Rumah Pengajian Xavier (RPX)

9.8.09-Vintage car ride PJ/Port Kelang and back

2009-07-27T23:08:00.001-07:00

RPX lads were amongst residents of several homes specially invited by the Malaysia Singapore Vintage Car Register (MSVCR) to their annual Merdeka event held on Sunday 9.8.09. The ride stared at about 9.30am involved a convoy of some 30 vintage cars and the ride took off from the Bangunan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah in Jln Utara, P.J. to Port Kelang and back.

Farewell to MEP Volunteer Pierre Antoine JOLY and Anne Christine

2009-07-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

RPX's first MEP volunteer Pierre Antoine JOLY and his wife Anne Christine has finished their 1 year tour of duty with RPX and left for home on 18.6.09. We wish them all the best as they take home sweet memories of their one year stay in Malaysia, and their tours to several countries in the Asean region. More importantly they have fond memories of having played a part in grooming the RPX lads towards a better future through education and positive character building.

Visit to the ZON All Suites Residences on the park

2009-06-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

A visit to a hotel is a rare experience and it was made possible with the General Manager of the ZON All Suites Residences on the park, Mr Edwin Low agreeing to host the visit of the lads on 2.6.09. Located along Jalan Ampang in the midst of high rise office buildings, the ZON hotel represents a new concept of hotelling where it incorporates apartment of single room to three bedrooms inclusive of living areas and the kitchen as self cooking is allowed.

The visit has raised the lads awareness of a future career as a hotelier not only from the hotel profession per se but also an area of business which can and do accommodate others with other professional qualifications such as IT, Accountancy, HR and Engineering.

The lads also heard for themselves that while work as a hotelier is glamorous, always well dressed and primped, long hours of work is the expected norm of the business.

The subsequent tour of the hotel rooms exposed the lads to the aesthetic charm, comfort and the quality of personalised service that makes a visiting client to return again and again and be prepared to pay for the comfort he or she is looking for.

The lunch hosted by Mr Edwin Low and his family provided the opportunity for the lads to eat hotel food prepared to vet one's appetite. It also exposed the lads to the need to learn about fine dining and correct usage of the cutlery provided.

We wish to thank Mr Edwin Low, his gracious wife Caroline and also his Senior Hr Manager En Mohd Rafiqan for so kindly welcoming and entertaining the RPX delegation which included a young lady from our associate home, Rumah Impian.

Futsal on 23.5.09 organised by APPIIT students for RPX lads

2009-05-31T22:09:00.000-07:00

Students of APIIT (Asia Pacific Institute of Information technology, Malaysia) invited the RPX lads for a game of futsal as part of the students outreach to charity homes. The games were played on Saturday 23.5.09 at the P.J. Club. The lads were victorious in 2 of the 3 games played and won 1st and 3rd placings to win food hampers donated by the APIIT students who were made up of both local and foreign students. The host students after the games came over to RPX where they again hosted lunch for the RPX lads. We wish to thank their lecturer and student affairs coordinator Mrs Anita Paul and her dad and SSVP member Bro Paul Dorairaj for helping to book the futsal court of the P.J. Club and also providing transport back to RPX and for coordinating the lunch at RPX.

Latin American Ladies Association in Malaysia presents Mattresses and Pillows to RPX

2009-05-31T22:08:00.000-07:00

The Association made a further donation of 10 quality 8" thick mattresses and also 10 dust mite free pillows to RPX on 20.5.09. The donation of the items is timely as some of the thin mattresses were wearing off and needed replacement. With these new bedding the lads are assured of comfortable rest and a good night sleep. Besides the bedding, the visitors also brought along branded sports wear and also football and basket balls for the lads.

We wish to thank Mrs Natahalie Nunez, the Coordinator of the Association's Charity Committee, and member Mrs Carmen and also all the members of the Association for their kindness and Natahalie and Carmen's precious time to make the presentation in RPX. Natahalie also brought along her cute and smiling 11 month daughter Lucia for the presentation. Lucia was no doubt the centre of attraction amongst the RPX lads and administration adults because with her cute features.

Visit on Sunday 7th. June 09 to the Latin American 2009 Festival organised by the Latin American Ladies Association of Malaysia.

The lads were excited to be invited to this annual event organised by the Association. Accompanied by Pierre Antoine Joly, the French MEP Volunteer, they went to Bukit Bintang by bus to K L Sentralwhere they then made a short walk to take the Monorail to Bukit Bintang. For some of the lads their ride in the monorail was a first time.

At the fair they were well looked after and had opportunities to know more about the cultures, dances and also the food of the Latin American nations. Again it was an exciting and eye opener trip for them and helped them to appreciate people from different nations who have come to live in Malaysia either for work or for trade.

Visit to NASAM on 19 & 20 March 2009

2009-03-30T05:43:00.000-07:00

The arranged visit to NASAM (The National Stroke Association of Malaysia) was the second activity for the RPX lads during their recent 1st. term school holidays. Having earlier in the week being exposed to outward bound type leadership course at the SKYTREX ADVENTURE in Taman Pertanian Shah Alam, the visit to NASAM was a timely reminder to the lads that health is an important element of their life which they have to look after through proper dieting and also exercise. We share here the observation of one of the lads Helbet Palaniandy following his visit to NASAM:-

"NASAM is a place where people suffering from stroke come in for speech therapy and physiotherapy and counselling with the view to strengthen the use of their affected hands and legs. On the 19th of March half of the home boys from Rumah Pengajian Xavier went to Nasam to help these people with their exercise and their daily walk. They were very happy to have such young volunteers like us to guide them in their walks and usage of their hands.

