May Shin (; ; 10 March 1917 – 3 September 2008) was a Burmese actress and singer, who was popular from the 1930s to the 1950s.
Biography
May Shin was born Than Shin (, ) on 10 March 1917, to businessman Khin Lay () and his wife Pwa Yon ().
in
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553.
Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
in
British Burma
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and cultur ...
. She was the youngest of five siblings.
She passed seventh grade from Wesleyan School. At 18, May Shin joined
A1 Film Company
A1 Film Company is a Burmese-owned cinema company.
The company was awarded to the Myanmar Motion Picture Academy Awards.
It produced the 1940 film '' Chit Yay Sin'' and 1935 '' Japan Yin Thwe''.
Key actors
* Tin Maung
Tin Maung ( ; 7 Augus ...
as an aspiring actress. She was soon highly acclaimed for her soft gentle singing voice.
Shin's first film was ''Hpuzar Shin'', starring opposite actor Yegaung Chit Swe
but she became known in the first Burmese
sound film
A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...
''Hmya Nat Maung''.
As a radio presenter at the
Burma Broadcasting Service in the 1950s, Shin actively supported
U Nu
Nu (; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as Burmese names#Honorifics, U Nu and also by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a prominent Burmese people, Burmese statesman and the first Prime Minister of Union of Burma. He was ...
's government against the left-wing campaign by appealing to armed insurgents to surrender. In 1958, she was awarded the title
Wunnakyawhtin (), the highest honor given to an artist by the Burmese government in that time. In 1962, at the age of 45, May Shin gave up acting and singing and withdrew from public life. She became devoutly
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and practiced
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
until the day she died.
In 2004, purged Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt visited Shin in Mandalay shortly before he was arrested.
In her later life, Shin spent most of her time in Buddhist contemplation at her residence in Mandalay.
Win Win Myint (aka Nandaw Shay), author of May Shin's biography, Pan Pwint Ye Yin Khon Than ("The Heartbeat of a Flower"), said that she never married and that she loved to uphold
Burmese traditional culture and religion.
Shin died of
pulmonary
The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syste ...
edema
Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. S ...
at her residence in Aung Daw Mu Ward, Mandalay,
on 3 September 2008, aged 91.
Filmography
May Shin made 14 films in total.
*''Hpuza Shin''
*''Mhya Nat Maung''
*''Chit Tha Mhya''
*''
Chit Yay Sin''
*''
Saung Taw Shin''
*''
Chain Tan Pyi''
*''May Thawda''
Discography
She released over 40 records with A1 Records. The following is a list of her successful records.
[
*Chit Yay Sin
*Shwe Pyaung Pyaung
*Aunggyin Shitpa
*Pyo Mha Dan
*Myat Lay Ngoun
*Thawda Ngwe Min
*Kyay Say Taman
*Chit Khet Thetlya
*Mya Kay Khine
*Phoo Sar Paing
*Shwe Moe Nyo
*Lei Lei Win
*Ko Pine Myittar
*Kyaung Pate Yet
*Mae Darli
*Chit thal swal
*Paramidaw
*Shwe Wah Phoo
*Shae Bayin
*Chit Pann Hlwar
*Mal Khu Hmyaw
*Chit Pan Hlwar
*Mane Yar thi
*Khit Pyaung Chein
*Mya Kay Khine
*Thet Wai (With Pyi Hla Pe)
*Shae Ku Tho (With Pyi Hla Pe)
*Shae Yae Set (with Pyi Hla Pe)
*Chit Mar Larr (With Pyi Hla Pe)
]
References
External links
*
{{authority control
1917 births
2008 deaths
Burmese film actresses
20th-century Burmese women singers
Deaths from pulmonary edema
20th-century Burmese actresses
Recipients of the Wunna Kyawhtin