Educational Visit to Palm Oil Mill

Posted on by


Group pic outside the SOP Academy Training Center. Plant manager Mr. Selvaraju is at far right.

May 12, Miri - The 4th Miri Boys’ Brigade visited a palm oil mill in the outskirts of Miri as part of their planned educational activity scheduled for this year.

Upon arrival the group was warmly welcomed by Mr. Hilary Sebastian of Sarawak Oil Palms Berhad.

Sarawak Oil Palms is a Malaysian public company listed on the Bursa Malaysia.

According to its website, the Sarawak company has more than 65,000 hectares of land with crude palm oil and palm kernel as its sole fruits products.

During the two-hour visit the Boys were briefed about the company’s history, business and organizational structure.


Mr. Ben Zhang from SOP explains the palm seedlings, fruits and oils

They also learned about the various aspects of palm oil production; the establishment of plantations, collection from fresh fruits bunches, acceptable quality for the international edible oil trade and milling process.

After the one hour briefing, the floor was opened to an active Q & A session by Mr. Selvaraju, the plant manager.

A guided tour to the mill was led by the on-site engineer Mr. Ben Zhang.


Touring the plant

Sgt. Sim Soon Sin, who recently received a Gold Scholastic award was appreciative with the visit. “It was a new experience for us, an eye-opener. We learned much and had good fellowship too,” he said.

Cpt. Roseline Lee thanked the company and their staff for providing such an enriching experience. “The visit augurs well for our boys as they have learned more about palm oil. I wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Sarawak Oil Palms and their excellent community service,” she summed up.

Seminar on Ghosts and Evil Spirits

Posted on by


Rev. Wong emphasizes a point. The Chinese to English translator is at his left.

by James TC Wong

May 10-11, Miri – Do ghosts and evil spirits exist? If your answer is no, probably it’s because you haven’t come across any, reasoned the speaker in his opening introduction.

“In the years of speaking to a few thousand people on this topic, less than twenty have admitted that they have come across ghosts,” said Rev. Wong Tuong Toh.

To promote a Christian Living awareness on unclean spirits, Grace MC organized a seminar over two evenings for its congregation.

The invited speaker, from Huai Ann MC, Sibu is an experienced pastor on the subject.

He also explained why the issue concerning ghosts and evil spirits is important.

People generally assume what ghosts or evil spirits are. However in most cases, people are not capable of easily discerning between a departed soul and an unclean spirit in paranormal incidents.


Seminar in session

The popular view engaged by most people is ghosts are strictly souls of the departed and are generally not malevolent.

In the bible evil spirits are typically associated to demons, and in most cases, to the devil himself.

According to the speaker, both ghosts and evil spirits are demonic in nature.

Jesus cast out demons as accounted in the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, reminded the speaker. He further said that Christians would harbour misconceptions if they do not believe in the existence of ghosts and evil spirits.

Using biblical evidence and context, Rev. Wong warned the congregation to “be alert and of sober mind for the enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).

During the final evening session, there was an interesting Q & A with Rev. Wong and the congregation engaging in active interaction.

Aaron Hii, church member and Chairman of the GMC Missions Ministry found the seminar comprehensive and insightful.

“Not many people are experienced and equipped to handle unclean spirits. I encourage those who always go for local or overseas missions to be alert of evil manifestations so that they know what to do when incidents arise,” he cautioned.

Seminar on SPM Bible Knowledge

Posted on by


Rev. Lisa praying for the students and teachers as the seminar came to a close

by James TC Wong

Apr 28, Miri – Concerned with the declining candidature in the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) Bible Knowledge examination, a group of dedicated Christian teachers from various schools in Miri took a commendable initiative to organize a seminar to benefit students and teachers alike who are involved in the subject.

The seminar was conducted at Grace Methodist Church.

In the Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia (Malaysian Examination Board) list of over 100 SPM subjects, Bible Knowledge is offered alongside Chinese and Tamil Literature, Quran Studies, Iban and Kadazandusun languages.

80 students from SMK St. Columba, SMK Chung Hua, SMK St. Joseph’s, SMK Lopeng Tengah, SMK Merbau, SMK Taman Tunku, SMK Kubang Limbang attended the full-day course with their parents and Bible Knowledge teachers.

The objectives of the seminar were:

  1. To learn answering techniques to score maximum marks.
  2. To allay fears and build up students’ skills and confidence.
  3. To establish a common platform for students and teachers to network and share useful teaching materials and aids.

Bible Knowledge examination statistics in Malaysia:

1960s Thousands of candidates (Form 3 and Form 5)
1987 500+ (SPM)
1993 200-300 (SPM), no longer available at Form 3 Examination
1994 BK taken out of SPM, listed as SAP subject
1995 BK re-instated as SPM subject, only 20 candidates
1996 50+ (SPM)
1998 150+ (SPM)
1999 200+ (SPM)
2004 400+ (SPM)
2005 600+ (SPM)
2007 900+ (SPM)
2008 900+ (SPM)
2009 1000+ (SPM)
2010 1000+ (SPM)
2011 700+ (SPM)

Source – Malayan Christian Schools’ Council and Lembaga Peperiksaan Malaysia

From the statistics, it is obvious that the Bible Knowledge faces challenges in the all-important SPM examination.

According to feedback received, the reasons given vary from ignorance to reluctance on the parents’ part in allowing their children to sit for the paper.

