Foreword from the Club President
 First
and foremost, I'd like to wish all members, their
families and all our friends a very Happy New Year 2007. This coming
Chinese New Year is the Golden Boar year. May it bring
prosperity, good luck and good health to you all.
This past December marks the 8th Anniversary of the Club's
conception. I have been with this club from its' beginning and
have seen it through its' good times as well as bad.
We all make mistakes, nobody is perfect. We have to "give and
take" to make friendships work and I am glad to be able to say that in
the recent past, the members get along very well with one another and
enjoy a good camaraderie.
I take this opportunity to invite fellow Malaysians both new and those
who for one reason or another has left, to come (back) and join us in
our gatherings. I also wish to extend this welcome to joining us,
to everybody else who are interested.
Thank you.
July 23rd: Family Sports Day
 This
year's family sports day was on Sunday, the 23rd of
July. We had fun with the children and also enjoyed our picnic of
Malaysian local foods at Michaellibad in Ostpark. It was a sunny
day and many people turned-up.
The meeting point was at the Michaellibad Biergarten at 11
o'clock. The first to arrive was Franz and family. Then, we
went to find a place to sit and began to put out all our food.
There were Gado-gado (from me), Rendang, Bihun Goreng, Ayam Goreng and
our President brought a few kilos of Cherries. Of course, there
were also some beers from Branco.
 After
eating, the children started playing football and JJ
as usual, started to sing the German National Anthem. The
children also played at the playground which was not far from where we
sat.
The weather was good and all of us had fun. After that, we went
to the Biergarten to have some Radler (for women) and the men of
course, some Beer. Small presents were given to the kids and at
about 19 o'clock we left the Biergarten.
Contributed by: Aini
August 27th: Merdeka BBQ Picnic
On the 27.08.06 (Sunday), MCB planned its summer B.B.Q. The early
morning started with heavy grey clouds and by mid-morning it started
drizzling. Hans and I said that we will still go as planned in
case any optimists like us still turns up.
Armed with plastic table cloth, disposable grill, salads, drinks and
marinated meat, not forgetting a giant-size umbrella, we turned up at
our destination.
Shortly after we arrived, Josephene and Lothar turned up as well but
that was all of our company. The gods must have pitied us because
soon, the heavy clouds left the sun and let it shine down on us.
The four of us had a great time with loads of food and drinks which we
couldn't finish. When it was time to leave the sky must have said
OK, they are finished, we can rain now because it soon started pouring!
We ended the day by having coffee at my place, thinking the motto for
next year will be come rain or shine; our B.B.Q. will still be on.
Contributed by: Jeya
September 18th: Committee Meeting
The school holidays were finally over and everybody has settled down
again. The committee meeting on the 18th was to discuss and
finalize the programs for the rest of the year with emphasis on the
annual dinner and dance.
The weather was cool and balmy after the meeting in the Eine Welt Haus,
so we walked down from Schwanthalerstraße to Stacchus for supper
in a small but cozy Asian restaurant behind Maltheser cinema.
Wonderful dishes at affordable prices.
October 29th: Hari Raya Potluck Lunch
"Salamat hari Raya"
"Deebavali
Vazhthukkal - Ganga snanam aacha"
 We
were greeted with warm greetings with the familiar aroma
of spices and curries as we enter into the party room.
Although it was a belated celebration, the mood was right and it was
definitely a good get-together for a home-cooked makan (eating) and
chatting session! Speaking in our own familiar languages,
feasting with spicy home-made dishes, it made me feel closer to home,
since we arrived in Munich a couple of months ago!
The room was small but cozy, hence each of our chats were amplified and
added to the party atmosphere, the kids had a great time of
uncontrolled and unlimited helpings of party goodies!
 Thereafter,
a birthday cake was presented, a candle was
lit, a birthday song was sung – it was also Aini's birthday!
In this party, a couple of new comers were introduced into the club.
They (We) felt welcome to this group of fun people and have been part
of the club ever since then.
In Chinese, there's a saying: 每逢佳节倍思亲,
meaning the feeling of missing family doubles during festive occasions
(while one is away). And what a way to celebrate our own festivals just
like a big family!
Contributed by: Valerie
November 24th: November Stammtisch
Hans made a reservation for us in the Fuh-Guei China-Restaurant in
Boschetsrieder Straße 51 for our November Stammtisch.
It was a Friday and so we had the Galadiner-Buffet which is a bit more
expensive than the Economy Buffet on other weekdays but with a much
wider variety of foods such as Dim Sum, a selection of Sushi, deep
fried fish fillet, satay and many other dishes in addition to the
normal fare.
After we had eaten our fill, those in the Club Committee gathered at
the far corner of the table to discuss the final issues concerning the
Dinner and Dance.
Meanwhile, the men ordered another round of beer while the ladies,
their usual after-meal coffee and finally, we all left for home.
December 2nd: MCB Annual Dinner & Dance
 We
did not want to have to do all the cleaning-up after the
event by ourselves anymore (like last year in the Eine Welt Haus) so we
decided to go back to organising it in a hotel and we picked the
Maritim Hotel in Goethestraße 7.
