စောချက်ဘူး သို့လွမ်းဆွတ်ခြင်း
We named him စောချက်ဘူး because he could cook and flirt at the same time. စော was an honorific.
We met in Sat Puu Taung village, our first stopover.
We made our acquaintance to dine together that night under an open sky beneath the twinkling stars, but our break-the-ice session was cut short due to the unexpected rain pouring down in the late evening of early May.
Eventually, we got to know each other. Saw Chat Buu was pretty resourceful. He became our cook and carpenter, someone we could count on for anything. He was a man of many talents. Back then, as a team and representative of the
house of Yangon, we had to commit to catering once a week. It was tired-some chaos for inexperienced blokes like us, so we all had to rely on him heavily. He never complained about our lack of inefficiencies nor talked out of
it. He was a man of sweet as.
He told me about himself one day. He spent many years in Thailand, worked in many factories there and remitted money to his family who stayed behind in Burma. He was the eldest in the family. He was an ambitious family man.
He was a stubborn man too. He challenged his counterparts and liked to show who was in control. He liked to smoke good quality cigarettes and kept them from us sometimes - a stingy bloke.
We had loads of memories together.
Today I heard the news of his passing. I couldn’t believe it. I was still hopeful until Mikey confirmed it. The last time we were together, that was when he saw us off at the bus gate, he told me - ပြန်ဆုံးကြမယ်နော်။
Perhaps the only possible way to reunite now is in heaven.
You have served your duty well, and I thank you for your service.
May you rest in peace now ကို စောချက်ဘူး !
ပန်းများဖြင့်ပွင့်စေသတည်း။