Datin Wee (left) and Dona Wee (centre) light ‘candles of hope’ during the ceremony.
KUCHING: Well-wishers from all walks of life turned up to offer a minute of silence for the earthquake victims of Nepal during ‘An Evening of Love, Prayer for Nepal’ at the Hills Shopping Mall on Thursday.
The ceremony was jointly organised by the Sarawak Mirage Club, Chung Hua Middle School No.1 Alumni Association Kuching, Dance Academy Kuching, Kenwy Music and Arts Academy, Miya Dance Studio, and Tyng Dance Academy, which was also aimed at raising funds for victims of the recent disaster in Nepal.
Participants consisting of shopping mall customers, tourists, students, and other members of the public, apart from the organisers themselves, their friends and family members coming together to offer their prayers during the solemn moment.
In her speech, chairman of Mirage Club Dona Drury Wee said: “I have travelled to Nepal three times from 1998 to 2000, to visit our close family friend who is working there at the time.
“My family loved it there, the people were so nice, it was so safe, and Kathmandu has so much character and history. But one thing that did strike us though, was that it is also very poor.”
She said the difficult terrain made it hard to build good infrastructure and many of the houses in the villages were made from dried mud and cow dung patties.
She remembered driving to Pokhara and seeing women and children squatting down, breaking the granite into smaller pieces by hand for making the roads, because there was no heavy machinery to do it.
“When we heard the news of the earthquake, we immediately turned on the news channels, and we were saddened as we watched the devastation that Mother Nature struck through the very centre of all those beautiful ancient buildings.
“We saw floods of people fleeing their houses and villages because their homes have been destroyed, most of them have lost all traces of their former lives; business and schools have all come crumbling to the ground,” she said.
The earthquake that hit Nepal on Apr 25 killed more than 8,000 people and was measured at a magnitude of 7.8.
Wee went on to express her appreciation and gratitude to all those who had worked together to make the event a success, and she thanked those who had made donations, adding no amount was too small.
Her mother-in-law, Datin Amar Kathryn Wee, who was also present, expressed her thanks to all those who came to support the event, which reflected a caring and loving society.
She said it was very meaningful to have a loving society, ever ready to help any country in need.
“The purpose of this event this evening is to remember the victims of the earthquake in Nepal, and also to help raise donations for them. I would like to congratulate and thank all the organisers for making today a success,” she said.
Among the activities held during the night included lighting ‘candles of hope’ and donations to love and care box, performances by the Mirage Club and Chung Hua Middle School No. 1 Alumni Association choir, which was accompanied by dancers from the Dance Academy Kuching.
There were also performances by the Tzu Chi Merit Foundation, presentation of contribution by Kathryn Wee to Tzu Chi Merit Foundation as well as Wushu performances by the Wushu Federation of Sarawak.