May Shin ( my, မေရှင်; ; 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 (, ) in 1917 to businessman Khin Lay () and his wife Pwa Yon (). in

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

in British Burma. 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 (1913–2000), a two-tim ...

as an aspiring actress. She was soon highly acclaimed for her soft gentle singing voice. Her first film was ''Hpuza Shin'', starring opposite actor Yegaung Chit Swe but she became known in the first Burmese

sound film A sound film is a motion picture with 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, but decades passed befo ...

''Hmya Nat Maung''. As a radio presenter at the

Burma Broadcasting Service Myanmar Radio and Television ( my, မြန်မာ့အသံနှင့်ရုပ်မြင်သံကြား, abbreviated MRTV), formerly the Burma Broadcasting Service (BBS), is the parent of the state-run Myanmar Radio National ...

in the 1950s, she actively supported

U Nu Nu ( my, ဦးနု; ; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995), commonly known as U Nu also known by the honorific name Thakin Nu, was a leading Burmese statesman and nationalist politician. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the pro ...

’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 Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and practiced

dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ...

until the day she died. In 2004, purged Prime Minister Gen Khin Nyunt visited her in Mandalay shortly before he was arrested. In her old age, the venerated actress and singer 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. May Shin died of

pulmonary The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels tight, the area ma ...

at her residence in Aung Daw Mu Ward, Mandalay. She was 91.

Filmography

May Shin made 14 films in total. *''Hpuza Shin'' *''Mhya Nat Maung'' *''Chit Tha Mhya'' *''

Chit Yay Sin ''Chit Yay Sin'' ( my, ချစ်ရေစင်), is a 1940 Burmese black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of vari ...

'' *'' 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