• Burmese
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
28 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Specials On This Day

The Day HG Wells Met Writers in Myanmar

Wei Yan Aung by Wei Yan Aung
February 2, 2021
in On This Day
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0 0
A A
The gathering on the boat club lawn.

The gathering on the boat club lawn.

15.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Yangon — On this day in 1939, writers in Myanmar (then Burma) hosted a dinner party to welcome British writer HG Wells, who was visiting Yangon (then Rangoon), at the lawn of Rangoon University Boat Club where politics and literature were discussed.

Wells arrived in Rangoon shortly after the national uprising against colonial rule known as the Revolution of 1300, named after the Burmese calendar. Thousands of students blockaded the Secretariat, the seat of the British government in Rangoon, and student leader Aung Kyaw was killed and hundreds of students injured in the police crackdown.

At the tea party, female writer and journalist Khin Myo Chit, who had helped blockade the Secretariat, showed the 72-year-old writer photos of the police beating students and a bloodstained handkerchief from the uprising.

RelatedPosts

Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

July 10, 2025
828
37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

37 Years and Counting: Why Has Myanmar’s Democracy Struggle Taken So Long?

July 3, 2025
1.6k
The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

June 19, 2025
1.2k

More than 40 Burmese writers, journalists and academics attended the tea party. In attendance was also the 23-year-old student leader Aung San, the future independence hero. Aung San, however, refused to pose for a photo, saying he was a politician and not a writer. He is not in the photo showing 46 attendees, including Wells.

Wells left for England after three days in Rangoon. The War of the Worlds author later wrote an article, “Trouble in Burma”, for the News Chronicle newspaper in London. He also featured Khin Myo Chit’s photos in his new book “In Search of Hot Water”, publicizing the colonial government’s mistreatment of Burmese students to the world.

The tea party organizers were short of funds and could not pay their bill at the Sun Café, one of Rangoon’s finest restaurants, which catered for the event.

Sun Café owner U Tun Yin, out of his sympathy for the young organizers – who would later become bestselling authors – wrote off the bill.

Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko

You may also like these stories:

The Day Gen. Aung San Met Ex-Colonial Administrator and Author Maurice Collis

The Day Britain Moved Its Dead from Shwedagon Pagoda

The Day Myanmar’s Independence Hero Studied Britain’s War Machine

Your Thoughts …
Tags: Aung SanBritainColonialismG WellsHistoryRangoonRevolution of 1300
Wei Yan Aung

Wei Yan Aung

The Irrawaddy

Similar Picks:

Myanmar Junta Boss Attends Opening of Replica of Shan Palace Demolished by Previous Regime
Burma

Myanmar Junta Boss Attends Opening of Replica of Shan Palace Demolished by Previous Regime

by The Irrawaddy
May 13, 2024
13.3k

The old Kengtung Haw was a symbol of Shan identity until it was razed by the previous junta in 1991—a...

Read moreDetails
Six Key Points About Myanmar’s Newly Enforced Conscription Law
Analysis

Six Key Points About Myanmar’s Newly Enforced Conscription Law

by The Irrawaddy
February 12, 2024
11.9k

What does the legislation entail, and why is the junta implementing it for the first time since its promulgation 65...

Read moreDetails
Why Shan State’s Formidable Armies Have Shunned the Fight Against Myanmar’s Junta     
Guest Column

Why Shan State’s Formidable Armies Have Shunned the Fight Against Myanmar’s Junta     

by Bertil Lintner
March 14, 2024
11.6k

After six decades of political wrangling, assassinations and opium trading, Shan forces remain bitterly divided, lacking a common vision for...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Civil Society, Burmanization, and the Bars and Coffee Shops of Thailand
Guest Column

Myanmar Civil Society, Burmanization, and the Bars and Coffee Shops of Thailand

by R. J. Aung and Tony Waters
November 18, 2023
10.9k

After the 2021 coup the donors, NGOs and CSOs of ‘Peaceland’ decamped from Yangon to Thailand, but their Western, ‘we-know-best’...

Read moreDetails
Once Upon a Time in… Myanmar
Books

Once Upon a Time in… Myanmar

by David Scott Mathieson
October 14, 2024
10.2k

American photojournalist Greg Constantine’s ‘Ek Khaale’ project assembles old photos and documents to reclaim the Rohingya community’s identity.

Read moreDetails
Charting Myanmar Strongman Ne Win’s Tragic Legacy
Books

Charting Myanmar Strongman Ne Win’s Tragic Legacy

by Mon Mon Myat
July 18, 2024
9.9k

In a new book, Saw Eh Htoo and Tony Waters examine the late dictator’s policy of Burmanization and how it...

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Union Parliament building in Naypyitaw in March 2018. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy

Myanmar’s Ousted NLD Demands Military Free Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President

US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington / President Joe Biden / Facebook

US President Joe Biden Threatens New Sanctions on Myanmar After Coup

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

6 days ago
1.3k
China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

China’s Surveillance State Watches Everyone, Everywhere

1 week ago
1.1k

Most Read

  • Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    Myanmar Junta’s ‘Living Fence’ on Thai Border Falls to Karen Resistance

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Launches Space Agency With Russian Help

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘Las Vegas in Laos’: the Riverside City Awash With Crime

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • TNLA Invites Investment in Ruby and Mineral Towns Amid Myanmar Junta Onslaught

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Myanmar Migrants Still Languish in Thai Jail Over Min Aung Hlaing Protest

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.