Guy Slater born 1941 - the life of a "cub reporter" at the Rangoon Nation newspaper in 1960 and his career since then including his involvement as a Trustee of Prospect Burma (https://prospectburma.org)/ Artwork

Myanmar Oral History Project - life stories

Oral histories of Myanmar - life stories; some starting as far back as the late 1920’s.From my years of involvement in Myanmar I have become aware of the increasing scarcity of the generation of Myanma citizens who were born during the colonial period and have lived through the tumultuous years since that time. For me, these men and women are "national treasures" whose experience, perseverance and wisdom gained during their long lives will be lost unless we capture their stories in some way. To this end I have decided to interview a number of these elderly citizens. My hope is that these interviews will be of interest to historians, sociologists and other researchers in the future as well as for the family and friends of those interviewed.

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Myanmar Oral History Project - life stories

Guy Slater born 1941 - the life of a "cub reporter" at the Rangoon Nation newspaper in 1960 and his career since then including his involvement as a Trustee of Prospect Burma (https://prospectburma.org)/

April 05, 2023 • Peter Church • Season 1 • Episode 68

Guy Slater was born in Lahore (then India) in 1941, the eldest son an Englishman who worked for the Indian Civil Service (as did several earlier generations of the family). Following India becoming independent in 1947 his father became a diplomat and was posted at one time to Burma. On leaving school Guy spent 8 months in Rangoon between school and university with his parents during which time EM Law-Yone, the legendary founder of the Rangoon Nation ( https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/03/wendy-law-yone-burma-rangoon-nation) offered him a job as a "cub reporter".
During his time at the Rangoon Nation he became a close friend of Marike Barrington, the daughter of Mr. James Barrington who was head of Burma's Foreign Office and had previously served as Ambassador to both the US and the UN and was succeeded at the UN by the famous figure of U Thant.
The podcast covers Guy's short time as a "cub reporter" in Yangon and his career back in England in the theatre and TV and his continued involvement with Myanmar through his role as a Trustee of Prospect Burma (https://prospectburma.org/).

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Please feel free to contact me with suggested interviewees at church.peter@gmail.com.

Thank you for listening .

Peter Church