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Kuching 23-24 October 2004: The third state level institutional meeting was held at the Crown Towers, Pending with Counsellor Paul Lample from the International Teaching Centre as the guest of honour. Also present was Counsellor George Soraya. Among the 139 participants were representatives of the various national committees and institutions based in Kuching, Regional Council of both north and south region and the teaching committee of central region. Nine ATCs from the southern region and ATC Mukah. Local Assemblies of Miri and Sibu and those of Kuching-Padawan-Samarahan communities were also represented.

Verbal comments from a few participants showed that the meeting not only had instilled fresh inspiration but also had brought about a higher level of understanding regarding the whole process of entry by troops. It had assured the community that it is treading the right path, albeit slowly. The main issues to analyze now are “Where are we now?”, “Where are we going?”, and “How are we going to the place we want to go?”

In response to the Government’s call to religious bodies in Malaysia to hold special prayer gathering during the just concluded month-long Merdeka Celebration with the aim of “seeking divine protection for the nation and its people from upheavals and untoward incidents”, the Baha’is in numerous localities throughout Sarawak held special prayer gatherngs on 28 August, 2004 for the said purpose.

On 11 September 2004, a group of Kuching friends led by Dr. John Fozdar, a member of NSA Sarawak, visited Mr. Koh Sze Hock and his wife in Batu Kawa, a suburb of Kuching City.

“It was a very enjoyable meeting and the friends promised to keep in touch with Mr. Koh and his wife,” wrote Dr. John in a recent report on the visit.

“Mr. Koh was a young man in 1966 when we visited long houses along the Samarahan river and the first Bahá’í communities outside of Kapit and Limbang began to spring up. Kg. Turong, Betong Kanowit, Merang and a few others were among the first to have believers,” he said.

Organised by the LSA of Kuching City North, this year’s commemoration of the passing of Baha’u’llah started at 10pm at the Centre. Over 20 friends came to the event with each family bringing roses as a token of their love for Baha’u’llah. The evening started with a long devotion. This was followed with a talk [...]

The evening of 22nd May 2004 was a merry and joyful occasion for Kampung Selampit, the largest Bahá’í community in the State. The Local Spiritual Assembly and the Department for External Affairs jointly organized the special event in which the Federal Assistant Minister for Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah, YB Datuk Dr. Tiki Lafe was the guest of honour. Also specially invited were YB Peter Nansian and Temenggong Stephen Jussem, and other community leaders.

The celebration was held at the community hall, which, with a capacity for only 400-500 people, was not able to fully accommodate the more than 700 people who came for the event. The program started with prayers, including a chant from a representative of the Muslim community. The ketua kampung, Mr. Jitwil gave a welcoming speech to the audience followed by an address by YB Peter Nansian who stressed that all religions lead mankind to God and that we are lucky to have religious unity among the various religious groups in the country. Dr. John Fozdar, a member of NSA Sarawak and the chairman of the Department of External Affairs, gave a brief explanation on the purpose and significance of the celebration.

The above training course was successfully organized from the evening of 22 Jan to 25 Jan 2004 at the CAWF training office. It was facilitated by ABM Ms. Ong Eng Eng from West Malaysia, who was assisted by External Affairs members, Dr John Fozdar , Maria Peter and myself. There were 12 participants: 5 tuai rumah (longhouse headmen) and 4 AJKK from 7 localities plus 2 External Affairs members and 1 ordinary believer. This was the first training ever organized for this group of leaders and it was very good. The training also included sharing experiences, games, workshop and role play. All the participants participated actively.

We are very pleased to share with you that according to reports received by SBI in October, 47 groups had completed their study circles and 148 friends had graduated from Book 1 to Book 7. We are also happy to note that many clusters are focused to move their participants up the sequence of courses. This is one way to ensure human resources for our own communities.

38 Baha’is from Miri, Bintulu and Kpg Libai, Batu Niah participated in the Miri City Parade on 15th September 2001. The annual event was part of the Miri Fest or Pesta Miri organised by the Miri Municpal Council under the Tourism and Community Service Committee. More than 3000 participants from schools, government departments, private sectors and associations took part in the parade. The event was divided into parade, open parade, schools, float, government departments/agencies, private sector and associations. The Baha’i Community took part in the parade open category with 20 other associations.

Kg. Sg. Pedada, Meludam:- Commencing 11 December a total of 23 believers from the host community and Kg. Sg. Meranti attended the institute campaign. 2 persons attended Book 1 with Sulang as tutor, two groups of Book 2, 6 participants with Mr. Ragai and 5 with Ms. Jamory. 10 persons attended the evening-only session study circle on Book 1 with Mr. Terrence Tinggi. On the evening of their arrival, the tutors were warmly welcomed by the community.

From 17 till 27 November, Auxiliary Board Member Mr. Bunsie Tunton made a ten-day trip to the northern region by driving the family van all the way to Rh. Ansok, Sg. Kelabit in the Bakong area. He was accompanied by wife Bari and their three children. For Bari it was more like a happy reunion after a long separation. In her report about the trip, Bari wrote that their visit coincided with the Reflection Meetings organised by the Area Teaching Committees. At Rh. Ansok, representatives from ten communities in the Bakong-Tinjar Cluster attended the reflection meeting held on 19 Nov. The friends studied the 26 Nov 2001 document from the International Teaching Centre and the 2002 Ridvan Message.