My own impression about this place was very new and exciting to me. I felt like giving my helping hand to these people who had stroke. This new experience really taught me a lot because maybe one day anyone of my family members or even myself can also suffer from it. In this place I have also learn to be more patient to this people and learn to work with them.

Lastly, I would like thank Brother Pierre and Sister Katiane for getting us a chance to visit NASAM and to get to know about the stroke sickness and learn how to help those suffering from it to lead normal lives.

18.3.09-School Holiday SKYTREX ADVENTURE outing

2009-03-18T07:30:00.000-07:00

10 RPX lads had an adventurous and exciting 1st term school holiday as they were so fortunate to be invited to the SKYTREX Adventure on Wednesday 18.3.2009. The SKYTREX ADVENTURES provides an organized outdoor ‘eco-recreational cum educational’ activity which will take the participants from tree to tree via a series of aerial obstacles suspended at 3 meters to 22 meters in the air.

The first of its kind in Malaysia, SKYTREX Adventure (www.skytrec-adventure.com) is located within the Taman Pertanian site in Shah Alam. It is a place where you can enjoy jungle trekking from a height never reached before – via a long tree climb, test your agility, challenge your fear, walk, crawl, glide and swing through their different challenges in the sky, in total safety while appreciating the wonders of the Malaysian Tropical Rain Forest.

All 10 lads, our French MEP Volunteer and also the Home Administrator successfully completed the course and were overjoyed to be able to experience this rare feat.

As personal safety was paramount, clear instructions were given by our host and instructor Mr Julien Repellin who is the also the Director of SKYTREX SDN BHD. The lads were first taught how to harness themselves and then how to use the pulley and the carabineeries be hook correctly onto the thick wires used throughout the course. Then the lads underwent the first set of obstacles which enabled them to put into practice all the safety requirements that they have learned. Only then were they allowed to proceed to the next higher level which also meant that they would have become so motivated that they want only to go forward to the other more challenging obstacles with the main objective of completing it and not to capitulate.

After the lads came back to RPX and were shown the photos taken, they were also asked to recognize the various aspects of their successful tree high adventure which have a parallel with the efforts in helping them to develop a positive character as they give their all to better their studies. As was explained it boils down to them having a goal, being attentive, be committed, be hands on, practice more to be perfect and enjoy the tasks ahead.

There are many people to thank for making this outing possible. For so kindly hosting the lads and providing the necessary logistics, we wish to record our sincere thanks to Mr Julien Repellin, Mr Jean Pierre and Mr Ho Fatt. We also wish to thank Mr Pierre Antoine Joly, our MEP Volunteer who have helped to introduce RPX to members of his French community present in Kuala Lumpur/PJ.

Seng Huei celebrates his birthday

2009-03-16T07:16:00.001-07:00

Chan Seng Huei who joined RPX at the beginning of the year celebrated his 13th birthday on 7.3.09. RPX was asked by his mom to host her son’s birthday party on her behalf and she sponsored the cost for holding it. It was an enjoyable birthday for Seng Huei with birthday cake, KFC and cordial drinks to share with his other house mates. Like any birthday party it would be incomplete without a birthday card. Hence his friends in the home made a birthday card for him. All in all Seng Huei had a wonderful birthday party with special blessings invoked on him during the singing of the birthday song followed in the same tune with the “May The Good Lord Bless You” song.

17.2.09-The Latin American Ladies Association of Malaysia presented RPX with 3 new computers.

2009-03-03T05:54:00.000-08:00

Rumah Pengajian Xavier was this year's beneficiary of the charity efforts of the Latin American Ladies Association of Malaysia. The Association is an active social group and non profit organisation whose membership comes from the Latin American community working in Malaysia. Through their charity efforts which was coordinated by Ms Natahalie Nunez, the Social Committee Coordinator, the Association presented RPX with 3 new computers loaded up with Windows Vista 2007 operating systems and original Windows Office operating programs. The Association's contribution is indeed timely as the computers are being used by the lads in their studies. We place on record our grateful and sincere thanks to the members of the Association for their efforts to assist RPX, and also visiting us on 17.2.09 for the presentation ceremony.

2009-02-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

Watching the play “Puteri Gunung Ledang: The Musical (PLGM) Season 3 on Saturday 7.2.09 at Istana Budaya brought alive this piece of Malay legend normally learned in school by some of the upper secondary students of RPX and thus it helped them to understand better the story line. The modern production techniques also awed the lads as it transformed this ancient legend of the time of Majapahit and Melaka Sultanate into a lively musical play comparable with those produced overseas.
Again for many it was a first outing for the RPX lads to our own Istana Budaya or Palace of Culture which has been listed as among the Top Ten list of most sophisticated theatres in the World. The building’s architecture and interior décor is impressive and is based on the architectural design of a Malay house with its various blend of Malay culture.
RPX lads and also children from 7 other homes were fortunate to watch this play. We again wish to record our sincere thanks to Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow, Founder and Chairman of Public Bank and also the Bank’s Top and Senior Management for so kindly sponsoring and coordinating the attendance of the various homes to this inspiring theatrical presentation.

IMU students carries out practical research in RPX

2009-02-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

RPX was happy to play host to 4 IMU medical students viz. Colin Quah Han-Ming, Visvesh Jeyalan, Ramanathan Krishnan Ramanathan and Jonathan Mark Lim Guang Wei to do their community oriented health related project as part of the training to be doctors.

