Then & Now - Part 1 (continued)

Following certain allegations made by PC in the comments to "Then & Now - Part 1", it appears that the matter has been taken further, with legal support provided by GL. Seems that a courtroom battle is imminent.

WRIT OF SUMMONS

MALAYSIA

IN THE HIGH COURT IN SABAH AND SARAWAK AT KUCHING

SUIT NO. ________

BETWEEN

PHILIP CHIN LIAN FUNG … Plaintiff

AND

JAMES YONG … 1st Defendant
JAMES KUO HANG UNG … 2nd Defendant
HARRY GOH ENG KIAT … 3rd Defendant
CHRISTOPHER CHEW … 4th Defendant
RICHARD LEE … 5th Defendant
CHIEH LIPP KEE … 6th Defendant
BENJAMIN CHUNG … 7th Defendant

WE COMMAND you that within twenty (20) days after the service of this Writ of Summons on you, inclusive of the day of such service, you do cause an appearance to be entered for you in a cause at the suit of the abovenamed Plaintiff.

AND TAKE NOTICE that, in default of your so doing, the Plaintiff may proceed therein to judgment and execution.

WITNESS the Registrar of the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak the 1st day of April, 2009

…………………………. …………………………
Advocates for the Plaintiff

REGISTRAR
High Court, Kuching


This Writ may not be served more than six (6) calendar months after the above date unless renewed by Order of the Court.

The Defendant may appear enter hereto appearance either personally or by an advocate at the Registrar of the High Court.

A Defendant appearing personally may, if he desires, enter his appearance by post, and the appropriate forms may be obtained by sending a Postal Order for RM5.00 with an addressed envelope to Registrar, High Court at Kuching.

INDORSEMENT AS TO SERVICE

This Writ was served by by way of personal service (or as may be) (state manner of service) on the defendant at on the .......... day of ........... 2009.

Indorsed on the ........... day of ............... 2009

Process Server

STATEMENT OF CLAIM

1. Sometime in the early eighties, the Plaintiff was residing in a flat in Ealing Broadway, East London.

2. At the material time, the Plaintiff was a student.

3. All the Defendants are known to the Plaintiff and were also students studying in London at the material time.

4. On a date which the Plaintiff is unable to recall at this time (further particulars will be given after completion of the discovery process in these proceedings), the Defendants were with the Plaintiff at the Ealing Broadway flat.

5. Without any provocation whatsoever by the Plaintiff, the Defendants, acting in concert, committed assault and battery upon the person of the Plaintiff, full particulars whereof are as follows.

Particulars

5.1 The Defendants physically apprehended the Plaintiff and confined the Plaintiff within a mattress that was found in the flat.

5.2 The Defendants then proceeded to use their fingers to prod and otherwise rub the Plaintiff in the region of his armpits, torso and navel area.

5.3 This continued for a period of several minutes although the Plaintiff felt that it was considerably longer than that.


6. By reason of the Defendants’ acts aforesaid, the Plaintiff suffered loss and damage.

Particulars

6.1 The Plaintiff being a particularly ticklish person (a fact which was known the Defendants) laughed himself hoarse.

6.2 The Plaintiff lost his voice for about a week and was unable to communicate with his girlfriend and this caused them considerable emotional distress.

6.3 During the episode of tickling, the Plaintiff laughed so much that he lost control of his bladder and was incontinent.

6.4 This incontinence had not happened since the Plaintiff was 9 years old and it caused the Plaintiff considerable worry that it would recur.

6.5 In consequence thereof, the Plaintiff was unable to sleep for several nights, repeatedly waking up to go to the toilet.

6.6 For several weeks thereafter, whenever in the presence of the Defendants or any of them, the Plaintiff felt an uncontrollable urge to relieve himself.


7. The Plaintiff did not take any legal action as he, thereafter, had a memory lapse which was probably attributable to the horrendous tickling he got.

8. His memory did not return until he came across a website on the internet set up by the 1st Defendant which contained, inter alia, a reference to the Plaintiff being ticklish and questions raised as to whether the Plaintiff had been tickled before.

9. This incident caused the Plaintiff to recall the incident pleaded above. By reason of his memory lapse, the Plaintiff will say that his claim is not barred by any limitation period.

AND THE PLAINTIFF CLAIMS:

1. Compensation in the form of a 16 oz wagyu ribeye, medium rare, with a side order of mushroom, salad and corn on the cob, accompanied by a bottle of red wine of a vintage compatible with the steak, or such vintage as the Court deems fit and just.

2. Costs in the form of another order of the same dish to be given to the Plaintiff’s solicitor who shall be entitled to share the red wine aforesaid.

3. Such further or other order as the Court deems fit.


Dated March 2009

………………………….
GEORGE LO
Advocate for the Plaintiff

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RECENT SETTLEMENTS

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Out-of-court settlement by 1st Defendent (JY)

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Attempted Out-of-Court Settlement by 6th Defendent (CLK)

Part Settlement by 2nd Defendent (JKHU)

Dishwasher-turned-Lobster Chef JK, who also moonlights as a heart surgeon

JK's culinary creation

Indisputable evidence that the Plaintiff enjoyed the pleasures of this part settlement

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Photos from Siem Reap

Our friend Sinos Bartholomew shared this photo recently.

Place: old Siem Reap airport.
Date: August 2006
Special visitors: TYT Yang Di-Perdua Negeri Sarawak,
Tun Datuk Patinggi Abang Haji Muhammad Salahuddin
and his entourage.

TYT and his wife and friends were on a private visit to Cambodia, and Sinos was asked by the embassy to help host.

Rubbing shoulders with the VVIPs, eh Sinos? Well done, my friend. Hope TYT enjoyed Siem Reap.

RANDOM PHOTO ALBUM - Part #7

Here's another set of random shots around our hometown Kuching - some featuring the bustling streets or markets, some the luxuriant greenery. Enjoy ...

#1 : A view of Khoo Hun Yeang Street, with the golden domed mosque in the background

#2 : Ban Hock Lane, behind Electra House (where car parking is usually a problem during most of the day)

#3 : Inside the Open Air Market (sorry the shot isn't very clear - the place is not well lit, and this amateur photographer still has much to learn about compensating for such conditions. Free photography tips most welcome!)

#4 : View of Merdeka Palace hotel from the Padang. Some nice old trees on the Padang, which used to provide welcome shade for us students when we had to assemble here for various celebrations.

#5 : Reservoir Park provides a serene environment for relaxing, meditation and romantic evenings (for some)

Photos #1, #2 and #4 were kindly contributed via Leo Sia. The rest were either taken by yours truly or shamelessly plagiarised from someone else :-) Please keep sending me any pictures you may have taken around town to keep this Random Photo Album going.

Cheers.

The Way We Were ... (#2 by John Lee)

Recently we had some email inputs from our friend John Lee (Form 5 Arts 1) on his forays into the world of bodybuilding in the 80's. I think this is a perfect item as part of our "The Way We Were" series. Impressive stuff. I'll let John tell you about it in his own words ...
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"Back in the mid 80s when I was still in Kuching, I had to give up playing rugby due to injuries and I joined a local gym, called Silver Gym, ran by Sim Yaw Seng, our senior at SJS. Yaw Seng was into bodybuilding and had won a few prizes in the local bodybuilding contests. Somehow my interest in bodybuilding blossom and with a group of new members, we put a lot of hours into bodybuilding.

Just before I had to leave Kuching in late October 1989, I decided (with a few encouragement from the gym members) to enter a bodybuilding contest and the only one in the calendar was in Sibu. So I entered my name in the competition and the rest was history, I was crowned Mr Novice, Sibu 1989.

(Website Jaga's note: You may need to download & zoom to read the text above)

My theme music for the 3 minute individual performance was: Chariots of Fire.

Enclosed are some photos taken during the competition and some taken at Santubong, a couple of weeks before the competition."

Way to go, John "Mr Novice Sibu 1989" Lee !!!!

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Message to the Ladies

1) If you must scream, please make sure the hubby is not around.

