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| THE BOYS' BRIGADE IN SABAH |
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Mr Anthony Fong who was an ex-officer of the 1st Kuching Company initially
introduced the Boys' Brigade to Sabah and encouraged churches in Sandakan
to form the Boys' Brigade and then followed by Jesselton(now known
as Kota Kinabalu).
All the hardwork of Mr Anthony Fong was vain due to many priests were
leaving the state at that period of time. God indeed was the provider!
Mr Anthony Fong then found the late Mr Seah Yun Khong, an educationist
who consented to form the 1st Kota Kinabalu Company under the sponsorhsip
of YMCA or better known as Young Men Christian Association. It started
with 30 Boys and 3 officers with the late Mr Seah Yun Khong as its
first captain. The company was then allowed to use All Saints' Cathedral
to hold their meetings due to lack of space in the later year of 1968,
with Father Todd as their first chaplain. The tragic death of Mr.Seah
Yun Khong on 13 December 1971 due to a heart attack indeed saddened
everyone. The captaincy was then taken over by Mr Anthony Fong, followed
by Mr Thomas Kong and Mr Yee Ting Kong.
In order to have a better church base, YMCA consented in thier annual
general meeting in 1977 to transfer the 1st Kota Kinabalu Company
to 3rd Kota Kinbalu Company under the sponsorship of All Saints'
Cathedral.The 3rd Kota Kinabalu Company came into being in the year
1978 with Mr Anthony Fong as its first captain and Canon Yong Chen
Fah as the chaplain. The captaincy was then taken over by Mr David
Liew who was also an ex-member of the 1st Kota Kinabalu Company
in 1981. With the commitment and unity among his fellow officers
and Non-Commisioned Officers(NCOs), the company began to grow in
a massive scale. Between the year 1985 and 1987, 3rd Kota Kinbalu
became the largest company in the country with a registered member
of over 200 Boys(wow can you imagine that?)!
In 1988, Mr. David Liew was made the Honourary Captain and this gave
him more time to concentrate on the BB ministry in the state and national
level. Mr Kenneth Thien who came through rank and file in 1st Kota
Kinabalu Company was appointed as the Captain of 3rd Kota Kinabalu
Company in 1987. However his stay was shortened when he had to leave
for further job training in the month of April 1989. Mr. Henry Chin
who was second in command took over the captaincy. Mr Chin was also
an ex-Queen Scout. After five successful years serving as captain,
Mr Timothy Chung who was one of the pioneer Boys in the 1st Sandakan
Company was appointed as captain. His stay wasn't very long due to
the fact that he has to further is Masters' Degree in Glasgow, Scotland.
God indeed is and always be our provider. After a few months without
a captain to lead the company, Mr Andrew Chua who was formerly the
captain of 5th Kota Kinabalu Company (defunct) took up the challenge
in 1995. Mr Foo Ming Chung is now holding the company captaincy since
1999.
God has blessed our company through hard and glorious years of the
Boys' Brigade.
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