The IMU students made two visits on 7.1.09 and 3.2.09 to meet and get to know the RPX lads and then introducing the lads to the concept of dieting and fitness via a power point presentation. The lads then had their respective weight and height taken by the medical students for the calculation of the BMI (Body Mass Index).

From the data obtained and the BMI calculation done we are happy to note that the RPX lads have achieved normal BMIs except one who is deemed underweight and another slightly overweight. With this awareness the lads were encouraged to continue to eat healthily and also to exercise to keep fit.

The 4 medical students had shown great enthusiasm in their training to be doctors and were willing to share their learning experience with the RPX lads. We wish them all success in their training to become really ‘caring doctors’ of the future.

E-Christmas and CNY Cards of RPX

2009-02-05T23:24:00.000-08:00

Sharing with you RPX own e-cards. Both cards were specially designed by RPX lad Davin Sugumar for the Festive seasons of Christmas 2008 and Chinese New Year of the OX. We again take this opportunity to wish all our friends, volunteers and benefactors the Love and Peace of Our Lord Jesus Christ as we welcome and celebrate the festive seasons.

SSVP/RPX received donation from Amanah Butler Malaysia Sdn Bhd on 16.12.08

2008-12-17T06:19:00.003-08:00

Amanah Butler Malaysia Sdn Bhd gave a very generous donation of 25K to the SSVP to help it run its Rumah Pengajian Xavier (RPX) home project. We were among the 6 selected organizations to receive the donations which was held on Tuesday 16.12.08, from the Chairman of Amanah Butler, YBhg. Datuk Khalid Abdul Karim. Francis Lai and Ganesh Raj represented the Society and RPX in the cheque presenting ceremony .
Earlier in his welcoming speech, Mr Ghulam Mustapha Abdul Ghani, the CEO of Amanah Butler Malaysia related to the audience the efforts put in by his staff and their valued clients who whole heartedly have supported the company’s annual Charity Day since it started in 2003. This year’s brokerage earned was also astounding at it reflected a still robust financial market despite facing constrains of the troubled world economy. This annual charity event is also understood to be held worldwide on the same selected day as Amanah Butler Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a joint venture set up between MIDF and ICAP of the UK and the the parent company in UK is also having similar j/v worldwide.

Following the cheque presenting ceremony a fellowship high tea was held to encourage interaction between the host and their guests. During fellowship visuals were also shown about the activities on the trading floor on that selected day(10.12.08) which besides formal trading also hosted a 'thank you'luncheon for the customers. The staffs were also dressed casually and had the theme of promoting fun and joy while participating in their noble fund raising event.

SSVP place on record its sincere thanks to the Management and Staff of Amanah Butler Malaysia Sdn Bhd for their noble efforts in CSR through their Charity Day 2008 in which SSVP was amongst the beneficiaries for this year.

Rotary Club of Kelana Jaya Vocational Service Award on 23.11.08

2008-12-17T06:17:00.000-08:00

The Rotary Club of Kelana Jaya held its annual Vocational Service Award for 2008 with the theme "Make Dreams Real" for this year. SSVP was also invited together with 20 other organisations to receive the Rotary Club annual award which was given in recognition of services rendered voluntarily to society. Several SSVP members responded to the invitation and were present for the luncheon function, which was held on Sunday 23.11.08 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Subang . The guest of honour of this Rotary event was YBhg. Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye. Also present was Liew Sip Chon, president of Canon Marketing Malaysia Sdn Bhd which sponsored the luncheon. Entertainment during the luncheon was specially provided by the residents of Beautiful Gates. The residents showed their multi talents in singing and dancing. and was testimony to their confidence that despite being differently able they were really living normal lives within the constrains they faced.

YBhg Tan Sri Lee in his speech among other things commended the roles of many people who have selflessly served society and in the process has contributed towards a better nation for all.

RPX Home Administrator Francis Lai received the award on behalf of himself and all the SSVP members and a host of other silent heroes, the volunteers who have tirelessly worked in the background to empower the adoptee of the SSVP and also the RPX lads so that they could secure a better future.

We also wish to thank the Rotary Club of Kelana Jaya for including the vocation of SSVP and its education cum boarding home project of RPX in their 2008 Annual Vocational Service Award.

APIIT student outreach to the needy

2008-12-17T02:15:00.000-08:00

Students of Asia Pacific Institute of Information Technology (APIIT) recently carried out a community project by donating hampers to several welfare homes including the adoptee families of our Society of St. Vincent de Paul and RPX. Several students including their foreign student community lead by Ms Anita Paul, lecturer and student council advisor and accompanied by our SSVP members, Bro Alvin and Bro David, visited the adoptee families on 25.10.08 to distribute the hampers.

Anita, accompanied by her husband Andrew and a student Jeya also visited RPX Home on 6.12.08 to donate stationary items and also dry food stuffs for the lads, besides also making a generous cash donation of RM400.00 to RPX on behalf of the students.Besides Jeya, all the other students however could not visit RPX as they were all engaged in a education fair that same morning, while Bro Paul and Sis Cherie represented SSVP in welcoming the visitors.

We wish to thank Anita Paul for organizing the APIIT students and accompanying them to visit the SSVP adoptee family homes and also coming over to RPX to donate their kind and generous donations.

