We are neither the slaves nor the servants of any mortal in any voluntary organisation, but are the servants and instruments of God.

KUCHING, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA, July 22, 2016 /EINPresswire.com/ -- I stand before you with a sense of deep humility and of great pride—humility in the knowledge that this venerable Order of St John has a history of about a thousand years, and pride that I have solidly with me the loyalty and affection of the entire St John Ambulance Sarawak (SJAS).

I do not stand here today as a strong advocate for any partisan cause because the issues basically are fundamental and reach beyond the realms of any partisan discourse and debate.

Indeed, these issues must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest if our cause is to prove sound and our future secure and protected.

Believe me, what I am expressing today reflects the views and hopes of everyone in SJAS who has witnessed the unprecedented irregularity leading to the leadership vacuum, affecting Sarawak.

This is not of our own making, however. It should never have happened or be allowed to happen again, not only here but anywhere in the Federation of Malaysia consisting of Malaya, Sabah, and Sarawak.

I address you today with one purpose in mind—that is to serve our country well and to see that the lessons learnt will convince all that if we claim to be leaders, we should at all times demonstrate exemplary behavior—by being moral, by being ethical, by being professional, by our conduct, by our honesty, by our sense of responsibility, by our humanity, and by our controlled temperament that we indeed are worthy of your emulation. Above all, we must be law-abiding citizens in the country.

We must uphold the rule of law, which is the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws for the benefit of all people and not just a few.

SJAS is a non-political, non-religious and multi-ethnic voluntary organisation. That was what we were in 1971, when the DISTRICT was founded here, and that is what we are now in 2016.

No mortal on earth can arbitrarily dictate to us as long as we follow rules and regulations, and operate within the framework of the law, the good law.

We in St. John Ambulance Sarawak receive no salaries, no fees, no allowance or honorariums or any form of material benefit.

We are under no obligation whatsoever to anyone on earth who exercises arbitrary or abusive power, but God who is faithful, merciful, and just.

We are neither the slaves nor the servants or the employees of any mortal in any voluntary organisation, but are the servants and instruments of God.

We volunteer out of love and not out of any personal benefits or glory. For glory and wealth we have to go elsewhere.

We certainly are not toys for anyone to play with. For those with delusions of exalted life and grandeur and wealth we advise them to play with toy soldiers.

We accept young people and adults as members irrespective of who they are, where they come from, where they live, what they believe in, what language they speak, or where they pray.

All in this humanitarian organisation in Sarawak are initiated into the life of love, service, honesty, sacrifice, and discipline.

We in SJAS strongly believe in the principles and core human values of freedom, justice, morality, integrity, and equality.

Many of us here love the emblem because we want SJAS to right the wrongs we see around us, and to help create a better world.

Those of us encourage SJAS do so purely out of love and hope for this time-honoured humanitarian organisation.

We live in a world of great complexity, of great illusions and ceaseless problems, of hypocrisy, frustrations and dishonest dealings, of intrigues and conspiracies.

It is, therefore, imperative that the leadership of St John Ambulance everywhere must be guided by enlightened learning, reason, honesty, integrity, and respect; otherwise, this organisation’s long and illustrious history will be tarnished by some who might have attended schools but in reality remain uneducated.

Such a controversial departure from the accepted procedures, prescribed by the relevant Act of Parliament, as we have recently experienced was an existential threat to our continued effectiveness and reputation as an organisation. It has undermined the autonomy and integrity of the constituent Districts of St John Ambulance set up in 1972.

We have gone through an unpleasant period of uncertainty, but the Sarawak St John Council and all rank and file decided from the outset to remain steadfast and uncompromising in demanding that the Rules in the Act of Parliament of our organisation are strictly and faithfully adhered to, and cannot be unilaterally changed by anyone in an arbitrary manner, according to his whims and fancies.

The unprecedented and overwhelming loyalty and support shown by so many of you have played a decisive role in ensuring that the Sarawak St John Council and our collective fight for what is RIGHT, PROPER, and ETHICAL ultimately ended in TRIUMPH for us.

During the Interregnum, the Sarawak Council and the rank and file did not give way, not even in the slightest, to the pressures to sacrifice the principles we all hold dear, guided by our relentless faith in ethical behaviour and righteousness. We were completely vindicated in the end.

These were some particularly dark times. It would have been perfectly understandable had we, in a moment of weakness, entertained the idea of compromising before the powers and pressures that were exerted upon us. Indeed, it may well have appeared, at those times, as the better part of valour to do so but the Sarawak Council and all rank and file were resolute and unwavering.

It fills me with tremendous pride to lead a law-abiding group of the finest and best that Sarawak can offer.

I am confident this humanitarian organisation and our country will progress and prosper if all our actions and deeds are guided by our conscience, by our faith, by respectable law-abiding and educated leaders, by the good laws of this country and above all by the Almighty God.

Ang Lai Soon (The Hon Dato Sri Ang Lai Soon)
St John Ambulance Sarawak
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