KOTA KINABALU: The Persatuan Peranakan Sino Bumiputera Sabah (Sabah Sino Native Association) is expanding with the setting up of a branch in Beaufort.
Branch chairman Datuk Teo Ching Ping said the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in Kuala Lumpur had approved the formation of the branch on December 2, last year.
“I am very happy to see that the Persatuan Peranakan Sino Bumiputera Sabah was formed. I was waiting for the association to be formed ever since the old Persatuan Peranakan Sabah was deregistered in the 70s,” said Teo, who is popularly known as Ah Kong.
The 77-year-old businessman said that at last the newly formed association came to life after 40 years in the doldrum.
“I thanked all those founders who sacrificed their precious time and effort to form this association. Without them, we are not in the picture,” he said.
Being a genuine sino native, he said his grandmother was from Kuala Penyu and he himself hailed from a small district of Membakut.
“I am very proud of being a sino native. I was a member of the previous association under the leadership of Datuk Halik Zaman but it was deregistered,” he said.
Since he was approached by some of sino natives from Beaufort to lead the association, he graciously accepted to be their leader as long as his health permits.
“I would like to see all the new generations unite together so as to make the association progress and to preserve the unique culture of our descendants,” he said, adding that the logo of the association itself means a lot as it represents a pyramid and facing towards the sky.
Teo, who is a well-known businessman in Membakut because of his generosity, friendliness and easy going personality, said that his first priority is to recruit all the members in the district and to guide the young committee members to work hand in hand to ensure that the branch will progress.
He said that the branch would apply for a piece of land from the government to develop and improve the sino natives in the district.
He added some of the sino natives had expressed their willingness to donate computers, fax machine, printer and other things to the branch.