Ba Than (surgeon)


Ba Than FRCS FACS FICS was a Burmese medical surgeon, educator and administrator. The first Burmese police surgeon in British Burma, Ba Than founded and ran the main hospital in Rangoon as well as the wartime medical and nursing schools during the Japanese occupation of the country. After the country's independence in 1948, Ba Than served several terms as dean and rector of the main medical universities in Rangoon and Mandalay until two months before his death in 1971.
He is also known for his autopsies of famous politicians, including those of Aung San and Tin Tut. His daughter Khin May Than, third wife of General Ne Win, was the First Lady of Burma from 1962 to 1972.

Early life and career

Ba Than was born to U Kinn and Daw Swei in May 1895 in Pyuntaza, a small town about northeast of Yangon, in what was then British Burma. His parents were apparently well-to-do as he graduated from Rangoon's St. Paul's English High School, went to Rangoon College in 1914, and went on to study medicine at the University of Calcutta where he received an MB in 1922. He started out as a Civil Assistant Surgeon in the Health Department in 1922, and received his FRCS certification from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1932.
By then, Ba Than was part of the tiny colonial era medical community made up mainly of foreign-born physicians and specialists that existed primarily in Rangoon. Known for his extreme work ethic—his motto was "zwe", the surgeon by the late 1930s had risen to be the deputy head of the surgery department at Rangoon General Hospital and the first Burmese police surgeon. His first high-profile case came in 1938 when he led the autopsy of Aung Kyaw, a student leader killed by the colonial police, amidst nationwide protests against the colonial government.
In 1937, Ba Than also began teaching at Rangoon Medical College as a lecturer in forensic medicine. He was an inspiration for Burmese medical students. According to Myint Swe, who studied at RMC from 1939 to 1942, Ba Than and one Henry Aung Khin were the only two surgeons of indigenous Burmese descent he knew of at the time.

Japanese occupation period (1942–1945)

Ba Than is best remembered for founding the main hospital in Rangoon to serve non-Japanese patients during the Japanese occupation of Burma during World War II. The hospital served Burma Independence/Defence Army and Indian National Army officers and troops as well as the general public. He also founded the wartime medical and nursing schools.

Wartime hospital

Ba Than came to found the hospital out of sheer necessity in wartime Burma. He was one of the few physicians, and of even fewer specialists, who had not evacuated the country along with the British administration. Furthermore, the city lost its main hospital when the Imperial Japanese Army seized and reserved Rangoon General Hospital only for the Japanese. The incoming Japanese administration sent Dr. T. Suzuki to ask Ba Than to found a new hospital for the BIA. Ba Than agreed, and in late March, with one other physician and an assistant, opened a "hospital" in the building of Anglican Diocesan School of Rangoon, with an outpatient clinic and a few beds.
Ba Than faced several challenges from the outset. The most pressing was staffing. With most trained personnel gone, he had to resort to taking in final year medical students and nurse trainees. He was able to persuade most of the few remaining doctors and nurses in the country to join his fledgling outfit. Three highly experienced specialists—Dr. S. Sen, Dr. Yin May and Dr. Chan Taik —did join. Some like Dr. Yin May had chosen to remain in Rangoon while others like Dr. Sen and senior nurse Khin Kyi had chosen to return to Rangoon. To be sure, not everyone who remained joined. Myint Swe, who joined the hospital as a resident in April 1942, recounted an exchange in English between Ba Than and a former colleague of Ba Than who came to see the "hospital": the man reportedly remarked that "a handful of fellows can't do anything" to which Ba Than responded "it's the determined few that command the crowd."
Ba Than was determined to prove his skeptics wrong. He worked tirelessly at the hospital, often sleeping at the hospital throughout the years. In the early days of the hospital, he handled all types of cases, not just surgery ones. Over the next six months, he pieced together the staff, equipment, and supplies to have a semblance of a functioning hospital. Under his leadership, the hospital became the main to-go place for all non-Japanese patients, not only the BIA/BDA and INA brass but also the ordinary servicemen and the general public. Founded as the BIA Hospital, the hospital was renamed as the Public General Hospital of Rangoon on 1 November 1942, and placed under the Ministry of Health.
One constant headache for Ba Than was Japanese surveillance and interference. The hospital operated under the watchful eye of Japanese agents, who planted themselves as longterm patients till the end. However, the bigger issue for the staff was the constant disruption by the Japanese troops from the nearby barracks, who would barge in and mistreat patients and staff, nurses in particular. Ba Than himself was interrogated by the soldiers on a whim. In 1943, the Japanese began sending doctors from the hospital to work on the Death Railway at the Thai-Burmese border, which most people took as a death sentence. According to Myint Swe, everyone felt powerless and humiliated but no one could do anything about it.
What Ba Than did do was to keep his overworked staff motivated and entertained by organizing musical performances. Ba Than was an avid pianist and Burmese xylophonist, and he found time to organize small musical and opera performances by his staff for the patients. His two young children, Katie and Georgie, who were accomplished pianists, also performed at the shows.
and Khin Kyi was held at the wartime hospital on 6 September 1942. The photo was taken at the easternmost hall of the hospital.
The hospital was the place where historically important people were treated, including Aung San, Ne Win, Bo Letya, Bo Setkya, Thakin Than Tun, Thakin Mya, Thakin Po Hla Gyi, Ba Cho, Kyaw Nyein, S. C. Bose, and J. R. Bhonsle. It was also the place where Gen. Aung San met his future wife Khin Kyi during his brief hospitalization in mid 1942. Ba Than organized the wedding reception at the hospital, and even gave a song-and-piano performance.

