APAVM annual dinner 2025

APAVM Annual Dinner 2025

Hong Kong and Singapore

The APAVM Annual Dinner, an APAVM tradition since its founding, was held in Hong Kong on the 5^th of January at Censu Japanese Restaurant, and in Singapore on the 12^th of January at Keyaki Japanese Restaurant. (see below for details of HK dinner)

The choice of Japanese cuisine was intentional in order to get patrons enthused about the upcoming APAVM Japan trip “In Search of Hidden Christians” which will include Fukuoka, Kagoshima, Nagasaki and the Goto Islands from 26 April to 4 May 2025.

The events in both cities were Sake-pairing dinners with sakes selected and presented by sake sommeliers: Elliot Faber in Hong Kong and Reuben Oh in Singapore.

Mr Oh is the son of patron Bernard Oh. He and his Japanese wife run the only sake micro- brewery in Singapore called Orchid Craftworks. Three of the sakes at the Singapore dinner were from Orchid Craftworks and were well received.

Before dinner commenced in both cities, Chairman Mr Ben Chang gave a presentation of the mission and activity highlights of APAVM, including the upcoming trip to Japan in April 2025, the trip to Northern Spain in September 2025, and the latest fund-raising project which is for the restoration of the “Windows of the Loggias of Raphael”  ( please link this to “Windows of the Loggias “under Current APAVM Projects) in the Vatican. He encouraged all patrons and friends to make annual pledges, regardless of the amount, towards APAVM’s restoration fund.

This was followed a talk entitled “In search of Hidden Christians” in Hong Kong, which was presented by Vivian Lee.

In Singapore, the pre-dinner talk was given by Rev Andrew Peh entitled “A history of Christianity in Japan”. Rev Peh will be leading the APAM trip to Japan. He is a lecturer in mission and world religions at Trinity Theological College in Singapore and is ordained as a diaconal minister of the Chinese Annual Conference of the Methodist Church in Singapore. His research interests are in the history of colonial missions in South East Asia and the history of missions in East Asia, particularly Japanese Christianity.

His talk covered briefly an overview of the medieval history of Japan, the arrival of the Portuguese in the 16^th century and the subsequent introduction of Christianity to Japan. He told of how Christianity was initially well received but later considered a threat to political stability leading Christians to be brutally persecuted and martyred. The Christians who survived went into hiding and practised their faith covertly. The descendants of these early Christians still live today in the Goto islands which will be part of the itinerary of our upcoming trip to Japan.

The evening in Singapore also included a note of appreciation and gift to Ms Lok Lu Lu, who retired as APAVM administrator. Ms Lok has worked tirelessly and efficiently to coordinate the trips, talks and dinners that patrons have been enjoying since APAVM’s inception.

At both dinners, a book “PAVM Asia: “Beauty Ever Ancient, Ever New “, which documents the 2024 trip to Naples , Rome and The Vatican was distributed to participants of the trip.

APAVM annual dinner in SG Jan 2025

APAVM Annual dinner in HK Jan 2025

Hong Kong patrons and friends gathered for a New Year dinner with sake pairing at CENSU, a cozy contemporary Japanese restaurant with influences from the United Kingdom and Australia, created by Chef Shun Sato, an energetic and creative chef who was previously with BELON, Aqua and a host of other restaurants outside Hong Kong. The 40-seater at Soho’s Gough Street pays homage to the chef’s father’s nostalgic izakaya flavors, with a swish of refined finesse from his own experience having worked at prestigious fine-dining establishments. The interior, inspired by the chef’s grandmother’s house in Sendai, Japan, follows the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi, which finds beauty in imperfection and simplicity. A large split-walnut table dominates the center of the room, with more intimate seating along the wall and bar counter. This made it the perfect venue for the APAVM New Year dinner in Hong Kong, with sake pairing created by Elliot Faber, known to many as the honorary Canadian Sake Samurai.

Elliot is Hong Kong’s beverage mastermind behind the success of dining establishments such as Yardbird and Ronin, and he is often seen as a fixture in the Asian fine dining scene, often found beside renown chefs giving talks on the art of sake. In 2015, he co-authored an astounding 420-page book titled “Sake: The History, Stories and Craft of Japan’s Artisanal Breweries”. The food created by Chef Sato and the sake carefully chosen by Elliot for the pairing was absolutely superb.

The pre-dinner talk was given by patron Vivian Lee. She spoke about the Hidden Christians in Nagasaki based on her experience exploring Nagasaki and her extensive research on this subject. The history of these brave and faithful Christians who went underground in the 1600s, covertly passing on their religion for generations unbeknownst to the authorities, makes a fascinating story. The descendants of these 17th century Christians emerged from hiding in 1865 and revealed themselves to the first foreign priests that returned to Japan, after the country lifted its 250 year “Sakoku” policy.

Lilian Chin