News letter of Selangor St. AndrewS’S Society September 2015
www.ssas-online.com
Committee Committee Chieftain Alan Bernard chieftain@ssas.com.my Chieftain Alan Bernard Vice-Chieftain chieftain@ssas.com.my Ali King vicechieftain@ssas.com.my Vice-Chieftain Lorna Mair Hon.vicechieftain@ssas.com.my Secretary Donna Miller secretary@ssas.com.my Hon. Secretary Donna Miller Hon.secretary@ssas.com.my Treasurer Hector Ingram treasurer@ssas.com.my Hon. Treasurer Hector Ingram Committee Members treasurer@ssas.com.my Bernie Williams Alistair Millar Members Committee Ken Bernie Crawford Williams Kenny RossCameron Elaine Libby MacKayWhyte Menzie Kathleen Lisa Ken Alkhalil Crawford Marina Cauley Kenny Ross GrantLee Ferguson Smalley Nicola Stewart Yvanka Jeffery Lisa Alkhalil Resident Past-Chieftains Resident ChuckPast-Chieftains Jeffery (2013) AlanAli Bernard (2014) King (2012) Ali King Johan(2012) Murison (2011) Johan Murison (2011) (2010) Richard Thompson Richard PaulThompson Henderson(2010) (2009) PaulAlistair Henderson (2009) Paterson (2008) Hector Ingram (2007) Hector Ingram (2007) JohnJohn Thomson (2006) Thomson (2006) Roger McGowan (2005) Roger McGowan (2005) Patrick Russell (1997 & 2004) Patrick Russell (1997 & 2004) Tristan Russell (1989) Tristan Russell (1989) Stewart Forbes (1987) Stewart Forbes (1987) Newsletter Editor Newsletter Editor Libby Mackay Menzie Lee Smalley newsletter@ssas.com.my newsletter@ssas.com.my Membership Secretary Membership Secretary membership@ssas.com.my membership@ssas.com.my Charities Lisa Alkhalil Charities Kathleen Whyte Alice Smith School Governor GrantAlice Ferguson Smith School Governor Yvanka Jeffery Web-Master John Thomson Web-Master John Thomson
The Selangor Scotsman is sponsored by Asian Tigers Transpo Movers (M) Sdn Bhd Lot 6, Jalan Ragum 15/17, Seksyen 15 4000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Eshan Tel: +603 5565 2200 Fax: +603 5513 3788 www.asiantigers-malaysia.com
chieftAin’S chAtter With the Society year well underway and the summer break behind us, the Committee is hard at work preparing for a busy period. The Great British Ball will be held at the Shangri-la Hotel on 17th October and once again promises to be over-subscribed. This year is the10th anniversary of the event which we jointly present together with ABWM, BMCC, St. David’s Society and St. George’s Society. The annual St. Andrew’s Ball will be held at the Hilton Doubletree on 21st November. Tickets are now on sale and going fast. Please book your places early to avoid disappointment. Further details are contained in the newsletter and ticket applications can be made via the on-line ticket application form on the Society website. For those of you who attended the May Concert and the 2 nd Kuala Lumpur Highland games earlier this year, I trust that you enjoyed the events as much as myself and my family. I wish to pay tribute to the organising team and the large number of volunteers who worked very hard over a busy weekend to make both of these events a success. On the membership front we have recently received a number of new applications which bodes well for the society and I would urge you all to do our part and try to introduce new members. Although the main membership is for persons of Scottish descent, we do have a category called “Friends of Scotland” where we welcome persons who have some connection with Scotland or who are interested in Scottish cultural activities. To those who have recently joined the Society, I bid you welcome. We have also bid farewell to several prominent members of the Society and in particular Kathleen Whyte who has served on the committee for a number of years. Many of you will know of her work on the charity front and the lead that she took in organising the inter-society annual calendar. Lastly, I would like to tell you something about our forward planning. The Society now has venues booked for all our major activities in 2016, starting with the Burns’ Supper at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel on 23rd January 2016. We also have bookings in place for a Concert and Highland Games on the 7th and 8th May 2016 where we will once again have a weekend of quality entertainment and a celebration of Scottish culture. We usually organise a Whisky Tasting Evening in November, but this year we have decided to postpone that activity and to hold it at the conclusion to the Annual General Meeting in February/March 2016. This should ensure that the incoming committee gets off to a flying start! Suffice to say that the planning and preparation for all our future events is well in hand and with good planning we hope the implementation will be a “down-hill easy jog” as the various events come to fruition. However, I am mindful of a quotation from Robert Burns’ poem, “To a Mouse”: But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane, in proving foresight may be vain; The best-laid schemes o' mice an 'men gang aft agley, An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain, for promis'd joy! Yours Aye, Alan Bernard, Chieftain
The 2014-2015 Committee Chieftain
Alan Bernard Hons. Treasurer
Hon. Secretary
Vice-Chieftan
Hector Ingram
Donna Millar
Ali King
Bernie Williams
Kenny Ross
Marina Cauley
Grant Ferguson
Nicola Stewart
Lisa Alkhalil
Libby Mackay Menzie
Alistair Millar
KL HIGHLAND GAMES 17th MAY 2015 KL’s 2nd Highland games got off to a great set up. Some committee members had slept in their cars to ensure the set up was under control.
