5 August 2006, SMJK Catholic High School

Dr. Wong Chow Lan gave this speech to the participants.

I have come to this quiz for the past seven years and it’s an awesome experience every time I come. It’s awesome when I see so many young people (and older ones as well) who take the time to be involved in this quiz because they believe that Bible Knowledge as a subject in SPM is important.

I entitle my talk today “It Takes One.” Many spiritual revivals started with one person - Martin Luther, John Wesley to name just two. So it is with a Bible Knowledge class.

I took Bible Knowledge as a student in that glorious school called Bukit Bintang Girls’ School. It was known as Religious Knowledge then. I sat for it in Form 3 and Form 5. In those days thousands of students nationwide sat for RK every year.

When my children started secondary school I did not know that Bible Knowledge was still offered as a subject in SPM. I came to know when when one person - the then principal of MGS Ipoh - put an appeal in Ipoh Wesley’s church bulletin for a volunteer to teach BK because one student was very keen to take the subject and was looking for a teacher to start a class. One person took up the job and the class at MGS Ipoh grew from 7 students in 1998 to 42 students in 2006, having over 50 students in one of the years. How did this happen? Because one student had a passion for God’s Word and wanted to study it seriously. That student did very well in his SPM and became the Head Prefect in one of the premier schools in Ipoh. My elder son who was also in that inaugural BK class told me recently that that person is keen to teach BK.

So you see, it took just one person to start the ball rolling. You may be that one person. You may be that one student who wants to take BK and have no teacher or that one teacher who is keen to teach BK and looking for students. If you have a passion for BK, go for it even though you may be the only one.

By the grace of God the class at MGS Ipoh started 9 years ago has not only grown in numbers but also in the quality of results in SPM. It is not the straight A students who get the 1s and 2s in BK. There were average students with 4/5 As in SPM who have scored 1s and 2s in BK. So if you are an average student, you still can do well in BK - you just need to have a heart for it, a passion and a commitment to equip yourself with God’s Word so that God can use you both now and in the future more effectively in his service.

In every competition, only a few will get the prizes and trophies. But in this Bible Knowledge Quiz everyone is a winner. This is what is called a win-win situation. Why do I say that? You see, when you study the Word of God and live it out in your life, you are a winner in God’s eyes. So everyone of you who have taken God’s Word seriously is a winner of some sort. With this I wish all the participants of this quiz the very best.