Foreword from the Club President
My
dear members, I thank you all for your participation and your help
in making last year’s 10th Anniversary Lunch a success. Many
thanks to
the Malaysian Embassy’s dignitaries for gracing our event with their
presence and the generous contribution for the good of the club.
I
would also like to express my deep appreciation to all the contributors
whom with their help, made the lucky draw possible. I encourage
you
all to continue to give your time and support to ensure the survival of
this club.
And now, let us welcome the year of the Ox by celebrating the Chinese
New Year celebration together. May the New Year (both Chinese and
Western) bring us all happiness, health and wealth.
Thank you!
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August 23: Merdeka day BBQ
 It was a warm late summer
afternoon when we arrived at Christine's house. The exuberance of her
three little girls provided a pleasant welcome for us and our little
boy. Very soon the house was teeming with MCB members. Scrumptious food
decked the tables outside on the terrace. Berthold provided the
grill facilities for our use. We all brought our own meat to
grill, drinks were sponsored by the club and several members
contributed additional side-dishes such as coconut pudding and fried
noodles. After lunch we sat around chatting, and the children played
with each other. It was an enjoyable way to spend a weekend in
conjunction with the Merdeka Celebration
Contributed by: Geraldine
Greiner
September 28: Stammtisch
The club members met at Lok’s restaurant, “Chantik Malaysia” in
Gröbenzell on Sunday the 28th of September for its Stammtisch
gathering. After having enjoyed the tasty Malaysian lunch, the
committee members gathered to discuss the program and activities for
the rest of the year.
October 10: Hari Raya Celebration
On October 11th we all met at an Italian -Indian - Restaurant in
Unterhaching which had a good buffet to celebrate Hari Raya. As usual
the group was split between those who came on time and those who came
"Malaysian time".
So some of the early birds left shortly after the others had more or
less just arrived. Nevertheless everybody had a good time chatting with
each other as you can see from the photos here and on our homepage.
Contributed by: Hans
Gottfried Borchart
October 25: Stammtisch
On the 25th of October, we had our normal Stammtisch at Asia Restaurant
behind Maltesar which I would have joined as well, if I hadn't had to
stay in hospital due to a bicycle accident that day. The last
preparations for our ten years anniversary were discussed at that
meeting.
Contributed by: Hans
Gottfried Borchart
November 23: MCB 10th Anniversary Lunch
 In the afternoon of 24th
November 2008, early snowfalls in Munich halted long enough to allow
Malaysia Club Bayern to celebrate its 10th anniversary at Restaurant
Cantik Malaysia in Gröbenzell, in the northwest just outside of
Munich.
This was an eventful afternoon, with distinguished guest; the
Ambassador of Malaysia, His Excellency Datuk Zakaria Sulong in
attendance. Ambassador Sulong was accompanied by Mr. Muzafar Shah
Mustafa, the Deputy Head of Mission and his family plus Mr Haniff Omar,
the Minister Counsellor.
His Excellency Ambassador Datuk Sulong battled airline delays to make
his appearance and was rewarded with a Nasi Lemak entrée as
Master of Ceremonies Christine Tan commenced the proceedings by
welcoming guests and inviting MCB President Shirlyn Wok Meyer to give
her opening remarks.
The existence of the MCB, in its various forms during the decade of its
history would not have been possible without the strong support of its
members and the tireless efforts by its executives, committee members,
auditors and webmaster Alfred Molon, all of whom received Shirlyns
sincerest gratitude.
 Ambassador Datuk Sulong
opened the celebration by presenting to an euphoric and totally
surprised Shirlyn on behalf of the MCB, a surprise €2.400 contribution
on behalf of the Malaysian Government in recognition of the clubs
success and efforts in promoting Malaysian values in Germany.
The Ambassador went on to explain his delight in supporting the MCBs
continual espousal of good Malaysian values. This was particular
at a time where some undesirable elements such as Credit Card fraud and
Illicit Substance Courier linked to Malaysians have surfaced in
Germany. Like its sibling in Baden-Württemberg, the
German-Malaysian Society and others, the MCB plays an important role in
demonstrating the warmth, honesty and rich cultural diversity of the
Malaysian people.
The variety in the Malaysian buffet continued to be enjoyed by everyone
among a hive of activity - great table conversation among guests –
catching up on old times, the recipe critique and more makan
discussions - and with the embassy staff, the sale of raffle tickets
and of course, the children just being children.
Ambassador Datuk Sulong took the floor a second time that afternoon,
this time to advice the following;
- The establishment of a MIDA (Malaysian Industrial
Development Authority) office in Munich.
- Availability of Wolfgang Ley, the Malaysian Honorary
Consul in Munich and
- The importance of Malaysians to register in order for
the embassy to identify its citizens and offer assistance in time of
need but more importantly that non registration may lead to Malaysian
citizenship being rescinded as conditioned in the Malaysian passport.
Entertainment
Music prodigy Sow Peck Yin presented a medley of tunes on viola with
classical music, modern as well as some Malaysian favourites. In
fact, I think this was the first time we’ve ever heard “Burung Kakak
Tua” and “Rasa Sayang” presented on strings.