2) Actually most of us in the classes of Form 5 (1976) looked kinda like that under our attire, but we were just too modest to show it :-)

Memories: Boxing Crazy

Do you recall the famous Mohammad Ali - Joe Bugner fight held at Stadium Merdeka in KL on 1st July 1975 and televised across Malaysia and the world ?

We were then in Form 4, the so-called "honeymoon" year (cos we didn't have to take any key public exams) and had more time on our hands. Do you remember the boxing craze that it sparked off among us guys? Every red-blooded kid suddenly had access to boxing gloves, and bouts were regularly being held at people's garages or gardens. If any of you now suffer from dizzy spells or memory lapses, it probably stemmed from the thumping you got during those days ;-)

If I'm not mistaken, it was also the early days of television (black & white TV just introduced, lah!) in Sarawak, and in the run-up to July, the sale of TV sets went up quite significantly, as everyone wanted to catch the live telecast of the Ali-Bugner bout.

Anyway, you can relive some of the scenes in the following YouTube video ...

Or if you remember the song that went with the occasion & personality, you'll enjoy this other music video ...

Ahhh ... those were the days. Do share your own unique experiences. Did you watch the Ali-Bugner match? Did you go in for your own boxing tournaments? Who did you fight? Where did you fight? Who won? What did you win?

Another Message from the Website Jaga

Well guys, this website has been up for close to 3 months already and I'm glad that it's been a useful tool to reconnect old friends and classmates.

I'm running out of photos and topics to cover so I'd like to appeal to you guys to help me out by sending in more photos (old & new), documents or just write about anything interesting in your lives. Let me give a few suggestions of what might be interesting ...


* If you happen to meet other Fifth Formers anywhere. Even if it's just two or three of you having a coffee, cognac or cabernet, take a photo and write a few words about it. If you can't think of what to write, just the standard: who, where, when, what, why & how might be useful triggers ... standard tip from Bro Adrian's English class!

* If you happen to be with others who are somehow linked to the Form 5 classes of 1976 - be they spouses, girlfriends, former flames, children, former schoolmates, teachers, etc ... drop us a line & a photo.

* Dig into your old albums or dusty boxes in your storeroom and find those uniques photos from the 70s or 80s. Scan and send them to me, with a short caption or narrative.

* If you are based in some corner of the world, take a photo of yourself near some recognisable landmark (eg. Beijing's Birdsnest, Hoan Kiem Lake or Nottingham Castle) and share it with us.

* If you are working on some meaningful cause - be it a charitable, political or social - tell us about it. Maybe others might want to join you.

* If you are on a trip somewhere, share some interesting sights and sounds (we are very advanced now - we even know how to include videoclips! :-)

* I'm still waiting for some others to agree to feature a bit of their lives since Form 5 days in the "The Way We Were" series (we only have one entry on that so far) . Family shots are always welcome.


In short, keep contributing and make your Form 5 (1976) website as dynamic and interactive as it can be. And do tell more people about it. For instance, we have a few shots and mentions of the ladies from our sister or cousin schools - can someone let them know about the site & invite them to check it out & maybe even drop a line or two?

Cheers for now
--- Website Jaga

Snapshots from the Seventies - A St Joe-St Teresa outing

Another very old photo that was recently brought to my attention. I won't say much about it, except that it is obviously some sort of outing by the same level classes of St Joe and St Teresa. I'm told this was in either 1974 or 1975.

Take a good look.

Maybe YOU are in the picture. Or maybe you can help name the other individuals in the picture ? Or maybe you can update where they are now or what they're doing ?




For a start, let's see who's the first one who can name everyone in the picture. ... ;-)

A Gift from John Lee

Our friend John Lee (Form 5 Arts 1) living in Huddersfield, UK sent me an email this morning, and enclosed some absolutely precious photos, whichI'm sure all of the Form 5 Arts 1 members and many others will appreciate.

First here's the note ...

Hi....James

Thanks for the good work you have done in the blogspot so far, long may it continue and thanks to those who have contributed as well. "Spread the word", I would say......not just to our classmates, schoolmates are welcome too as well as from our other sisters and brothers schools. I am sure if there are contributions from them, you can create a separate section.

