sarawakbahai.org

16 July 2008 No Comment

From L to R: Mdm. Maria anak William Peter, Mr. Narong anak Singau, Mr. Lawrence Lau, Mr. Kamal Ian Fozdar, Mr. Chin Chia Chau, Mr. Yong Kiong Choon, Dr. John Fozdar, Mr. Suai anak Kirak, Mr. Tipik anak Ladi

The 7th Sarawak Bahá’í National Convention, an annual event held to elect new members of the highest Bahá’í administrative body in Sarawak, started on 30 April evening at the Kuching Baha’i Centre with a training of the delegates on their sacred duties and responsibilities in electing the new members. The training was conducted by Counsellor Mr George Soraya, a representative of the Continental Board of Counsellors in Asia.

The Convention proper, held at Penview Inn, Kuching, started at 8am on 1 May and ended at 4.30pm on 2 May. The Convention, graced by the presence of the said Counsellor, was attended by all members of the outgoing and incoming National Spiritual Assembly, 4 Auxiliary Board members, 25 out of the 38 delegates and 25 observers.

Election of the in-coming National Spiritual Assembly members by the delegates was held in the afternoon of 1 May. A total of 32 ballots were cast with the remaining 6 ballots not received by the convention date.

The new National Spiritual Assembly members elected were (in the order of highest votes received) Mr. Tipik Ladi, Mr. Chin Chia Chau, Mr. Yong Kiong Choon, Mr. Lawrance Lau, Mr. Kamal Fozdar, Mr. Suai Kirak, Dr. John Fozdar, Mdm Maria Peter and Mr. Neilson Narong.

Counsellor Mr. George Soraya started the Convention proper with a reading of the Ridvan 2004 Message from the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá’ís of the world. He set the mood of the Convention by emphasising on the need for the Bahá’ís to change their mind-set pertaining to the three core activities of devotional meetings, children’s classes and study circles.

The delegates actively consulted on the theme of the Convention, namely, “… to continue confidently and dynamically in the present direction”, as conveyed in the Ridvan 2004 Message. The delegates also consulted actively on the multiplication of the three core activities and were all in accord regarding the need for the friends to reach out to the community at large.

The new National Spiritual Assembly met on 1 May evening to elect the new office-bearers for Bahá’í Era 161. The office-bearers elected, as announced at the Convention, were Mr. Chin Chia Chau (Chairman), Mr. Neilson Narong (Vice Chairman), Mr. Tipik Ladi (Secretary), and Mr. Yong Kiong Choon (Treasurer).