BURMA’S FORMER FIRST LADY REMEMBERED ( Kao-Wao ) January 18, 2003

BURMA’S FORMER FIRST LADY REMEMBERED

(Kao-Wao, January 18, 2003)

The former First Lady of Burma passed away in exile at her home in Canada on January 17, 2003.

Sao Hearn Kham, known as "Sao Mae" (Royal Mother) or Mahadevi, was the daughter of one of the famous Shan prince warriors, Khun Sang Tonhoong. She was married to Sao Shwe Thaike, Prince of Yawnghwe, who became the first president of Burma under parliamentary government and who died under what was described as mysterious circumstances during detention following Gen Ne Win's coup in 1962.

The well-known Shan women leader Mahadevi of Yawnghwe also served as a Member of Parliament from 1956 - 1960. After Sao Shwe Thaike's death, she joined the resistance movement and was elected as president of the Shan State War Council, the office she held until 1969 when she went into exile in Canada. Mahadevi, 86 years old is survived by her sons Tiger, Chao Tzang and Harn, and her daughters Sao Ying Sita and Sao Ying Hseng Leun.

The Mahadevi is immortalized in The White Umbrella, "the story of Burma as she lived it," according to author Patricia Elliot. According to the family members, the funeral service will be held at Coquitlam, BC on January 25, 2003