Malaysia CARE visit RPX on 3.11.08

2008-12-17T02:01:00.000-08:00

Malaysian CARE came to RPX on 3.11.08 to talked to the lads about the organization being appointed coordinator for Sunway University College’s community scholarship, the “Tun Dato’ Seri Omar Ong Community Scholarships”fund. The scholarship covers a) full tuition fees, b) accommodation at the University College’s apartment hostel, and c) book vouchers. 8 scholarships are offered to those ‘budding potentials’ from the aged of 18 – 25 years, who have been recommended from children welfare homes, NGO’s or poor communities who are interested in pursuing their education in the following areas of study:-
• Diploma in Business Administration
• Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management
• Diploma in Conventions and Events Manage,ent
• Diploma in Computer Studies
• Diploma in Information technology
• Diploma in Information Engineering
• Certified Accounting Technician (CAT)
• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
We thank Pastor Esther of Malaysian CARE and her colleague Mr Alvin Lim, the Director of Finance and Communications, for giving their precious time to come and talk to the lads about scholarship opportunities for those who qualifies for further studies and also their encouragement to the lads to study hard as a means of empowering themselves to secure a better future.

Re-painting of RPX 2

2008-12-17T01:44:00.000-08:00

Through the initiative of our French MEP volunteer Pierre Antoine JOLY, RPX 2 was given a new coat of paint to prepare it for the new intake into RPX in the new year 2009. The present RPX lads , the majority of whom were already on school holidays readily offered their services to help in the painting in mid November 2008. However they had to endure the arduous task of first scrapping off the original wall paper before they could apply a new coat of paint. The task was also helped and completed by some other French MEP volunteers who were also mobilized by Pierre to help out. A big thank you to Pierre for his initiative in getting RPX 2 re-painted.

French MEP Volunteers experience Deepavali celebrations on 27.10.08

2008-11-05T06:28:00.000-08:00

Pierre-Antoine Joly , RPX French MEP volunteer, and his wife Anne Christine are experiencing the Deepavali celebrations for the first time since they arrived in Malaysia in early July 08. With RPX closed for the Deepavali holidays and the lads have all gone home to celebrate, invitations were forthcoming to Pierre and wife to visit the lads in their homes. Hence it was decided that together with the RPX Home Administrator Francis Lai , and his wife Cherie, together with another French MEP volunteer Claire and also Chanin, an RPX lad , we will visit 3 homes, ie. 2 homes of the RPX lads and another the home of a SSVP adoptee family.
The first home visited was Davin and Yohannes in Taman Medan, and their aunty Uma and family warmly welcomed us and it was an opportunity for us all to taste authentic Indian food, delicacies and cookies. Davin also showed his skill in playing the guitar with Pierre joining in. Later Yohannes also sang a French song which he had learn from Pierre. The lads younger sister Yashar, aged 4 years was very attracted to Anne Christine and the several informal shots together shows Yashar’s cuteness in her tender age.
Next stop was Kartik Maniam’s home, in Desa Mentari, where we all had another round of enjoying authentic Indian cuisine. Kartik’s grandma honored us by giving out ang-pows to us visitors.
The last house we visited was also in Desa Mentari i.e. to Shangkar’s house. This unique family of 12 children of which there are 4 sets of fraternal twins, is a joy to see, as cute tiny smiling faces added on to the festive joy of light triumphant over darkness.
From all the homes we visited we saw joy of the respective hosts and their families and by which they extended a warm welcome to the visitors. We also noticed the homes were all repainted over and had decorations depicting the essence of the Deepavali celebrations. For Pierre and Anne and also Claire, this outing brought the experience of what a Malaysian open house during festivities is all about.

RPX lad receives Laptop and cash donation from Public Bank

2008-11-02T04:55:00.000-08:00

RPX‘s Davin Sugumar is a beneficiary of Public Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility policy as the Bank has just donated a laptop computer and also gave a RM3,000.00 contribution towards meeting the cost of his education at UTAR where he is currently pursuing the Foundation Course in Science. The presentation ceremony was held on Wednesday, 15.10.08 at the office of En Razak Dali, the General Manager of the Public Affairs Division of Public Bank.

In his welcoming address to Davin and the accompanying RPX Home Administrator Francis Lai at the presentation ceremony, En Razak expressed support for the setting up of RPX by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to help empower young lads through education to get a better future. He was also confident that the lads will learn to live well with one another although coming from different ethnic backgrounds and this augurs well for the multi racial society of Malaysia. He therefore stressed to Davin about his future social responsibility to society and encouraged him to also become involved in such charitable works in the future so that more needy in society will be helped.

En Razak also shared his personal philosophy of ‘having less’ because it made one’s lifestyle not only simpler but also helps one to value more the things that subsequently will come into their lives, as they will then begin to need less for themselves and instead be concerned more with meeting the needs of others.

Davin in thanking En Razak for his encouraging and inspiring words also asked En Razak to convey his heartfelt thanks to the Founder and Chairman of Public Bank,
Y. Bhg Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow for having so kindly considered the Society’s appeal for aid on his behalf. Davin promised to study hard to realize his ambition to become an engineer besides also becoming involved too in such works of charity in the future.

This happy event of 15.10.08 for RPX is definitely encouragement to Davin to continue to excel and also a fine example for the other RPX lads to know that there will always be ways and means for those who strive hard to succeed to be helped when the need arises. "Thank you" to Tan Sri for manifesting Public Bank's Corporate Social Responsibility policy to benefit the needy of society.

