A privilege and honour for Malaysia to host this International gathering
The Gathering was held at the Bayview Hotel, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia from 17 till 21 November 2022. I would like to congratulate FOFSAG Malaysia (NSGF Malaysia) for hosting this 16th ISGF ASPAC Gathering with the theme “Leadership through Fellowship”.
This Gathering was supposed to be held in year 2021 but was postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic. There were 160 delegates and participants from AUSTRALIA, BANGLADESH, INDIA, INDONESIA, SOUTH KOREA, MALAYSIA, MALDIVES, NEPAL, SINGAPORE, SRI LANKA and TUNISIA. Sadly, NEW ZEALAND, PAKISTAN, and PHILLIPINES did not manage to attend. The organizer was so thrilled that our Tunisian brothers and sisters came all the way from Tunisia to be at this gathering in fellowship.
On the 18-11-2022 the opening ceremony started at 10.00 am. It started with Flag Procession. A welcome speech by the Chairman of the organising committee, G. Nanda Goban. Followed by a speech by ISGF World Committee representative, Puan Sri Zalillah binti Mohd Taib to give updates on ISGF. The 16th ISGF Asia Pacific Gathering was officially opened by His Honourable Mr. Soon Lip Chee, Penang State EXCO for Youth and Sports, representing the Chief Minister of Penang. The AsPac Chair, Dr. Mariyam Shakeela was forced to leave home before the event started as her mother fell ill.
The AsPac Meeting happened on the second day of the gathering. They had a fruitful and productive discussion on issues that are concerning the region. The AsPac Regional Committee election was chaired by Marjaldi Loeis from NSGF Indonesia. The newly elected committee as below:
| Chairman | Dr. Mariyam Shakeela | Maldives |
| Vice-Chairman | Simon Hang Bock Rhee | South Korea |
| Secretary | G.Nanda Goban | Malaysia |
| Treasurer | Greg John Davies | Australia |
| Member | Vacant | Australia |
| Member | Syed Md. Zulfiquer | Bangladesh |
| Member | Mazhar Ali Khan Mecci | India |
| Member | Ahmed Rushdi | Indonesia |
| Member | Ahmed Ali Maniku | Maldives |
| Member | Shree Ram Lamichhane | Nepal |
| Member | Lesley Bowers | New Zealand |
| Member | Vacant | Pakistan |
| Member | Ashanti Hettige | Sri Lanka |
| Member | Hong Soon Ja | South Korea |
This gathering has given a chance to the local and international participants to explore the UNESCO city, Georgetown, Penang. The gathering focused on building and strengthening fellowship between the NSGFs and discussions were around how to work together and move forward as a stronger organization.
The next 17th AsPac gathering will be held in Indonesia in 2025.
As a ISGF World Committee Member, I am looking forward to work closely with the newly elected committee till the next World Conference in Granada, Spain in 2024.
Summarised by Zalillah Mohd Taib
Member of ISGF World Committee