He paid a cheeky compliment to Aung San Suu Kyi. He made fun of his colleagues. He brought the house down with a joke about Lower House counterpart Shwe Mann’s hard-to-shake habit of shaking his head.
U Khin Aung Myint, the Upper House speaker of parliament, turned the outgoing session of the ruling party-dominated legislature on Friday into a straight-up roast. Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy take over on Monday, but they are going to have some comedic shoes to fill.
Here are the zingers, with quotes from a smartphone video posted to Facebook and Mizzima.
Of his colleagues who talk about their plans post-parliament: “I saw so many people who suggested different options, but they can’t do anything.”
Of Aung San Suu Kyi: “There is only one person who gives me cake as a present for every new year. That’s Aung San Suu Kyi. And she is the most beautiful person in parliament.”
Of his idea to roast everybody in the room who was leaving parliament: “Because of the time limitation, I can’t do this.”
Of colleague U Phone Myint Aung: “U Phont Myint Aung is the one who can speak so fast. He can discuss everything that he wants to say withint 20 minutes. But we don’t understand at all.”
Of Shwe Mann: “The last person I have to mention is the chairman. He is patient as he is tall. But when he is angry, it is louder on his stage, he hits the gavel like “DOOM”. In the beginning days of parliament, whenever he shakes his head, the hat was also shaking left to right.”
At this, Khin Aung Myint moved his guang buang from side to side to illustrate the point.
He was funny, but he was also emotional.
“I’m going to miss you all,” he said.
