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At George Thaung's house in Downer on Thursday, there were flowers, candles, statues of Buddha and Parliament live on the TV in the loungeroom. It was George to a T, according to his son, Stewart. "He was always into the news, all the time," Stewart said. "He was very knowledgeable, like a philosopher. He had so many stories." George Kyaw Thaung, a Burmese migrant and pioneer of Canberra, renowned for introducing food vans to the city including the famous Mandalay Bus at Haig Park, died on March 30. He was 95. A celebration of his life will be held at the Gold Creek Chapel on Tuesday at 1.30pm. Mr Thaung's life was marked by a connection with a cross-section of Canberra society, from the homeless to governors-general. He lived for a time in a cottage as caretaker of the Yarralumla Woolshed, where he and his wife survived two floods, including the disastrous flood of Australia Day, 1971. Mr Thaung's son Stewart remembered the then governor-general Sir Paul Hasluck tracking his father down one day to talk about a coup in Burma. Another time, in 1968, then primary industry minister Doug Anthony had Mr Thaung cook at his home for a birthday for his wife Margot. He wrote a note of thanks to Mr Thaung declaring him "one of the finest cooks in Canberra". "Yes George - a really wonderful dinner," Mr Anthony wrote. "Everyone thought it was so and no one has been reported dead." Stewart said his dad loved the cheekiness of the letter and it was a cherished memento, albeit it was watermarked from the 1971 flood. An article in 1974 by Graeme O'Neill celebrated Mr Thaung opening his first food van, Mandalay Chicken, at the Downtown service station in Civic. His then wife Kathleen would serve the chicken while he pumped petrol. "I learned that he came from Rangoon in 1953, after serving with the British army against the Japanese during World War II," Mr O'Neill wrote. "The scars inflicted across his upper legs by a Japanese machine gun testify that George saw his share of action. After serving for the Burmese embassy for 12 years he decided to stay in Canberra. His first job was a petrol station attendant." O'Neill noted that Mr Thaung loved "kids, people and life in general, revels in hard work and has a vehement hatred of communists". He served Burmese cuisine for years to Canberra's late-night party people and passers-by. Stewart said his dad was also dubbed "The Birdman of Bunda Street" for feeding the local birdlife. His generosity was legendary. In 2013 a man known only as James returned to present Mr Thaung with two opals. James had been homeless in the 1980s and Mr Thaung had fed him for free, without question. James had struck, if not gold, opals at Lightning Ridge, and never forgot Mr Thaung's care for him. "Dad was very humble," Stewart said. "He was not educated but he had a big smile and he was generous and kind." Mr Thaung bought an old Sydney bus in the early 1980s, driving it back to Canberra at 60km/h, with the intention of replacing his original white caravan to serve street food. The bus sat unused for many years by Haig Park at the end of Lonsdale Street in Braddon after Mr Thaung was bashed during a Summernats weekend in the early 1990s, causing him to lose an eye, The Canberra Times reported in 2013. The revamped big yellow Mandalay Bus reopened for business in 2014, serving high-quality street food. Stewart said his dad had two sons in Burma before he came to Australia and they had provided him with 12 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild back in his home country. With his then wife Evelyn, Mr Thaung had two sons in Australia, Stewart and Phillip, and a daughter, Win Win. Stewart said his dad would be buried beside Evelyn at the Gungahlin Cemetery. Stewart and Phillip are continuing to run the Mandalay Bus, also documenting inner-city Canberra life on its Facebook page, always motivated by their father's legacy of "peace and love".

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