On The morning of the 17th May, the sun was shining although we had early rain.
Trucks started rolling in with all the equipment on board .
The gates opened at 6am, thanks to all helpers who arrived at crack of dawn and still in darkness to let the audience through.
The morning sun was blazing down on the organisers and some off the Heavy Squad.
Nicola Stewart operated the smooth running off the gates with her Dream Team.
From tent pitching, positioning post's, ropes, pegs, laying markers, setting up Tug of War, Tossing the Camber, to untangling ropes!! (only a woman could do that)
The team that helped out manning the gates helped make the day a very successful one from the minute guests entered the gates.
Kids Village, Food area, all taking shape for the event the following day. Members and helpers were there well into late afternoon , blood, sweat and tears. All greatly appreciated, and few beers lay ahead for the evening of The May Concert.
The welcome was warm and friendly with the ever present banter from all our volunteers. I nicknamed our volunteers the Dream Team and I think it was very apt. Nearly all of the volunteers have agreed to participate at next years event and are happy to man the gates again such was the fun involved at both gates. A few tweaks need to be made to make it even better, and a few more volunteers will be most welcome to join this amazing bunch of people. I can honestly say the day was a very successful and happy event from start to finish and I enjoyed being a part of helping it to happen.
KL HIGHLAND GAMES 17th MAY 2015 The ISKL dancers waited excitedly in the VIP tent for their introduction. They were dressed, coiffed with shiny faces waiting with trepidation for their call. It came sooner than expected but they were ready for it. Heads high, knees high and spirits high the dancers moved into the centre of the field. Cameras flashing did not deter them from their focus. They danced the reel of the 51st with a slight new spin at the beginning of each of the 8 hands round leaping into the air with both feet snapping together. The second dance later in the afternoon was equally well received. Again the dancers conducted themselves with aplomb. Congratulations to ISKL dancers!
Matching Tartans And we didn't even ask each other before!
TUG OF WAR By Willie Watt This year’s event was well attended by the ladies and men’s tug of war community who took up the challenge and was a central focal point of the games for spectators due to the improved layout of the event pitch. The Ladies event was very well contested with 6 excellent teams and with “pull off” sudden death matches to progress to the finals which enhanced the event excitement for the general public spectators. The final was contested by the 2014 winners The Welsh Society and the KL Tigers ladies teams, the KL Tigers prevailing in a gripping finals match-up with a 2 pull to 1 pull winning margin. The men’s event was also well contested with 4 teams entering with the 2014 winners and event bookmakers favourites Sid’s Pullers meeting the new boys from Across The Road matching up in a competitive final. The underdogs Across The Road won a gripping finals match-up with another close 2 pull to 1 pull winning margin. Thanks to the sponsors who supplied the medals and trophies for the winners and runners up. Next year 2016, the organizing committee hope for more teams from the ladies and men’s tug of war community to enter and participate with all round improvements to be made to the event based on lessons learned over the past 2 years of the KLHG Tug of War event.
Mini Band Competition For Pipes and Drums There was a big presence of pipe bands competing for medals in The KL Highland games major competition. Some of the teams that took part were the Kuala Lumpur Pipes and Drums (2014 champions), Malaysian Pipe Band Club, St Johns Alumni Band and the Boys Brigade Pipe Band Singapore. But the Sikhs performances excelled more than the other competitors. The Sri Dasmesh Pipes and Drums winning 13 medals and emerging as the overall champions for the pipe band competition The Kuala Lumpur-based band won gold for the Mini Band Competition (Group) at the 2nd Kuala Lumpur Highland Games (KLHG 2015) in Kuala Lumpur. Last year, it won the silver medal. In individual events, it took home another 12 medals: five gold, four silver and three bronze. The Sri Dasmesh drummers swept all the medals up for grabs for the solo tenor drumming (grade D) and the solo bass drumming.
