Distinguished Guests, Datuk-Datuk, Datin-Datin, Franciscans, Friends from the Media, Ladies & Gentlemen.
Good morning.
First of all, I want to thank the organisers for inviting me as the Guest of Honour for this “Franciscans Get Together 2”.
I remember one year ago, we were also in this hall for the first Franciscans Get Together, whereby the St Francis Convent Building Committee briefed us on the planning approvals of the new school and appealed to everyone especially Franciscans to help raised much-needed funds to build the school at Bukit Padang.
I was very impressed with the Franciscans & PTA, who responded positively to the appeal and on that day itself, 15 classrooms of minimum RM50,000.00 were pledged. I can see the spirit of sisterhood amongst the Franciscans is very strong.
This time when I am invited, I asked Leena, the purpose of this function. She informed me that the Building Committee wished to:
- update everyone on the progress of the new school;
- launching the new web-site for the Alumni of St Francis Convent;
- and most importantly, some of the Franciscans will be presenting their payment cheque in fulfilment to their classroom pledge.
These reasons are indeed worthy of my full support for the building committee. I know that they have worked hard over the past two years to get this new school building project started and if all goes well, especially in monetary terms, we should be able to realise our dream of a new St Francis Convent Secondary School at Bukit Padang in 2018.
Let me take this opportunity to thank the building committee for their dedication and persistence in pursuing all that is necessary and overcoming many hurdles to get things done.
I sincerely urge all of you to continue to help in donating generously, or help to look for kind donors for the school building fund. I am sure with the approved Income Tax exemption more people are willing to donate for this commendable cause.
Building a strong foundation of knowledge through the school can make a significant difference to our future generation. As proven by the many Franciscan leaders like Toh Puan Rahimah Stephens, Datuk Ariah Ahmad and many others who have progressed successfully after graduating from St Francis Convent and left their mark of excellence in whatever they have undertaken.
To those who have paid up today, I wish to thank all of you for your generosity and collective effort. Please don’t stop the fund-raising as we have a lot more to raise for the eventual completion of the school.
I am equally confident that there are many others who will follow your exemplary gesture and join in to lighten the burden of the building fund-raising committee. You are never too old or too young to help, it is the willing heart that will get things done.
I believe with the new Alumni web-site, you will be able to reach out to more of your fellow Franciscans and generous donors. Everyone can get constant updates on the progress of building works and know that their donations are well spent on the project. For Franciscans, this web-site will enable you to reach out and keep the bonds of the Alma Mater active and strong.
With that I conclude my speech, thank you and have a blessed weekend.