PETALING JAYA: He dedicated 60 years of his life as a teacher, imparting knowledge to his young charges.
Lasallian Brother Ambrose Loke, who turned 78 today, is proud looking back at tens of thousands of students he had groomed as success stories.
An aging Loke told The New Straits Times he did just what other teachers had done, as a service to society.
"I am glad to see many of them doing very well in life and moving on in their careers. It gives me pride and joy to be among the teachers who have nurtured the lot," he said at a simple birthday celebration in his honour at the La Salle Provincialate in Jalan Chantek 5/13, off Jalan Gasing.
Present were Brother director of Malaysia Andrew Loke (who is Ambrose's younger brother), Brother David Liao from China, Brother Lucian Ng, Malaysian Federation of Lasallian Alumni Associations (MFOLSA) president Michael Simon, MFOLSA and Franciscan Club of Kuala Lumpur (FCKL) secretary James Sia, FCKL past president Francis Mahendran Kutty and Loke's niece Theresa Ng.
The birthday celebrations began with a mass celebrated by St Francis Xavier assistant parish priest Reverend Father Alvin Ho, followed by a fellowship feast.
Meanwhile, Sia said Loke had contributed immensely to students at the St Francis Institution (SFI) in Melaka and continued to serve SFI as a director.
"With Loke not really in good health and feeling lonely after retirement, the birthday celebration brought him some much needed cheer," said Sia, who is also Signum Fidei (sign of faith) Group president.
Loke is among the hundreds of teaching brothers who had served the 29 La Salle schools in Peninsular Malaysia and six associated schools in Sabah and Sarawak. St Xavier's Institution in Penang is the first Lasallian school in Asia.
Also present at Loke's birthday were Gerald Mahendran Lee, Don Hemanta Ranasinghe, Cynthia Fernandez, former teacher Flora Manuel, Joyce Gomez and Sharon Lee Alwis.
