Minutes of 50th Annual General Meeting (AGM)

Minutes of the 49th Annual General Meeting of the State Council of Selangor held on 29th April 2012 at the State Council Office at Times 89 Business Plaza, Taman Sri Sentosa Kuala Lumpur

Present:

Attendance       President                       Raj Narayanan

                           Vice President               Kennedy Soloman

                           Vice President               Francis Lai

                            Hon Secretary               Emmanuel Culas

                            Hon Treasurer              Cherie Wu

                           Chairman, Home & Projects committee  Danny Kumar

                           Delegate                         Watson Peters

                           Delegate                         James Selvam

                           Youth Rep                       Catherine Chen

                           E. Assistant                     Rev Fr Mari Arokiam

Holy Family, Kajang                                Shashi Peters

                                                                    Ananthi Kumar

                                                                    Bryan Perera

                                                                    Bob Chee

                                                                    Joseph Netto

Our Lady of Lourdes, Klang                  Martin Arul

                                                                   Anna Pushpam

                                                                   J. Anthonysamy

                                                                   Charles Santiago

St Ignatius, Petaling Jaya                      Rosalind Lim

                                                                   Alfance

Assumption, Petaling Jaya                   S. Dhanaraj

                                                                   Delia Yip

                                                                   Herbert T. Jacob

                                                                   Jacqueline Joseph

                                                                   Anita George

St Anne, Port Klang                                S.Savarimuthu

                                                                   SN Edmund

                                                                   R. Nicholas

                                                                   Jason Raj

St Francis Xavier, Petaling Jaya          Annie Lau

                                                                   Alvin Rajan

                                                                   Melvin Victor

                                                                   KB Tan

Holy Trinity, Petaling Jaya                         –

Holy Redeemer, Klang                          K.C . Lim

                                                                   S. Lim

St Jude, Rawang                                    Nagappan

                                                                   Sinnappan

Holy Eucharist, Bistari Jaya                  Arokiasamy

                                                                   David

                                                                   Steven Shanmukan

                                                                   J.Vincent

                                                                   A. Jeyamary

In Attendance                                          Anthony Arul

                                                                   Malini

                                                                   Nelson

MEP Volunteers                                      Marine Vincey

                                                                   Maylis Esuidier

                                                                   Charlotte Basu

Observers

                                                                   L. Arulnathan

MAGGIS Boys/Youth                               Jonathan

                                                                   Navin Samuel

                                                                   Calvin Xavier

                                                                   Karthik

Item 1 . Opening Prayer

Bro President called the meeting to order at 4.05pm and led everyone present in a prayer.

Item 2 . Introduction of Members

Members present introduced themselves and the conferences/ organization they represented.

Item3. Spiritual Reading

Bro Emmanuel Culas read from the Gospel of the day taken from John 10:11-18

Item 4. Reflection by Ecclesiastical Assistant

Rev Fr Mari Arokiam in his spiritual talk elaborated on the gospel text in particular the crux of the passage “listen to my voice”. He urged all present to listen more and talk less.

As an example he related his recent personal experience health wise lamenting if only he had “listened to his body” he would not be in this predicament. He urged all present to continually listen as God is always talking to us in many ways if only we would listen. He also said that Blessed Frederic Ozanam listens and acted. Fr Mari also emphasized the importance of prayer in our daily lives.

Item 5.Address by President State Council of Selangor

Bro Raj in his address touched on various issues in particular he shared the need to listen.

                        *(The full text of his speech is annexed here to)

Item 6. To receive and adopt the minutes of the 48th Annual General meeting

The minutes of the last AGM was read and was accepted on the proposal of Bro Savari from St.Anne’s Port Klang and seconded by Bro Sinnappan from St.Jude Rawang.

Item 7. To receive and adopt the Annual Report for the year ended 31st December 2010

The Annual Report for the year 2011 was tabled by Bro. Emmanuel Culas and was accepted on the proposal of Bro.Herbet Jacob (Assumption) and seconded by Bro. Nicholas from St.Anne’s Port Klang.

Item 8 .To receive and adopt Annual Statement of Accounts for year-end 31st Dec 2011.

The Honorary Treasurer Sis Cherie Wu presented the accounts for the year 2011. The accounts were adopted on the proposal on Bro Martin from Our Lady of Lourdes and seconded by Bro Charles also from Our Lady of Lourdes.

