COVID-19

2020 March 19
Solemn Feast of St. Joseph, Husband of Mary

Dear Lasallians in the Frontlines,

Greetings of peace and well-being! We salute and support your gallant efforts to quell COVID-19 as you perform your responsibilities beyond the call of duty while putting yourselves at great risk. We stand in solidarity with you as part of the health and medical team directly assisting the sick and infected, or as researchers and scientists pressed to review test results or find effective antidotes to the virus, or as round-the-clock logistics and security forces, public servants and volunteers doing your share to reassure the public, restore and maintain order and provide much needed services to everyone.

We are one with you during this very challenging time and assure you of our fervent prayers as your fellow Lasallians in East Asia. We will especially remember you as we pause for a few minutes of quiet prayer daily to remember all Lasallians in the frontlines and to intercede for all those who are working earnestly in many different ways to provide solutions and address the challenges we face.

For you, all Lasallians in East Asia will gather together and by association in their respective homes and communities at around 5:00 p.m. beginning today March 19, feast of St. Joseph, Protector of our Lasallian Institute, and ending on May 15, feast of our Founder, St. John Baptist de La Salle. May the good Lord ever keep you in the palm of His hand. Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!

Fraternally yours,

Br. Armin A. Luistro FSC

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Loving Father, our Lasallian Family draws near to you in fervent prayer for all those affected by COVID-19. 

In FAITH, we lift up to you our fears and anxieties and the sufferings of those who have been infected always remembering that even in our darkest hours we are in your most holy presence. 

In SERVICE, we beg you for strength and wisdom to do all that needs to be done knowing that we can be channels of your healing grace when we do all our actions for the love of you. 

In COMMUNION, we stand in solidarity with all the frontliners who risk their lives for others and pray for all medical teams and support personnel who earnestly seek its cure and provide remedy and comfort to those who are sick and most vulnerable. Most Loving Father we entrust our lives and the health and well-being of our families and communities to your care and protection for with you we will be safe and secure.

Amen.

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Join us in our Global Lasallian Fundraising Campaign!

This appeal will help us support Lasallian schools and associated ministries in the most fragile countries of the world, helping them address their local immediate needs.

Find out how you can help by visiting this website:

https://www.lasalle.org/en/lasallecovid19/

#LaSalleCovid19

Last March 26-28, 2020, the Discerners of the De La Salle Brothers of the Philippines gathered online for the annual Discerners Retreat.

Covid-19 may have separated us physically but the Spirit of Faith keeps us together as we pause, reflect and listen to God’s call to us.

We thank Br. Kenneth Martinez FSC for facilitating the Online Retreat.

We continue to keep our Discerners in our prayers as well as our frontliners and medical workers, the country and the world amidst this crisis. (Text & Photo: Br. Irwin Anthony Climaco FSC)

Br. Normandy Dujunco FSC, who is supposed to graduate on 27 March for his PhD studies at Yarra Theological Union, had to settle for an online graduation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, congratulations Br. Mandy! (Photo: Br. Normandy Dujunco FSC)

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In solidarity with the worldwide Lasallian Family social media campaign during this time of COVID-19, Brothers, administrators, teachers, and students (and their family members) of different schools in the Philippines share their hashtag messages in fighting against this pandemic.

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On 14 April, Easter Tuesday, a small team of Brothers and Lasallian Volunteers visited the homeless in Sham Shui Po, an area in Hong Kong where a good number of poor people live. The group went there to give out masks and hygiene products.

Because of the COVID-19 outbreak, prices of masks and hygiene products have escalated. The Hong Kong Lasallian Family Office was lucky enough to have received donations of these items from different parties. Thanks to the Brothers and Lasallian Volunteers for the repacking and distribution of these products within a short period of time.

Through the activity, the team was able to reach out to street cleaners and the homeless, most of whom have been suffering from social inequality for some time.

This is the time for us Lasallians to be the spark during these dark hours and be the change we want to see. (Text & Photos: Ms. Nikki Chan)

#1LaSalle #FaithServiceCommunity #StaySafe #MightyLasallian

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Some of our Josephians penned a short message of gratitude to the medical and frontline personnel who are fighting against the COVID19. This was done as part of our Josephian Formation Journey programme in line with Total Defence Day.

#JFJ #everydayherossg #SGUnited #JosephiansUnited #LasalliansUnited

Watch the video by clicking this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=649815175847468

In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak and its many challenges, our Year 4 student, David Ho (MN401) shared his self-drawn comic about how a Josephian should respond at this time — with care and concern.

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St. Joseph’s Institution International School Malaysia  (SJIIM)  students and members of its Parent Support Group (PSG) have been busy assisting those in need during the Movement Control Order (MCO) period in Malaysia.

With the school temporarily closed in compliance with the MCO, SJIIM students and the PSG decided to channel funds that they had helped gather to benefit those in need of food and basic necessities during this difficult period. They also chipped in to make protective shields for use by frontline and essential service workers!
The group raised RM 6,000 and it received a dollar-for-dollar matching contribution from the SJIIM Lasallian Fund. The RM12,000 was equally distributed to the Pit Stop Community Café in the Klang Valley, COVIDCAREMY DHRRA Malaysia and COVID Assist Malaysia.

