OUR STORIES

I’m a cradle Catholic and received my education at De La Salle Christian Brothers Schools. Greatly influenced by Christian living, I became a legionnaire in the Legion of Mary during my days in St Joseph’s Institution. I was also an active member of the church choir until a series of personal misfortunes led me away from the church.

Like a prodigal son, I wandered in self-imposed exile at age 18. It would be another 20 years before a monumental tragedy would alter the course and trajectory of my life. Devotion to the Novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots saw the Holy Mother point the way back to Jesus where I experienced the voice of God. I repented of my sins during the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

With renewed zeal for the Word of God, I began an experiment on “practical applications of the Bible”. For the last four years, this experiment has convinced me that the Bible is not only a unified story that leads to Jesus, but it is a practical manual for living directly inspired by the Author of Life.

An Editor by profession, I began using my skills as an observer and commentator to marry my observations and perspectives as a father and corporate department head to biblical narratives on the character and precepts of our Triune God. I adopted the folksy, story-telling style of Lord Jesus to transmit biblical truths and His perceptions of Christian Leadership and Christian Virtues from my own lens as a father of two.

I was born into a Catholic family and baptized in the Church of the Holy Spirit. But for the most part, I studied catechism at Christ the King. Growing up, my mother took my siblings and me to neighbourhood group gatherings to recite the Rosary. We also had regular family prayers. My personal path to faith, though, was unconventional.

In Primary 2 or 3 I had a dream where I met Christ in a garden and related this to the verse “Let the little children come to me” (Matt 19:14). This dream also gave me an image of Christ opposite to that of a judge.

The other experiences were between the ages of 10 and 14. I was a target of bullying in school and this somehow led me to the book, Meditations of First Philosophy, by French philosopher Descartes. It got me interested in philosophy and theology in a very literal sense.

At that time, I became interested in history as well and most secular renderings of it tended to be critical of the Church. It pushed me to be more objective in what I read.

While studying at university in the United Kingdom, I joined the Catholic Society and was eventually made an interfaith outreach officer. In this capacity, I visited different faith and the humanist societies on campus and gained some understanding of how each lived out their beliefs. I even attended a seder meal!

As I go on now, my chief interests are looking into Church unity and what Pope St John Paul II calls the “purification of historical memory”, but also exploring what Asia can offer to the Church in this new century where China is rising.

I am a Sister of the Daughters of St. Paul – a congregation that uses all media platforms to evangelise. Today social media is a major channel the world uses to communicate. I was baptized as an infant and received my First Holy Communion at age 10. But it wasn’t until I was 25 that I received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

My trusting reliance on God was instilled since I was a child in a very simple way by my dad. He would put my sister and me to bed every night and pray in our Chinese dialect, as we knelt beside our bed and listened.

Growing up, my sister and I were two of those few Malaysian children who were blessed with the chance of going to secondary school in Singapore. We went on to further our education in Australia and came home with degrees. Mine was in computer science. While there, little did I expect to discover that I had what was called a “vocation to religious life”.

This happened while I was participating in an Easter Triduum Youth Camp in Sydney. During a painting session, I was working on portraying my left hand on canvass and somehow this drew the attention of several priests. I am not sure why. Nobody knew the state of my being then: A deep longing to give myself to God to serve others in love.

So, when a kind Jesuit softly remarked to me that I had a religious calling, I wasn’t surprised to hear what he said. I was stunned, though, that he had an inkling. I knew my heart constantly resonated with those who live and work for religious purposes. I just didn’t have a name for it.

When I returned home to Malaysia, I set that thought aside. For even though my religious inclination was there, it would be ridiculous to embrace such an outdated mode of living in this modern age of information technology. Or so I thought. But the time came when I arrived at a fork in the road and had to make a choice.

There, I saw God’s hand had been directing my path all along: computer science was part of the plan. He was forming me for my future religious ministry of service to the Church.

The charism of the Daughters of St. Paul — to evangelize with the modern means of social communication — is where a background in IT is especially helpful. Today, this proves to be true with media convergence brought about by digitization. I am thankful that I am with them, whose ministry includes reaching out and connecting with people through social media platforms.

I had just transferred to my new position in the Pastoral Institute of Melaka-Johor and had the Bishop agree to a long road of pastoral renewal when I got the call. It was from my mom. She had been involved in her second car accident in six months and she needed me to return home to help.

I prayed and agonised about it but had to soberly realise that I wasn’t going to be able to do anything long-term if I needed to be running back and forth to Kuala Lumpur regularly.

So, I applied for a sabbatical and it was approved. I left after casting my vote for the Malaysian 14th General Election in 2018. It has been four years on 10 May 2022 since that day. This is time off I didn’t know I needed.

I had started thriving in Campus and Working Adults ministry during my lifetime. I had led a diocesan Youth and Campus Ministry to new levels. I had also introduced the concept of disciple-making and going on missions. I thought I was on top of my game.

But the experience of these last few years has made me realise that we have still so much to do in training others in disciple-making. We must stop offering excuses for not obeying the Great Commission.

We need to learn from best leadership practices, especially in holding on to our vision for making missionary disciples, mentoring more people and empowering them for ministry. We need to stop working in silos and start learning how to work with others who have similar goals.

