Shine The Light

This is the testimony of my journey of faith.

I am a Catholic because I will to do my best to serve the Will of God.

It is done after deep thought. I have explored eastern and western philosophies and religions.

I have also compared, studied and researched Christianity and the church from its origin, history, teaching and message.

It is timely for faithful Malaysian citizens like me to rise and shine and stand and speak up to safeguard the right to worship God freely today.

Article 11 of the Federal Constitution clearly states that Malaysian citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of religious worship.

Under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Principles of Natural Justice, nobody should violate
this freedom.

It is right and proper for believers of God to strongly protest and stop the ban on the use of the word "Allah"
in Malaysia.

The ban makes a mockery of our freedom of worship and freedom of speech.

For the common good and benefit of present and future generations, we must initiate a global petition to protect and preserve this sacred right to invoke the Grace, Love and Mercy of God and shine the Light where we are.

I foresee that humanity would be redefined in divinity in bright civilization of light moved by the Holy Spirit in future.

This is because humble servants-friends of God  such as myself are being transformed to do His Will.

For decades I have believed in God. In His Grace, He has answered my prayers many times.

My late beloved parents and teachers planted the seeds of faith in me from an early age.

I am thankful to my eldest brother Stephen Kong Chin Peng, only sister Puan Sri Melanie Kong Wan Peng, and second brother Christopher Kong Sooi Peng for being very good and successful Christian models.

Stephen has been most loving,kind and persistent in helping, supporting and encouraging me to follow Jesus.

I remember the joyful Friday services with my beloved classmates in the Wesley Methodist Church
beside the Methodist Boys Secondary School in the heart of Kuala Lumpur when I was a teenager.

But I became caught up in the rat race to make a living and build a career and family after I left school with a Higher School Certificate(HSC).

I started as a cadet reporter in New Straits Times Press(NSTP) under the late Tan Sri Lee Siew Yee,who was editor-in-chief, and the late Tan Sri Samad Ismail, who was managing editor and news editors - the late Dahari Ali, Tony Herman and Philip Matthews and NSTP crime desk chief Rudy Beltran.

As my immediate superior, Rudy taught me to be sharp and shrewd in sizing up people and situations.

His great sense of humour and fatherly love and special coaching helped to shape my future,

Around the NSTP crime desk were my 1Malaysia colleagues specially selected for training and performance by Rudy.

We manned it 24/7 on standby duty ever ready to rush to the scene in Kuala Lumpur-Klang Valley in a white Mini Minor company car with a photographer and driver.

They are Noor Khalid, James Ritchie, Najib Abdul Rahman, Ali Hamdan, John Fernandez, Terence Netto, N.V.Raman and George Chang.

Noor Khalid, now an Ipoh-based cartoonist, is Lat of Kampung Boy fame.

James Ritchie, now a Kuching-based writer, is the son of a former Sarawak Police Commissioner.

Najib,whose wife is a charming Malay princess, is the son of the late Inspector-General of Police who promoted the Rukun Tetangga scheme.Communists ambushed and shot Abdul Rahman dead in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

Ali Hamdan, a good friend of famous Malay writer and nationalist A. Samad Said, used to drive a red hot Triumph sports car.

Terence Netto,  who lived in Sentul, loved sports.

John Fernandez, whose attractive wife Hanim Melan- a daughter of a very influential retired Utusan Malaysia journalist- served the most delicious Malay food I had tasted during Hari Raya Puasa in Kampung Baru, used to work in Malaysia's first and only Workers' Co-operative Bank(now defunct) started by trade union leaders, after he left NSTP.

N.V.Raman, took the leap to work in the United States of America after becoming Star chief reporter.

George Change,worked as staff correspondent in Bukit Mertajam. I have lost contact with him.

Those were the days when I worked very hard to be the first on the scene to deliver the latest hot news like the Campbell Shopping Complex Fire, Tokyo Bank Robbery by the notorious Botak Chin and his gang, the Port Klang Container Jam as an ace crime reporter and staff correspondent like the TV star Kojak.

I witnessed Malaysia's growth as a rapidly emerging economy into what it is today.

I had the honour and privilege to join the late Tan Sri Dr. Nordin Sopiee, who later headed Malaysia's think tank, the Institute of Strategic International Studies (ISIS), in his company car for a special four-eyes lunch in Bangsar.

Dr. Nordin broke the heartening news that lifted me to a higher level in life -  rapid promotion to take care of Selangor news as NSTP staff correspondent based in Klang and write the Inside Klang weekly column in The Malay Mail under my pseudonym Litu.

