Happy Chinese New Year! Welcome to the Year of the Dragon. Wishing you all a very peaceful, good health and happiness for the year ahead.
Welcome to my last Chieftain’s Chatter before I stand down and hand over to my Vice Chieftain, David Barron at our AGM in March.
BURNS NIGHT 2024
This year’s Burns Supper was once again held at the Four Seasons Hotel on Saturday 3rd February, 2024. A big thank you to our main sponsors ASEAN and RIO Club for your support. With just under 150 guests, it was an excellent evening. Such a wonderful venue for a great occasion with delicious food, fantastic speeches covering the toast to the lassies, the reply from the lassies and the Immortal Memory. We were once again entertained by the amazing Vox Suara Choir, St John’s Alumni Pipe Band and Richard Thompson (Past Chieftain) calling the dances.
AGM AND WHISKY TASTING 2024
This year’s AGM followed by the whisky tasting will be Saturday 9th March, 2024 at Bungalow37. I hope you can join us welcoming David Barron as your new Chieftain.
INTERSOCIETY GOLF TOURNAMENT 2024
Proposed for 6th April, 2024. Date and venue still to be confirmed. Hoping once again your society will be victorious by retaining the title.
9th KUALA LUMPUR HIGHLAND GAMES 2024 This year’s Highland Games will be on Saturday 28th September 2024, at Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort. Further details to follow.
With lots more exciting events coming up, be sure to stay tuned in for further updates by checking out our website and social media.
Before I sign off, I’d like to say a big thank you for your continued support for your Society. It has been an absolute honour and privilege to have been your Chieftain. I will cherish this precious experience forever. Wishing you all the very best for the year ahead.
Best wishes, Carol Wallace 131st Chieftain, Selangor St. Andrew’s Society
Happy New Year! I hope you are all keeping well and had a good festive break. Wishing you all a very peaceful, good health and happiness for the year ahead.
Welcome to my 4th Chieftain’s Chatter, my forum for keeping you updated on what’s been happening and what’s coming up for our Society events.
CHARITIES
From the very successful 8th Kuala Lumpur Highland Games held in September last year, I am delighted to announce that, from the profits raised, our 6 chosen charities will each receive a fantastic of sum of RM14,000.
A special Thank You goes out to all our very generous sponsors and supporters for helping to make this happen!
ST. ANDREW’S CELEBRATION 2023
My first formal evening event as Chieftain was at the St. Andrew’s Celebration, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Saturday 25th November, 2023. With over 180 guests, it was an excellent evening. The perfect venue with delicious food, great speeches and fantastic entertainment provided by the amazing St. John’s Alumni Pipe Band and then dance the night away to Scotland’s finest ceilidh band, Clappy Doo.
BURNS NIGHT 2024
This year’s Burns Night will once again be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, on Saturday 3rd February, 2024. This will be my last event as Chieftain before I stand down and my Vice Chieftain, David Barron will take over. We can guarantee another evening filled with delicious food and fantastic entertainment. We will see the return of Vox Saura, the very talented choir and the amazing St. John’s Alumni Pipe Band. I will perform the haggis address and we have Past Chieftain, Richard Thompson and his wife Sharon once again calling the dances. We also have the traditional speeches, such as the toast to the lassies, reply from the lassies and the Robert Burns Immortal memory. Tickets are on sale, reserve your place to avoid disappointment.
AGM AND WHISKY TASTING 2024
This year’s AGM followed by the whisky tasting will be Saturday 9th March, 2024. Venue still to be advised.
INTERSOCIETY GOLF TOURNAMENT 2024
Proposed for 6th April, 2024. Date and venue still to be confirmed. Hoping once again your society will be victorious by retaining the title.
9th KUALA LUMPUR HIGHLAND GAMES 2024
This year’s Highland Games will be on Saturday 28th September 2024, at Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort. Further details to follow.
As you can see, lots more exciting events coming up, be sure to stay tuned in for further updates by checking out our website and social media. Thank you once again for your continued support for your Society.
I hope you are all keeping well and had a good summer break. It’s hard to believe Christmas is just round the corner; where has the year gone?
Welcome to my 3rd Chieftain’s Chatter, my forum for keeping you updated on what’s been happening and what’s coming up for our Society events.
