The Karen Scrabble Champs of Mae Sariang

 

Lah Say on the left and Benny
Kyaw on the right

During our first term in Mae Sariang there were two Karen couples living there that spoke very good English. Partly because they spoke English, partly because they were Karen and partly because they were just great people, they often served as bridges between the Karen and mission communities. Any time there was a need for Karen to English or English to Karen translation at least one of the four was called upon to help.

Benny Kyaw and Lah Say were serving as hostel parents for the Karen Student Hostel that was just uphill from the Christian hospital. Like many Karen, they’d lived very interesting lives and really should have books written about them. Outside of Mae Sariang and the Karen Baptist Church though, I doubt they were very well known.

Benny Kyaw and Lah Say grew up in Burma and were educated in a British backed system that emphasized learning English.  Benny Kyaw was in the Burmese military during World War II. During the war, the ethnic Burmese largely backed the Japanese. The Karen and most other minority groups in the country backed the British. The British had valued the assistance of the Karen and several high ranking officers went so far as to tell the Karen they would have their own independent country after the war. However, when the war ended, The British lumped all the various ethnic groups together under the thumb of the Burmese. Independence movements started by the Karen and other ethnic groups began almost as soon as the Burmese government took over from the British and continue to this day.

Pee and Pue Luh Say

As a Karen officer in the Burmese military, Benny Kyaw was soon in trouble and had to leave. Meanwhile, Lah Say had been married to one of the Karen revolutionary leaders. Her husband was assassinated by the Burmese and she likewise, had to flee the country. Just how and where the love story happened that brought them together, I don’t know. But they eventually made it to Mae Sariang and had been there a long time before we arrived.

Pee (Grandma) Luh Say and Pue (Grandpa) Luh Say were also from Burma and had been educated in
the British backed system. I assume they were likewise involved in the Karen independence movement but in what way, I’m not sure. They do have at least one son though, that was a high ranking Karen officer and later was resettled in the US as a refugee.

Lah Say translating for Dr. Kenneth Swank
Teaching in Mae Sariang

One might picture these revolution minded people as some kind of tough, raging, radicals. True, they weren’t perfect but the Karen culture somehow produces some of the gentlest, most humble, wise, and serene people in the world. In this sense, both of these couples were true Karen. They were of immeasurable help to us as well as all the English speaking people in Mae Sariang.  They were leaders in the Karen church as well.

Their English was impeccable. Talking with them, I felt like I needed to “raise my game” and make sure I was grammatically correct and had left all my slang and “Americanisms” at home. The story was that all four had such good vocabulary and spelling that no one could beat them at Scrabble. I assume it is true as by the time we came on the scene, the missionary community had given up playing Scrabble all together.