‘Better than King James!’

MYANMAR — Dr Vum Ko Hau was Ambassador for Burma from 1955 to 1977, first in Paris and then the Netherlands, Indonesia, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. After World War II, he participated in the talks with British Prime Minister Clement Attlee which eventually led to the independence of Burma in 1947. 

His place in history has not been forgotten, and in 1995 Queen Elizabeth invited Dr Vum to Buckingham Palace for the VJ Day celebrations.

Fought hard

Dr Vum says today that one of the reasons he fought so hard for independence was to establish high schools throughout the Chin Hills. His father had been the first educated Chin, and today Dr Vum acts as consultant to the highly-educated group who are translating the Bible into Chin:Siyin (pronounced Seezin).

Of the 10,000 Siyin-speaking people scattered throughout Myanmar, most are Christians. However, there is no Siyin Bible, so the Burmese, English or Tiddim Bible is being used. Translation of the New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs into Siyin has now been completed.

Centenary

The Chin church celebrated the centenary of the coming of Christianity to their region this year (story and photo follow in October 1999 World Report), and the Chin Bible played a major part in the church’s thanksgiving to God.

“The work we are doing is far more than just translating the Bible,” says Dr Stephen Hre Kio. “This will not only be the first Bible in the Chin:Siyin language, it will also set the literary standard for this language for many years to come.”

When Dr Vum, who currently reads the English Bible, read some of the Siyin translation, he exclaimed, “It is the best language in the world! When we get to heaven I think we will all be speaking Siyin! It’s even better than King James!” (WR 343/12 - 9.99)

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