8th KUALA LUMPUR HIGHLAND GAMES 2023
On Saturday 23rd September, 2023 we held our 8th Highland Games at Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort. With an estimated crowd of over 6,000 people in attendance, it was truly an amazing day, and our most successful to date. The Opening Ceremony started with a motorbike cavalcade, courtesy of the Head Hunters Motorcycle Club, carrying newly appointed British High Commissioner to Malaysia, Her Excellency Ailsa Terry, along with me and Scotland’s finest MC, Craig Hill. After a circuit around the field, waving to the crowds, we were ready to welcome everyone to the Games. The ceremony was rounded off by a fantastic performance of marching bagpipers and drummers from the very impressive Sri Dasmesh Pipe Band. With formalities completed, the Games were officially declared Open.
The Highland Games is no doubt one of the best days out that all the family can have in KL and we take utmost pride in making this day extra special. However, none of this would be possible without the generosity of our sponsors, supporters, volunteers and helpers, and for that we are truly grateful. Their sponsorship and support allows us to run this complex event, which showcases uniquely Scottish athletic events, an internationally accredited Pipes & Drums competition, a range of fun tests of strength and skill for all to take part in, and a massive rugby tournament. It also enables us to raise money every year for a changing selection of deserving local charities and offer a free day out at the Games to over 300 disadvantaged children, who had a great time making full use of all the activities on offer and enjoyed the complimentary food, drinks and transportation.
Kids Village
The Kids’ Village is a huge attraction at the KL Highland Games. This year’s amenities included a large selection of carnival games, a slip n slide, bouncy inflatables, paddling pools, a climbing wall and the ever-so-popular inflatable Zorb balls to roll around inside. Additionally, we introduced an exciting reverse bungee ride that had the kids shooting 45ft into the air, where they bobbed up and down in the stretchy harness above a trampoline, before being brought safely back down. This thrilling ride was very well received, especially among the older and more daring kids. And as if that wasn’t enough to keep the children entertained, we had a team of face-painters on site taking pride in applying beautiful designs to lots of smiling faces.
Heavy Events
We welcomed back our favourite strongmen, known as the “Heavies”, fresh from a summer of competing at Highland Games the length and breadth of Scotland, to contest a variety of traditional Scottish events that require enormous strength, explosive power, split-second timing and perfect technique to achieve the best throws. There are five disciplines involved, namely: Shot Put, Weight for Distance, Hammer Throw, Weight for Height, and of course, Tossing the Caber.
It was a close-run competition, but Neil Elliott, “Nelly” to his friends, emerged victorious. Thanks again to Neil, Willie, Anthony, Brian and Ross for putting on a great show and congratulations to those who earned “personal bests”. Great job guys! Thanks also to lovely Liz Elliott, who acted as Heavies Convener and kept their events running as smoothly as always.
Pipes and Drums
This year we had an amazing total of 8 Pipe & Drum bands participating from near and far: 5 from Malaysia, 2 from Hong Kong and 1 from Australia. The talented bands and soloists competed in a range of musical disciplines in front of our Class 1 judging team, while entertaining the crowd. They were an absolute delight to watch and wonderful to hear. Congratulations to the worthy winners and thank you all for coming.
Rugby Tournament
This year’s massively well-attended rugby tournament saw 81 teams from all over Malaysia competing throughout the day, with the relentless action spanning a total of 8 pitches. Spectators cheered on these hard-fought battles, refs furiously blew their whistles, players put in maximum effort and there was a great atmosphere. Thanks again to KL Tigers RFC for once again organising a fabulous tournament.
Mini Highland Games
For the first time ever we introduced the Mini-Highland Games for kids. Using scaled-down throwing equipment, and with expert coaching generously provided by the Heavies, KL’s kids had their first hands-on experience of traditional Scottish athletic events. Thanks are due to MC Craig Hill, for providing the entertaining commentary. We’ll be bringing this event back next year for sure!
Tug of War
With 10 teams of eight likely lads competing, there was plenty of pulling power and a wide variety of tugging techniques on display. The very vocal crowds enjoyed an exciting competition with Alba Gu Bràth taking home the win. Congratulations guys and thanks to all the teams who participated. We were ably assisted in the running and scoring of the event by expert representatives from the Malaysian Tug of War Association, for which we were extremely grateful and we very much hope to collaborate with them again next year.
Welly Boot Toss
By popular demand, we saw the return of the Welly Boot Toss competition. A big yellow welly has to be thrown as far as possible to win. The results ranged from seriously impressive to hilariously underwhelming, as it’s not nearly as straightforward as it might first appear! The lucky Ladies’ and Men’s Champions each earned themselves cash prizes, T-shirts and very lovely ceremonial welly trophies in glass cases.