“Our drummers are all self taught as you don’t have professional tutoring in Malaysia. At a later stage, we did get some training from Drum Srt Lucy Jones from Australia,” Lead drummer Sergeant Tripert Singh told Asia Samachar. The band pipers had trained along with Pipe Major Barry Paul Gray from the Sydneybased Hawkesbury Napean Valley Pipe Band. Gray had invited Sri Dasmesh drummers to join his team for the Australian Nationals Championship 2014. Sri Dasmesh Pipe Band made a huge impression in Scotland where they went to compete in the World Pipe Band Championship. Performed at Highland Games in Perth, The Royal Mile Edinburgh at Pipefest. Links to follow are http:// asiasamachar.com/2015/08/19/ sri-dasmesh-a-hit-at-world-pipeband-championship/
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=4tVtob8ExO0 https://www.facebook.com/ sridasmesh
KL Mini Games Kathleen Whyte
The children and carers had an amazing day out and I had a large support team of volunteers from KLCC group. (full list below) There were an amazing 25 volunteers including myself, Gemma and the KLCC group . They have all pledged to help again next year! They had the games organised down to a tee. We had four bases each colour coded with primary colour ribbon depending on height and ability. The tug of war was a highlight at the end of our games and I think because we took all the children over to the area beside the SSAS bar to watch the professionals made it more exciting for them to do it. So we had 223 children plus carers and all the lunch tokens were used up. As it was all so carefully planned we were able to integrate the surprise extras into their colour coded groups with ease.
I cannot highlight enough the support from all the volunteers! It was an amazing team effort and we are very lucky to have them all on board as they have said they will organise again next year. As this is my last event it makes me happy to know they are all willing to help next year too Lunch was served earlier I managed to bring over most of the children from mini games area over to the SSAS bar area to watch the opening ceremony this was a challenge but we managed it. The two charity tables were originally set up beside the games but we moved them to the pavilion area and they were happy with that space. Helene who represents the ladies, thanked me again saying they ended up selling quite a few items so that was good and Makna were pleased to have the table to promote their charity.
KL Mini Games Kathleen Whyte Tesco supplied us 200 of each of bottles of cranberry juice, pitted prunes, raisins, salted Pringles, and sour cream Pringles and bruschetta's- pizza flavour crisps, we laughed at the prunes... they were family size bags too J so we decided to pass some boxes to each charity to take home rather than sharing them on the day. My friend at Tesco said her husband couldn’t believe they sent prunes and raisins and no chocolate J Maybe next year! The children were stuffed full and after the games loved going to the kids village. They loved wearing the see you jimmy hats that we gave to some as prizes and they wore pieces of tartan and tartan rosettes that Libby had learned some of the ACR to make for the day along with the fab bunting. The tartan was very popular and Libby Hughes and Libby Menzie made each of the volunteers a tartan sash to wear and I had lots of enquiries asking where to buy !them.
All in all they had the best day out again and some of the older chins brought their guitars and they were all sitting singing and listening while waiting for the buses to arrive at 4pm. The Rumah Kids and the Special Children of Ampang had so much fun,
The merchandise from SDI was popular, I gave Jacqui a pile of pads pens and lanyards to give out when people bought kids village tickets and they ended up using the lanyards in a novel way to attach the kiddie tickets so that was a handy one . J Katrina and two colleagues from SDI came along to the games and were happy to see everyone walking around with their merchandise. Gemma and I distributed some around the park to visitors. They supplied 500 of each notepads, pens and Lanyards. They said they would like to collaborate more for next years event.
KL Mini Games Kathleen Whyte
Thank you letters:
Letter from Nhan from MAKNA
Jasmine from Special Children of Ampang:
Dear Kathleen
Dear Kathleen, Monica and the team Congratulations on the success of your event. On behalf of the Special Children Society of Ampang parents committee, children and staff I would like to thank you very much for giving our children the opportunity to participate in the fun and games which they enjoyed very much.
