27 January 2014 by Felix Chen-
On 18th of January, the Emerging Leaders Mentoring Program, also known as M2, was kicked off at D’Fong Restaurant.
As a brainchild of young professionals Jason Lee and Alex Tung, sponsored by the Full Gospel Businessmen Malaysia Fellowship (FGBMF), this program seeks to provide a mentoring platform for young Christian men and women to deal with issues in their workplace, help them live out their Christian faith and to be a salt and light to the world. The program pairs up teams of young Christian men and women (mentees) with mature Christian individuals who are successful in their respective careers (mentors). This year was the first time the women’s version of the program was introduced. Hence, unlike previous editions, there was a blend of businessmen and businesswomen at the launch.
The lineup of mentors for the 2015 edition includes:
- Henry Eliathamby – Founder and COO of Tootpay Sdn Bhd, the largest and most secure Mobile Payment Services provider in South East Asia.
- Rick Loh – CEO of NW Solutions (M) Sdn Bhd, a company providing business solutions to large corporations in Malaysia.
- Lai Tak Ming – Director, Group HR and Admin of Public Listed Infrastructure and Property Group.
- Michael Ong – Retired vice president of business development of a local private university.
- Peggy Wong – Global entrepreneur extraordinaire.
- Christina Yong – Chief Marketing Officer, Marketing Director of a multinational FMCG company.
Each mentor was assigned to between three to four mentees. The program would last for six months where mentor and mentees would meet for monthly meetings. The meetings will be chaired by one of the mentees on a rotation basis and the mentors would provide guidance and input in the discussions on challenges faced by the mentees in their daily Christian walk. The core theme of discussions revolves around leadership but would also cover issues such as money, sex, power, etc. Each mentor-mentee group will then be required to produce a write-up of their experiences and take-away from the program, which would be handed to the organizing committee at the end of the six-month stint.
Back at the launch, the chairperson of the night, Jason Lee, kicked off the event by introducing the program and its core values and vision. A sumptuous dinner courtesy of FGBMF was served as the participants mingled around gleefully with fellow mentees and mentors at their respective tables.
Halfway through, the chairperson got the mentors to make a brief introduction about themselves. Many of them expressed their heart’s desire to pass on the baton (experiences and words of wisdom) to the next generation of young working adults. Many mentees felt truly humbled and filled with a sense of immense gratitude towards the mentors’ willingness to sacrifice their time and energy in mentoring their respective mentees.
Next was the mentees’ turn to be in the spotlight. Some mentees volunteered to share their thoughts on this program, their hopes, their excitement, and their expectations. They shared heartwarming testimonies about God answered their desperate prayers for mentors to guide them through their participation in the program. This was followed by testimonies from mentees who were in the program the previous year. The present batch were all encouraged by the experiences and testimonies of the alumni of the program.
Towards the end of the launch, the chairperson closed with a sharing of a verse which summed up the heart of the program: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). With this take home value for the night, the launch ended with fellow participants exchanging contacts and bidding their farewells, all looking forward with excitement to the start of a journey that would reshape their walk with Christ.
On behalf of my fellow mentees, I wish to convey a very big thank you to the organizing committee and mentors who made this program possible. Here’s to an exciting journey ahead! God bless!
| Share the Good News |
Leave a Reply