Item 9. To Elect the following Office Bearers for the period of year 2012-2014

Item 10 . To Elect 3 delegates to the National Council for the year 2012-2013

Item 11 . To appoint 2 internal Auditors

Bro Vincent Lourdes Arokiasamy from St Anne and Sis Jacqueline from Assumption were appointed as the Internal Auditors

Item 12. To Appoint an External Auditor

The firm of Yee Choon Kong & Co was unanimously appointed as external auditor

Item 13. To appoint 2 trustees for the State Council of Selangor

Bro Dhanaraj Sinnathamby from Assumption and Bro Joseph Netto a/l Abraham Netto from Holy Family Kajang were appointed as Trustees of State Council of Selangor

Item 14.To discuss any matters for which 7 days’ written notice has been given

Bro Secretary said there were no matters tabled to discussion

Item 15 Secret Bag collection RM 778.00

Item 16. Address by Vice President National Council

Bro Bryan Perera as Vice President of the National Council addressed the meeting

Firstly he extended an apology on behalf of the National President Bro Dunstan Dominic Augustine who was away. He also called on members to live the faith as SSVP is a vocation like any other and not a task to be carried out.

He said that assuring leadership was a big responsibility and it can be lonely at the top. He congratulated Bro Raj and his team for the good work done as Selangor is a leading State and is going for new challenges in the form of urban poor.

He also said that SSVP Internationally has been recognized as a global NGO by the United Nation.

Item 17 .Closing Prayers

Before the closing prayer Bro Raj thanked everyone for their presence and participation with special mention of our Ecclesiastical Assistant Rev Fr Mari Arokiam who took the time and trouble to attend all our meetings and occasionally site visit. He also thanks the French volunteers and the MAGGIS Boys. In Particular he thanked the anonymous donor who sponsored the dairy project for the State Council which was confirmed rather late, hence the poor sale. However he informed the Council that the project will be kicked off in September this year for an early start. In conclusion he invited our Ecclesiastical Assistant Rev Fr Mari Arokiam to say a closing prayer and impart his blessings to all present.

The meeting adjourned at 6.10pm

____________________________

Emmanuel Culas

Hon Secretary

President’s address at the 49th Annual General Meeting held on 29th April 2012

“All Wisdom comes from God and she is with Him forever. (Ecc/ Ben Sira 1:1)”

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ and in the Vincentian fraternity,

“Shalom! Greetings of Peace!” On behalf of the Board and the State Council, I am delighted to welcome all of you to our 49th Annual General Meeting. I am indeed most unworthy to be elected as the President of the Society in Selangor and yet,I am most grateful to all of you and especially to God for continually guiding me in this immense responsibility within our Apostolate. I pray that God will continue to Bless our Society by bringing forth new leadership fresh with new ideas; and bursting with enthusiasm that will promote our Vocation amongst Lay Catholics in Selangor even further.

I must admit that the last two years have been very exciting and personally enriching to me. When I was elected as your State Council President 2 years ago, I had never for a single moment expected the journey that lay ahead for me and my family.

Initially I felt lonely because I personally felt that there was much to be done but as I started going about the businesses of getting it done, my I had such a hard time trying to get all to agree to the thoughts and ideas. In fact I recall when we wanted to organise the first activity after taking office – Silent Adoration there was considerable opposition to this. Don’t get me wrong the members who were not happy about it are not bad people. They are great people. Their intentions are sincere and good. It is just that they feel differently about how we should grow as a Society. At first I felt hurt but then I realised as time progressed, that I need to find strength to harness all this bright ideas of everyone and find a common ground that can make us all journey together. It was as if almost silently God telling me to listen and try and harness energies of the diverse people we have rather than be draining myself down in trying to justify my thoughts and knocking down other thoughts.

As I reflect on our Vocation in Selangor, I am humbled by the many empowerment activities that we have been able to carry out amongst the Poor and Marginalised. This approach by us is beginning to bear fruits and going around the State, I realise that even the smallest of our conferences have begun to embrace the need to empower the Poor as we journey with them. I am most heartened when I find out that members who themselves have to work hard to sustain their families earning meagre income, are sharing their time and possessions with those who can’t afford a simple meal for a day. My heart gladdens when I learn of how our sisters and brothers from Rural Conferences like Holy Eucharist (Batang Berjuntai) , St Jude (Batu Arang) and the Klang conferences who earn less than 2000 RM per month, fork out as much as 100 to 200 RM per month each, to support a family in need. Such acts of generosity, charity and selfless love by our members from all over the state, irrespective of their own personal wealth and well-being, is embodiment of the personal trait of our Beloved Founder, Blessed Frederick Ozanam, who selflessly served the Poor and Marginalised of his time, often discounting his own personal well-being.

It is without doubt that we have moved forward, but it is not time for us to sit back and rest on our laurels. As I mentioned last year, even much more needs to be done, particularly,as the world itself enters into uncertainties in many areas. It is my humble opinion that in order to do that, we need to further discern our relevance amongst the emerging trends of disparity, social injustices, inequality and erosion of Basic Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Race and the Environment today. We need to equip and ‘arm’ ourselves with the know-how, skill, passion and most importantly develop the Zeal and Passion that Blessed Frederick Ozanam had in Defending the Teachings and Position of the church, by Defending the Poor against all forms of Social Injustices through empowerment activities. Our Discernment should lead us to

1. Desire to seek a greater knowledge of God’s plan for us via Prayer and Formation. We need to allocate time to understand our Vocation. God reveals to us daily in His Word and through regular formation based on His Word, we will constantly be led by Him as he reveals to usdaily in our Vocation.

2. Embody the actions and Teachings of our Risen Christ, by standing firm, fearlessly in our advocacy of Social Justice and in the promotion of Basic Human Rights and Dignity.  Concurrently, we must continue this new found calling within us to ensure that in our day to day relations with the Poor, we ourselves are treating the Poor with Respect and Dignity.

3. To promote the well-being and preservation of the environment in all our services.  The “often quoted line” that we must not just give the Poor Fish, but, rather teach him / her to fish, is in my humble opinion, no longer relevant or consistent with the signs of times.  In today’s times, we must not only provide the fish initially (to strengthen/ nourish the individual) and teach the person to fish but we must also help preserve the very same environment he / she fishes from to ensure sustainability of the environment.

4. To promote the Vocation especially amongst many Catholics who are searching for a “vehicle “in which they can practice their Faith by Actions whilst growing in their Spirituality and Deepening their relationship with God. In this respect, we mustcontinue our renewed efforts at fostering and nurturing a closer relationship with our church, our BEC’s and the religious which is beginning to bear fruits. Of late, there has been new members (including youths) joining the various conferences which brings hope. We must build on this momentum.

5. To continue to bring out the ideals of the Society to the younger generation and ‘firing’ their zeal to draw closer to God and the church by being engaged in the Society and its works and mission. In this respect, we pray that the youths of the “MAGGIS” program who are now beginning to meet regularly, will soon go on to be the first Youth Conference of the Society in Selangor and promote the Vocation amongst the younger generation.The average age of the members of the Society in Selangor has been steadily decreasing and we must work towards ensuring that this trend continues.

I am not sure how many of you were there at the “Bersih” Rally but I can tell you what I saw is thousands of Youths coming out in full force almost telling us we want to take control of the Present to Preserve our Future! There was Brute Force but I saw youths, college students, young working adults, and young couples running away after the tear gas exploded, taking a breath and then regrouping to march. I asked myself as I was amongst them, these are vibrant youths. They desire change. They desire equality. They desire social Justice. They want equal opportunities etc. Is that what we are about? And yet why are we not attracting them sufficiently. IT must continue to be appoint of  reflection for us.

6. To expand our network collaboration so that we can better harness the existent prevailing energies found within all people of goodwill to bring about the Greater Good.

Sister and Brothers, as we recall our Lord’s candid response to the Teacher who wanted to follow Him wherever He goes- “Foxes have holes, Birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”(Matthew 8: 19-20), let us be mindful that, in our Spiritual Journey of following our Beloved Lord, we can’t expect easy passages. Very often, we would be challenged beyond our own abilities, but we are comforted by the knowledge that “With Man nothing is possible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

Fr Albert Tan sermon today on the long list of duties of the PP. But ultimately what he realised that was not in the letter but that was most important of all.

Being in a Vocation (for him in Priesthood) and our main duty as Vincetians is

To be someone in Deep Prayer, and showing his Love for God and His People.

Let us then bravely move forward as we trust in God and seek His Divine Wisdom and Guidance in strengthening our Apostolate in this humble Vocation of ours.

“May the Lord Bless us and Keep Us! May the Lord let His Face shine on us and be gracious to us. May the Lord show us His Face and Give us Peace” (Num 6:24-26)

May I wish all of you a Very Meaningful AGM. Let us Lift up and commend to the Lord all our works in Prayer