The mini individual-concert by the tiny tots was held back for a few
tense moments, possibly by stage fright. Thanks to some careful
coercing by the MC, the future generation commenced their performance
with the sharing of some jokes. This broke the ice as one child
after the other, felt increasingly comfortable with the microphone and
the sound of their voices entertaining all. Even the daughter of
our Embassy guest Muzafar Shah Mustafa gave the MCB a helping hand by
having the audience join in her rendition of “Burung Kakak Tua”.
It was good fun had by all, even if some of the words appear
“fusionised”.
Vice President Hans-Gottfried Borchart took the audience on a 10 year
trip down memory lane – evidencing how Malaysia Club Bayern had evolved
in name and logo to what it is today. It was especially
interesting to learn of what it took to incorporate the club in Germany
and the valiant efforts by the committee in organising and
administering the various stammtisch throughout the years. Steady
chants of “umm..” and “ahh..” among members when images of the various
gathering was presented could be heard throughout Hans’ feature,
clearly prompting some memories. Whilst some were admiring what
was done in the past, a “I didn’t look too good in that dress” comment
tells me some had different thoughts in mind.
Members, who endured the 10 years of MCB’s history were also later
recognised with gifts – all were known to many, even Lok, the owner of
Restaurant Chantik Malaysia.
The gathering after that quickly took resemblance of a mini bingo hall
for a period of time as the entertainment progressed to the Lucky Draw.
Many prizes were handed out during the Lucky draw at late
afternoon. It was clear that the committee did a good job in
selling tickets that evening as everyone appeared to have at least 5
tickets displayed on their table. I have to say that the
atmosphere was positive – “the next one is mine” and “I’m just waiting
for the big prize” constantly being repeated by some people, who
unfortunately also went home empty handed.
As the event drew to a close, the committee members sprung back to
action. This time to help bring the restaurant back to its presentable
state. A tireless act, but we mustn’t forget to consider over the
10 years what it took to manage a multicultural society within a
society of one strict culture: the kaleidoscope of food, fun and
friendship endorsed by its Government – means that success was well
deserved. We all look forward to the next 10 years to come.
Congratulations, MCB!
December 14: Christkindlmarkt in Kempten
 The second week of
December 2008 was a cold week but on Sunday the 14th, the rain and snow
held off while it made way for the sun to accompany us on our day trip
to Kempten Christmas market.
The meeting point was at the Munich Hauptbahnhof at 9:45 am.
There were three new faces amongst us that day, much to our
delight. Altogether the group comprised of 14 adults and 2
children; just perfect for 3 Bayern Ticket!
The journey from Munich to Kempten normally takes about one and a half
hours. Our train that day was supposed to leave at about quarter
after 10 but there came an announcement about some kind of defect, so
we had to change train, and on that train there were delays plus this
and that so that by the time we finally reached our destination, it was
already one o’clock in the afternoon!
 Therefore, it did not come
as a surprise that many of us were hungry by then. So we went
straight away to a German Wirt reserved in advanced for us by Lothar’s
sisters. The owner was very helpful and friendly. The menu
was not extensive but it was varied enough and the portion was just
right. For dessert, Jeya passed around her container of home-made
Christmas cookies. We were revived after the hearty
meal.
Then we left the restaurant and walked towards the Christmas market.
The group being so big, automatically split-up to view different things
at different stalls. Occasionally, we would bump into each other
and then drift off again.
It slowly got darker even though it was not that late and the cold was
starting to bite, so we left, caught the direct “Alex” train from
Kempten to Munich Hauptbahnhof.
Welcome, new members to the club!
My
name is Jeanette Chew. I am
married but have
no children yet at the moment. Although my husband and I have
been to Munich several times over the years, we only moved here in
November 2006 – that makes it two years now. We now live in an
apartment on a quiet street in Bogenhausen, east of Munich city just on
the other side of the Isar river. We are a long way from Penang where I
was born and Melbourne, Australia where our respective families are but
we keep in contact regularly. Having said this, imagining what
Europe is like from the other side of the world isn’t very real unless
you are physically here so we have had a difficult time trying to
explain to loved ones what it means to us to be in Europe. We try
to travel as much as possible as it enhances our interest in
civilizations, culture and the people – we try to make our pictures and
experience tell the story. Beyond this, I love reading, enjoying
good food and animals.
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Soh I-Leng is a Kuala Lumpur girl
who grew up in Klang. Her younger sister who is studying in
London is also very far away from home but near enough that they are
able to visit each other on this side of the globe. I-Leng
absolutely loves nasi lemak. (Here’s a hint to those members who
can cook very tasty, very real Malaysian nasi lemak). She has
been in Germany ever since January 2002 where she studied informatics
in Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg. After graduating at the end
of spring 2007, she moved to Munich in November that same year and
started work in Jan 2008.
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Glad tidings: New baby in the
club!
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Constantin Bänfer
was born on the 27/7/2008 @ 8.27am. His weight at birth was a
healthy 3350g and measured 53 cm in length. Heartiest congratulations
to his proud parents, Ng Pei Pei and
Dirk Bänfer.
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