Wartime medical and nursing schools

Ba Than also restarted the country's medical and nursing schools in 1943. The schools were to address the severe staff shortage throughout the country, including the Burmese military, which had only a skeleton medical staff. Although the hospital had attracted more physicians and nurses by November 1942, the patient load had also increased even faster. Ba Than recruited a few specialists/professors directly from Japan to join the hospital and the medical school. Even then, the wartime school could offer only an accelerated two and a half year LSMP program, not a full-fledged MBBS program. The nursing school's classes were held in the evening at the hospital and were taught initially by two senior nurses, and later by the graduates of the program. The program was overseen by Drs. Ba Than, Sen, and Yin May, who also graded exam papers.

Post-WWII

After Allied forces returned to Rangoon in May 1945, Ba Than was repeatedly questioned by the British as to why he stayed behind and cooperated with the Japanese. In the end, the British reprimanded Ba Than only for the terrible conditions at the hospital, which they shut down in July 1945. The British also restarted RMC as the Faculty of Medicine of Rangoon University in 1946, installing Dr. W. Burridge as its first dean, and later Col. Dr. Min Sein in 1947.
Nonetheless, Ba Than was the "top surgeon" in the country by then. He is remembered for his autopsies of famous politicians. He led the autopsies of Gen. Aung San and other cabinet officials who were assassinated on 19 July 1947, and later testified at the trial of the plotters. The assassinated nine are commemorated each year on Martyrs' Day in the country. In September 1948, he performed the post-mortem of Tin Tut, the first Foreign Minister of the newly independent country. Tin Tut had survived the July 1947 assassination but did not survive the second attempt.
After independence, Ba Than increasingly focused on expanding medical education in the country. From 1948 onwards, he and Min Sein took turns being the dean of the medical school for the next 11 years. Ba Than served three terms: 1948–1949, 1951–1953, and 1955–1957 while Min Sein served three more: 1949–1951, 1953–1955, and 1957–1959, Ba Than also served as the head of the Department of Surgery from 1947 to 1959; he was succeeded by one of his wartime hospital colleagues, Dr. Kyee Paw. Ba Than was instrumental in starting a medical school in Mandalay, serving as the first dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Mandalay University from 1960 to 1963.
Ba Than finished out his long career in Rangoon. In 1964, the 69-year-old became the first rector of the Institute of Medicine 1, Rangoon which had just been carved out of Rangoon University as an independent institution. According to his former students, the professor was still preaching about the importance of zwe to his students, and organizing musical troupes and shows at the school in which he would perform a song about zwe. In his free time, he served as a consultant surgeon at East Rangoon General Hospital well into his 70s. The rector retired on 30 August 1971, and died nine weeks later on 4 November 1971. He was 76.
For his services to the country, he was awarded the title of Thiri Pyanchi, probably in 1949, by the Burmese government.

Personal life

Although best known for his driven nature, Ba Than had other interests. He loved music, and liked playing the piano and the pattala in his free time. According to historian Robert Taylor, Ba Than was a "bon vivant known to enjoy the Turf Club and sports, as well as ladies". He was married to Khin Kyi,. The couple had at least three children: