program book

SYNOPSIS OF COUNTRY REPORT FOR SINGAPOREBioethics Subcommittee ActivitiesDuring the year, the activities of the Bioethics Subcommitte included1. Preparation of CMG's submissions to the Bioethics Advisory Committee (BAC) on theissues of the proposed sale of human eggs and human-animal or cybrid research2. Contributions to the Catholic News on issues such as teenage sexuality and sexuallytransmitted diseases, cybrid research and fertility options for Catholics3. Co-organizing congress on "Love, Sex and Babies - What's the Church doing in mybedroom?" to commemorate 40 years of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae.4. Provided resource speakers for bioethics talks in parishes eg St Ignatius.CMG Missions Committee Report 2007/2008Members of the CMG have been active in promoting missions both within and outside the Catholicfraternity during the past year. Many are attracted to missions seeing it as an opportunity of livingtheir Christian faith following the Biblical example of the Good Samaritan.IndonesiaA few doctors and dentists were involved in a mission to Rempang where they treated the childrenin a home run by the local diocese. Drs Sally, Angel, Claire, John Lim and Adeline are nowexploring opportunities to reach out to the poorest communities in the Riau island.CambodiaOur doctors are responsible for mentoring Project Sabai and Project Lokun run by the student ofNUS medical school. Doctors from the Guild went with the students to treat patients in Phnom Penhand Pursat. Project Lokun which is done in collaboration with Columbian priests also sponsored apermanent healthcare facility run by a Cambodian doctor in a place called CROAP.Working with students from Singapore Polytechnic, we also sent 250 refurbished Pentium 4computers and 12 laptops which were distributed to various educational institutes run by the variousCatholic orders in Cambodia.In Dec 2007 Dr John Lee led some CMG members and a group of parishioners from Queen ofPeace church to work at a Don Bosco school in Phum Chreh. This advent Cambodian project raisedalmost $150,000 which was spend on building an extension to the school, scholarships and loveparcels containing necessities for some 1,500 children. The advent Cambodian trip as so wellreceived that this year there will be 3 groups from Queen of Peace and St Vincent de Paul parishesas well as from Fides from SMU working alongside medical teams at the Don Bosco schools atPhum Chreh, Teuk Thla and Tuol Kork. They will also try to raise funds to rebuild a dormitory cumvocational institute which is literally crumbling.MyanmarDuring the course of the year, 2 provinces of Myanmar were devastated by Typhoon Nargis withwidescale destruction and death. The Archdiocese Crisis Coordination Team (ACCT) on whichCMG is represented by Drs Sally Ho and John Lee responded by sending funds for purchasingemergency relief supplies to the Myanmar Disaster Relief Committee headed by ArchbishopCharles Bo. In follow-up efforts members of the Guild are working with an agency called WISHand the Canossian sisters to provide filters to supply clean water.In September, Archbishop Matthias Shwe from Taunggyi met with a few of our members to discusscontinuation of a scholarship program dedicated to the late Pope John Paul II which supportsstudents who otherwise cannot afford a tertiary education. Among the beneficiaries of the programis a young man who has graduated as a doctor and several nurses, teachers and IT experts. We were