About Writer: Kyi Maung Thein (a.k.a) John Thein

John Thein (aka) Kyi Maung Thein was born in Rangoon on May 20, 1965, about a week after his father Kyaw Zwar Myint (aka) John Lears left Burma. He has one brother and a sister, and he is the youngest in the siblings. He was raised by his grandparents since he was born as his mother was house-arrested for a couple of years right after his father left the country.

John Thein finished his high school from Bahan No(2) High School (also known as Nan Yan) in 1981, and qualified to apply for Rangoon Institute of Technology (RIT), but was denied due to the lack of his father's ID, and then recently posted updated nationalization law in 1981. So, he went to college at Regional College #2 (RC 2) majoring in Physics instead. Due to an aggressive effort by his grandparents' appeal letter to General Ne Win asking to let him attend RIT, he was able to attend RIT in the following year, 1982. He did not finish his engineering degree as all colleges and universities were shut down in 1988, and his career shifted from studying to employment, and he lost interest in education.

After a visit from his aunt from United States, he decided to go abroad and came to the States in 1995 to stay with his aunt Terri Pez and family. He went to college and received associate degree in computer science in 1998, and started to work at a non-profit organization called Online Computer Libraries Center (OCLC). In 2003, he got married to Thida Hmun whom he met in Burma since 1985. Now, he's living in southern California with his wife.