Golf Simulator
This year we were delighted to be able to offer the public a chance to use a Golf Simulator, which proved to be popular addition to the day, with lots of people queuing to try their hand at achieving the Longest Drive. Well done to the winners of the golf simulator vouchers and we look forward to welcoming this fun challenge back next year.
Supporters, Vendors, Concessions, Merchandise
From the many fabulous food stalls on site to choose from, our food vendors did an amazing job of ensuring stomachs were amply lined and our 2 big and busy bar tents, the Northern Lights Bar and the Fjord Watering Hole kept everyone fully hydrated.
With 4 concession stores, as well as our very own KLHG merchandise tent, there were some great shopping opportunities. We also had a selection of fabulous raffle prizes, which saw plenty of interest and made their lucky winners extra happy with the day.
VIP Tent
As a token of our appreciation for the incredibly generous support we received from our Platinum Sponsors, this year we invited them into the newly introduced VIP Tent. This separate space offered our honoured guests a free bar and some delicious bites to eat, while sitting at dressed tables inside or standing in the fenced outside area from which to see and be seen.
Live Music
After all competitions were completed, it was time to boogie on down to our favourite local band, Urban Myth, who never have trouble getting the crowds up dancing until closing time.
SSAS Committee
A special Thank You goes out to the amazing committee for all your hard work, commitment and dedication to making this wonderful day possible. From positive feedback received, we have shown once again this is the best event in town, and it’s all credit to you.
ST. ANDREW’S CELEBRATION
My first formal evening event as Chieftain will be the St. Andrew’s Celebration, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Saturday 25th November, 2023. You will have already received the flyer in your email inbox, and probably also seen it on our social media. Tickets are available now. Come join us for fine cuisine, traditional entertainment provided by the amazing St. John’s Alumni Pipe Band and then dance the night away to Scotland’s finest ceilidh band, Clappy Doo.
BURNS NIGHT 2024
Next year’s Burns Night will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel, on Saturday 3rd February, 2024. Further details to follow.
9th KUALA LUMPUR HIGHLAND GAMES 2024
Next year’s Highland Games will be on Saturday 28th September 2024, at Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort.
As you can see, lots more exciting events are coming up, so be sure to keep yourselves updated by checking out our website and social media. Thank you once again for your continued support for your Society.
I hope you are all keeping well and looking forward to the summer break. I’ll be heading to the UK end of this month, my first trip back in 6 years, how time flies!! I’m really looking forward seeing my family and friends and hoping the lovely weather they are having just now continues 🙏 Don’t think I could survive cold temperatures having been spoiled living in these hot climates for 20 years…showing my age now!!
As promised in my last Chieftain’s Chatter, I want to keep you updated on what’s been happening so far and what’s coming up for our Society events.
INTERSOCIETY GOLF TOURNAMENT
This year’s Intersociety Golf competition took place on Saturday 20th May, 2023 at Tasik Puteri Golf Resort. Eighty golfers battled it out with teams representing from St. Andrew’s, St. Patrick’s, St. George’s, and Canada/Rest of the World.
Selangor St. Andrew’s Society were the defending champions so were the organisers for this year. I’d like to say a huge thank you to our main sponsors, Melbourne Capital Group (MCG), who made a substantial donation to charity and offered a prize of free beer at Sid’s for a year to the winning flight of the Yellow Ball competition! Asian Tigers, long-term supporters of the day, and MCG generously kitted the golfers out with T-Shirts and well-filled goodie bags, also providing a prize of a super golf bag cover. The golfers were further plied with great prizes, including booze baskets donated by Tito’s Vodka and the Tong Woh Group, plus Wedge rewarded the winner of the Longest Drive with a golf simulator voucher.
We had other side competitions on the day, prizes for Nearest to the Pin, Nearest the Line and Best Golfer of the Day, but this year additionally introduced a brand new event – Beat the Teen! Aaron Annison, a very talented 14 year old, flew in from Bangkok to challenge our golfers at hole 6 and impressively beat 72 of them while raising RM1,830 for charity.
At hole eight, golfers were invited to Spin the Wheel for Motor Neurone Disease, making their own pledges to this year’s highlighted charity, which raised RM2,060. We also raised RM450 for the bus escorting players to and from the course. In total, the Inter-Society Golf Tournament 2023 raised over RM10,000, which will be divided amongst our six chosen charities.
A fantastic result for such worthwhile causes, to cap off a great day of fun, food, banter, and competition. And the icing on the cake, Selangor St. Andrew’s Society emerged victorious once again in the Team Competition so we get to organise it all again next year!