Public Bank RayaVali Open House -29.10.08

2008-10-31T01:43:00.000-07:00

Our RPX lads and several members of SSVP were among the many invitees to Public Bank’s 2008 Open House to jointly celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Deepavali. The celebration appropriately named RayaVali with the theme “Giving Our Hearts” manifested the Bank’s Corporate Philosophy to be a Socially Responsible Corporate Citizen.
Held on Wednesday 29.10.08 at Renaissance Hotel, K.L. and graced by Y.B. Dato’ Seri Mohd. Shafie B. Hj. Apdal, Minister of Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage as the Guest-of-Honour, all VVIPs and guests from the media, arts and culture fraternity and also from the nine orphanages and charity homes were warmly welcomed by Public Bank officials lead by its philanthropic Founder and Chairman Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow.
The highlight of the celebration was Public Bank’s donation of RM1.38 million to the invited organizations to help them further develop for the betterment of Malaysian society. SSVP wish to record its sincere thanks for being among the chosen recipients of the donation and the generous amount of RM10,000 for its RPX Education Home project was received by Bro. Alvin Ratnasingam, the SSVP Conference President from Y.Bhg. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Teh Hong Piow himself and in the presence of Y.B. Dato’ Seri Mohd. Shafie B. Hj Apdal.
In addition, every resident of the invited orphanages and charity homes present including the RPX lads were also each given a big ang-pow and the Bank’s sling bag filled with goodies. The RPX lads enjoyed the outing to the function as they experienced hospitality of the host at its best.

Rev. Fr. Peter Bretaudeau MEP visit to RPX on Sunday 19.10.08

2008-10-24T00:35:00.000-07:00

Rev. Fr. Peter Bretaudeau, MEP, a popular French priest who speaks and writes fluent Tamil visited RPX on Sunday 19.10.08, together with several members of the French Community in Kuala Lumpur, including several young MEP volunteers. The group had earlier had a pastoral meeting with Fr. Peter in RPX 2 hosted by MEP Volunteer Pierre-Antoine JOLY, who is attached to RPX and his wife Anne-Christine.

The lads and hse mother were very impressed with Fr. Peter's ability in communicating in the Indian language and had a close-up encounter with his communication skills. We thank Father for his visit has he also brought along the French youths to get to know RPX better.

MASTERSKILL University College of Health Sciences annual dinner

2008-09-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

Masterskills University College in Nursing and Medical Sciences, which was set up in 2000 held their annual dinner on 8.8.08 to celebrate their continued progress and success which have brought recognition to the Institute to become a leading learning centre for Nursing and Medical Science, including the upgrading of it to that of a University College.

RPX lads were fortunate to be amongst the special invitees to this grand dinner affair which was celebrated with the theme "Forest of Fairy Tales". Held at the Sunway Hotel, Masterskills made special transport arrangement to pick –up the lads from RPX, who were also accompanied by two committee members and also the French volunteer Pierre – Antoine JOLY and his wife Anne.

Besides being exposed to attending a formal dinner setting in the Hotel’s Grand Ballroom, the lads and the committee members were charmed by the various cartoon characters, notable amongst them was SHREK.

The lads and the committee members were also formally introduced to the President MASTERSKILLs,Yang Amat Mulia Raja Dato' Seri Azureen Binti Sultan Azlan Shah and also the CEO of Masterskills Dato' Edmund Santhara.

All present thoroughly enjoyed the dinner which was noted to be a combination of fine dining with Chinese style dishes and also western cuisine.

We wish to thank MASTERSKILLS for extending an invitation to RPX to share their anniversary joy and wish them continued success in their pursuit of excellence to become a regional center for training professionals in the field of Nursing and Medical Science.

Young Working Adults Volunteering Time in RPX (2008)

2008-09-09T00:56:00.000-07:00

RPX is fortunate again to have the help of young working adults for the year 2008. Their presence from May to mid November 2008 on a two person team every two weeks basis have a positive impact on the all round progress of the lads. The efforts of the young volunteers which is well coordinated by their coordinating team have in this year been expanded to include giving tuition to several young children of adoptee families of the Society which come to RPX for tuition. We place on record our deepest appreciation to these young working professionals for sharing their time, efforts and resources as well as becoming positive role models for the lads as they strive to live responsible lives.

SSVP Holy Rosary Church visit RPX on 17.8.08

2008-08-18T02:45:00.000-07:00

The SSVP Conference of Holy Rosary Church (HRC) in Jln Brickfields, K.L. one of the oldest SSVP Conferences in the country, made a visit to RPX at 2.00pm on Sunday 17.8.08. The solidarity visit is meaningful as it is the first time a SSVP Conference is making a visit to the Education Home project of the Conference of St. Francis Xavier. 17 members of the Conference, spouses and family members and interested parishioners of HRC, lead by the Conference President Bro. Eric Heng made the visit.

The visitors were welcomed by the host Conference President Bro Alvin and several of its members. An insight into the running of the RPX Home was also given earlier to the visitors by the RPX Home Administrator, Bro Francis Lai. The visiting Conference President also introduced his members and friends present and this was followed by Bro Michael Wong, the Conference Legal Advisor, and Bro Peter Jacob, giving words of encouragement to the RPX lads to study hard in order to secure a better future so that they will in turn be able to help others when they grow up.

We wish to record our sincere thanks to the HRC Conference Vice-President Sis Veronica Gan for arranging the visit of its members, for the members sponsoring that Sunday's lunch, gifts of dry foodstuff and also the generous gifts of angpows to the House Mother and all the RPX lads. A birthday cake was also brought along to celebrate the birthday of RPX lads which fell in the month of August. That lucky birthday boy was Helbet a/l Palaniandy who cut the birthday cake after the birthday song and "May The Good Lord Bless You" song were sung.

