A Lady from Sitiawan

A nice young girl freshly graduated from university came to Miri for three years and enriched our lives.

Just before the year ended we had to say farewell to her as she was given a transfer to Selangor on the 29th December (which was not really expected but she did apply and as unprepared for this she had to pack on the 30th Dec one day before her old School's staff meeting) and where she and her newly wedded husband would start their new life together. She was blessed to be able to book a ticket to go west at the end of the year at a moment's notice. At the moment of writing she does not know where her new school will be.

We wish her and her husband the very best and God's blessings upon their marriage.

Miss Lau is from Sibu and has been teaching for a year in Miri.




Five young ladies.....


When a teacher graduates from university in Malaysia she can be posted by the government to any far flung town to teach for at least three years. When teachers from West Malaysia kick up a fuss about being posted to Kelantan or Sarawak even the Prime Minister has to come out to make a statement! Unknown to many a few new graduate teachers however feel that they are blessed to be "sent" to Julau (do you know where it is?) or even Ulu Bakong (where there is a 2000 student secondary school) and are willing to serve at least three years before they ask for a transfer. Their reasons must be good: for marriage or for health reasons.

Miss Ching came to our small group every Friday from the first day she arrived in Miri to teach and became part of us very quickly. Most importantly she fitted in very well because she is a Foochow ! The food we had as part of our fellowship has been delicious to her taste. And she was very appreciative.

A pensive Ching.....

Her life so far has been in neat stages touched by the hands of God according to her.

Firstly it was very obvious God sent her to Sarawak and helped her "see" for herself the differences amongst people of all races. She had enjoyed abundantly the three years she had spent here in Sarawak.

Secondly she found a small group that help her sustain her faith in God. She really appreciated the Small Group Fellowship and she asked all her friends never to stop going to SGF every Friday no matter how tired they are. She had found a lot of peace and spiritual refreshment in the fellowship.

As we reflected all the years we have spent together like sisters I cannot help but think that we are like different dishes of food. Together we become a feast!! How fantastic we can be with artistic presentation which is attractive and enticing. As a group of good friends we gather strength and synergise.

Thirdly as part of her response to God she also enjoyed going to a short term mission in the Ulu  where she gathered a lot of indepth knowledge about Sarawak. Mission is an important part of her life now.That according to her was an important stage in her life.

Another stage in her life was of course meeting her partner in life.



One important Miri stage of her life was to sing in front of a large group of people. She took up guitar lessons and enjoyed singing. And to our delight she served the Church as part of the Praise and Worship team. Singspiration is an area that often faces shortage of human resources. She has been a great addition to the family of church musicians. We will miss her music and her beautiful stage personality.

And finally and most importantly another very important stage in her life : her father recently decided to "give her away" in the Christian way on her wedding day in Church. Her father who did not want his non believing friends to laugh at him and join the Church people for her own daughter's wedding had been very against her Church wedding. But through prayers he finally and happily agreed to do the honour. This was just a few days before the wedding. God works in miraculous ways.


She said :"I will miss the laughter and the joy of sharing....."


Although she became a Christian several years ago she claims that it is Miri which has brought her a real Christian life. Her faith enabled her to be a good teacher who spent almost all her day time in the school . She pushed herself into as many as five committees and five school clubs. Her work helped her school reach national level in several of the programmes.

Her major is Economics but it was her excellence in Chinese (a subject she took in STPM) which enabled her to impart her knowledge to her students who succeeded scholastically at distinction levels. Her heart is for teaching well.


All these school teachers have completed a good year's work and will embark on another challenging year...

Group photo at the end of the dinner...

In her farewell speech she said she would miss all of us especially. If it was not for her own marriage she would have stayed on in Miri!! We will miss the loving kindness and gentleness of this lady from Sitiawan.

(This posting is to help her remember the last fellowship - our 4 Ws - especially Wallop - we had with her - whenever she is doing her computer work!...Thanks Ching....we will miss you too especially on Friday...." )