BATU GAJAH REMEMBRANCE CEREMONY
My husband Alan and I, along with fellow committee colleague Chris Collier, attended the remembrance service at God’s Little Acre, Batu Gajah on Saturday 17th June, 2023. Organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), the service was very well attended with representation from the guest of honour, Ng Kong Soon, representing the Royal Malaysian Police; his Excellency the Most Reverend Datuk Seri Sebastian Francis, Bishop of the Diocese of Penang; Sharmila Bernau, Deputy High Commissioner of New Zealand; representatives from the British High Commission; police and army representatives; war veterans; and plantation stakeholders across the supply chain.
Such a moving service paying respects to all those who sadly lost their lives during 1948-1960 Malayan emergency. I had the honour of laying a wreath on behalf of the society, and my colleague Chris laid a wreath on behalf of the British Legion.
ALICE SMITH SCHOOL HUMANITIES AWARD PRESENTATION This year’s annual Humanities Award presentation took place at the Alice Smith School, Main Hall, Secondary Campus on Tuesday 27th June, 2023. I had the honour of presenting the Humanities Award to Hayden Arthur Schubert, Year 13, on behalf of the Selangor St Andrew’s Society.
KL 8th HIGHLAND GAMES
The 8th Highland Games this year will take place on Saturday 23rd September, 2023 at Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort. You will have seen our weekly promotional flyers announcing our sponsors, chosen charities, entertainment providers, mass pipe bands on all our social media platforms. Further promotional announcements to follow. We are currently creating a new KLHG website which will contain everything you need to know about this fantastic event. As members can I encourage all of you to spread the word. We are expecting crowds higher than previous years given the amount of sponsorship and publicity the games are attracting. We have made a commitment to our sponsors to deliver the very best so we need to ensure this is carried through as none of this would be possible without their support.
This year’s event will see the return of the heavies and mass pipe bands. We have the rugby, tug of war and wellie boot toss competitions. We will also have a golf simulator competition. Lots of exciting things to look forward to and of course we have the bars to keep us refreshed and energised as we dance the night away with our favourite regular band, Urban Myth. We also welcome Scotland’s favourite MC, Craig Hill, flying in especially for the games. There’s no escaping him when he gets hold of the mic so watch out!!
We are looking forward to another successful and fun filled day with a bumper crowd, lets hope the weather behaves itself 🙏But if it does rain, just take shelter in the bar 🍺🥂🍸 Win win all round 🤩
Listed below are our official sponsors:
PLATINUM SPONSORS
BLUESTAR AMG
ASEAN GROUP
RIO CLUB
ODFJELL TECHNOLOGY
BORR DRILLING
AROONA SOLUTIONS
CRYSTAL PTE LIMITED
GOLD SPONSORS
HEINEKEN
ARTCO ASSOCIATED RENTAL TOOLS
AOS OFFSHORE
DIAMOND CLASSIC SERVICES
LV SHIPPING & TRANSPORT
SILVER & BRONZE SPONSORS
TENDEKA
NEW HORIZONS OILFIELD & ENERGY SERVICES
AURORA TALENT
PING PETROLEUM
ABERDEEN DRILLING SCHOOL & WEL CONTROL TRAINING CENTRE
AGS WORLDWIDE MOVERS
ASIAN TIGERS GROUP
Through the generosity of our sponsors, we are able to provide charitable donations to a number of charities. Listed below are our chosen charities that will benefit from the Highland Games. Again, a big thank you for making this possible.
OFFICIAL CHOSEN CHARITIES
BATU GRACE ASHRAM
SPECIAL CHILDREN SOCIETY OF AMPANG
THE PEACE EDUCATION CENTRE (T-PEC)
GRACE EDUCATION CENTRE (GEC)
PERSATUAN M-O-B-I-L-I-T-I
VOICE FOR PAWS
ST ANDREW’S BALL
My first formal event as Chieftain will be the St Andrew’s Ball at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Saturday 25th November, 2023, a new and exciting venue for this year’s annual celebration. We will see the return of our favourite ceilidh band, Clappy Doo, along with the amazing St John’s Alumni pipe band. The flyer for this event will be issued after our highland games.
BURNS NIGHT 2024
Following the success of this year’s Burns Night, we will once again be holding this event at the Four Seasons Hotel on Saturday 3rd February, 2024. Further details to follow.
As you can see, we have lots of exciting events coming up so be sure to keep yourselves updated by checking out our website and social media. Thank you once again for your continued support for your society. Special thanks to all our sponsors, supporters, and volunteers for making our events possible.
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