MOAR 2010

Some of my relatives are planning a Mother of All Reunions in 2010 (MOAR 2010). This reunion is for the descendants of my great grandfather (my popo's father), Wong Lip Hon. What happened was, about 2.5yrs ago, some of the uncles (my father's cousins - popo's sisters' children) who has been living overseas for decades decided to plan a reunion after they have gotten more and more relatives in the mailing list. Anyway, Unc. James sent us an email today and i was actually amazed that this MOAR 2010 is really gonna happen! :D Anyway, here's the email:

29th May 2009.
Hello All
Its time to start the process of organizing this big event.Over 2.5 years ago we had mooted the idea of having a reunion for this wonderful Wong family.
It all seem improbable and the talkfest were encouraging but felt distant.
It was liken to Martin Luther King’s famous saying-“I have a dream”.
Well that dream I am please to report to you all is becoming a reality .
With just over a year now to go now we have finally poured some cement to the foundations.We have moved up one gear and as we count down the days we will move up another gear and then to top gear.
We are now only 400 days to the big event.Soon it will be under a year.
We are encouraged to hear from some many relatives to want to be part of the picture and make this event a huge success.Others remains skeptical but its our job folks to convince the extended family members to the merits of this grand reunion .We are hoping that each clan will bring home all their respective family members –all the way down to the wee babies.We want to meet ALL our relatives and have a great party.
We want to celebrate the great Wong family.We want to bring together the last surviving 12 brothers and sisters and pay our respects and celebrate them been together again.
We all need to be there……….too.
We have nearly 400 hundred relatives and with the extended family we are hoping for a big turnout.Its a very big family so lets all do our bit to make it a huge success.
I am aware we are all busy in our respective lives.Work,kids,home duties,taxi driving the kids to Kumon and back etc.So take a break from the Kumonitis and book your holiday to MOAR- 2010.
The event will begin at 9am ,Saturday 3rd July 2010 .It will be an all day event and at night we will adjourn to a big dinner.On Sunday 4th July 2010 , we will be hiring coaches to take us all to Segamat to pay our respects to Kong Kong and Por Por and also to tour Segamat and this will be a day outing.So do book some time off and plan ahead.

3 themes have emerged since MOAR 2010 was mooted.No doubt we will have more themes between now and July next year .
1.Its the great reunion of all the family members.It will be a celebration of our elders and tribute to them.It will be an opportunity to showcase our respective clans.Many clans have not been together for a long time so lets take this opportunity.It will be a great means to meet all the family members we have never met- it will be one hell of a family photo!!.
It will show our younger generation who and what- as they are losing touch with the extended family- as I am.
It will bond us as a family physically,psychologically and spiritually .

2.MOAR will take the opportunity to celebrate the birthdays of our senior members.As we have everyone around-why not celebrate their birthdays too.
So we are celebrating any family members that turn 80 and 70 in the year 2010.
To date we will be celebrating the 80th birthday of 5th Aunty and the 70 th birthdays of LFC and MC.
Anyone else please let us know and we will include into the plans.

3.Charity fundraiser-
Whilst raising funds I have been asked as to what we will do with any surplus money after we have paid off the expenses of the MOAR celebration.
Well you know I reflected long and hard .
Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to meet briefly with TT in Melbourne at E's wedding(TKP’s daughter).
She talked about her evangelical work and charity projects and it did inspire meShe gave me the inspiration .
Now ,the Wong family have a long history of pastoral calling.Our foreparents had pastoral blood in them.
Our present flock we see many family members engrossed in pastoral care- Pastor VW,Pastor KF, Pastoe WW, T and T,A.L to name a few.
We are a family of charity and benovelence.Such fine spirit should not go unnoticed.We need to build on their good work and do more.

So, the plan is that we plan set up an account with leftover money from MOAR and we will donate to charity as appropriate- one I can think of is A.L’s work with the Children’s Home- for abandoned children (More later).This way, no one need to worry whether the surplus money will go into someone pocket or how to divi it up.


Now some update:-
As mentioned earlier we have laid the foundation finally- the dream is now a reality.
After exhaustive investigations of a few facilities we finally booked the following.

1.Venue:
Day Setting:-
Please to announce we have secured a wonderful site in Kluang for the 3rd July 2010.
It will be at the Oasis- at the Canossian Convent.Situated on the hilltop,it has impressive grounds.It is big,secure-allfenced in-so children safe.It is private- no rif rafs nearby to stir up problems.The grounds are spacious,serene and tranquil.For those who know Kluang- its along the Batu Pahat Road – at the traffic lights near where U.T and A.L live.So transport is no issue.
It will easily handle over 300-400 people and have enough facilities to hold our MOAR.There are big gardens for the children and caterers to feed us.There are covered areas for sitting and kitchens/dining rooms.It has a first floor so this will be ideal for the photographer to take the must have photo from top down..
The drive way is massive with ample parking spots for all our cars and pick up by the coaches on Sunday to Segamat.
This place is truly children friendly so parents please be assured- bring all the troops –do not leave home with the inlaws to mind –we all want to see your kids.- the future.
There are PA systems .
We will not be cramped in and will have ample space and we can have the place to ourselves as we’ve booked out the whole facilty- including wait for it – accommodation for nearly 140 people.This is great as the majority can all congregate there without having to leave the premises.We have booked out all the rooms- this will be paid from the expense accounts.I will post pictures of the facilities later.You will not be disappointed.

