Kekitaan FM is giving a mock cheque to Bishop Cornelius Piong for TheRoadToRM10K
By Sr Bibianah Densia, FSP
oct 16 2021
KENINGAU – The Online Radio KekitaanFM (KFM) of the Diocese of Keningau celebrated its first anniversary on Sunday, 3 October 2021.
Various activities were organized by the KekitaanFM crew as a way of making the anniversary a more meaningful and memorable occasion.
Spiritual preparation was an important part of it done through a series of triduum prayers from 28–30 Sep such as the recitation of the Holy Rosary led by Fr Bonaventure Unting on the first day, the Divine Mercy Prayer on the second day led by Fr David Gasikol, and Holy Hour on the third day led by Keningau prelate, Bishop Cornelius Piong.
On 2 Oct, the eve of the anniversary, the live Online Radio was broadcast only in the morning to allow the 18 crew members of KFM to spend a half-day recollection in the afternoon.
For the mini-recollection, three invited guests shared their thoughts. Sr Bibianah Densia fsp stressed on their important role as baptized Christian to be the “salt and light of the world” particularly in the area of communications. Fr Nicholas Stephen talked on the ethical dimension in communication to be “the mouth piece and ears of the church”. Catechist John Lainsin dwelt on the important criteria that needed to be considered in the selection and invitation of potential guests for the Online Radio KFM.
In addition to the spiritual preparation, the crew had also initiated a fundraising project. As early as August 2021, they had started selling lucky draw tickets, and attractive prizes had been prepared for the winners. The proceeds of all tickets sold for the lucky draw were to be used to upgrade the Online Radio KekitaanFM Studio, for Church construction/Mission and for St Joseph’s formation house in Tatal. KFM expressed appreciation and gratitude to all the sponsors and contributors for donating the prizes for the lucky draws.
In thanksgiving to God for His greatness and blessings upon KekitaanFM on its first anniversary, Bishop Cornelius presided over the Eucharistic celebration at 4:00 PM at the Cathedral of St Francis Xavier, Keningau. It was concelebrated by Fr Clement Abel and Fr David Gasikol.
Staff of Kekitaan FM after Mass on their 1st anniversary, Oct 3
In his homily, the bishop spoke on the importance of cultivating an intimate relationship with Jesus, the reason for our being, the source of our hope and strength in doing our mission.
After the homily, four new crew members of the KFM were officially accepted and commissioned as “little prophets” to be bearers of the Good News to others. The rest of the crew (DJs, technicians and sound engineer) likewise renewed their commitment to serve faithfully and were commissioned to continue their mission at KFM.
A dinner fellowship took place at the parish hall of St Francis Xavier Cathedral (KSFX) after the Eucharistic celebration.
The culmination of the KekitaanFM first anniversary celebration was the most eagerly awaited moment of all, the virtual concert! The live concert performance was in praise and thanksgiving to God for all His blessings ever since Online Radio KFM was declared open by Bishop Cornelius exactly a year ago.
The live show lasted until around 10pm. Among the well-known and talented artists who were specially invited to grace the occasion were Rey Kimara, Rosario Bianis, Rich Estranged, Ferona Paimin, Rushdy Kudy, Erney Leonard Alai and Elica Paujin. Their performances were awesome!
Also deserving of mention was the strong teamwork and coordination among those involved to make the virtual concert a success: the crew of KFM, the artists, the Millennium Sound production and many other people who worked behind the scenes. All of them deserved to be enthusiastically applauded for their dedication!
Viewers and listeners at home, in addition to being entertained by the seven talented singers who presented a mixture of spiritual and pop songs, were also invited and encouraged to support by making contribution to the Online Radio KekitaanFM.
At the start of the concert, Nancy Joneh, one of the KFM presenters cum parish pastoral council chairlady of the Diocese of Keningau, gave a short explanation about the fundraising aim of the concert and motivated the audience to donate generously.
Nancy Joneh, one of Kekitaan FM presenters, is giving an explanation about the Fundraising concert
As a matter of fact, in an effort to appeal to the generosity of the audience, the KFM set a target of RM10,000 to be collected through the virtual concert. They tagged it “TheRoadToRM10K”. To attract and sustain to the end the attention of all the listeners and home viewers, the host/emcee promised an attractive bonus at the end of the show, namely a song by Bishop Cornelius Piong from among his own compositions if the target amount was achieved. If the amount collected was less than the targeted sum, Fr David Gasikol will sing a song. The results were amazing! They collected triple the targeted sum. Therefore, both Bishop Cornelius and Fr David rendered a song each.
Another audience attraction during the concert was the lucky draw interspersed between performances from the various artists.
During the concert, four rounds of draws were made for the lucky draw tickets (ticket bertuah). The lucky winners received a motorcycle as the first grand prize, a refrigerator for the second prize and a Smart TV for the third prize. The rest were consolation prizes in the form of electrical goods.
The next round of draws will be held on 26 December 2021 in conjunction with the closing Eucharistic celebration for the year of St Joseph at Nulu Sosopon. All those who have bought lucky tickets are advised not to throw away their tickets as they may be potential winners in the next draw.
Due to SOP restrictions, very few were present physically at the live concert at the parish hall, but the screen viewers totalled around two thousand online, from as far as Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, UK, etc.
Calling to mind a proverb that says, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” This implies the importance of reflecting upon the past in order to make sense of what and where we are today even as we move forward in our endeavours.
As it is, the pandemic that hit the world over brought with it many challenges and became the turning point for the Diocese of Keningau. It was a blessing in disguise because the many difficulties experienced during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 crisis were in fact very instrumental to the birth of the Online Radio KekitaanFM.
According to the testimony of one of the founding pillars of KFM, John Lainsin, the desire and the idea of a Diocesan Radio Station was actually conceived long before the pandemic.
However, God provides in His own time. Thanks be to God for having continually guided and moved the hearts of some Church leaders like Bishop Cornelius, Didiroy Joney and others who rightly read and interpreted the signs of the times.
The pandemic crisis was an occasion for the Diocese of Keningau to find new ways and means to reach out to the people by utilizing the most powerful tools in digital and social media for evangelization.
One year has gone by very quickly. Thanks be to God for a year of blessings and the great work that God has accomplished through KFM!
The programs of KFM and its various segments and topics ranging from spirituality like listening to the Word of God, to anything related to church or community building, etc. presented in various languages (Bahasa Malaysia, English and local dialects like Kadazandusun and Murut) are always well received by the audience. KFM is definitely one of their favourite channels.
Indeed, ever since KFM’s inception a year ago, it has truly been a channel of God’s blessings, not only to the parishioners of the Diocese of Keningau, but also to many others everywhere in this borderless world. Various testimonies attest to this.
Congratulations to the Online Radio KekitaanFM on its milestone achievement! Kudos to all the KFM crew for their unwavering commitment in the Mission! May God continue to bless the Online Radio KekitaanFM so that it will continue to progress, bringing people closer together virtually. All for God’s Glory!
