1st AGM Successfully Concluded

To say that I was not nervous in chairing my first AGM would be untruthful. It was my first experience and I have to be sure I followed the constitutions of the Persatuan. The very first thing I was to ensure is the quorum. The constitution requires no less than 10 out of 19 members to be in attendance and we had 14 so the AGM proceeded as planned at 11am today soon after the committee meeting ended.

Being our first AGM the agenda was simple: adopt the minutes of the inaugural AGM, presenting the chairman's and treasurer's reports and dealing with matters for which sufficient notice was given. The members present discussed the issues at hand. They were updated on the latest development on the acquisition of the building adjacent to the centre, and proposed plans for its future development.

The meeting ended at 12.30pm on a high note. The coming years will see significant expansion of the work of PBSNS and lots of work to be done. Somehow I felt God's partnership in this work very positively and believe that the building fund that we will be launching will meet with good support.

The AGM Approaches

On June 20 the Persatuan will hold its first AGM since its inception on April 5, 2008. The Persatuan began operation in August 2008 and took over the full work from Pusat Berdikari Seremban or PBS from January 2009. The audited accounts for the period July - December 2008 has been finalized and my annual report as chairman of the Persatuan is in its finishing stage.

In order that the AGM will be meaningful I hope that most if not all the members will turn up for the meeting at 11.00am at the Wesley Church office (above the centre). If you are a member of the Persatuan please consider this a gentle reminder to attend.

Beautiful Gate Foundation Dedication Service

This afternoon I attended the dedication service of the Beautiful Gate Foundation for the Disabled (Seremban) new building in Mambau, Seremban by the Rev. Boh Che Suan, President of the Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Malaysia. The BGF is a community project of CAC for those who are wheelchair bound and trains them in useful trades. They have 6 centres throughout the country.

An important date has been etched in the history of the Persatuan today when we received a group of 11 Rotarians from the Seremban Rotary Club and the District Governor, Dr Rajindar Singh and his wife Surendra (also a Rotarian) who were here on a gift bearing mission. They came to present us cheques for the purchase of a sealing machine and an electric oven which will be used in the straw packing and bakery projects respectively. The value of their donations is RM4100 and we wish to record our deepest appreciation for their charity towards our work.

We also wish to record our thanks to Dr CS Paul who is a member of the Seremban chapter of the Rotary Club and initiated this donation.

We believe that a new chapter has opened in the cooperation between ourselves and the Rotary Club Seremban. The Rotary District regularly receives funds from foundations to disburse to worthy causes. We hope that we can be counted as one of their beneficiaries in future when we need to equip our new centre.

A Multi-National Visit

We had a surprise visit from a very interesting group today. 9 members from the All Souls (Anglican) Church, London, dropped by for a visit to understand our work. They were in Malaysia as part of their mission work to help a local church carry out some local mission and local church works. They helped build a house for a Sengoi pastor, led in worship and taught English to the Vietnamese community here in Seremban. Coming to PBSNS is a 'bonus' as it was not part of their itinerary. We gave our visitors a briefing and showing them how the trainees carry out their work.

In case you are curious, the multi-national group comprise members from England, Northern Ireland, Germany, United States, Brazil, S. Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia.