Chieftain’s Chatter – September 2016

We are all ready to rock with our first event after the holidays as the preparation for the Great British Ball are nearing completion. The event will be held on 22^nd October 2016 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The band is confirmed, flight tickets purchased to get them here, hotel rooms booked for all our overseas participants. By popular request we have once again engaged the Sam Ludeman Band to perform at the event. They gave us all a fantastic evening at last year’s event and we are thrilled to have them back again for a repeat performance. See:  http://www.bandshop.com.au/cover_bands/Arist_bio/Sam_Ludeman_Band.html

It will be a night of glamorous decadence and fun.

It is worthy of note that this year is the 10^th Anniversary of the event. The inaugural Great British Ball was held in 2006 and that event proved to be such a success that it has now evolved to become a permanent annual highlight on the expat social scene in KL. As usual, tickets for the Great British Ball generally sell-out in advance of the event. If you have not already done so, do get your tickets/tables booked and don’t end up on the waiting list. You can make you reservation on-line at: tickets@greatbritishball.com.my

We are also well ahead with our planning and preparations for the annual St. Andrew’s Ball which will be held on 26^th November 2016 at Hilton Doubletree hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

This event is a wonderful evening where we celebrate our Scottish heritage and culture in a traditional way with renditions of pipes and drums and Scottish Country Dancing together with Ceilidh Dancing. The Society held the first St. Andrew’s Ball in KL in 1887 and we have continued hosting this event on an annual basis ever since that time with the exception of the war years. So the St. Andrew’s Ball is probably one of the longest standing social events of its kind in Malaysia.

The meal also includes traditional Scottish fare of haggis, neaps and tatties and a wee dram or two to add to the flavour. We have the super Clappy Doo Ceilidh Band heading over from Scotland to entertain us and I am sure it will be a fantastic night of Scottish tradition and a good old knees up. Tickets have now gone on sale, so make sure you don’t miss out on this one. You can apply for tickets on-line at: http://www.ssas-online.com/tickets-2/

The Burns’ Supper will be held at the Hilton Doubletree hotel on 21^st January 2017. Preparations are underway, as we organise speakers to give the various toasts, select the dinner menus and wine, plus all the other entertainments that are integral to a celebration of our national poet. I have to say there is a lot of fun working on the various organising committees of these events. Indeed we have a very good team on our main committee and in the various sub-committees responsible for managing individual events.

If you would like to participate on any of the committees, please do let me know as we always welcome those who are keen to get involved with the committee work of the Society.

Yours Aye

Ali King, Chieftain