Migrating to a new blog

Hello and a Happy New Year to all my Chinese friends!

We're back from our holidays after a week's break!

I won't be posting anymore in this blog and I look forward to your visits and comments in my new blog.

Thanks and have a great day ahead!

Sunshine today!

I'm sure many people in Miri were relieved when there was sunshine today after a stretch of wet days for the past two weeks. With Chinese New Year just round the corner, the unwelcome excessive rains might spoil any holiday plans especially to those who balik kampung by road.

My family and I did some last minute shopping on last Sunday at the new Parkson Grand. The new clothes were washed and thank God, they were able to dry completely today! I took this photo of the beautiful, clear blue sky around 6:15 pm from my home balcony. Can you see the birds? Click on the photo for a bigger picture. We're all praying for excellent weather for the days to come, xD!

I'll be taking a break from posting until after the Chinese New Year holidays. Do drop by then! To all our Chinese friends, we wish you a Healthy and Blessed Year of the Ox! And travel safely if you are going anywhere, ok?

The Rain Has Taken Its Toll

The incessant rain for the past week finally took its toll in Miri when a landslide seriously damaged a petrol station in the early hours this morning. Road traffic was slow as I headed towards town around 9:30am. I later realized that the jam was caused by a temporary road closure. Pockets of concerned people were already there when I reached the site. Two units of excavators and teams of men were working frantically. I asked a fireman standing next to me what they were searching for and he resignedly told me that they were looking for casualties. You can see a wooden shed (in blue) perched precariously at the edge of the slope. I hope it has been evacuated. The ambulance vehicles were on standby. The heavy rains had caused the uphill area behind the petrol station to be saturated of water for the past week. This resulted the slope being unable to withhold the extra pressure. I guess the feather that broke the camel's back was last night's pouring rain.

*Update @ 2:00pm from Bernama.

Latest updates - Bro Columba in Kuching

Jan 6, 2009 - A dinner was organized at the Sarawak Club for Brother Columba. You can view more photos at the Picasa Web Album uploaded by Dr. Chan Lek-Lim. It's great to see that everyone had a great time with Brother Columba!

Dr. Chan writes about the reunion:

"A dinner was organised by former students of St Joseph's School, Kuching for Br Columba Gleeson in the evening of 6 Jan 2009 at the Sarawak Club, Kuching. These group of students were from Form 5 of 1971 and Upper 6 of 1973. When Christopher Kho Ting Hua (who lives in Sydney) first received news in mid-December that Br Columba was visiting Kuching, he starting phoning and emailing classmates about the possibility of having a dinner with him. When the possibility was firming up to reality, he called Br Columba to fix the date mentioning a few names. So when Br Columba was picked up for the dinner on 6 Jan, he thought he was going to dinner with 2 or 3 former students. The number turned out to be 20. He said he was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed the evening very much.

Ting Hua had specially arranged to fly back all the way from Sydney to attend the dinner - a decision made about 2 weeks before the dinner. Another former student, Peter Chin who lives in KL also flew in for the function."

Photo credit - Dr. Chan Lek-Lim

Thanks to Dr. Chan for allowing me to share his story and pics in this post.

Donations

Yesterday the Christian community of Miri handed over the money raised during the Miri City Christmas Parade 2008 to the Miri Kidney Dialysis Centre and the Miri Cancer Society.

The 2008 Lay Leader of my church, Brother Ting Kong Yu was the Organizing Chairman for the successful event whereby an unprecedented number of churches from different denominations grouped together to celebrate Christmas with the people of Miri. In his welcoming speech, Brother Kong Yu thanked the committee for their unwavering support and also thanked the public for their love and generousity towards the less fortunate. YB Lee Kim Shin, in his speech, praised the committee for a job well done and encouraged this year's event to be even bigger and better.

YB Lee Kim Shim received the cheque on behalf of the Miri Kidney Dialysis Centre.

Mr. Jackson Goh received the cheque on behalf of the Miri Cancer Society.

Where are you now, Class of '76?

