WITHIN a few days, the Trinity Annual Conference in Malaysia lost two of its leaders – the President, the Rev Hwa Chien, 50, and the Conference Secretary, Mr Ong Tit Hoe, 65. The circumstances were sad for the families, and tragic for the Conference, and we share in their pain and suffering.
The Rev Hwa Chien had ministered at Mr Ong’s wake service in Telok Intan (formerly Telok Anson), and was on his way back to Seremban on Nov 24, 2001 when he met with an accident – a fatal casualty of a truck.
The Rev Hwa Chien began his ministry serving Wesley Methodist Church in Taiping in 1977, thence Kuantan and Sitiawan until 1996 when he was elected President of TRAC Malaysia, and re-elected last year.
Mr Ong, who died on Nov 21, 2001 during a medical check-up by his physician, served for about 30 years as a teacher, then principal, of Horley Methodist Primary School in Telok Intan, but took early retirement to devote more time to church work.
He was also an active Boys’ Brigade (BB) officer, who founded and captained the 1st Telok Intan Company for many years, and was later President of BB, Malaysia.
In the local church, he served in leadership positions for many years, and was Conference Secretary of TRAC Malaysia from 1989 until he died.