Such a great milestone deserves a celebration, and celebrate we did! Borneo Eco Tours celebrated its 25th Anniversary at Le Meridien Hotel, Kota Kinabalu on 25th October and sharing in the joyous event were friends, business partners, associates as well as the team who make up the organization.
Present at the joyous occasion were our guests from Tourism Malaysia, the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment Sabah, Sabah Tourism Board, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre, Sri Pelancongan, our agents and suppliers, banks and government agencies, hotels, local universities and colleges as well as friends.
Our Guest of Honour during the event was none other than our Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Sabah (Malaysia), YB Datuk Seri Panglima Masidi Manjun, which we were very delighted to have with us that evening.
The night kick started with a few words from Pastor Lam Kee Hing, who then proceeded to lead in the thanksgiving and grace before meal. The wonderful spread of cocktail dinner was then served and the night went on with some live band music.
Our Managing Director, Mr. Albert Teo gave a welcoming speech, thanking everyone who came and acknowledging the success of the company was because of years of hard work and team effort from everyone within the organization. It was nothing short of motivating and inspiring speech especially for the BET family. He shared his gratefulness of having General Manager, Baton Bijamin and Assistant GM Susan Soong’s loyalty building the company together. He took the opportunity to introduce his son Timothy as the successor and a future leader of more than 100 employees of the company. Our Guest of Honour also took the time to say a few words at the event and the night then continued on with the presentation of memento from Mr. Albert Teo to Datuk Masidi Manjun as a token of appreciation for our Minister’s endless support towards Borneo Eco Tours.
No anniversary celebration is complete without a cake to celebrate with, so a sweet and short cake cutting ceremony took place to make the event merrier. A surprise Flashmob performance by the staff of Borneo Eco Tours shortly followed which really made the crowd pumped up.
The evening’s main highlight was actually the presenting of a cheque worth RM7,200 from Borneo Eco Tours to the Bornean Sun bear Conservation Centre for the “My Bear Adoption Program”. The cheque was presented to Dr. Wong Siew Te, the founder of the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre in Sepilok, Sandakan. In return, Dr Wong presented an official adoption certificate and a full blown photo of the sun bear.
To commemorate the adoption, BET held a contest to name the sun bear, which was named Ronnie-2 by his previous owner, and the lucky winner was announced during the event. Congratulations to Elsie Maria Jopony for winning the contest. So, what is the new name for our newly adopted sun bear? Find out here!
The night continued on with some lucky draws and the lucky winners were Chloe Tiffany Lee of Sri Pelancongan and Maria Apostol of Inti College who won the Borneo Quad Biking scenic guided adventure worth RM300 each. The Kiulu Farmstay 2D1N worth RM700 each went to lucky winners Maryanne Funk of Explore Asia and Suzaini Sabdin Ghani of Sabah Tourism Board. Whereas for the Sukau Rainforest Lodge 3D2N worth RM2,700 each, went to winners Jocelyn Untasan and also Shirly-Ann Angkee of Rasa Risa Resort & Spa.
All in all, it was a very eventful evening and it wouldn’t have been a special one without the love and support of everyone who was present there that evening. Much love and thank you from all of us here at Borneo Eco Tours!
Cheers to many more years!
