In the Heartbeat Valley," Pan Wai Thee, October 1995). He wrote, after reading the punchline in "Harbor" (the last three lines), he felt like shaking the poet's hands.

Harbor

By Thukhamein Hlaing
First published in Pan Wai Thee magazine, September 1995

The whole sea
Has no wave
Only full of jasmines.

The rainbow boat
Carries the earth, the water, and the mountains,
Along with love.

At the harbor
There’s no hate
No war
After enlightenment
No more dispute
About enlightenment.

(Translated by Kenneth Wong)