On December 22 to January 3, the 10th Scholastics and Brothers-in-formation Circle (SBC) Meeting was held at the Good Shepherd Catholic Seminary in Melaka, Malaysia. The theme of the meeting was “Migration, Urbanization: Our Vision, Passion, and Compassion in the Jubilee Year of the First Companions”. Thirty two scholastics and brothers-in- formation from the JCEAO Assistancy attended the meeting, representing Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Micronesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Arrupe International Residence and of course, the host region, Malaysia-Singapore.
The said meeting was divided into three main parts. During the first part of the meeting, the delegates from each province/region reported their own migrant/urbanization situation. After which, the delegates underwent a three-day immersion program with various migrant communities in the Lumpur and Johore area, which was facilitated by Fr Paul Dass. The final part of the meeting was a series of theological reflections conducted by Fr Jojo Fung on the theme based on the experiences of the delegates at the meeting. Three of the delegates were elected to write a report on the meeting, which was duly approved and endorsed by all the other delegates.
Despite the heavy rain and floods that inundated many parts of Melaka state as well as the neighboring state of Johore, the meeting proceeded smoothly with the core committee taking time off during Christmas to help clean the houses of some of the flood victims while the delegates were attending their immersion program.
Some highlights of the meeting included a pilgrimage to St Paul’s hill in Melaka upon which is found a crypt that once held the remains of St Francis Xavier. A mass was also celebrated at the site towards the end of the meeting as a symbolic expression of the delegates’ physical connection to the roots and beginnings of the Society. The delegates also made a day visit down south to the city state of Singapore where they were hosted to a full day of Singapore art, culture and food by their Jesuit brethren there. A visit to the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur concluded the 13-day meeting which many described as “activity-filled and enriching”. The meeting also saw the traditional stepping down of the old SBC Core Committee and the election of a new one alongside a country representative for each province/region. The new committee comprised Thomas Ambar Prihastomo (IDO), Roy Cenon Ragas (PHI), Guillrey Anthony Andal (PHI), Stephen Marip Seng Ja (MYN), and Stephanus Ko Dong- kyun (KOR).