At the Annual Convocation meeting of Oriental Chapter No.9371, which meets at Byker Masonic Hall, on 20th December 2021, the Grand Superintendent, M E Comp. Ian Craigs, was greeted and welcomed by E Comp. Peter Wong, the Past Grand Superintendent of the District Hong Kong and the Far East, into the Chapter. In return E Comp. Peter was greeted and welcomed into the Province of Northumberland by M E Comp Ian.
E Comp. Peter is a Founding member of the Chapter and has regularly attended its Installation meetings until the disruption caused by Covid. He has been retired as Grand Superintendent and District Grand Master for nearly 30 years now and is still a very active Mason. Prior to the lockdown he used to visit Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Fiji, Scotland and of course, England even though he was retired from active office.
However after being locked in Hong Kong for nearly 2 years, he decided to break the deadlock by travelling to London early this month, partly to visit his family and partly to attend two of the Masonic meetings which he loves.
On 8th December he attended the Quarterly Communication meeting of Grand Lodge in Great Queen Street. Surprisingly and probably unprecedentedly he was the only distinguished guest from overseas and so he was acknowledged and very warmly welcomed by the Pro Grand Master.
The other meeting was, of course, Oriental Chapter in Newcastle upon Tyne. He travelled by train and arrived at Central Station just after noon on the day. He was greeted by E Comp. John Chan, the Founding Z of the Chapter. Peter loves coming to Newcastle because he likes the ‘Geordie’ Chinese banquet together with his favourite drink, Newcastle Brown Ale.
E Comp. Peter will be returning to Hong Kong at the end of December but when he arrives there, he will have to quarantine in a hotel for 21 days. When he was asked about whether it was worth it, he said, “Yes, that is a small price to pay to spend Christmas with my two sons and five grandchildren who I have not seen for two years!”.
Many thanks go to E.Comp John Chan for the submission of this article.
Northumberland Freemasons wish Peter a very safe journey back to Hong Kong and look forward to his return to the North East.
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