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Regent’s International Day raises over 130,000 baht for major Round Square projects
Han Hee Lee
Assistant Pillar Leader for Internationalism
Year 12 IB student
On Saturday March 8, The Regent’s School hosted an extravaganza
celebrating internationalism - International Day! The event was planned
in advance for 4 months, by a small committee of Regent’s students,
known as the “International Team”. On the day, 42 different
nationalities were represented by the Regent’s students, teachers and
parents. This included ordinary classrooms being transformed into rooms
of different countries with their own distinct culture, then stamping
visitors’ passports. Also, an international cafe; selling delicacies of
countries, an exciting World Cup football tournament bringing rivalry
between the countries, international games issuing visas for passports,
a silent art auction, and a raffle with donated prizes… As well as all
these exciting events, there were some amazing musical talents on
display by Through the Dawn, Liberated Rebels, both student bands, and a
teacher’s band to build up the excitement.
 A
traditional Maori welcome by New Zealand on the World Stage.
The national performances in the afternoon started with a traditional
Maori welcome from New Zealand. Following this were performances such as
traditional dances from Bhutan, Estonia, Japan and more modern
performances from Taiwan, Thailand and Korea. Line dancing was performed
by the Primary students, and there were hilarious comedy performances
from England, Italy and Slovakia. Everyone enjoyed the performances,
despite the heat, and all the performers were excited to be showing off
their culture to each other.
For the finale, there was a Parade of Nations and all the flags of 42
countries situated themselves around the oval, with the students,
teachers and parents of each country following the flags, the speakers
blared out the national anthems of each country whilst everyone paraded
around the oval, proudly following their flags.
Finally they all gathered on the oval, and each country had a balloon in
their hand, after a final speech celebrating internationalism and the
importance of being one despite cultural differences, all 42 balloons
were let free to soar into the air, symbolising the wish to become one,
and accepting our differences as unique.
It was an amazing day for all - organisers and visitors - the committee
would like to thank everyone who attended and helped, especially the
parents and Thai support staff at the school. All the money raised
supports Regent’s Round Square major projects, e.g. HIV/AIDS awareness,
Mae Hong Son Hill tribe projects, Koh Phi Phi Tsunami projects and Baan
Subcharoen adopted school. (If you would like to know more about these
projects please contact Paul Crouch at [email protected]).
The Armenian boys perform
a traditional Armenian dance.
A colourful Japanese
family parades around the oval.
Making some delicious
waffles.
The lead singer of
Regent’s Rocks rocks the stage.
Urassaya in her Norwegian
traditional costume.
Buddies from around the
globe.
Fountain of Life children
enjoy the day.
England was well
represented.
Youngsters representing
countries from around
the world perform together on the World Stage.
Norman makes a charitable splash at Camillian Centre
Norman Vernon and women from
the Red Cross cut the ribbon
to officially open the new pool.
Paul Strachan
Norman Vernon isn’t a man to do things by half measures.
Three years ago he was enjoying his retirement, leaving a lifetime of
working in the entertainment industry and amateur football behind him,
minding his own business on a leisurely stroll along Jomtien Beach,
wondering where life’s road would take him next.
As luck would have it he started chatting to Geoffrey Hughes who told Norman
all about the Camillian Social Centre in Rayong.
 Steve
Williams (left), shown here being interviewed for PMTV by Paul Strachan
(right), was going round with a box to make up the 40,000 baht shortfall.
After visiting the children and meeting Father Giovanni, Norman felt
compelled to channel his experience and his vast network of contacts into
hosting a fundraising dinner in Bolton in the UK, to help these poor
children whose lives are affected with HIV/AIDS.
That was in 2005, and the following January Norman came back to Thailand and
was proud to open the “Kindnees Corner”, a room replete with comfy chairs, a
DVD player and a whopping flat screen TV.
Actually, it was meant to be “Kindness Corner” but the sign-writer got it
wrong. Norman says it didn’t matter, the whole point was to give the
children a place where they could relax away from the sometimes clinical
atmosphere of the medical facilities at the Camillian Centre.
 After
having been thrown into the pool, Norman relaxes for a moment with a couple
of the children.
The Kindnees Corner was deemed a great success, so Norman went back to
Bolton and did the same again. Before you knew it, it was February 2007 and
Norman was cutting the ribbon on a games room, where there were pool tables,
table football and mini bowling lanes.
So spurred on by this achievement Norman set his sights on his biggest
project yet: A swimming pool.
To turn this idea into a reality, first of all Norman went back to the UK
armed with press cuttings from the Pattaya Mail and DVD copies of the PMTV
coverage, thus showing everyone where the money had gone. With guests
pencilling the dates in their diaries for another dinner, Norman flew back
to Thailand and started preparing the way to make sure that everything would
be finished to the highest standard and on time.
Back in the UK, Norman held his most successful dinner yet and raised what
he hoped would be enough to build the kids a pool.
 With
the formalities over, it was time for the children to enjoy their new pool.
However, in the bleakness of an autumn in England very little thought was
given to the intense heat in Thailand. The piece of land where the pool was
going was just inside the centre and offered little in the way of shade for
the children.
Father Giovanni mentioned as much to Norman, and the plans started to expand
so that the pool should have a roof, then showers were added along with a
non-slip surface on all four sides.
Even with the money raised in England, Norman’s plans were bigger than the
amount of baht in the bank. So on his return to Thailand in December 2007
Norman set about making up the shortfall, hosting a charity evening at The
Balcony in Bangkok, and another at Oscar’s Bar here in Pattaya. His friends
at the Rolling Stone Bar did their bit and as a final measure two
fundraising dinners were held at Luxor restaurant.
 Norman
Vernon (right) visits the work in progress.
On Saturday March 1 the building work had finished and volunteers at the
Camillian Centre were putting up the balloons to welcome Norman and his
friends for the completion of this massive project. His old friend Steve
Williams was going round with a box to make up the 40,000 baht shortfall,
which was a drop in the ocean, or pool if you like, as the entire project
was now over the 1.1 million baht level.
Father Giovanni officiated over the proceedings with his usual flair and
emphasized how important Norman’s work was, helping the children by giving
them emotional health and wellbeing. He explained that when they took the
kids to another pool, people were sometimes reluctant to let them in. With
the opening of the new pool he said that if people wanted to come and swim
here, they were more than welcome.
 The
work has begun.
A beaming Norman gazed around the pool surrounded by his friends and the
expectant children from the centre and thanked all of the people who had
helped him over the last 12 months. He stressed that without them, there was
no way it could have happened.
The ladies from the Rayong Red Cross were on hand to help with the cutting
of the ribbon and the pool was officially opened.
Four children were selected to be the first into the pool and Father
Giovanni said to one young girl, “When you first came here, you couldn’t
walk - now you can swim.” Emboldened after a few laps, the excited children
pulled an unsuspecting Norman into the water.
Even at the ripe old age of 72, Norman did a couple of lengths with the kids
and after he had dried off the sense of satisfaction was emanating from him
as he watched the children make fullest use of this latest addition to the
centre.
This was a great achievement by a man whose warmth and compassion cannot be
clearly articulated in words, but the look of joy on the children’s faces
said it all.
The children perform a thank
you dance.
The children get their first
look at the new pool.
Charity Concert hits all the right notes
Paul Strachan
Music lovers were treated to a truly virtuoso performance on
Thursday the 13th and Friday the 14th of March, when the Rotary Club of
Eastern Seaboard hosted its 2nd Charity Music Recital for Violin and Grand
Piano.
 Vilmos
Oláh (left) on violin and his brother Géza Oláh on piano treat the audience
at the Pattaya Marriott Resort & Spa to a wonderful evening of classical and
contemporary music.
On the stage at the Marriott Resort in Pattaya were two Hungarian brothers,
Vilmos and Géza Oláh.
Violinist Vilmos Oláh is a distinguished graduate of the renowned Franz
Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, Hungary. This musical ‘Valhalla’ has
produced some of the world’s most revered classical artists including, to
name just a few, the conductors Georg Solti, Eugene Ormandy and Ferenc
Fricsay; instrumentalists Leopold Auer, Tamás Vásáry, Annie Fischer, Leó
Weiner and Jenő Hubay; the composers Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, and two
composer/pianists Ernő Dohnányi and the great Franz Liszt.
A multiple First Prize Winner at more than a half a dozen violin
competitions in Hungary, West Europe and Santa Barbara in the USA, Vilmos
earned a full scholarship to the prestigious Mozarteum Academy in Salzburg
where he won the First Concert Prize on his graduation.
During the last three years, he has performed in recitals and chamber music
ensembles in Vietnam, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. He has also performed
extensively in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and in the Eastern
European countries.
Vilmos is presently Concertmaster of the Dohnányi Orchestra in Hungary. At
the same time, he is the First Violist of the Auer Quartet, a living symbol
of the Hungarian string instrument chamber music tradition.
The programme was one that would put the abilities of Vilmos to the test,
ranging from romantic pieces to compositions that used every aspect of the
instrument’s range.
As the first notes were played the audience could sense that they were about
to be treated to something quite special.
The Sonata for Violin and Piano in E Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart set
the standard for the evening, starting off with the opening bars announcing
the ceremony of the piece that rapidly weaved its way through the score, a
work which seems to echo Mozart’s heartbreak, albeit with some typical rays
of heavenly joy. Vilmos effortlessly rose to the task as Géza played in
absolute unison, underscoring their ties as brothers and musicians.