On behalf of National Cancer Council Malaysia (MAKNA), I would like to express our deepest appreciation for the wonderful opportunity and organisation efforts during Highland Games 2015 with your society.
All of us were very pleased to see the joy on our PAED patients face yesterday with their arts creation. They specifically fancied the Kids Village and we want to thank you for that, as the activities in the Village were We would also like to thank you for carefully crafted to suit the conarranging transport for us on that ditions of small cancer patients. day. Special thanks to Kathleen and Kathleen, we wish you all the best Gemma for their thoughtful for your future undertaking. preparation and correspondence from March to date. Please drop by at our centre if you are back in Malaysia again. MAKNA would like to send you some courtesy photos of the Thank you again. event for your future use. https://www.mediafire.com/ Warm regards #c6y9wvs9yu7 Jasmine Thank you indeed for this experience.
We (the KLCC walkers and volunteer teachers at ACR ) are more than happy to help organising the charity games next year . Kind regards Monica
Mini Games Volunteer names: Kathleen Whyte – Charities Coordinator Gemma Whyte Monica Maclean Charlie Maclean Jamie Maclean Clare Langford Mandy Morecock Nick Morecock Carol Findlay Colin Findlay Libby Hughes Steve Hughes Archie Walker Kathryn Mathie Alice Been Amanda Joy Bungard John Bungard Sonja Scott Duncan Scott Paul Scholfield Emma Fitzmaurice Mark Fitzmaurice Rhonda and John Khortom alker
Harvest School Update By Carole Findlay Dear Scottish Society Chairman and Committee Members Here is the latest update on the Dignity students the society kindly sponsor. I know Kathleen kept you up to date on their progress; she came to Dignity with me not long before she left to see how A Bawi and Emily were doing and to have a chat with them. It is coming to the time of year when you make your donation so I will attach the accounts for the year so far. I will also attach last year's so you will have an idea of the yearly costs. I saw both students a week past Friday. Marina came out to Dignity with me and we had a short tour of some of the classes as well as meeting up with all the sponsored students in the group I coordinate. Perhaps some committee members aren't too familiar with the scholarship the society generously provides to A Bawi and Emily, so I will give you an outline as well as an update on your two students below: In 2011 a group of volunteer teachers at the Association of Chin Refugees (ACR) School - a Myanmar community school - recognised that there was a need for some of the older students to receive secondary education and so a sponsorship scheme was set up. A small number of students were registered at the Dignity Foundation in Sentul. It's a charity-run school, founded by a Malaysian couple, that provides education for underprivileged children; the majority of those attending are refugees. The Scottish Society kindly offered to sponsor two students: A Bawi and Emily and they started at the centre in March 2013. As well as the school fees, the society provides support by paying for their uniforms, lunch and transport.
Emily is aged 15 and in Form 3. She studies Maths, English, General Science and Bahasa. She is in what Dignity call their STEP Programme: Skills Training and Education Programme which means 50% study and 50% work experience. Emily's work experience is in hairdressing and she loves it! She wants to continue on that path. Classes are run by a professional KL hairdresser who gives his time and staff over two days to train the youngsters. The school's language medium is English and the daily immersion in the language is a huge benefit to all who attend. Emily is here with her mum and two sisters; her dad died in Myanmar (I don't know the circumstances). Mum does the accounts for the Mang Tha group of Myanmar ladies who have a sewing workshop above the school. It must be hard for her on her own with three daughters but I'm happy to say that they are to be resettled to Australia. They don't have a date yet but they are in the resettlement programme. I will keep you posted; it may be early next year. A Bawi is now 18 years old and doing well in Form 4. He studies Maths, English, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. He had good news to share with Marina and I: he and his family (Mum, Dad and one brother) are being resettled to Kansas City, Missouri on the 8th of September. He is happy to be going but also apprehensive, as I'm sure we can all imagine. A Bawi had very low self esteem and confidence when I first met him at ACR School. I knew that he would benefit from attending Dignity but he was scared. I learned from his mum that he failed his high school exams before they left Myanmar and it completely knocked his confidence. He had excellent written English, but was very reticent to speak it.
I persuaded him to give Dignity a try and I'm happy to say he has hasn't looked back. He is still shy but importantly he says he wants to continue his studies when he reaches the states. I made an enquiry on his behalf to UNHCR and, while they couldn't say for certain, it seems there is provision for refugees who are eighteen and over to continue their education. There is an agency in the states that takes care of things like this
So, the society's support of these two young people is coming to a close but it has been invaluable. It's not for me to say thanks; just to say you have changed lives.
