"Theippan Maung Wa" is the pen name under which a Burmese member of the Indian Civil Service wrote stories about his work for the British administration in the 1930s. The 150 tales that he composed, in a new and simple style, were popular contemporary reading and are still admired, some having been translated into English. But the author did not survive to enjoy his reputation.
The remarkable U Sein Tein was born in Lower Burma in 1899, and Theippan Maung Wa was one of dozens of names under which he wrote, adopting different styles and attitudes. There was a tradition of using pseudonyms in the Burmese literary world, and Sein Tein wrote prolifically. Though not opposed to the colonial administration, as a member he could not write about it under his own name. Educated at the new University of Rangoon, he studied Burmese literature rather than English, though he also attended the University of Oxford before taking up a coveted position in the ICS.
The events recorded in this diary were set in motion by the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Japan's entry into the war. When the diary opens, at the beginning of 1942, Japanese forces have already swept through much of Southeast Asia and started to bomb Rangoon. Many people are fleeing the city for safer locations up-country, but the writer has returned to attend to his work: "Before lunch went with Myint [his wife] to look at all the damage that a bomb had done to our house in Rosebank Road. Myint was very unhappy and shocked by the sight." Later that day the couple must take refuge from the bombs, while the diarist observes: "Bright moonlight used to be something to be happy about, but not now." There are frequent returns to the air-raid shelter, which is infested with mosquitoes: "For them the siren is like a dinner gong calling them to a banquet." This sets the good-humored tone of the author's gentle observations, also apparent in friendly encounters on boat trips up the Irrawaddy and descriptions of his children.