Night Venue:-
This will be held at the same ballroom that Lisa recently –at BCB or the premier hotel in Kluang- Prime City Hotel- Other facilities I checked out did not meet our requirements as we need a facility to hold 300-400 guests and have Audio/visual facilities for VW our MC to facilitate the night proceedings and also the birthday singing etc.
I will also post their brochure soon or you can visit their website by Googling –Prime city./Kluang.

2.Accomodation:-
We have booked out the Oasis on Sat and have made provisions for those coming later and staying for a few more days to stay- the facility are aware.This will cater for nearly 140 people with a mixture of Double rooms/Single rooms and Dormitaries x 2 .I’ve checked it out and they are very clean and comfortable .Some rooms have air con and all have fans- all have toilet and shower facilities which is great.It is spotless.The caretaker assures me that she will spruce it up more before we come!

Some will stay in various relatives houses in Kluang- we have a range here.
We have no doubt many will also squeeze into the relos lodging.Nil problems here.

The rest may choose to stay in a variety of hotels in Kluang.They vary from cheap to Prime City- more upmarkey- again I will attach Prime City and Anika Hotel as an example.
They are ok for many.We have also negotiated from Prime City 30% off the listed rates so a good offer.Got a pool/spa/gym etc and at the same location where we are having the dinner.
A.L states that nearer the time she will go and negotiate for 50% off as for L’s wedding they manage to secure same.
3.Transport:-
We will hire mini buses or private taxis to ferry relos around town.At night we may even hire coaches.
Our own relos cars will also be in service.
The Segamat trip on Sunday will be by coaches.This will be organized by R and all we have to do is to turn up.The day will be taken care off including the makan.


4.Food:-
The important item.
Well no worries-taken care off.
For the day events we will have caterers bringing in various types of food at various time of the day- this will include Chinese/Malay/Indian and Anglo-KFC if needed.All the Malaysian delight will hopefully be sourced closer the time.
We are hoping to get a few stalls set up- like satay , Ramly burger, roti chanai store.More can be arranged later.

Just a footnote- any left over food will not go to waste,we will take it immediately to the Children’s Home immediately so that there are no waste.

Of course we will get the local Kluang favourites too.

For the night event at Prime City in the Matahari Ballroom ,we have mapped out a menu already to suit all including children and will be open for negotiations but it is good.


5.The Big Picture
I’ve approached the local photographic shops in Kluang- they should be able to meet our needs for a very reasonable price and will be booked closer the time.They will be hired for the 2 days and will take pics on the go.They will put it in CD for us- can also be down in time for the night dinner if required.We will also use our own relatives- our hobby photographers.

6.Activities :-
To be organized but we will not be short of helpers-local judging from the response I’m getting .Thank You.
We have so much talents within the family ,I,m sure the we will not be short of entertainment .
We will try and set up wading pools for kids to play and soak: electronic game- Wii ‘s or Playstations and kids activities throughout the day.We will appoint a kids coordinator.
We have DJ’s/singers/music writers/entertainers/comedians in the family that can light up the gathering.Music will be great.Karaoke will be considered naturally.
We have medics/nurses that can take care of the medical emergencies.
Panadols/Aspirins/Decorub/Tiger Balm will be provided if required.
Mosquito repellants will also be available should the mossies wants to join in the fun.
We even have workcover relos that can oversee the occupational health and safety of the proceedings.
We have event organizers/relos capable of handling big crowds and doing the MC work.

7. Equipment:-
We will hire the equipment needed locally- nil problems.Chairs/Tables/entertainment equipment/AV/ tvs etc.


8.Finances:-
The war chest is now standing at nearly $20,000 already.
This is great .
With more benefactors in the coming year we will well and truly exceed expectations.

The account for MOAR has been opened as you are aware and we have
A.L and Papa Cow as joint signatories to manage the account and expenses.They will keep a record of things.
For those who wishes to donate to the fund I have the details:-
Name: TKM and Papa Cow
Bank: OCBC (Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation)
Branch: Kluang
Account Number:- 715-23xxxx-x
Saving Account.

For electronic transfer the swift code is : OCBCMYKL.

Relos wishing to make a donation please notify A.L- her mobile is :-
01x2xx70xx.
This is to ensure she can keep an accurate account.Thanks.

As stated earlier- any surplus funds after all payments for MOAR expenses will be used to set up a charity account- maybe we can start a Wong charity fund.

9. Clan Identification
We will have some form of ID but R came up with a good idea- each clan will have a coloured ribbon of their own.So all the same clan members will have the same coloured ribbon which will hold an ID tag listing their name/generation etc-more details TBA.

So now that we have something concrete ,we will be calling upon the clans to rev up the family and start to make plans.We will be calling on clan members to come up with numbers in the coming months so that the organizers can book the numbers for catering/function as necessary.
Can someone also please make contact with the Hong Kong and China clan to secure their needs to come to MOAR.Accomodation is secured.let us know.

That’s all for now.

Cheers
Unc.James

PS.Will try and post pics of Oasis in Geni.

omg! i cant wait to attend! so much has been done! :D