Passing the Baton

It was on 9 August 2019 when the CG leadership of our group was officially handed over to me from Hyen Siong at Sabah Golf & Country Club where the CG meeting was held that evening. 

9 Aug 2019.

Barely eight months later in early March, Covid 19 pandemic struck literally every country in the world. The pandemic has effectively changed the way churches conduct their usual Sunday worship services. Physical gathering was not allowed and online worship service became the new norm. Cell group meetings too switched to online gathering. Zoom became an instant preferred software to connect people throughout the world. It was refreshing for many people to suddenly be able to join in worship services and gatherings held in other parts of the world. But over time, people began to feel the strain of looking at a small screen of a handphone and to concentrate for one or two hours. Soon, Zoom fatigue crept in and people just found it unbearable to sit in front of a handphone and focus for hours. Many longed for the physical meetings of the good old days!

After over two years of online gatherings, it's time to move away from this form of gathering and revert back to physical meeting. 

After three years of taking charge of the group, it's time for a leadership change. On 2 September 2022 at 10am, the group gathered physically at Krugma House to witness the passing of the baton to the new leader, Yuen Ching.

2 Sep 2022.

Quite to my surprise, 23 turned up for the event. Some had to leave early and were unable to join the photo session. 

This group since its inception has been meeting on a regular basis for over thirty years. Throughout this period, it has witnessed change of leadership five times. Hence, this photo is truly historic because all five CG leaders are able to meet together for this latest change of leadership. The first leader, Peter Siau (front row right), second leader (Thomas Wong (front row second from right), third leader Chong Hyen Siong (front row third from right), fifth leader Lee Yuen Ching (front row 4th from right) and me the fourth leader sitting next to Yuen Ching.

Prior to joining this group in 2018, I was with another group for over thirty years. That group did multiply and new groups were formed. But by 2017, only three families remained in the original group and the health of the key members deteriorated. Meetings were irregular. Eventually, we decided to move to this group.