I have managed to find a couple of old photos of myself (only of my best poses, in my opinion), taken in '75 (with glasses) and another taken in '79. In my searches, I have also come across our form 5 Arts 1, class photo where everyone in the class have put their signature on the back of it.......a treasure!!!

Best wishes

Regards
John

Wow, a treasure indeed. Thanks John for taking good care of such a wonderful momento. So guys, enjoy the photos ...

Front

Back

And now great photos of the young John Lee ...

John (circa 1975)

and leaving the best for last ... (ladies, please control yourself) ...

John (circa 1979)

Passing of Tan Chin Chai (Form 5 Arts 1)

It is with sadness that I share with you news of the passing of Tan Chin Chai, our old friend from Form 5 Arts 1 (1976).

I was informed that ChinChai passed away suddenly of heart attack in Miri on 14th March 2009. Chin Chai had moved to Miri several years ago, and started a business there.

He leaves behind a wife and two young children.

May he rest in peace.

Then & Now - Part 2 - UPDATED

It seems that many of you liked the 'Then & Now' coverage of our old friends. The blog's visitor count hit unprecedented levels for several days after that entry was posted (exceeding 60 unique visitors on one of the days!) We'll have to see whether we have enough material to sustain this series. I really need more of you to send in your photos - otherwise this may be one of the last of the "Now & Then" postings.

A challenge I face is when people don't have access to their old photos. My first recourse is to find their class photo from Ad Astra, but as you will see, the quality of the picture is not very good, and I'm still trying to find a higher resolution scan. If I can't show a picture of the person back then, then allow me some artistic license to substitute it - until such time you can provide or I can find a better photo.

First up is our old friend GL (Form 5 Sc, 1976). The "then" shots are of a very young Georgie boy taken from class photos from Primary 6 (1971) and Form 3 (1974). "Now" shows GL today, with the shot taken during CNY 2009. Looking suave as usual, our lawyer friend has his own law firm in Kuching and is actively involved in corporate and commercial litigation.

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Next we have NL (Form 5 Arts 1, 1976). On the left is a possible "then" picture of NL during those days on St Joe's sports track & field. The "now" picture was taken in Feb 2009 in Hanoi, where NL is based, managing the Vietnam subsidiary of a M'sian conglomerate. An avid golfer (handicap 10) , NL is keeping fit and looking good.

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Another well-known athlete from our St Joe days is JL (Form 5 Arts 1, 1976). "Then" is taken from the class photo in 1976. Apologies for the quality. JL is married to an "ang moh" lass and has been living in the UK for some time. He works for local government and is also active in the community. As playful as ever, one can expect funny and interesting e-mails on a regular basis if one gets on one of his distribution lists.
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Well folks, that's it for another "Then & Now" entry. Enjoy ... and do send in your photos PLEEEAAASSSEEE !

Then & Now - Part 1

This is the series of posts that I wanted to do since I started this blog !!! I know you guys will be sporting enough to send me two photos - one when you were younger (in the 70s or early 80s) and another of you in more recent times. Hey, look at it this way - it's better that you send me your photos voluntarily than for me to find some shots of you on the Web or something - which may not be as flattering looks-wise :-)

I've kicked off this post with some shots I already have in my archive. Thanks guys for being my guinea ... I mean stars. Ok, ok - I promise to also include my own 'then & now' photos.

You'll also note that I only reflect your initials, to make it more difficult (tho' not impossible) for these photos to be Googled. Anyway, I think we don't need to spell out the names as most who view these pages would be familiar with all the characters.

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Here's our old friend CLK, whom we only recently reconnected with. "Then" was around 1979 in London. "Now" is a recent photo taken, I believe, in Canada. Hey LK, I must say that apart from the hair, you haven't changed that much at all. Ever prosperous looking. Must be the freezing Canadian weather that's keeping you well-preserved.