This was followed by Scene from Czardas No4 by Jenő Hubay, again excellently
performed from its opening few bars where Vilmos on violin poses the
questions and Géza on Piano supplies the reply, this segways into a
rollercoaster of scales, that constantly change key and tempo, again a
challenge that was adeptly accepted by the musicians.
Then a very familiar piece: The introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by
Camille Saint-Saëns. This was written for the famed violinist Pablo de
Sarasate in 1863 and is regarded as one of Saint Saens most popular
compositions. Its gentle opening was a sombre lullaby that lifts and rises
and then in turn becomes a march with the violin leading the way.
It was then the turn of the Italian composer Riccardo Drigo which was a
short jaunt through Valse Bluette.
Pablo de Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen (Gypsy Airs) changed the atmosphere in
the ballroom with this dark piece, which was composed in 1878 and has been
recorded by notable violinist such as Itzhak Perlman and Zino Francescatti.
Spanish in origin its, Hungarian influences were transparent, filled with
yearning and just a glimmer of hope, that again shifts tempo to become a
light hearted dance replete with Gypsy Imagery and as the lights came up for
the interval, the audience found themselves filled with awe and in need of a
few moments of reflection.
Like Mozart, Franz Liszt was also a child prodigy and was one of the most
prominent members of the Neudeutsche Schule (New German School) and the
second half of the concert was opened with Consolation No3.
Again the audience were transfixed by the music of Hungary in this exquisite
piece where the violin sang high above the arpeggiating piano like waves
gently lapping against the shore, a concept which 30 years later would be
used by the Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.
In complete contrast the Hungarian Dances no 5 & 17 by Johannes Brahms were
next on the programme, again brilliantly played by the brothers Oláh. It
should be noted that Vilmos had put his music away and was now playing from
memory, but he was in safe territory, and eagerly played not from the page
but from his heart.
The eastern European theme continued with Gipsy Andante by Ernő Dohnányi,
this haunting piece was written in 1924 yet the feel of it evoked images of
the Holocaust and the plight of the Jews.
The next piece was the only one on the programme where the piano and violin
were equally matched. Moritz Moszkowski was best known for his compositions
for piano and ‘Guitar’ gave an opportunity for Géza to duet with Vilmos.
Things then took a contemporary turn with the music of George Gershwin with
‘Summertime’ from the opera ‘Porgy and Bess which in turn transformed into
‘It ain’t necessarily so’ yet again showcasing the expanse of Vilmos’s
repertoire, which he approached with ease and clarity.
However all eyes and ears were ready in anticipation for the final piece La
Ronde des Lutins (Dance of the Goblins)
Antonio Bazzini was one of the most highly regarded virtuoso violinists of
his time and his operatic fantasy the Dance of the Goblins, is a pure
Italian virtuoso delight. Not a bar is at rest, the violinist zips up and
down the scale, twirling notes within notes, dazzling with a goblin-like
frenzy. The work is only a few minutes long but probably has more notes than
a 30-minute concerto, whereby many regard this as the most difficult and
demanding work ever written for violin.
Vilmos threw himself into it racing through the score with apparent ease,
from its energetic beginning to its melodic middle section to its frenetic
ending.
Pattaya Mail Media recorded both evenings and a DVD of this unique live
performance is in the pipeline whilst the CD is available now at only 200
baht from the business centre of the Marriott Resort and Spa Pattaya with
proceeds helping disadvantaged children in the community, through the Rotary
Eastern Seaboard.
This hugely successful event was organised by Ferenc Fricsay, a man with a
huge passion for music and a member of the Rotary Club of the Eastern
Seaboard, through his diligent work and unending attention to detail, every
aspect of the performance was perfect with the audience just posing one
question: When will the next one happen?
Concert organiser Ferenc
Fricsay (center) salutes the two virtuoso musicians.
Vilmos signs live recored CDs
for his admirers, produced by the Pattaya Mail Media and available now at
Marriott’s Bisiness Center.
Green Bottle celebrates
its 20th birthday
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The Green Bottle Pub at the Diana Inn celebrated its 20th
anniversary on March 8, throwing a champagne party and staging a performance
by Maleewan Jemina to mark the occasion in style.
 Sopin
Thappajug (center) presents a thank you bouquet of flowers to Maleewan
Jemina (right) after her great performance.
Sopin Thappajug, managing director of the Diana Group was on hand to welcome
guests and to cut the birthday cake, and there was a magic show that had
everybody spellbound.