Following this visit the two Conferences look forward to more collaboration in their works of charity and social justice for the needy in the near future.

Botswana students adopt RPX in their Course project

2008-06-09T01:27:00.001-07:00

The Student Affairs Department of the Metropolitan College in Subang Jaya this year again introduced RPX to their Botswanan students who are pursuing Business Studies at the College for the latter's course project. The students lead by Ms. Gaone Catherine Kefapogile and her organising team comprising Dimpho, Segolame, Setso, Karen, Refilwe, Noah, Jocelyn, Botshelo, Bokani, Itseng, Lorraine and Ghetto made their inaugural visit on 6 May 2008 to RPX to identify what form of project they could carry out with RPX.

We were happy to learn that besides being able to provide manpower to help the RPX lads prepare for the opening of RPX2 scheduled in July 2008, the students also volunteered to come to tutor English and which they did on their next visit on 31.5.2008. This latter visit also finalised the RPX lads presentation at their talentime show scheduled for 4.6.2008, which was held to raise funds for RPX. A sketch with the theme of " A Good Citizen ", based on the Good Samaritan Parable was presented at the talentime held also at Metropolitan College. The College even provided additional transport to ferry some of the RPX lads to the show on 4.6.08.

The Botswana Students Society next visit was on Saturday 7.6.08 in which 11 of their members came to help finished the cleaning of RPX2. On RPX part we were very happy to be able to have them to come over to help in the cleaning and also to stay for lunch which was graciously hosted by Bro Ho Fatt's Sec. 17 BEC. Present to prepare the lunch for the crowd of 25 people were Bro Ho Fatt's wife, Grace and fellow Sec. 17 BEC member Anne Khor. The local delicacy of nasi lemak was tasty to all but for some of our Botswanan visitors the sambal was unfortunately too spicy for them.

For their efforts in holding a talentime competition, the Botswanan students were succesful in raising a generous RM1,000.00 for RPX. It was formally presented on Saturday 7.6.08 by a team member to Davin, the senior most resident of RPX.

With the current EURO CUP football competition now on, football was very much in the minds and conversation of the RPX lads and the Botswanan boys. Hence the day spend in RPX would not have been complete with just work and lunch. A joint football team comprising RPX lads and 3 Botswanan students was formed on that Saturday evening to challenge a neighborhood team comprising several migrant workers too. The results of the match was RPX/Botswana 10 against the other team of Indonesia/Vietnam/UK/Myanmar/Laos players scoring 6 points.

We wish to place on record our sincere thanks the Botswana Students Society for choosing RPX as the beneficiary of their fund raising project. We also wish to thank Metropolitan College for helping to reach out to RPX and also the support of two young working adults Ms Rebecca Wong Shi Ai and Ms Eileen Chew Cheng Ee for all assistance and help during the Botswanan students' course project.

Senior Confirmands 2007/2008 visit RPX on 23.2.08

2008-04-15T02:32:00.000-07:00

The Senior Confirmands accompanied by their Parents and lead by their two coordinators Mr Francisco Augustin and Mrs Theresia Bosco, visited RPX lads on Satuday 23.2.08 and on hand to welcome them were the RPX lads and also members of the RPX Home Management Committee/ members of the Society of St. Vimcent de Paul. According to Mr Francisco, this Team 5 of the Senior Confirmands 2007/2008 are a special group as most of the families stay outside the SFX Parish and are travelling from Rawang, Klang and Shah Alam every weekend to SFX CHurch for their classes.

The EIP actually involves both the Confirmands and also their Parents as it was meant to help them build up a relationship with the residents of the Home they have visited so that future contact is encouraged after Confirmation either individually or as a group. Hence while the Confirmands came prepared to share time and to get to know better the foster home and the residents they were visiting, the parents too were invited to observe and participate in their children's activity and also to help evaluate how successful was the visit.

The confirmands was able to mix well with the RPX lads. The games played between them saw full participation by all. The intended sketch to be performed by the RPX lads as part of the Saturday Lenten faith building efforts of RPX Home Management Committee Chairman Sis. Catherine, was also introduced to the Confirmands that afternoon. The sketch was subsequently performed by both some of the the Confirmands and RPX lads and was based on the parable of the Prodigal Son.

While the children were at the games,the parents were taken on a tour around RPX and given explanaton about the House Rules etc.

The visitors also hosted lunch and all had a sumptious meal of home cook food and also purchased fast food.

The RPX Home Management Committee and the lads wish to thank the Team 5 Senior Confirmands, their parents and also the Coordinators for visiting RPX and spending time with us. We wish you all "God Bless" as the Senior Confirmands continue to prepare for their Confirmation by His Grace Dato Murphy Pakiam scheduled for the sunset service on Saturaday, 19.7.08.

Motivational and Career Development Talks Series

2008-04-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

Once again, a talk on Accountancy, the forth in the career development series, was arranged for the RPX lads on 8th June 2008. Ms Regina Pappu , a lecturer at UTAR was very much delighted to share her knowledge and experience in accountancy with the boys. She explained the meaning and the difference of accountancy, an accountant, accounts and auditing. Basically, accountancy is doing accounts and checking accounts. The boys too contributed their opinion on what is accountancy to them. Ms Regina emphasized that in order to be an accountant, someone need to be hardworking, need to understand the basic accounts which is debit and credit, need to have knowledge in mathematics and Information Technology. Mathematics and accounts are compulsory subjects in school. What’s after SPM? Ms Regina explained about the LCCI diploma course, degree programmers and other options that are available after SPM. The boys asked lots of questions and enjoyed knowing about accountancy. One of the boys would like to be an accountant. The committee presented a ‘Thank You’ card to Ms Regina for her time and sharing as a token of appreciation.

