Vice President U Myint Swe attends meeting on awarding religious titles, donation of rations

February 16, 2018

A work coordination meeting of the Patron Committee and Steering Committee to successfully hold the ceremony to award religious titles and donate dry rations, was held at the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture’s meeting hall yesterday morning, which was attended by Vice President U Myint Swe.

The meeting was also attended by Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture Thura U Aung Ko, Nay Pyi Taw Command Commander Maj-Gen Myint Maw, Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications U Tha Oo, Nay Pyi Taw Council member U Aung Myint Tun, chairmen and members of the steering committee, work committee and sub-committees, and other departmental officials.

In his speech at the meeting, U Myint Swe said that to successfully hold the ceremony, a five-member patron committee, including the Vice President and an 18-member steering committee, led by the Union Minister for Religious Affairs and Culture as the chairman, was formed by the President’s office through Notice No. 10/2018 on 10 January 2018. On 12 January 2018, the steering committee formed a work committee and 11 sub-committees, and assigned duties and responsibilities to conduct the works successfully and systematically, he said.

These are union-level ceremonies and were traditionally held since the days of the Myanmar kings. They had been held by successive governments to confer the highest religious titles. The day before the titles are presented, the Government of the Republic of Union of Myanmar offers “soon.” On the full-moon day of Tabaung, religious titles are conferred and then the ceremony for the donation of dry rations is held. Therefore, the work committee and the sub-committees need to work in cooperation and coordination, and based on the experiences of the ceremonies held earlier, need to ensure there are no mistakes, the Vice President stated.

The Sayadaws attending the ceremonies will reach Nay Pyi Taw from Yangon by air and the Ministry of Transport and Communications has been requested to ensure that the Sayadaws can take the flights accordingly. Arrangements have to be made so that they can offer “soon” in the morning and noon at their hotels and monasteries. Arrangements will also have to be made for healthcare, as in the past years, while the offerings and the Sasana Maha Beikman in which the ceremonies will be held have to be worthy of reverence. The relevant committees need to co-ordinate with each other, said the Vice President.

As the ceremony for the donation of dry rations will follow the ceremony to award religious titles, rehearsals have to be held so that there is no delay during the actual ceremonies. The steering committee, work committee and sub-committees are urged to openly discuss the completed and ongoing works, as well as the difficulties faced by them, said the Vice President.

Next, Thura U Aung Ko explained the status of awarding religious titles, the arrangements being made for the sanghas, nuns and the people on the day of the ceremonies, the preparations being made at the venues for the ceremonies, transport and other arrangements for the Sayadaws, and the rehearsals.

Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture Permanent Secretary U Htun Ohn then explained about the ceremony, the status of the work done by the work committee and the remaining works.

Later, the sub-committees reported on their respective works. The Vice President coordinated the discussions and reports, and concluded the meeting after delivering a closing speech. — Myanmar News Agency

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar