Origins MSBCA Vancouver
Historical
In the late 1960s, small family groups from Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei began to immigrate to Canada and settled mainly in Vancouver and Toronto. Some families were also known to have found employment and settled in the prairie provinces. During this time, young graduates from Australian universities were also finding their way to Canada, some of whom ended up in Vancouver and others in Toronto.
In Vancouver, the family groups slowly contacted each other, and they initiated house dinners and parties to renew or make new acquaintances. It was at one of these gatherings that the idea of forming a Malaysia and Singapore Association was suggested. In 1971, after feedback from a small group of Malaysian and Singaporean friends,The late Guilbert Ho organized a lunch meeting at the Batik Inn on Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver. The restaurant was owned by two Singaporeans, Philip Lau and Paul Lim. The cook was Sylvester Pang, a retired stockbroker from Singapore.
Through word of mouth and phone calls, amazingly, more than 130 people showed up. Caught by surprise, the restaurant had a difficult time trying to accommodate and please everyone present. The late Guilbert Ho chaired the meeting and explained the idea of forming an association and the necessity of getting everyone's support to make it happen. The majority of the people present had good thoughts about forming an association and it was left to the late Guilbert Ho to continue from there.
THE EARLY YEARS...
Various meetings were held to determine the most suitable name for the proposed association. There were strong objections to using the name "Malaysia and Singapore" by most of the people present at those meetings. Names such as "Causeway Club" and "Bunga Raya Club" were suggested at the meetings for adoption. However, the late Guilbert Ho was adamant that the names "Malaysia and Singapore" be used. After failing to convince the majority of the people at those meetings that it was important that, for the sake of identity, the names "Malaysia and Singapore" be used, the late Guilbert Ho discontinued the meetings and temporarily abandoned the idea of forming the association.
A couple of years later, younger Malaysian families, mostly from East Malaysia, began to settle in Vancouver. It was the group from East Malaysia that began to revive the idea of forming an association. A meeting was called, and a pro-tem committee was established to draft a constitution and to commence forming the association. The following were members of the pro-tem committee: the late Robert Chee, the late Guilbert Ho , Boon Siong Lee, Daniel Seet, Ah Yen Ting, Anthony Chiang and Francis Loo.
FORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
On December 20, 1976, The Malaysian and Singapore Cultural Association was incorporated as a non-profit organization under the Society Act of the Province of British Columbia. The acronym for the Association was MSA. It was a non-profit, non-religious, non-political and non-sectarian society.
The first Board of Directors consisted of - President - Robert Chee; Vice President - Boon Siong Lee; Secretary - Daniel Seet; Treasurer - the late Guilbert Ho; Directors were Madeline Hui, Susan Wong, Anthony Chiang and Francis Loo. The Honorary Auditor was Bill Atkinson.
The first Chinese New Year Dinner & Dance was held in 1977 at the Canyon Garden Restaurant on Capilano Road in North Vancouver. About 150 members attended the event. The first Annual General Meeting was held in July 1977. The second Board of Directors consisted of President - the late Guilbert Ho; Vice President - the late Robert Chee; Secretary - Daniel Seet; Treasurer - Martin Thien; Directors were Anthony Chiang, Margaret Law, Eddie Chan and Susan Wong. The Honorary Auditor was Bill Atkinson.
At this time, the number of immigrants to Vancouver from Brunei increased significantly and the late Guilbert Ho started to lobby for Bruneians to be included as full voting members of the Association. The Bruneians share the same culture (almost) with Malaysians and Singaporeans, eat the same foods, speak the same languages and dialects and even have the same accents. Without doubt, they had to be included. The first extraordinary meeting was called and held at the Sandman Inn on Davie and Denman Streets in Vancouver. The Bruneians were welcomed with no objections and the meeting approved the change of name to "The Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Cultural Association". The new name was immediately registered with the Registrar of Companies - Society Act in Victoria.
FORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
Meanwhile, the Board of Directors was very busy planning for the 2nd Chinese New Year Dinner and Dance. The President asked the Board to plan for at least 400 members and their friends to attend. In those days, The Ming Restaurant on East Pender Street was the only Chinese restaurant known to have the capacity to hold such a large crowd. Some past and present directors were skeptical that we would be able to attract so many to the event. The President sought the help of Eileen Teo, who was the owner of Continental Travel, to ask Singapore Airlines to donate two return airline tickets as door prizes. At the time, Singapore Airlines had no office in Vancouver and was operating out of San Francisco. They agreed to donate the two return airline tickets. The Board of Directors worked hard and obtained more door prizes for the dinner. As a result, a record of 425 members and friends attended the dinner with at least 20 more on the waiting list for tickets.
A precedence has been set. The Chinese New Year Dinner and Dance became an annual event with an average attendance of between 300 to 350 people. The event has been earmarked as the Association's annual fund-raising event. The funds were raised for the Association overhead costs, postage and stationery for newsletter, subsidies for Christmas parties, picnics, annual general meetings, etc. Singapore Airlines and its General Sales Manager, Late Gordon Bacon, both played very important roles in the history of MSBCA. The Airline's generosity to the Association continued for many years since 1977. Two other major sponsors - Continental Travel and Yeo Hup Seng Group - also supported the Association for as long as they were able.
For the next 18 years, MSBCA conducted annual general elections for new Presidents and Board of Directors. A special section in this program has been dedicated to all those who served as President of the Association. MSBCA thanks them all for their leadership, volunteer time and effort.