On Sunday 4.5.08, the RPX lads had an opportunity to hear about the challenges of an IT career. The talk is the third in the series on career development. Melissa Yoong is not new to RPX as she has been tutoring one of the RPX lads in English for the past two years. She is currently doing her Masters in Linguistics, having earlier qualified and worked as an IT Consultant. The career is a very challenging one as one has to work long hours especially when one was tasked with ensuring a system that was created can run and be maintained to run smoothly and efficiently.

2nd talk to motivate the lads to excel in their studies and also to choose a future career was done on Sunday 27.4.2008. Dr John Loh accompanied by his wife Margaret was present to talk intorduce to the lads a career in the medical profession. Dr John said that pursuing a doctor;s career meant studying hard and not excel in one's studies, but there is also a lot of reading and courses to be taken subsequently to update oneself in the development of the medical field of treating the sick. Also the working hours were long especially in the intern years and also when one was operating one's own clinic. Hence amongst the criteria needed to be a good doctor was wanting to help save life, and that making money was not the important goal.

1st. talk on the Hospitality Career was held on Sunday 30.3.08.
John Yeo, the Director of Sales - Corp, Hotel Istana and accompanied by his son, shared their precious Sunday afternoon to come to RPX to talk to the RPX lads about the prospects of choosing a career in the Hospitality Industry. As a trained executive chef, he shared his experiences and the joys he found working in the Hotel Industry which enabled him to travel widely in the context of his work, including having the experience of being the chef in a top class hotel in Brunei and thus had the opportunity to cater to the culinary taste and preference of His Royal Highness, the Sultan of Brunei.

However John Yeo also stated that the working hours are long and irregular and having risen from the ranks to be a top chef, he would also have to thoroughly supervise the junior chefs under his control. Hence a formal education was necessary as a Chef need to control costs etc., while preparing or supervising the preparation of dishes by his 'cooking' team.

So it is upto the RPX lads to note this additional option in choosing a future career as they finished secondary schooling as the reward and benefits are very good too. John Yeo also offered to arrange a tour of his present work place if there were interest.

Sis Catherine the RPX Home Committee Chairman was on hand to thank John Yeo for his time and presented a 'Thank You' card as a token of appreciation.

Easter Eggs from CKK Lifeline Members

2008-04-14T01:10:00.001-07:00

The CKK Lifeline Members made Easter eggs for sale to CKK parishioners and friends to help raise funds for their participation in the upcoming SYDNEY World Youth Day which will see the presence of Pope Benedict XVI in this part of the world for the first time.

RPX lads were again remembered by these fine lads as two of their members Ms Maureen and Ms Ann Yong came by on Saturday 29.3.08 to deliver a hand made basket full of the Easter eggs for the lads. They Lifeliners also presented an Easter Greeting Card which was signed by all other CKK Lifeliners.

The RPX lads wish to say a big thank you to the CKK Lifeline members for their Easter Joy greetings and also the gift of Easter eggs. While words cannot express the RPX lads joy and excitement to be included in the Lifeliners Easter celebration and preparation for the Sydney WYD pilgrimage, the former are confident the Lifeliners will have a spirit filled pilgrimage and would love to hear from them of their experiences when they come back.

Photo shows Ms Maureen and Ms Ann Yong presenting the Easter Greeting Card and the basket of Easter eggs to two RPX lads Ganesh Raj and Kartik Maniam.

RPX lad score 8As in his 2007 SPM examination

2008-04-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

Davin a/l Sugumar has earned the distinction of being the first RPX lad to have excelled in his studies, since RPX opened its door in 2002 to accept needy students to provide them with a proper environment to stay and study. Davin, was a student of SMK Sultan Abdul Samad and a BAKTI scholar when he was in Form 4 and Form 5, and took his SPM last year, 2007 and scored 8As (5A1 and 3A2) and 2B3s . As he is keen on an engineering career, he has now been succesfully enrolled in UTAR to do a one year Foundation Course in Science, beginning May 2008, before going on to do the Engineering Degree course.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, through its Foundation, the Yayasan Ozanam has rewarded Davin and other high achievers from other SSVP run Homes recently.

A Certificate of Achievement and cash reward of RM400.00 was presented to all the high achievers on behalf of the Foundation by His Grace Dato Murphy Pakiam, the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, at the Sat, 5.4.08 dinner function of the Foundation held at the Royal Selangor Club, K.L.

Davin's personal achievement and that of all others who come from needy background is a testimony to the young, irrespective of whether they are residents of SSVP run homes or not that they all have a bright future if they put in efforts to study hard. These successes hearten the works of the Society and its members and should further encourage the public to continue to support the SSVP works of charity and justice amongst the Malaysian poor and needy.

Davin was also honored by former school SMK Sultan Abdul Samad on its Hari Kecemerlangan Day on Saturday 3.5.08.

The picture above was taken at his former school SMK Sultan Abdul Samad's 2007 Hari Kecermalangan held on Saturday 3.5.08 where he received a certificate for excellence in his 2007 SPM examinations.