Many Christian students and parents do not realize that Bible Knowledge is offered and recognized as a SPM subject. Churches are not actively promoting the paper to their congregations. In the same vein principals from missions schools are not pushing for the study. Few Christian teachers are burdened to teach the subject after official school hours. Students cannot find time to join the Bible Knowledge class because they are already overloaded with many tuition classes outside school hours.

The Bible Knowledge paper is in English hence many students who are not proficient in the language are unable to cope. It is difficult to score an A+ or A  and therefore “kiasu” parents are not encouraging their children to take the paper. Moreover when some students are not guided in their study they tend to score poorly in the paper.

With little support from the mainstream schools, the responsibility of teaching the subject lies solely in the hands of the church.

However it is encouraging to note that several committed Christian teachers from SMK Chung Hua, SMK Columba, SMK St. Joseph’s and SMK Lopeng Tengah have stepped up to volunteer teaching their students.

Random feedback sought among the participants was positive.

“The seminar was useful as I learned about the techniques on answering questions. Since my confidence on answering questions has increased, I feel the Bible Knowledge is not a difficult subject, ” said Joshua Lee, a Form Four student from SMK Chung Hua.

The seminar ended with Pastor-in-charge Rev. Lisa Ting praying for all the participants.

BB Enrolment Sunday & 10th Anniversary Celebration

Posted on by


Receiving of Colours by the Chaplain

Story – James TC Wong, Photos – William Ting

Apr 30, Miri – 4th Miri celebrated its 10th Anniversary during the Enrolment Sunday Service yesterday together with church members and the Boys’ Brigade from other Companies in the district.

The service commenced at 8:30 am sharp with the traditional Boys’ Brigade Colours March-in as the combined band from 2nd Miri and 4th Miri played the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” to a standing and respectful congregation.

For the opening song the worship team uplifted the congregation with the popular Boys’ Brigade hymn “Will Your Anchor Hold” that contains its motto and obvious reference to its emblem.


Captain Roseline Lee welcomes the Officers and Boys

In delivering her annual report, 4th Miri Captain Roseline Lee thanked God for all the years of support that the Company has received from its sponsoring church, Grace Methodist.

She also welcomed the respective Captains, Officers and Boys from 1st Miri, 2nd Miri, 3rd Miri, 5th Miri and the representative from SRK (C) Chung Hua Pujut.

After the report on statistics, Captain Lee encouraged parents to send their boys to the church-based Saturday parade. “One hour of Boys’ Brigade activity in school on Wednesday afternoon is insufficient because of time limitation. Your boy will benefit much more from the Saturday parade,” she advised.

In Malaysia, the Boys’ Brigade is recognised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Education as an approved Extra Curricular Activity (ECA).

Highlights during the service included an Officers’ Dedication, a short video showing the activities for the past ten years, a song presentation by the Juniors, a fancy drill by the Seniors and the cutting of the anniversary cake.


Sgt Sim Soon Sin receives the Gold Scholastic award for scoring 10A+ in his SPM

AWARD BADGES AND RANK PROMOTION
Pte William Chen – Link badge, JSS badge
Pte Adrian Tang – Link badge, JSS badge, Bronze Scholastic Award (UPSR 3A)
Pte Yong Yi Lam – Link badge, JSS, Bronze Scholastic Award (UPSR 3A)
Pte Jason Law – Link badge, JSS badge, Bronze Scholastic Award (UPSR 4A)
Pte Richard Chen – LYS badge
Sgt Sim Soon Sin – LYS badge, NCO Proficiency Star, Gold Scholastic (SPM 10A+)

OFFICERS’ RECOGNITION
WO Flor Nera Woodford – Appreciation plaque
Lt Edward Woodford – Appreciation plaque
Lt Margaret Lee Siik Kee – 10 Years Service
Hon. Cpt. Frederick Wong Yok Tak – 10 Years Service


4th Miri Hon. Captain Frederick Wong

“Ten years can be long and short depending on what we are measuring. To an organization, it is short but to a person, ten years is considered long because we don’t have many ten years in our lives,” said 4th Miri Honorary Captain Frederick Wong in his opening speech.

The founding member then shared passionately on the Company’s formative years and also praised the Officers who had been serving since inception.

“It is not easy to be a BB Officer because one has to be fully committed. In the course of ten years we had our ups and downs but thank God we all held steadfast and kept the flag flying by faith. As 4th Miri moves into the next decade, shall we all continue to serve with delight.”


4th Miri Chaplain Pastor Tiong Huong Ong

Showing concern with the Christian walk and how Christians should live, 4th Miri Chaplain Pastor Tiong Huong Ong preached ‘Living To Please God’ extracted from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12.

The sermon was entitled “More and More”.

Echoing the Apostle Paul, the good Chaplain exhorted the congregation to live a holy life that is pleasing to God.

“Remember not long ago we had a water crisis in Miri. Many people rushed to buy bottled water reacting to a rumor that there would be no water supply for three days. But the water supply resumed that night and yet people still complained that the water smelled of diesel.”

“We demand pure water, pure air, pure food but not pure mind or pure morals,” lamented Pastor Tiong.

He also spoke about the worldwide decline on moral values and the challenges he faced when he was studying in Taiwan as an undergraduate.

“When we face temptations, just remember that it is God’s will for us to live a holy life more and more. As we are More and More ‘dead’ to sin, we are More and More ‘alive’ to God.”

“And please remember about More & More. Live a holy life that pleases our God More and More. And also to love one another More and More,” said Pastor Tiong as he concluded his sermon.

The Colours March-out marked the end of the service with light refreshments served.