Following the two postings on Brother Columba over last weekend, I am now in contact with another "new old boy" James Yong who left a comment in my blog yesterday.

James, based in Singapore was also present during the Brother Columba's reunion gathering. He is now compiling the Class of '76 name list through his blog St Joe - Form 5 in 1976. If you know of anyone who was in Form 5 in 1976 in St Joseph's Kuching, please pass on this information for reconnection, xD.

Oh yes, I found another blog of James' to be interesting. Again we witness what quality seeds St. Joseph's has sown. He has done St. Joe and Sarawak proud in his field of work. We wish you well, James! Two thumbs up!

1st Sunday Service of 2009

This morning we held the first service of the year in my church Grace Methodist. Enjoy the photos! Sanctuary.
My cell group was on duty. They did an excellent job! Holy Communion.

Latest updates - Bro Columba

Thanks to the Borneo Post, today's edition in the Home Section (on page 10) features Brother Columba's visit to Singapore and the reunion dinner on Jan 2, 2009. The write-up includes the history of Brother Columba's years at St. Joseph's Kuching, the ex-students who are prominent professionals based in Singapore and also on the coming reunion in Kuching on Jan 17.

I was pleasantly surprised to know that our Urban Development and Tourism Minister Datuk Michael Manyin also joined them for the reunion gathering in Singapore.

Bro Columba in Singapore

At last I've received information from my sis Ruth on Brother Columba's visit to Singapore! We communicated this afternoon and I was able to talk to Brother Columba briefly too. I'm glad that our beloved principal sounded well and happy. Still going strong at 75!

Twenty eight ex-Josephians (SJS Kuching) including some of their spouses joyfully gathered to welcome Brother Columba last night. The previous gathering was two years ago; but this time round the number was almost double. Impressive!

The reunion venue, recommended by Dr Pierce Chow, was at the Royal China Restaurant, Raffles Hotel Arcade. I wasn't there but I would imagine everyone had a fabulous time reminiscing the good old days with the La Salle Brothers (how the men in white gowns struck fear into us, hahaha!). My sis also told me that Dr Lemmy Teo and Dr Chow helped to decide on the food menu; Song Seng Wun brought along copies of the School Rally with Michael Chin helping to lead in the singing. Michael also invited Brother Columba to fellowship at all the three tables at different times.

Needless to say, no reunion can be complete without the Guest of Honour saying a few words. Brother Columba thanked everyone for the dinner and warm friendship, and mentioned that in a way his visit served as a catalyst for ex-Josephians to get together.

Group pic of the proud "forever" Josephians with the best principal in the world! Brother Columba saying a few words of appreciation. Just look at the "principal" poise - what a presence! We can never truly appreciate enough how much impact he and the other selfless brothers have made in the lives of many generations of Sarawakians. They were the true educators of our time! From the bottom of our hearts, we say a big "Thank You" to you Brother Columba! Everyone present signed on this copy of the School Rally. My sis will scan it and email back to them as a souvenir. Ahem, what a eco-friendly way (digitally) to remember the reunion! Photo credit: Group pic - Dr Lee See Chung; Brother Columba's pic - James Yong.

I really look forward to meeting Brother Columba on Jan 17 in Kuching!

1st Cell Group Gathering

To celebrate our first cell gathering, we had a steamboat dinner at my home last night. Most people prefer to have steamboats in restaurants because the preparation of food varieties can be quite tedious and time-consuming. But that does not apply to my cell group because my members are "highly-acclaimed chefs" when it comes to food, LOL!

We were blessed to have the young and dynamic Pastor Connie Yong as our guest! And I shamelessly asked her to pose, hahaha! Son Aaron warming up for the Praise and Worship. Roseline and I prepared gifts of appreciation for cell members. The Juniors were too engrossed in their own activity.
Taking a group photo before dinner.

Smiles. Food, food and more food...



What do the two signs (Sign Language) mean? xD The thumb pointing to the lips means "delicious" and the other other sign of "pulling the chin" means "salivate".

All glory to God as we seek for a blessed 2009!