Simultaneous CHOICE Weekends in Kuala Lumpur

Dec 04, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR (Herald Malaysia): In another first by CHOICE Kuala Lumpur, two language weekends, CHOICE English 95 and CHOICE BM KL 2 were held simultaneously at the Archdiocese Pastoral Center, Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur. A total of 70 participants attended the CHOICE weekends, where 42 attended CHOICE English 95 and 28 attended CHOICE BM KL 2.

While both CHOICE sessions were conducted separately, many of the activities during the weekend were combined. The majority of the participants of the English CHOICE weekend were from Kuala Lumpur, particularly Peninsular Malaysia while the majority of the BM CHOICE weekend participants were from Sabah and Sarawak. This not only fostered a spirit of community within the individual language groups, but also between the participants from both language groups. “Although the effort to organize such a CHOICE weekend was extremely challenging for CHOICE KL, we saw participants from both languages integrating and developing bonds of friendship,” said Raymond Markus, CHOICE KL State Coordinator. He added, “This CHOICE weekend reflected the Communion of the Catholic Church”.

The logistics of handling such a large number of participants, were the result of rigorous team work between all four CHOICE language groups in Kuala Lumpur. Conducted by two separate teams of presenters, and preparations lead by the CHOICE English Team; CHOICE Mandarin and CHOICE Tamil took on respective roles to ensure the weekend was well coordinated. Graduates from CHOICE BM KL 1 were on hand as well to learn the ropes, making this the most inclusive CHOICE Weekend in Malaysia. The organizing committee welcomed Fr. Justin Joannis, SJ, as the new Presenting Priest for Choice BM KL.

Archbishop Julian Leow dropped by during his morning jog giving the participants a pleasant surprise. He congratulated the teams on reaching out to the four language groups, especially the Lost and the Last, through this combined CHOICE weekends. He also expressed his gratitude to the organizing committee. He gladly entertained requests for selfies and photos with the participants of both groups.

In its second weekend, CHOICE BM KL, which started in 2013, caters for single adults between the ages of 18 and 40 years old, who are mainly students from Sabah and Sarawak studying in Peninsular Malaysia. As part of CHOICE KL's outreach to the BM speaking community, the CHOICE BM KL fees are subsidized through the generous contributions of previous CHOICE graduates, to ensure that the weekend fees are affordable to the participants. The number of participants were also increased to 30, up from 20 in the previous round, to cater to a larger demand for the CHOICE BM weekend. “We are very grateful for the tremendous support received from a number of Parish Priests including the community from St Anthony, St Paul Hermit and The Catholic Community in Kuala Terengganu,” said Sylvia Chieng, CHOICE BM KL Presenting Coordinator. “They have actively promoted the CHOICE weekend to the students and BM groups within their parishes”, added Ms. Chieng.

About CHOICE
CHOICE is a self-enrichment experience catered especially for young, single adults age between 23 and 40 years old (18 - 40 years old for BM) ; it is where single adults are inspired to strive for a deeper, more trusting and loving relationship with family, friends, church, community and the world through a personal commitment in acts of love and service to others, encapsulating its motto To Know, To Love & To Serve. For more information, please visit www.choicekl.org.