So, I am humbled that The Asian Fisherman has asked me to be one of its collaborators. I’ve already been writing so this is just a further opportunity to clarify my thoughts so why not?

I was born in South Vietnam. After migrating to Australia as a refugee in 1982, I joined the Redemptorist Order and was ordained a priest in 1994.

I went on to obtain a Bachelor of Theology in 1992 at the Melbourne College of Divinity through Yarra Theological Union, Master of Theology in 1998 at the Notre Dame Catholic University in Fremantle, Western Australia and a Doctor of Moral Theology in 2003 at the Alphonsian Academy, Pontifical University of Lateran, Rome.

I have lectured in Moral Theology and Bioethics at Sao Bien’s Seminary in Nha Trang Diocese and also at the Redemptorist Major Seminary in Sai Gon City, Vietnam, and in Western Australia.

Over the last several years I have published various articles on the bioethical issues, such as the origins of human life, contraception, abortion, euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, plus general articles on grace and prayer, and the morality of married life and human sexuality.

I have also authored six books, including Advancing the Culture of Death: Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide (Melbourne: Freedom Publishing Company, 2006. Reprinted in India by Pauline Publications in 2011). My current interest is human cloning and stem cell research.

I also worked at the L.J. Goody Bioethics Centre in Western Australia as a Consultant for nine years, as well as a visiting lecturer in Moral Theology and Bioethics at the Good Shepherd Theological College in Auckland – New Zealand.

Currently, I am Catholic Chaplain at University of Western Australia as well as College Chaplain at St. Thomas More College which belongs to the Archdiocese of Perth, Western Australia. My journey as a refugee from Vietnam to the priesthood can be viewed in this documentary, Heeding the Divine Call.

I’m a born Catholic, received my first Holy Communion at age 8, and was confirmed at age 15 – like clockwork as it was in the 1960s and 70s. Catechism wasn’t well organised. If I tried to read a Bible, I’d surely fall asleep. Compared to converts, I get a sense that “born Catholics are quite terrible.”

I wasn’t “terrible” outwardly, but was very sensitive to negative regards. I was regarded as the black sheep among siblings, and felt disfavoured — punishments on me were extra devastating emotionally and explosively painful physically. I lived with relatives at times to stay “alive” inwardly. Outwardly, I needed to be seen as “good”.

I joined the military, but nasty politics plunged me into a dark mental health situation that included suicide ideation. The struggle to stay alive had to be hidden because of stigma and lack of mental health awareness in the 1990s.

The struggle lasted two and a half years. Then slowly, small rays of “light” began to flow in. These include some verses from the new testament. Then bit by bit, other parts of the Bible started to provide more light.

I left the military, became a missionary, obtained my Masters in Counselling, and have helped seminarians, religious in training, Catholics and Christians in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.

I’ve heard many deeply personal stories of silent struggle, and I learn so much from every one of their struggles. I’ve learned that there is always a mitigating reason for why people are the way they are and do what they did; that’s why we should not judge; and why God’s love and mercy for us never changes.

(TAF admins manage emails to Bryan)

God really does work in mysterious ways. I can testify to this.

There I was in 1998, out of a job in the middle of the Asian Financial Crisis and wasting my time on nonsense. With bills to pay and ageing parents to care for, I was a nervous wreck. Who would hire a 39-year-old when every other person was getting laid off?

But I did not throw in the towel and sent my CV to many companies, even for jobs I had never done previously. Desperate people do desperate things!

It came to a point I was resigned to the fact that I had to start begging when out of the blue I got a call from a media company that wanted to hire me as their editor. I got down on my knees and thank God and told Him I was so grateful that I would offer up my skills as a writer to Him.

I could imagine God chuckling and retorting, “Yeah, right! Was it 25 years since you ever thought about offering Me anything, even though I’ve been there for you countless times? Besides, you aren’t a writer of any substance who could do anything for Me. But, okay, let’s do this!”

I went my merry way and did my own thing. It took several twists and turns before God took me by the scruff of my neck to turn my life around (read more of my story here).

After that, I achieved success as a journalist, writer and author that I can only describe as extraordinary. I won many awards. But looking back now, I can see that all the accolades I’ve received as an accomplished writer were not about me.

God was training and forming me so that my offering to Him as a writer would meet the standards His work requires. Is TAF it? Maybe. It could only be part of a bigger project. It could be a lot more. I really don’t know.

Only God knows because He is the Big Guy, after all! All I need to do is to say, “Yes!”

I am a father of four and enjoy reading and learning about the teachings and wisdom of the Catholic Church and how to apply it to build a great family anchored on the Catholic faith.

A cradle Catholic, I had my early Catholic formation learning the catechism at the Blessed Sacrament and St Ignatius churches. I then became part of the Youth Ministry at St Ignatius Church and also a Catechist for the Primary and Post Confirmation programmes.

After getting married, I continued serving in my parish with the Family Ministry and also shared my knowledge on preserving the life of the unborn at Prolife seminars. I am now a member of the Natural Family Planning Service (NFP) and instruct couples on the Billing’s Ovulation Method, and the Christian Family Social Movement (CFSM).

Praying the Rosary has always brought me joy and I also do this with the Life Runners group every week, while walking around a park. In my work as a FertilityCare Practitioner (FCP) I counsel couples to overcome fertility issues with the help of NaproTechnology.