This years' event (like every year before it) started off with the
opening speech from the Club President followed by the Malaysian
Embassy's representative, our honorary guest this time was, Encik
Zalafian Mohd. Dini. We are honored that he could make this trip
down from Berlin to grace our event and at the same time to offer us
the Consular services.
 2007
is Visit Malaysia' year and he is pleased to see our
effort here in bringing together Malaysians who are away from home to
be amongst each other. It also shows to the German community how
a multi-cultured community like ours could live harmoniously
together. And then he surprised us by telling us that if
everything goes according to plan, we will be getting a permanent
Malaysian Consular service here in Munich.
Then our MC; Hans announced the opening of the buffet. The men acted
gentlemanly by allowing the women and children to go first. This
time, no more Asian food only but more towards the European cuisine
such as Bouillabaise, Shitake Mushroom Consommé, Smoked
Duck-meat slices with Cumberland sauce, Coq au vin, Beef fillet
"Stroganov", to name just a few, and the delicious dessert with its
tasty crepes and various crèmes.
After the buffet, we were entertained by a show of Hawaiian Hula
Dance. When she has finished her performance, she encouraged the
audience to come up on stage to give them a taste of a few of the basic
steps.
Next up on the programme was the "Door Entrance" lucky draw. This
was then followed by Jackie's group of Line Dancers performing a lively
line-dance. Once again, after the dance, the audiences were
offered the chance to learn a few of the basic steps and this time,
more people participated.
To keep to tradition, Shamsie did a Malay traditional dance but this
time all by her courageous self. Way to go, Shamsie!
Included in the programme were also fashion shows for children and
adults. All the participants were very ‘sporting' and made a good
effort but I must applaud the children. They were
wonderful. One or two were shy but still they did the cat-walk,
the others who were not so shy, came on stage and danced. JJ as
you can guessed, did his German National anthem number while Wei Wei,
sang Sankt Martin (doesn't matter that it was already December).
Finally, the time came for the lucky draw. Some people bought a
lot of draws and won many prizes; some people bought a few draws and
also won. Then there were those who unfortunately just didn't
have much of the lucky streaks that night. Congratulations go to
Jeya who won the first prize MAS flight ticket.
Most people, especially those with children, left shortly after that
while the remaining ones danced away until closing time. All in all, it
was a successful evening where fellow Malaysians who normally do not
have the time to join in the other gatherings due to work commitments
and such, to come together to stay in-touch.
December 16th: Trip to Altötting Christkindlmarkt
 On
a nice sunny winter Saturday a few weeks before
Christmas, 9 adults and 5 children gathered at the Central Train
Station for our trip to Altötting. The train ride there took
about 1 ½ hours which flew by very fast with the usual
chatting and eating.
Altötting is an old historical and spiritual town with several
churches built around the market place. We visited the beautiful
Cathedral and the famous small church with its Black Madonna,
well-known for her healing intercession. After that we visited
the ‘Christkindl' market with the children making a bee-line for the
merry-go-round which one of the members generously ‘belanja'.
The adults looked around and some decided to stock up on their
Christmas Angel figurines after discovering that they were better
priced than elsewhere. As our stomachs were soon clamoring to be
heard, we looked around for somewhere to eat and decided to have lunch
at the town's main ‘Gasthaus' which proved to be a good choice because
everyone enjoyed their meal.
Seeing that there is a holy fountain nearby, we went to buy empty
bottles to bring some of the water back. So while the children
splashed themselves with the holy water, we managed to get our bottles
filled.
After that the coffee-addicts amongst us started looking around for a
coffee-shop but took pity on the children because they were getting
quite restless. We returned to the market and decided to make do
with some ‘kueh' instead, which we bought from the stalls.
Before we knew it, it was already time to catch our train back.
It had been a very nice day and we all enjoyed ourselves. Even though
it was a stressful Christmas period, we were glad to have
found time for this outing.
Contributed by: Jeya
New Members
Bänfer & Wife
 Ng
Pei Pei and Dirk Bänfer met each other in Malaysia
at their work-place, Giesecke & Devrient. They fell in love,
got married and are now living in Trudering. Pei Pei is
originally from Sitiawan while Dirk is from Wiesbaden. She likes
cooking, internet surfing and she joins him when he goes skiing and
cycling.
What a coincidence that Pei Pei's father should meet Shirlyn in
Sitiawan. He told her that his daughter is married to a German
and is now living in Munich. They then exchanged phone numbers
and when she came back, she and Pei Pei got in touch with each other
and that's how she got introduced to all of us through the club.
Yap & Family
 Yap
Seng-Heng and Tham Wai Ping are both from
Malacca. He is an engineer by profession, working under
long-term contract here in Munich. They have two boys, aged 4 and
6. She fills her time by doing housework and yoga when the boys
are all away at work, kindergarten and school. She loves german
cream and cheese cake. The creamier, the better. A happy
coincidence it was, when she met Esther in the Munich Internatioal
School and got to know of the Malaysian Club Bayern.
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