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Next we have JK. "Then" was also in London around 1979. "Now" is Dec 2008, also in London. Hmmm, we can still discern the fun-loving teenager in the good doctor's face, but what happened to the mane? Or is it a case of "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow"?

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Here's HBC, our brilliant friend from Form 5. You've probably seen both photos in other entries in this website, but until I get other shots, they will have to do. "Then" was taken at St Joe in 1976. "Now" was taken in KL in early 2009. Looking good, BC.

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And then we have our old friend PC. "Then" was taken in London in the early 90s, as I don't have an earlier photo ... (PC, that's your cue to send me some old photos :) "Now" was taken in Dec 2008. Note how PC likes to tilt his head stylishly to one side while posing for photographs. Old habits don't change easily.
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True to my promise, the last pair of photos comes from Website Jaga's own album. "Then" shows JY in either 1978 or 79 and taken while living the bohemian student life in London. "Now" is Feb 2009. Try not to laugh too hard - the years have been kinda rough, ok? ;-)

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Well, if you enjoyed viewing this post, remember to send YOUR two scanned photos to the Website Jaga (jslyong@hotmail.com) . Don't miss the chance to document your 'then & now' looks for posterity. This series will grow as I receive or find more photos. Remember to come back often and check it out!

Update from Web Jaga - Mar 2009

I thought you might be interested in the latest visitor traffic pattern on this Form 5 website. Since the last time I informed you, the level has gone up by a notch. The site now has at least 30 unique visitors per day, as can be seen from the chart.

For those interested, I generated this chart using a free website monitoring software called Statcounter (http://www.statcounter.com/) .

The blue bar represents the total number of visitors for the day, and the orange bar is the number of returning visitors (ie. ones who have visited this site before, using the same computer .. or more strictly IP address). The bar for 16 Mar (today) is still low as it is still early at 11am.

But hard statistics tell only half the story. We have very good feedback from ex form mates who have found this site interesting and useful. We have also reconnected with more and more old friends (some "lost" for 30 years) from all around the world. And we have started getting participation from the fairer sex, some of whom were probably old flames from half a lifetime ago.

So tell all our other friends from Form 5 (1976), and get them to check out this site & more importantly to share what they've been up to !

..

Comic Fans of the 60s & 70s Alert

This morning, I saw the following item in the papers ...


Half a million US$ for a comic !!!!!!! Perhaps it's time for those of us who have stowed away our early issues of The Amazing Spiderman, or Daredevil or Batman or Green Lantern or other titles, to start brushing away the cobwebs from the old boxes and see if this might be our ticket out of the recession :-)

Errr .... I very much doubt your old Lau Fu Tze comics would fetch a very high price, but I may be wrong.

Anyway I'd be keen to hear what successes you have.

Kuching A to Z (Part 4)

Thanks everyone for all your great contributions. I'm happy that this " Kuching A to Z" series of entries is still going strong. Keep it up ! Here's what you suggested for the next three letters ...

F

Fata Hotel - pretty centrally located on Jalan McDougall, near St Mary's and St Thomas' schools. Actually I don't know much about this hotel. Never stayed there nor had any visitors staying there. What I do know is that on the ground floor of the same block as this Hotel, there's a cafe that sells pretty delicious porridge (In the photo, the cafe is just out of view, on the right side)

The song "Feelings" was sooooo popular in the mid 70's. Watched a lot of local and international singers crooning it on TV variety shows. I just googled it for more details. Found that it was popularised by a Morris Albert in a 1975 album of the same name. Commercially very successful, but one music critic somewhat unkindly referred to it the "best song in the world to put you to sleep" :-)

Psssst ! Someone mentioned to me a couple of days ago that he could still envision a certain lovely CCF singing it on a local TV show. Hmmm ...

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F is for Fun Fair. Someone reminded us of the annual (?) school fun fairs that were held at the grounds behind the old Catholic Centre, and adjacent to St Mike's. The fair had many game stalls, like hoopla, mechanical horse-racing, darts, throwing ping pong balls into bottles, shooting balloons etc. (Website Jaga also remembers that other game where you have to light about a dozen or so candles with one matchstick and avoid getting fingers burnt) Then there was also the music DJ playing requests, and our friend remembers Cliff Richard's song "Congratulations" being one of the most popular numbers. (The following video clip may bolster those memories ... aaah, nostalgia!)