Another high point in my journalism career was to be interviewed and recruited  for a senior journalist post by The Straits Times Singapore executive editor Bob Ng in real style in a luxury suite in the old Kuala Lumpur Hilton Hotel in Jalan Sultan Ismail.

Bob issued me a personal appreciation letter that I treasured.

 It was for working overnight as a member of an effective and dedicated editorial team who gathered,edited and produced the front page report on the Grand Singapore Cable Car Tragedy near Sentosa Island.

Among the other vital news I wrote are the Great Selangor and Klang Valley Water Crisis due a prolonged drought, the confidence building phase of installing a mild and pleasant ex-policeman Hormat Rafei of Banting to head the Selangor Administration after the disgraceful fall of Umno strongman Selangor Mentri Besar the late Datuk Harun Idris and Hai Hong Vietnamese Refugees' Drama and its impact.

So the water crisis we know today is a recurrent problem.

The political corruption in Umno already started long ago.

The late Datuk Harun Idris became too powerful and arrogant resulting in his forced exit -arrest, court conviction and imprisonment for corruption for demanding and taking bribes in the HSBC headquarters construction scandal.

The Hai Hong marked an eventful turn of fortune after the fall of Saigon. Thousands of Vietnamese refugees facing hardship fled their homeland for greener pastures a few years' later.

I broke the Hai Hong news when an old ship laden with human cargo anchored outside the South Port of Port Klang. Malaysian marine police stopped it from unloading the Vietnamese refugees.

It created international focus on the desperate plight of the Vietnamese migrants whose lives had been turned upside down by economic depression and misfortune after years of war.

I shared the news with senior American newsmen and international agencies and broadcast journalists from New York, Johannesburg and elsewhere.

I was delighted when the West German government sent a jet to ferry the refugees from Subang airport to Bavaria.

The Canadian government also sent a special team led by an envoy from Singapore(at that time Canada had yet to establish a High Commission in Kuala Lumpur). The Canadians extended a compassionate helping hand to absorb many of the Hai Hong refugees and gave them support to start a new life in Canada.

The West German and Canadian positive humanitarian response spearheaded a multilateral rehabilitation and resettlement programme for the Vietnamese refugees in the United States, Australia and elsewhere.

As a newspaperman, I enjoyed the excitement and satisfaction of reading my reports and articles published in New Straits Times, The Malay Mail and  The National Echo (now defunct) and The Straits Times Singapore.

On my return from Singapore, I was offered the post of special personal assistant to The International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors' Association(IFAWPCA) Tan Sri (Dr.) Yeoh Tiong Lay, who is currently the honorary life president of the Master Builders Association Malaysia(MBAM).

The 20th IFAWPCA convention - the first major international event to be organized by MBAM in Kuala Lumpur, officiated by former prime minister Tun Dr.Mathathir Mohamed in the old Kuala Lumpur Hilton Hotel ballroom,- was a great success.

The MBAM Council led by its president Tan Sri Yeoh then appointed me MBAM first executive director of the national trade association representing the construction industry

I  served as the consultant editor advising and helping MBAM leaders and editorial committee and secretariat staff to upgrade Master Builders, the association's quarterly, into a respectable voice of the industry.

I also served as the first executive director of Asean Constructors' Federation(ACF) when MBAM hosted the First Asean Construction Symposium.

In the eleven years under four MBAM presidents, I drafted many speeches, appeals, press statements and memoranda to the highest authorities such as the Prime Minister Department, The Bank Negara (National Bank), the Ministries of Finance,Trade and Industry, Works, Human Resources and other relevant bodies to address the issues and solve the problems causing hardship to contractors.

Former MBAM adviser the late Datuk Dr. Bernard Wang, a famous management consultant and founding president of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Malaysia; former MBAM secretary-general the late Oh Kong Yew, a brilliant Colombo Plan scholar and key official in  the construction of Kedah's Muda Irrigation Scheme when he served in a senior key post in Malaysia's Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and the late Gan Cheng Lim, a senior engineer in Yeoh Tiong Lay Construction firm,
and I worked very well  together brainstorming with Tan Sri Yeoh and MBAM leaders to formulate and submit proposed Strategies for the Growth of Malaysia's Construction Industry to the government.

Supply distortions and rising prices hindered the smooth and healthy the development of the construction industry such as the labour, steel bars and cement shortages.

I also travelled extensively with Tan Sri Yeoh and MBAM leaders and delegates to represent the Malaysian construction industry in many regional and international meetings and foria.

I drafted the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)Act that was polished up by a Works Ministry  special committee. The draft was passed by the Malaysian Parliament.The CIDB is now a vital body answerable to Parliament to promote, strengthen and establish the construction industry as an engine of growth and force for good.

