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The Faith in Sarawak had concluded 2009 with a string of successful events. The first to be made mentioned was our fruitful 8th State Institutional Meeting held in November at Sibu. 160 people came and there were warm participation from youths who are actively involved in the four core activities. Goals were set by regions, each focusing on further growth and advancement of their clusters…

A Junior Youth Class was successfully held at Stutong Baru last Sunday. Our first encounter with the junior youth at Stutong was memorable as it was our very first experience conducting a junior youth class in Bahasa Melayu. Despite the scorching hot afternoon, 7 participants had gathered for the class at one of the participants’ humble home. They were all excited and were full of spirit when we arrived there.

More than 60 Baha’is gathered in Kuching, the state capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak, for a 3-day convention which started on 1 May. Among them were delegates, representing their respective electoral units throughout Sarawak, who came here to elect the 9-member Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Sarawak, which is the highest administrative body for the Baha’is in Sarawak.

The gathering is one of the 41 similar regional conferences held, being held or will be held throughout the Baha’i world between November 2008 to March 2009. These conferences, starting with the first one held in Lusaka, Zambia in 1 Nov 2008 and will end with the last one in Kiev, Ukraine on 1 March 2009, were called by the Universal House of Justice, the world governing body of the worldwide Baha’i communities, to provide the opportunity for the Baha’is to celebrate the feats already achieved during the first half of their current Five Year Plan and to deliberate on its current exigencies.

The 7th National Institutional meeting was successfully held at Li Hua Hotel Bintulu from 30th to 31 October. A hunderd and thirty members of the various Baha’i Institutions and friends were present during the two days meeting. Also present at the meeting were Counsellor George Soraya, seven members of the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Sarawak, Board members Dr. Shehab Phung, Kalong Katiik, Mail Ingkai and Mdm Tan Ing Kheng.

More than 60 Baha’is from throughout Sarawak gathered in Kuching to attend a convention on 23 – 25 May 2008. The convention, an annual event, was held to elect a 9-member governing body of the Baha’is of Sarawak.

The election is a common feature throughout the worldwide Baha’i communities in more than 150 countries where Baha’is reside. Casting of ballots was by delegates who were elected in their respective localities.

We left Kota Kinabalu for Labuan at 8 in the morning. Everyone was excited and full of spirit to teach. Some were revising their flipchart. We were greeted by Mr. Goh Kok Kyiu in Labuan ferry terminal and was treated lunch too. Thanks to Mr. Goh for being so hospitable. Also thanks to Mr. Naysan Lee for assisting in printing of the Iban flipcharts. Upon arrival to Limbang by ferry, we were greeted by Mr. Kong Siew Moi, Dr. Johun Teh, Mrs. Jubang and a few youth. They brought us straight to Mendamit Bahá’í Centre which is 45 minutes from Limbang Town using two cars and a school bus. There at Mendamit Bahá’í Centre, we met Mr. Sumbang and Mdm. Rata, Mr. Changgau and Mdm. Sema, Mr. Suili and his brothers – Richie and Junaidi, and other youth.

Lim was awarded the Outstanding Young Malaysian Awards 2006 (TOYM) for Moral or Religious Leadership by Junior Chambers International (JCI) Malaysia. The award is in recognition of his 13 years of outstanding contribution towards the development of academic, moral and spiritual education of children and youths from the Jenjarom community.

Soon Kam was nominated for the Award by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Malaysia. Endorsed by the Ministry of Youth & Sports of Malaysia, The Outstanding Young Persons of The World Programme (Jaycees, US) and the Malaysia Book of Records, this internationally acclaimed Award is to accord recognition to Soon Kam’s outstanding personal achievements and significant contributions to the welfare of the community through the implementation of the four core activities in Jenjarom Chinese New Village, situated 2 hours away from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This morning, the mayor of Kuching north, Datuk Chan Seng Hai held a reception for the members of various religions to formally receive the religious titles which had been presented to him on 5 May.

The Bahá’í Faith was represented by Michael Kho and myself. I was also representative for MIN – Malaysian Interfaith Network.

All the other representatives of the various religions were present, Datuk Putit Matzen (Islam), Mr. Goh Leng Chua (Buddhist), Mr. Ambrose Linang (secretary-general of Christian Churches of Sarawak), Mr. Santokh Singh (Sikhs), Kapitan Komurusamy (Hindu Sangham). I was very pleased to see Datuk Putit, because he came with only two days notice and joined in very well with all the other faiths.

There were 218 people participating in the children’s festival 2004; a total of 70 children, 75 junior youths, 16 youths and 57 adults out of which about 60 were unexpected turn-ups. We are very happy to have quite a large number of seekers among our participants. About 15 children, 20 junior youths and 2 parents were seekers.Programmes were catered for 3 groups, the children, the junior youths and the parents.

The junior youths were sub-divided into about 10 persons per group for workshops and performance. Lee Yih Ven and Kenneth Jampang were the main coordinators for the junior youth programmes and other facilitators for each sub-group were appointed to assist with their workshops and performance.