The Association continued to organize the annual Chinese New Year Dinner and Dance event and planned to hold the function within fifteen days of the Chinese New Year.
With the influx of more and more Asians into the Vancouver community, more cultural non-profit societies were being formed and almost all theses societies chose the Chinese New Year period to hold their fund-raising events. The competition for large restaurant space and the sale of tickets have sometimes forced the MSBCA's own fund-raising annual dinner and dance beyond the Chinese New Year period.
So, it became known as the Spring Dinner and Dance. In addition, golf tournaments have been organized as well as Christmas parties for the young members. In the early days, even badminton tournaments were organized. Business and Information Meetings were offered to keep our interested members up to date with business developments.
THE CLUBHOUSE
There were occasions when the Directors of the Association were called upon to give short talks on Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. There were also occasions when Canadian companies, before sending their personnel to one of the three countries for the first time, would seek advice from MSBCA Directors regarding food, accommodation, culture and other relevant information.
In 1986, MSBCA held its Tenth Anniversary celebration at the Ming Court Hotel on Davie Street, Vancouver. With the consent of Singapore Airlines, MSBCA asked for support from Malaysian Airlines' San Francisco office. Malaysia Airlines donated two return airline tickets to Kuala Lumpur via San Francisco. The event was chaired by the late Guilbert Ho with tremendous support from Haminah Azcona, Ainsha Joyce, Polly Voon, Miss Chinatown, the incumbent President Eddy Chan and his Board of Directors. The event was the first introduction of Malaysia Airlines to the Association.
Since then, we have seen the Association celebrate two other major milestones - its Twentieth Anniversary at the Westin Bayshore Hotel in Vancouver in 1996, followed by its Silver Anniversary in 2001 at the Hilton Hotel in Burnaby.
Year 2001 marked the beginning of another chapter in the history of MSBCA. With Richard Liew as President, for five consecutive years (2002-2006), he and his directors began a process of rebuilding the club. They started by strengthening its membership base, enhance its identity by setting new standards, to connect with the members and the revival of the newsletter The Link. Many activities happened such as celebration of National Day of the three countries, camping, social nights, annual picnic and a few fund raiser dinner and dance parties. On December 02, 2003, MSBCA purchased a clubhouse in the City of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada and after months of sprucing it up, the MSBCA clubhouse was officially inaugurated on the 17th April, 2004.
In 2007 to 2008, the club continued to do well under the leadership of John Ting with activities in and outside of the clubhouse.
Under the leadership of Violet Chan from 2008-2010, many new activities were included for members.
Amongst the annual celebrations to mark the three National Days, namely Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei, there were also bus trip to Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Washington State, dinner celebration of Mother's Day whereby all mothers/grandmothers/ladies were presented with an appreciation gift together with a stalk of Carnation of Love. One of the By laws was changed and approved by the members. The change entailed the number of years a director is permitted to serve on the Board.
Violet's formation of the ballroom dance lesson class in 2006 continued till today with good attendance. On record, Violet had signed up 100 new members with 23 of them being Life Members during her term of service with the Board.
Our focus is to get more members' commitment, increase the number of volunteers and increase the utilization of our clubhouse. We have reduced the membership fees substantially in order to open up more opportunities for all to enjoy their leisure hours,
In addition to the yearly events, more members participate in our monthly potluck and weekly social night. Weekly ballroom dancing is also getting increasingly popular. The clubhouse rental income has further helped to maintain the upkeep of the clubhouse.
Past Presidents and Activities
Following Violet’s terms, Miew Leng Teo, Stanley Low, Richard Liew and Fanny Chua served the Association as presidents for the following 5 years and under their leadership, the Association continued to grow. Our newsletters, The Link, continues to get published by Richard Liew during this period. Directors served the Association faithfully under their leadership and for the first time there are more women serving the board than before. From October 2015 – 2016, under the leadership of Margaret Chee, a few activities were provided for our members such as karaoke night in addition to the continuing month end potluck at the clubhouse and arranging two bus trips to Mount Vernon Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April.
THE FUTURE AWAITS!
MSBCA has once again since 2005 established a relationship with Brunei High Commission in Ottawa with the visit of Mr. Sukri Sharbini, 2nd Secretary to our clubhouse in January.
MSB Gala Night, a function to consolidate Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei social nights was well attended by members and friends. We were honoured by the presence of His Excellency Col (Rtd) PG Hj Kamal Bashah, High Commissioner of Brunei Darussalam with Ms. Faadzilah Raheemah, 3rd Secretary, CG Malaysia Mr. Mohd Adli Abdullah and Mr. John Yap, MLA Steveston-Richmond. MSBCA Board of Directors of 2015-2016 are focusing in getting more members commitment and working towards building a stronger and more vibrant MSBCA.
The Association continues to function through the years of Covid-19 pandemic (2020 -2022) under the leadership of Richard Liew and Stanley Low and the serving Directors during that period. A new direction has been taken with the appointment of Assistants within the Board.
Today, after 48 years, 21 individuals served as presidents and 24 served as directors in different capacities.
Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are autonomous countries with their own separate governments, but this does not deter former residents of these countries living in Vancouver to join MSBCA. We share so many things in common- food, cultural dances, language, history, etc. The Association has no affiliation to any government and all policy planning and events are organized by the Board of Directors. MSBCA has a role in the community.
The Association is ready to do more for the communities in which we live.