Former IJM Corporation   Berhad's managing director Datuk Goh Chye Keat and I put together MBAM Blue Book Proposal to establish the Malaysian Construction Academy with substantial help and input from Boxhill Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

The aim was to address and solve the manpower shortage with a proper and systematic solution in  educating and producing quality competent construction professionals with the right knowhow, attitude, work ethics, skills and technology.

I also played constructive and positive roles in future ideas like Vision 2020; North-South Highway; Quality Movement in Government and Industry; Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) with twin-towers of 88 floors shaped like stars of super high quality concrete linked with the world's first sky bridge and shopping mall set in world class lake and children playground and mini-waterfall; Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) with world class airport set in a forest concept; Multimedia Super Corridor(MSC) and KLIA high speed train service linking KLIA to Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya(Prince of Success) Federal Capital.

By the Grace of God, I shared the visionary ideas freely for the good of the country and people.

The Holy Spirit moved me to make a vow to help spread the joy of the Gospel to the hill tribes when my wife and I visited a beautiful Catholic Church in the town square of Sapa, a scenic hill resort near the Vietnam-China border a few years' ago.

To fulfill this vow, I sought an audience with Msgr. James Gnana.

Father James immediately allowed me to join the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) after checking with coordinator Richard Chia.

I am most grateful to them both for giving me the opportunity to learn, understand and appreciate The Word of God and the Catholic Faith.

My heartfelt thanks also go to the RCIA team facilitators Michael Tan,  Demetrous Ravi, Shirley Decena, Anne Tan, Melina Ang, Wendy Ong, Lynn Yap,Peter Flynn and Patrick Anthony.

They have given The Elect and Confirmation Candidates a strong solid foundation to grow in faith in our journey together.

I record sincere appreciation of their sacrifice, commitment and dedication to share knowledge and experience in well prepared modules almost every week.

They presented very good modules on the meaning of life, faith, need for community,Who is God, The Bible, God's Plan for Salvation, Jesus - Birth, Life, Divinity and Humanity, His Message and Teaching Mission, The Paschal Mystery -Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus, The Holy Trinity - The Father,The Son and The Holy Spirit, The Nature of Church - The People of God and Body of Christ, The Rosary,The Church as Temple of The Holy Spirit, The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic -Marks of the Church,Mary and the Saints,History of the Church, Death, Judgement and Life Everlasting, The Sacrament of Baptism, The Sacrement of Confirmation, The Meaning of Advent and Christmas, The Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist, The Sacrament of Matrimony and Family Life, The Sacrament of Holy Orders, The Sacrament of Reconciliation, The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, Christian Morality and the Beatitudes, the Ten Commandments, Lent and Holy Week, the first,second and third Scrutiny Explained with the first session on Samaritan Woman at the Well; second session on Jesus Heals the Man Born Blind and third session on the Raising of Lazarus followed by a most relaxing weekend retreat to meditate and know God singing beautiful hymns  like Praise God from whom all blessings flow, From the Depths and Because He Lives before and after intensive sharing with videos on well chosen verses in Genesis, Exodus and The Gospel.

So far, the journey has been most rewarding and enlightening for me.

I humbly submit this special song to invoke God to bless all with sacred gifts in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The lyrics were inspired in the early hours before dawn on April 9,2014 after our most refreshing and memorable weekend retreat in L' Sanctuary in Alor Gajah near Malacca.

May We Be

May we be
Pure and holy
In words and acts
In praise of the Glory
Of God in the highest
Honour and splendour.

May we be
True, wondrous and righteous
In love and life
In the Grace
Of God, Our Lord, shining brightest
The Light
To the end of the universe.

May we be
Faithful and helpful
In kindness
And tenderness
In the Grandeur
Of the Holy Spirit moving strongest
In Right
To the end of time.

May we be 
Humble, simple and reasonable
Where we are
In celebration of the Majesty
Beauty of The Trinity blessing greatest
In Might
Bright in the One in unity
Outpouring Mercy
Humanity Charity
Divinity Nobility
Worthy of adoration.

May we grow
Wise like God
As we are The Elect
Chosen to be
Children of God inspiring all
In awe
Loving, living and giving
Goodness gracious,
Precious and bright.

May we become
The Best
We can be
In Grace, Love and Mercy
Of God 
Now and forever.

I ask for the Grace of God to be upon us in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

Please remember John 16:23 -

"Truly,I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name, he will give you."

I look forward to be officially baptized in St. John's Cathedral in Jalan Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at 8.30 p.m. during Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday (April 19,2014)