At the 2011 International Workshop @ Sempurna Resort, Kuantan

The workshop kicked off exactly at 8.45 am on 25/3/11 with a brief opening speech by the Organizing Committee and introduction of Tony Kwong as the Instructor for the 3-day workshop. I was told that a total of 101 members registered for this workshop and it was a record turn out. From this number, half are from overseas, and almost all of them from various branches in Australia except one representing TTCS Sweden.

Tony started the workshop with the Foundation Exercises. All was well until the Don-Yu and Tor-yu part. At one point, Tony took the participants to a non-stop 250 repetitions of Don-Yu! Tony also provided ample demonstrations of the set in slow motion and the participants really learnt a lot from it. Two members, namely Helen Gaunt from Margaret River, Australia and Ruby from Kuantan, spoke about their recoveries from an auto accident and stroke respectively. Doctors have told Helen that she will walk with a limp but today there is no sign of it at all and she is putting more time on her Tai Chi. For Ruby, it is exactly a year when she first met Tony at last year's workshop. Today, she could raise her right hand and her legs are much stronger. The participants were also told that she can now drive a car and is instructing line dancing! Both of them are grateful to Tony for the help and guidance and for making the speedy recoveries.

On 26/3/11, after two days of training, it was time for some happy moments. To coincide with the workshop, TTCS Kuantan is celebrating its 15th Anniversary. Dato Alan Yong spoke about how it all got started for TTCS Kuantan. A lavish buffet dinner was served and members took turn to perform on stage. I could see happy faces all around me and it is truly a one big happy family together in celebration.

All good things must come to an end. It was time to say goodbye to all the participants, some of whom will be extending their stay by visiting the surrounding places of interest; and some will be heading straight home. It has been a wonderful two months for me in Malaysia. The food, the nice places of interest, great hospitality, sweet memories and most of all, the good people of TTCS Malaysia, thank you very much for taking care of me. I hope to be back in the near future. Leaving you with these words, TERIMA KASIH DAN JUMPA LAGI (thank you and see you again).

I am now in Kuantan

I have arrived at the Sempurna Resort, Kuantan and have the good fortune to meet a good number of the participants who came from far and near. Also, I am glad to inform that Tony Kwong has safely arrived at the resort at 7.30 pm, just in time for the Welcoming Dinner. Prior to coming to Kuantan, I went for a sight-seeing trip of Kuala Lumpur yesterday. Let me have this chance to introduce to you some of the interesting places. First, I went to KL Tower located at the Bukit Nenas or Pineapple Hill. At the Observation Level, I had a good view of KL and its surrounding suburb. At one of the windows, I could see the Petronas Twin Towers at close range and it was awesome. Then, I went to the Central Market which was built in 1888 and was initially a wet market before changing to a centre for local arts and craft. Here, I visited an art gallery-cum-antique house. Next stop was the Dataran Merdeka or Independence Square where one could see a contrast of the old and new buildings. Check the photo and you could see the old Court House on the foreground and the new high rise buildings at the background. To end the day, I went back to Kajang for TTC practice and thanked the members for taking good care of me for almost two months.

Tomorrow (25/3) is the first day of the Malaysian TTC International Workshop and a total of 101 participants will get together to work on their Tai Chi with Tony on centrestage. I am all ready for the workshop.

Looking at Twin Tower


At the Central Market


At the gallery


At Dataran Merdeka (Old and new)

Busy schedules ahead

For this week , I would have some busy schedules to follow. It would kick-off tomorrow (23/3/11) where I would be visiting interesting sights of Kuala Lumpur city centre in the afternoon. In the evening, I will be back at Kajang centre for practice session. On 24/3/11, after breakfast, I will be travelling to Kuantan by car. Upon arrival there, I will check-in to the Sempurna Resort, the venue for the International Workshop to be conducted by Tony Kwong of ITTCS. Workshop will begin on 25/3/11 and ends on 27/3/11. Right after, I will be on the road back to Kajang and in the evening, it is dinner time with Tony Kwong and Kajang members. Oh yes, Tony will be with me for the return trip to Kajang.

On 28/3/11, guess what, I will be leaving Malaysia. How time flies, it has been almost two months since I arrived here from Australia. It has been fun in hot and sunny Malaysia and I have made a lot of friends and experienced the wide variety of local food and fruits. Truly awesome. I am going to miss them very much.

I have not told you where I would be heading next, right? Well, this is done on purpose. You will know it soon. Before I sign off, please check the attachment, it is a map of Malaysia. See if you can locate all the places that I have mentioned in my reports. Have fun. Bye.

Meeting the oldest member

How time flies and already it is 5 March. As you can recall, when I came here two weeks earlier to meet the Senior Section members, they have invited me to come today to practice TTC and join in a "makan makan" session together. The word "makan" is in the Malay language and it simply mean "to eat".

I am glad to be back to see them, always with a smile for me. After the practice, I took the opportunity to take a photo with the oldest member of the group. She is none other that Madam Chong Kon Moi who is 84 years old. She started TTC since the start of the Senior Section about six years ago. Since then, she has been faithfully attending practice sessions every Saturday morning, from 6 to 7 am. Madam Chong will be going for a holiday to South Korea on 15 March with three other members. I like to wish her "Happy Holiday. Enjoy yourself"

Then, it was time for "makan makan". There were plenty of food to be shared. These food were prepared by the members themselves. I enjoyed the food and also the company of the senior members. I am glad that they are healthy. All their hard work are now paying good dividends as they are now enjoying the health benefits of practicing Taoist tai Chi.

A.G.M. & Dinner

It was Saturday 5 March 2011, and I am at the Mewah Club at Kajang. At the registration counter where I was positioned to welcome and distributed the 2011 Malaysian t-shirt to all the attendees. The Annual General Meeting got underway first and went on smoothly until the selection of Committee Members for Term 2011-2013. A list of candidates were read out and accepted by the members. I was informed that these candidates will be meeting soon and decide amongst themselves, the 9 positions in the Committee, starting with The President. In the meantime, President Phin will be steering the interim Committee. There was one more issue i.e changes to the Constitution. The changes are deemed neccessary inorder for TTCS Malaysia to get on par with other member countries. The members accepted the changes without objections. With that, it was the end of the AGM.

For Dinner, members were feted to an all Indian vegetarian menu prepared by a local caterer. For me, it was a little too spicy but I still liked it. For entertainment, two videos were shown on large screen. First, was a short video on the 2010 National Workshop held at the Chin Swee Caves Temple near Genting Highlands. Next came the Greetings To ITTCS On The 40th Anniversary Celebration. I enjoyed watching, particularly the latter where the concept of the video and good editing work really stood out. The local members got excited when they saw President Phin wishing ITTCS in the national language. To end the evening, a group photo was organized. Check the photo and you will see me right at the center.

I like to take this opportunity to congratulate Phin and the members who participated in the video. Well done. And also, I would like to congratulate and welcome the new Committee Members. Keep up the good work and keep moving forward. Cheers.