G

Grand Margherita - formerly Holiday Inn Kuching. I've already mentioned this in one of the photo posts, so will not repeat it.

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Gambier Road is the road where the p0ultry and wet markets used to be. I believe they were moved out last year. Opposite the markets are a whole series of shophouses selling all kinds of goods - food commodities (like rice, sugar, pepper), hardware, kitchen utensils, textiles and clothes, souvenirs, etc.

H

Hornbill - refers to a family of birds found in sub-tropical Africa and Asia (including of course Borneo). This creature has been adopted as the state symbol of Sarawak, which often refers to itself as "Land of Hornbills". Ironically, this creature is not that easy to sight. In fact, the person who suggested this item said that he had only seen hornbills in a foreign zoo, rather than in Sarawak :-)

Cikgu Hol - our long-suffering BM teacher in Form5. We didn't make his life any easier, as our interests generally weren't in the subject. He was remarkably patient with us. Rarely raised his voice. Wonder where he is these days ...?

Hilton Hotel - a nice hotel overlooking the Sarawak river.

Horse racing was quite popular in the old days. As a boy, I remember going to the Sarawak Turf Club to watch races with my grandparents. These days I believe the excitement over horse-racing is not as intense among Kuching dwellers, except for serious punters.

That's all for this entry folks. Start thinking about letters I,J and K.

Happiness is ...

I've always enjoyed the comics pages in the newspaper, no matter where I happen to be. Back in Kuching, it used to be the old "The Sarawak Tribune" (now no more) or "Borneo Post" or "New Straits Times", in Singapore, it might be "The New Paper" or "The Straits Times". Or it could be the "The Bangkok Post" or "International Herald Tribune".

I feel that comics pages break the monotony of the serious - and often depressiing - news of the day, and has the potential to help a reader start the day with a little spring ... a little smile ... a little happier. I've also never understood why it is only the weekend papers that have many more pages of comics. Don't we need cheering up on weekdays too? (perhaps our former classmate Datuk Anthony, CEO of NSTP, would care to comment if he happens to be reading this :-)

I always recall this cartoon and classic phrase from my favourite Peanuts strip from years ago: Happiness is a Warm Puppy.

You can substitute any other animal (kittens, bunnies, guinea pigs, ferrets, parrots?) for "puppy" if you're not that keen on dogs, but you get the idea. I guess the point here is that in life happiness does not have to come from money or material things, but often from the very simple things in life which can be free or almost free.

So my chatting point and request today is for you to adapt and complete Charlie Brown's phrase in your own words, with your own experience and perspective. In other words, for you

Happiness is ... ?

Message from Website Jaga

Dear all,

I have started updating the "Who were in Form 5 Science/ Arts 1 Arts 2 ?" class list entries (first posted in January) with more information about ex-classmates we hear from or learn more about. Please take a look and let me know if you want to edit/add/delete some information about yourself. Do send me more details by email (jslyong@hotmail.com).

One rule I try to abide by: I will not reveal the email id unless the individual has given me permission to do so.

Cheers
--- Website Jaga

In Memoriam : Father James Muhren

A pause from our usual light-hearted chat, to tell you of the sad news of Father James Muhren's passing in the Netherlands on 1 March 2009 at the age of 82.

Father Muhren spent some 40 years of his life serving in Sarawak. Those of you who were Catholics, or followers of the Novena or other services at St Joseph's Cathedral, Kuching in the 70's, might remember this jovial priest with a good sense of humour. He was also very involved in various young people movements that the church organised. After Kuching, he was posted to Sibu from 1979 to 2002.
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Here's a news clipping with more details, courtesy of the Borneo Post.

(Note: You may need to download to read the text more clearly)

Father Muhren was a good man, whose service to the community was much appreciated. I know that some of the Catholic followers in our cohort knew him and possibly his advice had positive influence on some of us .

May he rest in peace.

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