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

APAVM annual dinner 2024

Patrons and friends of the Asia chapter gathered for the annual APAVM dinner in 3 cities:

· Hong Kong, on 7 January at the Explorium Auditorium

· Manila, on 8 January at the La Salle Rufino Law Auditorium

· Singapore: 14 January at Eagle Wings Cinematics

The highlight of this annual gathering was the exclusive private screening of a Hollywood movie produced by Angel Studios which was due to be released in March 2024. This Hollywood movie is about an outstanding and exemplary Catholic nun, who became the first saint canonised in the USA.

The movie tells an inspirational, aspirational and impactful story that touches on today’s most pressing issues… Women’s Leadership, Immigration, Education, Healthcare and it does so in a stimulating narrative filled with vibrant characters that entertain and transform.

The protagonist is a poor audacious woman born on July 15, 1850 in a small village in Italy. At a time when there were no cell phones, no airlines, no television and no radio, she made 23 trans-Atlantic crossings, building the largest transnational humanitarian organization the world has ever known: 67 institutions, hospitals, schools and orphanages. She was a servant leader, as resourceful as she was prayerful, she inspired people to support her “Empire of Hope”.

A woman ahead of her time, she used her intellect and organizational skills coupled with her energy, charm, wit and charisma to be a change agent for women in the 19th century. As a gifted entrepreneur and diplomat, she was a John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Warren Buffet and Winston Churchill wrapped in one. Unknown to many people, she is the first American Saint, canonized in 1946. Mother Teresa credits her as the role model and inspiration for her life’s work. An extraordinary woman who overcame insurmountable odds for the singular, simple goal of helping others.

We are grateful to Father Thomas Montanaro, LC who helped arrange this movie preview. He was also our honoured guest in all 3 cities where the movie was shown.

Vatican trip reunion dinner – Singapore 1 November 2023.

Singapore patrons and friends gathered for a reunion dinner at Hai Tien Lo restaurant, happy to meet each other again and reminisce about the APAVM trips that they had been on together.

Our bonds were strong enough to draw Bruce Hemmingsen and his wife Jentana to Singapore. The 3-time veterans of the patrons’ trips, flew all the way from Bangkok to Singapore just for this reunion dinner.

Also present were Daniel and Vivian Li from Hong Kong. They were travelling and missed the Hong Kong reunion dinner a week earlier. Happily their travel plans included Singapore and they were able to attend the reunion here. The couple have become very enthusiastic patrons after going on the 2023 trip. Read Vivien’s account of the trip here.

Chairman Ben Chang had painstakingly selected the best photos from the 2022 and 2023 trips and put them together in 2 photo albums which were distributed to the patrons present. These photos were put in a slide show that was screened as we dined on classic Cantonese dishes.

Towards the end of dinner, Ben Chang gave a presentation about APAVM, emphasising its central mission of raising funds for the restoration of the priceless art and architecture of the Vatican.

He began his talk by recalling the 5 trips that the Asian Patrons have made so far in 2016, 2017, 2018 2022 and 2023. He then announced the coming trip which will be to Naples, Rome and the Vatican, scheduled for September 2024.

Ben then spoke of APAVM’s contributions to various restoration projects at the Vatican. To date, APAVM has contributed USD$1.43 million to diverse projects that range from architecture to Chinese silk painting.

This was followed by an announcement of the latest project which APAVM will be contributing to, which is the restoration of the “Windows of the Loggia by Raphael”. The Vatican loggias are the corridors of the Apostolic Palace, the walls of which are decorated with frescos by Raphael. Raphael was commissioned to decorate three loggias of the Apostolic Palace located on three different floors, which are now known as the Loggia by Raphael.  Work began at the end of 1517 and the ceilings, pillars and walls of the loggias were decorated with stucco and frescos depicting mythological figures.  In the middle of XIV century under Pope Pius IX, all the openings of the loggias were closed by metal windows and the loggias were used as main access corridors to representative areas. These 600 year old windows have since deteriorated causing rain to seep in and damage the priceless frescoes. In order to restore and preserve the frescoes, the plan is to replace these windows with new, energy efficient ones, before restoring the frescoes back to their original colours.

This project will be a long and delicate intervention, but necessary to preserve these precious works for future generations.

The final segment of Ben’s presentation was on patron contributions. In the 8 years since the Asia Chapter inception in 2016, APAVM has raised USD1.43 million or just under USD180,000 per year. Ben noted that this is a “good start” for a new Chapter but still a fairly modest effort. The Board of APAVM therefore seeks Patrons support to meet the new target of raising USD 350,000 per year.

A main source of the restoration funds that APAVM raises comes from Patrons’ membership fees which makes up about 22% of USD1.43M raised so far. The membership fee enables Patrons to enjoy local APAVM events, talks and to participate in the trips to the Vatican. These trips are the highlight of all patrons’ activities and are highly curated and painstakingly planned by Ben Chang himself. Patron trips offer unparalleled access to places that are unavailable to the general public. Led by top rated guides, many of whom are university professors and experts in their field, each trip immerses patrons in the art, culture and history of the places visited.

Ben then announced that APAVM has launched a new approach towards the funding of restoration projects. This will be based on annual pledges to the restoration fund which will be disbursed to projects adopted by APAVM. The pledges come with free APAVM membership and other benefits depending on the amount donated. This is different from previous fundraising campaigns which have been on a project basis

The talk ended with the announcement of the upcoming lecture series in December 2023 with will feature the places that Patrons visited in all the APAVM trip, as well as Naples which will be part of the 2024 trip itinerary.

Patrons were also asked to save the dates for the APAVM annual dinner in January 2024. (5 to 7 January weekend in Hong Kong and 12-14 Jan weekend in Singapore. The exact date to be confirmed later.)