115 year old Daw Mya Gyi at her house Paukchaikone village, Amarapura, Mandalay. Pic: Phyo Wai Kyaw

PEOPLE in Myanmar once optimistically wrote “May you live to be 120” in their horoscopes but rarely does anyone – anywhere in the world – even get close to such an exalted age.

But there is one woman who is approaching that age.

According to Ministry of Immigration and Population statistics, Daw Mya Gyi is 115 years old and is the oldest living person in Myanmar. She lives in Paukchaikone village, Amarapura township, Mandalay.

Far from whiling away her time at home watching the world go by, Daw Mya Gyi is still concentrating on a goal: Every day she goes to a local monastery she has been helping to build.

Despite Daw Mya Gyi’s obvious obsession with the small monastery, work has stalled and only the foundation has been finished. The monks who live there stay in a small bamboo hut alongside the foundation but there is hope on the horizon – recent media attention has brought new offerings and donations and she is hopeful that more will soon follow.

It takes five minutes for her to walk to the monastery and she needs someone to help her; once there she stays all day.

Daw Mya Gyi’s fitness is as good as could be expected for someone of her advanced age – she suffers neck and back problems but she can still see and hear. She says she does not have any major health problems at all.

She says none of the 30 families in her small village are actually related to her but she feels like they are all relatives. Until the monastery is finished she says she is happy to stay right where she is.

Daw Mya Gyi graciously granted The Myanmar Times the opportunity to sit and interview her in late May.

How are you, Grandma?
Sometimes I get a few little headaches and the other day I quarrelled with my daughter and hit my head, so I have a headache right now.

What foods do you eat?
These days I never eat any meat and have only vegetables, juice and rice. But I can eat them anytime I want.

How come you have lived so long?
I don’t know, I really have no idea why.

Some people say that you look younger than your age and they can’t believe that you are 115 years old. What do you say to that?
I don’t know what to say about that and I don’t think about it much either. At the moment I’m happy making shrines and walking around the village.

You look like a happy person. How much do you enjoy your life?
I’ve been a happy person ever since I was young. Even when I was transplanting rice paddy I would joke around with people.

Did you ever think you would live so long?
No, I never thought I’d live to be as old as this.

How old were your parents when they died?
My mom died when I was very young and I only knew her name because other people told me about her. And my father died when I was a teenager.

What medicines you use?
I don’t take any medicines and only use traditional liniments.

Not even any pharmaceuticals?
I never use those because I can’t even smell them.
You must always be in the front row when there are ceremonies for people to pay respect to their elders.
Yes! I was on the sofa at the top. I dressed in new clothes that they gave me. I haven’t worn those clothes since then.

What do you most desire now?
I want to finish the monastery. I recently donated a triangular brass gong, waso robe and a chair. I will only be happy when the monastery is finished.