May Shin
| May Shin မေရှင် |
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|---|---|
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| Born |
Than Shin 10 March 1917 Mandalay, British Burma |
| Died | 3 September 2008 (aged 91) Mandalay, Myanmar |
| Years active | 1936–1961 |
| Spouse(s) | never married |
| Parent(s) | U Khin Lay and Daw Pwa Yon |
| Awards | Wunna Kyawhtin |
May Shin (Burmese: မေရှင်; pronounced: [mè ʃɪ̀ɴ]; 10 March 1917 – 3 September 2008) was a Burmese actress and singer, who was popular from the 1930s to the 1950s.
May Shin was born Than Shin (သန်းရှင်, [θáɴ ʃɪ̀ɴ]) in 1917 to businessman Khin Lay (ခင်လေး) and his wife Pwa Yon (ဖွားယုံ). in Mandalay 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 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 Hmya Nat Maung.
As a radio presenter at the Burma Broadcasting Service in the 1950s, she actively supported U Nu’s government against the left-wing campaign by appealing to armed insurgents to surrender. In 1958, she was awarded the title Wunnakyawhtin (ဝဏ္ဏကျော်ထင်), 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 and practiced dharma 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.
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