这一天，我在Bangsar Shopping Center 工作，为了一年一度的希望之礼宣传。今年，我们必须筹款达到100千的款项，为我们服务的家庭购买他们的必需品。这一天的购物广场来来往往很多为即将到来的圣诞节购物人潮，大家都很有礼貌的说不、已经买了、随手拿宣传单或者也有停下来询问的购物者。但有兴趣购买希望之礼的人们还是寥寥无几。
Do we have a surprise for you! Guess who is World Vision’s ambassador this year? We have the very special, award-winning, international celebrity Wang Leehom!
He left us with a short message, showing us his support towards all of us.
We announced it last Thursday during our 15th Anniversary launch at Berjaya Times Square. The cheering from the crowd once we had announced Leehom as our ambassador was deafening. It is such an honour to have him with us this year. I’m someone who grew up with Leehom, singing his songs whenever I go karaoke with friends and following his projects as he became bigger and bigger.
Wang Leehom is no stranger to World Vision. He sponsors 20 children under World Vision’s International Child Sponsorship Programme (10 sponsored children from Laos and 10 from Sierra Leone) and has visited the organisation’s community transformation work in Laos, China and Sierra Leone. Being able to be a part of something that he is also actively involved in is way too exciting for me.
Last Thursday was my first time being involved in this big of an event. In our audience we had VIPs in which we owed World Vision’s success and development to, together with celebrity guests, Francissca Peter and Daniel Lee.
It’s because of these special people, among many others that were unable to make it, that World Vision Malaysia is where it is today.
The seats behind had also quickly filled with onlookers and as the event started, a mass had developed and there were more than we expected. So the pressure was on, especially since I had the very important role of being in charge of audio and visual for the day. Luckily I wasn’t alone and got help from two other people, but being only able to test the equipment on the morning itself, when the event started, I was a little more than nervous.
We had a big crowd turn out as the event kicked off.
Thankfully, everything went smoothly and at the same time the satisfaction of seeing it all come together was irreplaceable.
Don’t worry, I wasn’t completely overwhelmed by just AV things. At the same time I got to enjoy the overall program with charming emcees William Lee and Jeff Chin from My FM, along with performances from Daniel Lee and Francissca Peter who performed our new song “It Starts with Me” written by Fran and Lee Sinje. A song that will definitely get stuck in your head, in a good way!
Daniel Lee and Francissca Peter performing “It Starts with Me”
You can get a copy of it now along with a bunch of other international World Vision songs in our 15th Anniversary Limited-Edition CD/DVD album with a minimum donation of RM20 by filling out this form. Hurry, they are limited edition!
Our 15th Anniversary Limited-Edition CD/DVD album
stars the voices of many well-known celebrities.
As the event ended and things tied up neatly, it occurred to me that World Vision is what it is today because of everyone’s efforts, contributions and belief. This year our motto is “We See Change.” Change for a better tomorrow because all of us continue to take action and never give up hope.
Were you there to join us for the launch? What did you think of the event? Are you excited as I am that Leehom is our ambassador this year?!
Check out our Youtube page, WorldVisionMsia. We will be posting some of the videos shown during our sharing session that day.
Last Thursday, a group of eight staff from World Vision Malaysia were privileged to have made a visit to Harvest Centre at Sentul. It was such a joy to meet up with children whose faces were glowing with joy and beaming with smiles. The warmth and love as shown in the gratitude of the children towards us – the visitors was indescribable. Even within the short few hours of our time spent with them, the children were enthusiastic about our presence.
Working in pairs, each team headed to four different classes to have some fun time with the children, making handicrafts. As soon as my colleague, Ching Sze and I entered our classroom, all thirty students took the initiative without being asked to shake our hands and greet us “Good morning, teacher!” One by one, they came up to us. And for a moment, it felt like we were the country’s First Lady to be greeted by all these happy faces. What an honour!
The simple handicraft that we had chosen for the seven-year-olds could be seen in the picture below. The children were very much excited and eager for us to teach them how to get started.
Chick picture
While making the crafts, I got to know the children’s names and how they actually enjoyed our company. “Teacher, see you tomorrow!” One of the boys echoed when we finally were about to step out of the class.
I could not help but see the joy and sheer gratitude in the eyes of these children. Almost all these children were from underprivileged families or refugees themselves. As I reflect, I discovered that these children at Harvest Centre were all very grateful for the simple, little things they had. Yet, as adults especially city folks like me, we could so easily take things such as our education for granted.
Indeed, Harvest Centre had been providing high-quality learning environments to the underprivileged communities since 1999. Started out with just 50 students and conducting pre-school lessons alone, the institution is currently offering quality education throughout primary school and high school. The founder – Elisha Satvinder and his wife Petrina Shee as well as their team of staff fervently believe that quality education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty and negative mindsets which have imprisoned these children and their families for generations.
As a graduate who has now been confined to working within the comforts of a desk in an air-conditioned office, this visit has significantly changed my outlook towards life. My colleagues thought the same.
“I’m glad we came. This visit serves as a reminder for me to fulfill my responsibility to serve the community,” Pei Ling said.
It could be the very simple things in life that put a smile in our hearts and on our faces. Come what may, one must always find ways to be thankful and give back to society according to their strengths and ability. It was indeed interesting to find out that there were so many refugees and underprivileged children who did not have the chance to education. And yet, such issues concerning the lack of education facilities and funding amongst refugees were rarely brought to the media’s attention.
Might I end with the famous saying of John Wesley, a prominent theologian:
“Make all you can,
Save all you can,
Give all you can.”
Even in our earnings of material gains, most of us are definitely mindful of saving up for the rainy days. But to give away whatever we could – be it our money or time can be challenging and is certainly a question I ask myself. Whatever said and done, an act of love and concern would always be shown in the giving. And that is a valuable lesson that I hope that many more will come to learn!
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