RPX lads given exposure to the 2008 General Election process

2008-03-28T00:29:00.001-07:00

RPX lads being future voting citizens and also currently learning in school about the Malaysian system of Government with emphasis on the three levels of the Legislative, Judiciary and the Administrative took advantage of the 2008 General Election to see for themselves how election of leaders to Parliament and the State Legislaure were carried out. Beginning with witnessing nomination on 24.2.08 for the PJ Selatan Parliamentary seat and the consequent 2 State seats of Bukit Gasing and Tmn Medan, they were again brought to nearby polling stations on 8.3.08 i.e SMK Sultan Abdul Samad, SMK La Salle, SMK Katholik and SK Sri Petaling to see the activities carried our by competing political parties. What they witnessed at the nomination centers were opposing parties present in numbers with party flags and placarad/banners supporting their party ideology and candidates. While at the polling stations, they saw how again competiting parties were helping voters to reconfirm their names were in fact in the electoral list and at which polling center they were to queue for their turn to vote.

In conclusion, they learn that voting of politicans every 4 / 5 years was an important aspect of government, that campaigning was rough with alot of name calling and jeering, but at the end of the day the voting citizens was the boss as they decided the winning candidate despite what ever was campaigned against the challenger.

RPX lads invited to Prudential CNY Luncheon on 15.2.08

2008-02-19T01:23:00.000-08:00

The Trailblazers Prudential Insurance office located in the new JAYA 33 building in Jln Semangat P.J. played host to both the old and the young at their Chinese New Year 2008 luncheon held on Friday, 15.2.08. The elderly were invited from Phylis Caring Home in Sec.11, P.J. and through Aunty Phylis' good contact, the RPX lads were also invited. Being a school day, the lads rushed from their schools to the luncheon party. The luncheon was held amidst CNY traditions of Lion Dance and the serving of 'Yee Sang'.

During the luncheon the host principal officers and their staffs took time to chat up the elderly guests. For the RPX lads, it was an opportunity to know more about their hosts, their businesses and also see for themselves how professionally the office was set-up including maintaining neatness and tidiness which they could adopt for implementation in RPX. At the end of the luncheon the host gave away new year presents including many individual angpows to all the guests.

The luncheon ended with taking of group photos.

RPX would like to say a big 'thank you' to all the staff members of the Prudential Office at JAYA 33, for so kindly inviting and hosting the CNY luncheon for them and also the residents of Phylis Caring Home.

Youths reaching out to Youths - Jonathan Lee and friends visit RPX

2007-09-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Lee and friends Hondan John, Wei Kiat, Yuhana and Ashley, came to know of the RPX lads when the latter group recently in July 07 attended the Metropolitan College 20th. Anniversary celebrations. Jonathan and his friends who are pursuing Business Communication studies in the same college decided that as youths themselves, they would like to reach out to the RPX lads in their charity project assignment.

Hence they came to visit RPX on Saturday 8.9.07 to donate a range of stationary items and also dried food stuffs. However only 4 RPX lads were around that Saturday as the rest were attending Deepavalli replacement classes. Despite the small number, the visitors had great fellowship with the 4 RPX lads present and also from the members of the society ie. Society of St. Vincent de Paul, SFX Church which operates the Home, who were present.

The visitors were given a briefing on the RPX Home and also the activities of the SSVP. Copies of the latest newsletter "Xavier News" were also distributed to the visitors. Nest was visit the various sections of the house including the study areas, bedrooms and wardrobe rooms, accompanied by the RPX lads.

The visitors were impressed with one of the lads present ie. Kartik Maniam who was an active and regular marathon runner. His strings of medals won from previous marathons drew admiring glances and applause from the visitors. One of the visiting lass Yuhana then re-enacted a medal presentation to Kartik and photos were taken for posterity.

Next the lads learned how to play carrom and having learned it we are confident they will develop an interest in the game and actively pursue it.

All in all the 'youths reaching out to youths' is an enriching experience for all concerned as the common denominator in these efforts were that an individual youth working together with like - minded friends were able to help other youths in need. In fact for the RPX lads, these are positive qualities of being charitable and caring which they should cultivate in their adult lives.

RPX lads are again grateful to Jonathan Lee and his friends for their kind donations and friendship and wish to sincerely thank and wish them all the best for their future.

MASRA visit RPX on 12.9.07

2007-09-17T01:31:00.000-07:00

The Malaysian Airlines Retirees Association for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak (MASRA)paid a visit to RPX on Wednesday 12.9.07 as part of the MASRA's charitable outreach to help the needy. The visitors were led by its President Tuan Haji Mat Sah Talip and his beloved wife, MASRA's Hon Secretary Tuan Haji Mohd Anis and 3 other members. The visit to RPX was to learn more about its work and also of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which runs the home.

A briefing was given to the visitors by the Society's President and other SSVP members.

Copies of our latest newsletter 'Xavier News'was also distributed to the visitors for their reading.

The MASRA officials also spoke to the lads and had encouraged them to study hard as a good education was the means to a better future.

The highlight of the visit was the handing over of MASRA's generous donation of RM 1,000.00 by Tuan Haji Mat Sah Talip to Sis Cherie Wu, the SSVP President. The cheque handing over ceremony was followed by taking of group commemorative photos of all present.

We in RPX and the SSVP are very grateful for MASRA's generous donation as we note the monies raised through MASRA's annual Golf Competition to help its own members is also being apportioned to help other needy Malaysians. The generous donation is also timely as it will help in the running of RPX.