Editor’ Note: Carole Findlay and I had the pleasure of meeting A Bawi and his parents at ACR school in Pudu on the 7th of September. It was both a very humbling and rewarding meeting. Carole has been a wonderful inspiration to the students and supported A Bawi throughout his education. Not only were his parents so humble in their respect and thanking Carole for her dedication towards their sons progress through out the years
They could no speak any English, but the tears in all our eyes expressed everyone's feelings that afternoon The picture says it all and below is an email from A Bawi to teacher Carole:
Kind regards, Carole
Hi , Teacher Carole , Thank you so much for everything you did for us and I really love your gift . I feel sorry because I couldn't do anything for you. You are a great teacher I ever seen .You provide us something that we need. Because of your support , now I can lead my parents wherever they want to go by speaking English in US. I have improved allot speaking English even better than before .I am so thankful you and sponsorship committee of Scotland .I wish you all are blessed by My Lord . I will never never forget you and we meet again someday. Lots of LOVE. THANK YOU!@
The Alice Smith School Update By Grant Ferguson
The 2015/16 academic year started on 1st September after the summer break during which very encouraging A level and I/GCSE results were released. Our Year 13 students achieved outstanding results, with 78% of all results awarded at grades A*, A or B level. 48% of all results were A*/A grades, with 100% of the students achieving all A*-E grades in their subjects. These results increase the school's consistently high three year rolling average to 77% of grades in the highest A*-B level bands. The 2015 I/GCSE results were equally impressive with 63% of all results awarded at grades A* - A. 35% of all results were A* grades with 98% of the cohort achieving 5 A* - C grades. With these exceptional results, the school's consistently high three year rolling average increases to 65% of grades in the highest A*-A level bands. We have two new members of the Council of Governors; Joyce Simpson as the Trustee Governor representing St. Mary’s Cathedral succeeding Lorien Holland; and, Alexandra Williams the new Chair of the PTA succeeding Morwenna Franssens.
Our ongoing facilities development plans continue apace with the new Administration wing and stateof-the-art Modern Foreign Language facility at the Equine Park campus becoming operational in term 3 last year and work began during the summer break on the back playing field at EP. This key project involves a new high quality natural turf playing field, synthetic turf training and multipurpose areas and a world class 8-lane synthetic athletics running track and other field event areas that should be ready for the start of the next academic year.
Grant Ferguson September 2015
Some News and Dates For Your Diary Lift Off for Space Whisky Experiment 10 Sep 2015 Results from an experiment which saw a sample of whisky catapulted into space have been described as ‘ground breaking’. Arbeg Distillery on Islay sent a sample of its unmatured malt whisky to the International Space Station in a cargo spacecraft in 2011. The distillery which was looking to investigate how micro-gravity would affect the behaviour of the flavour, said its space samples were noticeably different in terms of aroma and taste than the samples at the distillery. The tasting experiment was described by Ardbeg as paving the way for ‘unprecedented flavour’ profiles. Dr Bill Lumsden, Ardbeg’s director of distilling and whisky creation, said: “The space samples were noticeably different. "When I nosed and tasted the space samples, it became clear that much more of Ardbeg's smoky, phenolic character shone through - to reveal a different set of smoky flavours which I have not encountered here on earth before. "Ardbeg already has a complex character, but the results of our experiment show that there is potentially even more complexity that we can uncover, to reveal a different side to the whisky." The sample was launched into space in 2011 by Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and spent nearly three years in space.
17 October Great British Ball @ Shangri La Hotel 7 November Whiskey Tasting Night,,TBC
21 November St Andrews Ball @ Double Tree Hilton 23 Jan 2016 Burns Night @ Double Tree Hilton In addition the Society runs Scottish Country Dancing throughout the year. Please check the Society Website for details of the dancing: http://www.ssas-online.com/dancing/
SO TRUE!
YOU WILL NEVER BE COMPLETELY AT HOME AGAIN, BECAUSE PART OF YOUR HEART WILL ALWAYS BE ELSEWHERE.
THAT IS THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR THE RICHNESS OF LOVING AND KNOWING PEOPLE IN MORE THAN ONE PLACE.