2010 is gone What have I done

2010 was a great and fast moving year. It was a year of changes and I wish to record some of the highlighs that I remember.

i) I was in the 3rd month of work in January after retiring from CIMB. My job requires me to audit compliance of legal issues such as AMLA/CFT, Whistle blowing, Information security policy and OSHA compliance. Was involved in the audit of Kota Kinabalu branch and also Kuching branch later in the year. Also in 2010 we started the audit of the auto leasing company. My first exercise was to do a Key Controls assessment in an asset management company.

ii) In SFX we prepare for our celebration of the Golden Jubilee in December 2011. We had successful family days and also a relatively happy and succesful Parish Assembly. The PPC retreat however had more GJ members than the PPC itself. Nevertheless, Bro Gerard brought us through a wonderful spiritual journey balanced with a good fellowship. The SFX wbsite and the Church itself became transformed and hopefully more people will worship here.

iii) In Bible study we went through St Paul by Father Michael Chua, then St John by Mgr James. The class finally ended in December and we wil be due for a retreat in January 2011. My thoughts are that I need a more critical mind in reading the Bible and that more exercises are needed before I come to a better comprehension.

iv) In the family we are living quite happily although Gabriel went and joined the sister in Brisbane for his A levels. Aaron began working with the accounting firm and Ian will sit for his O levels in 2011. Visited Mum a few times and she continues to be in good health and with certain streak of luck too. Kar Im is generally ok except for her weakening knees which may require a procedure in 2011.

v) 2010 also saw us visiting Eastern Europe for a pilgrimage. The journey saw me putting on weight as I was given both spiritual and physical upliftment. Spiritual because the awe and wonder of the miracles that took place in the past and in the experience of the pilgrims. The Churches that we visit, the fervent believers in Medugourge, and the presence of our Lord in the daily Masses and prayers gave us the spiritual upliftment. The companions and friends that we made at the 1st pilgrimage made this pilgrimage a more enjoyable and friendlier environment. New friends were also made. The physical upliftment was caused by the pork knuckles and the beer of course.

vi) 2010 started with a loss of a few key leaders of SFX. On January 1st, Father Simon led us to Taiping to attend a funeral of A. Matthews who helped us to get tax exemption for our wine and stained glasses. Then in Chinese New year we lost KC Wong who helped us in the electrical appliances, the multimedia and the sound system, then Alan Hoh, our St Peter of Sunday School left us suddenly to join the Lord. Personally my mother's eldest brother also died and this however brought a reunion of sorts as Mum and her siblings were in KL to attend the week long wake. In December 17, we lost our aunt, Vincent Loh's mum after suffering from kidney failure and other related illness for a year. Gerard Pereira a former PPC memeber and founder Chief of the Sports Ministry also suddenly left us in early December.

vii) We had also several good progress such as my learning how to blog, joining Facebook and also enhancing our friendships within the BEC, Pilgrims, PPC, GJ team and PCC members.

viii)New Year's eve saw a surprised group of people coming to our house after the 10.30pm Mass for a nightcap. The last guests finally left by 3am. Good start for 2011