Co-founder of COVID Assist Malaysia and SJIIM student, Sandra Ong hard at work constructing the face shields needed for the frontliners

Co-founder of COVID Assist Malaysia and SJIIM student, Sandra Ong hard at work constructing the face shields needed for the frontliners

Dato’ Bro Paul Ho, Chairman of the SJIIM Board of Governors

Dato’ Bro Paul Ho, Chairman of the SJIIM Board of Governors, is delighted with the initiatives of the students and the PSG. “It is extremely heartening to note that our community is fully embracing our Founder’s ethos of reaching out in service for the benefits of the less fortunate.”  

Sheela Sam, the Chairlady of the PSG was very proud of the effort that the group has made. “We are happy to be able to make a difference. To help those in need as inscribed in our Lasallian culture is not just charity, it is humanity in the highest form. We enkindle good values for our future generation and we pray for those who have been affected physically, emotionally and financially.”
The Pit Stop Community Café and COVIDCARE MY are organizations that support the most vulnerable in the community in various ways, including food distribution which assists many families. Both organizations have been tremendously active with their humanitarian efforts and were very appreciative of the support received:

“The Pit Stop Community Cafe had the distinct pleasure of working with different groups of SJIIM students for the past three years and each one of them who have volunteered their time with us have shown us passion, dedication and leadership. We are very proud of our SJIIM volunteers and feel that their school and family have definitely done something right for these capable young people. In these troubled times of COVID-19 when so many marginalised communities are without income or decent food, SJIIM has come to us again with a lifesaving gift. Thank you so much for coming together to make sure that we are able to serve those who have fallen off the cracks of society.”

– Andrea Tan, Co-Founder of Pit Stop Community Cafe

“On behalf of COVIDCAREMY, we are truly grateful and thankful to SJI International School Malaysia and the SJIIM Parent Support Group for their generosity. Our donors and supporters inspire us to continue this journey and we invite them to walk along with us. COVIDCAREMY has been active nationwide for almost a month and we will continue to assist the marginalised and B40 communities during the MCO.”

- COVIDCAREMY

SJIIM Student Calvin Foo with one of the face shields he made for COVID Assist Malaysia

SJIIM Student Calvin Foo with one of the face shields he made for COVID Assist Malaysia

COVID Assist Malaysia is a volunteer organization co-founded by two high school students namely Sandra Ong of SJIIM and Julian Yang from another notable international school to support those in need of assistance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds contributed to this organization will be used to produce face shields by volunteers who are students of SJIIM and other international schools, parents and other benefactors. The face shields will be given to frontline staff in hospitals and essential service workers who urgently require more Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to perform their daily tasks in assisting with the recovery of COVID-19 patients.

COVID Assist Malaysia’s founders were ecstatic with the support they have received.  We founded COVID Assist Malaysia to provide support to those in need during this COVID-19 pandemic. We crowdsourced volunteers and funds, harnessed the people's innate desire to do good, collaborated with our local community and other youths while employing the power of social networking systems to achieve maximum reach and effectiveness. We are incredibly grateful for SJIIM and the Parent Support Group’s generous donation. These funds will help further our cause by enabling us to increase the scale of our projects, diversifying into other activities and widening our base. As international school students, we are incredibly fortunate to have the financial means to continue with our education while others may not even be able to afford essentials. It is our duty to provide concern for the poor and social justice and do our part to help ‘the Least, the Last and the Lost’.”

Besides the three listed organizations, care packages in the form of groceries and food were also sponsored by the group and distributed to the security guards of SJIIM who are diligently working on-site to keep the school safe throughout the MCO period. Mohammed Sharizal, who is the security supervisor of SJIIM said, “We are thankful for the generous contributions given to us by the PSG. These essential food items will go a long way in helping the guards with their everyday lives during this difficult period.”

Service and care for the community are hallmarks of an SJIIM education. The school is proud that despite the challenges posed by the MCO, its students and parents have truly lived up to its Lasallian ideal that they had “entered the school to learn and would leave it to serve.”

For media inquiries:

Mr. Neoh Soon Ken
Director of Business Development
Contact No: +603 86053605; +6016 4758308
Email: kenneoh@sji-international.edu.my

Source: https://www.sji-international.edu.my/sjiim-students-and-parentssupport- mco-affected-groups/

On 3rd April, our Prime Minister announced a community "circuit breaker” in Singapore as the number of COVID-19 cases were rising. What this means is other than a list of essential services which are allowed to continue running, residents are encouraged to stay home. Schools and non essential offices were to remain closed till 4th May. He also announced that each resident would be given a reusable mask so that the surgical masks could be saved for healthcare workers. This followed after a nationwide distribution of hand sanitisers.

Several Young Lasallians from the Lasallian Youth NetworK bravely responded to the call for helping with the issuing of reusable masks. They assisted our community partner, Toa Payoh East Community Club, who were overwhelmed by what they had to do in response to the circuit breaker. The volunteers spent their time doing temperature taking, running some meal errands, answering queries, and giving out masks. Measures like social distancing and using hand sanitisers, hand gloves, and masks were put in place to protect both the volunteers and members of the public collecting their masks.

This week-long project was a success as over 80% of Singapore Residents have collected their masks islandwide. (Text & Photos: Ms. Ed-Linddi Ong)

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The following Brothers have been granted admission to various educational institutions for their professional development and further studies:

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Br. Irwin Anthony Climaco FSC
Master of Arts in Arts Therapy
LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore

Br. Cyrill Kino Escolano FSC
Master of Information Technology in Business
Richard Lim Lee Scholar
Singapore Management University, Singapore

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Br. Iñigo Riola FSC
Doctorate in Educational Leadership
St. Mary's College of California, U.S.A.

Congratulations and all the best, Brothers!

#TakeTheLEAD