An Evening of Festivities and Friendships

This Chinese New Year has been rather eventful. We found ourselves attending yet another festive celebration dinner, this time at one of the local hotels on 26.02.2026, courtesy of an invitation from one of my banks. Occasions like these add a pleasant extension to the festive season and provide moments to pause and enjoy the company of others.

Before dinner began, we had the opportunity to watch a Lion Dance troupe perform at close range. The beating of the drums, the movements of the lions, and the festive energy of the performance brought the hall to life. It was a reminder of how these traditions continue to enliven the spirit of the Chinese New Year.

We also had the chance to participate in the customary lou sang once again. Earlier on just before CNY, we had already enjoyed our first lou sang during our company’s Pre-Chinese New Year Annual Dinner with the staff on 02.02.2026. Yet repeating the ritual did not diminish its meaning. As always, the tossing of the colourful ingredients together was accompanied by cheerful wishes for prosperity, good health, and success in the year ahead.

Perhaps the most meaningful aspect of such gatherings is the opportunity to meet people - sometimes new acquaintances, but often old friends whom we have not seen for many years.

That evening, two of the guests I met long ago instantly brought back many memories. One of them was Mary, a former staff member of the Sabah Forest Industries (SFI) Pulp and Paper Mill in Sipitang. The first time I met her was during a reunion on 10.03.2017 - almost nine years ago. That gathering was arranged by Mr. Cheng Lik Seng mainly for several former staff of SFI and some of his acquaintances. I was invited because we had once worked together at Permodalan Bumiputra Sabah Berhad (PBSB). At that time, Mr. Cheng was the Property Development Manager and my immediate superior during my four-year stint in PBSB from 1984 to 1988.

How I eventually came to join PBSB was itself quite an eventful story (Read here). After four years there, I left in 1988 to join Antah-Biwater, where I was involved in the implementation of the Sabah Rural Water Supply Schemes (Read here). A couple of years later in 1994, Mr. Cheng also left PBSB to assume the position of Managing Director of SFI. SFI originally a wholly-owned company of the Sabah Government was privatized in 1994 and Lion Group acquired the majority share of the company. Tan Sri William Cheng, the CEO of the Lion Group appointed Mr. Cheng to be the MD of SFI Pulp and Paper Mill in 1994.

Sharing the meal together in the same table was Charles Wong, who is now retired. Our acquaintance goes back even further, to 1988, when we first met during a job interview shortly after I had left PBSB. That was thirty-eight years ago. On this occasion, he came with his son, now 45 years old. Moments like this make one pause and reflect on the swift passage of time.

Indeed, time has a way of moving quietly yet relentlessly forward.

Guests at our dinner table on 26.02.2026. Mary is second from left while Charles is second from right.

An old photo taken on 10.03.2017 during a reunion dinner of former staff of SFI and friends of Mr. Cheng. Mary is the third from the left, while Mr. Cheng is the third from the right.

Francis Yee (first on the left), a cousin of mine, joined SFI as the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Pulp & Paper Mill after leaving JKR Sabah.

On the far right is Lau Siew Ching, a former colleague of mine at PBSB (Read here), who was later invited to join SFI as an assistant to the MD, Mr. Cheng.