Tin is an Associate in our Yangon office, specialising in all aspects of trade mark protection and enforcement, including the management of anti-counterfeiting programmes.
The so-called ‘birth order theory’- that a child’s place in the family affects his personality - is often attributed to the early 20th century Austrian psychotherapist, Alfred Adler. After all this time it continues to generate great interest and debate, even though scientific evidence now apparently supports the view that birth order has little effect on the development of personality. Perhaps the reason the theory continues to generate such interest is that there often seems to be some truth to it – even though personality is obviously affected by many other things as well. According to the theory, the oldest child is likely to be concerned to meet his parents’ high expectations; have a well-developed sense of responsibility and seriousness; and be ambitious. Tin is the oldest of three children and seems to fit the theory perfectly. It is probably thanks to these characteristics, as much as anything else, that he has been able to move from an early difficult life in Yangon to where he is now: professionally successful and happily married, with a much-adored young son, Bala Mynn Nyan – William in English.
Tin’s early days growing up in Yangon were, to say the least, challenging. When he was about 10, his parents divorced, and things became even more difficult financially than they had been. His mother earned money by making and selling Mohinga, Myanmar’s national dish, a type of hearty fish noodle soup. When he wasn’t at school, Tin could always be found there helping her.
Life was made more difficult by the fact that during Tin’s childhood, the family moved a lot. They started out in central Yangon, then when he was six moved to Hlaing Thar Yar Township in the western part of Yangon. When his parents were divorced, he and sister moved with their mother to the north central part of Yangon and two years later they moved again to be closer to his mother’s family. When he was 15, they moved yet again. All this moving naturally created problems for Tin’s education, but early on he showed an aptitude for Mathematics, and through it all, and despite the financial hardship, his mother was tirelessly supportive and determined that he should finish his education. She was, and still is, an important part of his life – as he, no doubt, is of hers. At one of the schools he attended, there was a compulsory five-minute meditation session in the mornings. Tin was immediately attracted to it, and it remained a constant through all the moves. It is something he still practices, considering it a valuable means of calming, focusing, and disciplining the mind.
Tin’s first ambition was to be a Civil Engineer, but as his mother could not afford to send him to Yangon Technological University, Myanmar’s premier engineering university, he went instead to a Technology College, about 67 kilometres east of Mandalay. It didn’t offer a Civil Engineering course, so instead he enrolled in an Electronic Power Engineering course. Things did not, however, continue smoothly: in 2002, the College burned down, and Tin returned to live with his mother in Yangon. Here, he studied online with Dagon University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics).
While studying for his degree, Tin worked at The Tea Lounge, a side business run by Daw Tin Ohnmar Tun, one of Myanmar’s best-known Maritime and Intellectual Property Lawyers. When he graduated, he obtained a position as a Marine Claims and Commercial Assistant with Protection and Indemnity Association for Myanmar (P&I Correspondent Office, Yangon), a business that was managed by her. Later, he moved to Tin Ohnmar Tun & The Law Chambers, a law firm founded by Daw Tin Ohnmar Tun. There he worked in the trade mark department , which he very much enjoyed. He worked closely with, and learned a lot from, Daw Tin Ohnmar Tun, and was fortunate to be able to accompany her to INTA, IPBA, APPA and AIPA conferences in Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines. While at working at the firm, Tin used his weekends to attend a 3-year Diploma course in Professional Capacity for Commercial Assistants, run by the Centre for Vocational Training. This turned out to be beneficial personally as well as professionally, because it was here that he met his future wife, an accountant by profession.
After seven years with the firm, he moved to an international firm, where he worked as a Senior Research Paralegal. Typically, he was also challenging himself, by undertaking a number of Diploma courses at Yangon University, including Business Law, International Law and Intellectual Property, and obtained a Master of Arts (Business Law) degree. In 2018, he joined Rouse, initially to undertake market survey work, which involved providing evidence for use in trade mark infringement cases. Since then, his role has expanded to all aspects of trade mark prosecution and enforcement.
At the moment, Tin’s life is mostly taken up with work and family – and he couldn’t be happier. When they were first married, he and his wife lived at his mother’s home, but later they moved to Thakata Township in the eastern part of Yangon, where they now live. Weekends are usually taken up visiting his mother or his wife’s relatives or taking their son to Kandawgyi Park and lake or the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in central Yangon. Time will tell whether Bala Mynn Nyan (William) exhibits the characteristics that are said to be typical of the oldest child, and that have served his father so well.