Burns’ Supper 2013
The skirl of the pipes resonated throughout the InterContinental Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday evening of 2nd February 2013. The sound welcomed all the guests to the Annual Burns’ Supper. The event was informal with kilt casual and smart casual being the order of the day. The foyer and the ballroom were decorated with tartans, saltires and lion rampants, while clan banners adorned the walls around the ballroom. In keeping with the best of traditions, it should be noted that earlier in the day, most of the work to decorate the room was done by the ladies of the committee, while the men stood around and offered suitable advice and guidance!! The event was staged in the Grand Ballroom which offers an ideal venue for a larger Burns’ Supper. This event is increasing in popularity, and the venue not only offers excellent dining facilities but also has a large dance floor for Scottish Country Dancing. The response to the event was excellent with 400+ participants which is the highest number ever to attend this perennial event. The evening opened with the MC, Bernie Williams, welcoming members and guests and then the Selkirk Grace was delivered by Resident Past-Chieftain, John Thomson. The night was well and truly underway.
One of the highlights of a Burns Supper is the Haggis Ceremony and this year was no exception, but with a departure from the usual format. The haggis was piped in by the pipers from the St. John’s Alumni Pipe Band with an entourage of ladies as haggis and whisky bearers. The bearers were Lorna Mair (haggis), Pauline Geddes (whisky) and Lisa Ingram (whisky) which made the Haggis Ceremony an all ladies affair. However, all resident past-chieftains lined up behind the ceremonial table giving an imposing, and somewhat daunting, presence to the proceedings. Chieftain, Ali King, gave an impassioned address and duly “stabbed” the haggis with more than a little flourish and gusto, while reciting the lines: “Trenching your gushing entrails bright like ony ditch”. She did however, hesitate over a couple of the words during the Address to the Haggis and at one point looked directly at John Thomson for inspiration, then immediately remembered the next line; “Poor devil! see him ower his trash, As feckless as a wither'd rash!” We can perhaps forgive this small lapse on the part of the Chieftain, who was able to continue and finish the