Food and beverages were provided at special prices all evening, and there
was a lucky draw with the top prize being a 2,000 baht gift voucher, won by
Mike Franklin of Pattaya Mail.
Suwanthep Malhotra, executive director for sales and marketing of Pattaya
Mail Publishing Co Ltd was amongst the guests presenting a bouquet of
flowers to congratulate Sopin, and the party went on until late in the
evening in an atmosphere of great fellowship.
Sopin and guests mark the Green Bottle Pub’s
20th anniversary
with a champagne tower.
Maleewan Jemina (left) wows the crowd with her
stage performance.
Para Motor Club scatters woodland seeds around Chaknok Reservoir
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Members of the Pattaya Para Motor Club flew over Chaknok Reservoir
on March 8, scattering seeds that will eventually turn the banks of the
reservoir into a richly wooded area.
The club, which has more than 30 active members, is located near the
reservoir in Huayai Sub-district.
Club chairman Thanes Kruakun said that the scattering of more than 100 types
of seed would provide the area with a diversity of trees and vegetation in
the years to come, and that members felt their action would be a very
positive contribution to the local environment.
More than 30 Thai and foreign flyers took part in the event, which was the
first of its kind for the club.
The seeds were placed in small bags with soil and fertilizer, and the pilots
flew around the reservoir selecting suitable areas to release them.
Amongst the flyers was a man ranked number five amongst the world’s para
motor pilots, George Macak, who is part Thai and part Czech, and a member of
the Pattaya Para Motor Club.
A
double soars over the takeoff and landing area.
Coming in for a safe landing.
Preparing for takeoff.
Pattaya Para Motor Club
members spread seeds over Chaknok Reservoir.
Catholics all over the world
observe ‘Holy Week’
Holy Week, i.e. the series of pre-Easter festivities
commemorating various events of the final days of Christ’s life, probably
developed in 4th century Jerusalem, possibly beginning with St. Cyril of
Jerusalem. Christians from all over the world would take pilgrimages to the
Holy Land, and the Church of Jerusalem provided rites and worship dedicated
to reenacting the final events of Christ’s life. The first account we have
of such rites is the diary of the pilgrimage of Egeria to Jerusalem around
AD 381. Gradually many of these customs and holy days spread to the wider
Christian world. For more history, please see our more detailed individual
pages linked above.
 Christ
Washing the Feet of the Apostles by Meister des Hausbuches, 1475.
Holy Week includes the final week of Lent and part of the Paschal Triduum.
Holy Week includes Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday, and occurs
in late March or early April. In 2008, Holy Week runs from March 16 - March
22.
Holy Week is the last week of Lent before Easter, beginning on Palm Sunday
and ending on Holy Saturday. In an older nomenclature, Holy Week is the
second Sunday of Passiontide (Passiontide begins on the fifth Sunday of
Lent). Holy Week is the part of the Church Year where Jesus’ final moments
are commemorated. The final three days of Holy week are called triduum
sacrum, i.e. the sacred three days. These days are commonly called the
Paschal Triduum. Holy Week consists of the following events.
Palm Sunday:
On the sixth Sunday of Lent (This year 16 March) we commemorate Jesus’
triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Worship services include blessing of the
palms and a procession. The liturgical color is red. Also known as “Fig
Sunday.”
Spy Wednesday:
This is an old and uncommon name for the Wednesday of Holy Week, which
commemorates Judas’ agreement to betray Jesus (see Matthew 26:3-5, 14-16).
Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday):
The name “Maundy Thursday” is derived from Jesus “mandate” to love one
another as he loves us. This day celebrates Jesus’ institution of the
sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Ordination. Also known as “Shear Thursday.”
The Holy Thursday liturgy, celebrated in the evening because Passover began
at sundown, also shows both the worth God ascribes to the humility of
service, and the need for cleansing with water (a symbol of baptism) in the
Mandatum, or washing in Jesus’ washing the feet of His disciples, and in the
priest’s stripping and washing of the altar. Cleansing, in fact, gave this
day of Holy Week the name Maundy Thursday
Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion:
A Fast day of the Church commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion and death.
Worship customs include Veneration of the Cross, communion from the reserved
Maundy Thursday host, and the singing or preaching of the Passion (reading
or singing excerpts of the Passion story from John’s gospel). In the
Catholic Church, the liturgical color was formerly black, but is now red.
Holy Saturday:
This is the final day of both Holy Week and the Triduum. There are few
specific customs associated with Holy Saturday, except that it is the final
night before the Feast of the Resurrection, which begins at the Great Easter
Vigil.
Other customs and events, including Tenebrae, have developed as Holy Week
customs. Generally Holy Week is a busy time for Catholic and Orthodox
Christians, as we build up to the Queen of all Church Feasts, Easter
(Pascha).
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