Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day. First of all I would like to wish all fathers reading my blog a very happy Father's Day. May God bless you all. And thank you very much to those who sms or called me this morning to wish me, including my son Gordon who is studying in KL.

But I had been wished much earlier. The Bethel Prayer Group of the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Kota Kinabalu (www.bethelprayergroup.org) had an early Father's Day celebration at its weekly Friday English Prayer Meeting two days ago.

At the end of the Meeting, children from its Youth Ministry performed a dance on stage and then distributed their handmade Father's Day cards in the form of a cross to all fathers present. I got one myself, which I was supposed to hang on my neck during the fellowship which follows each week's Meeting. (See image above.)

But how did Father's Day originate? According to homeschooling.about.com, the United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across America are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.

Homeschooling however stated that the origin of Father's Day is not clear. Some say that it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908. Others say the first Father's day was held in Vancouver, Washington.

The president of the Chicago branch of the Lions' Club, Harry Meek, is said to have celebrated the first Father's Day with his organization in 1915; and the day that they chose was the third Sunday in June, the closest date to Meek's own birthday!

Regardless of when the first true Father's Day occurred, the strongest promoter of the holiday was Mrs Bruce John Dodd of Spokane, Washington. Mrs Dodd felt that she had an outstanding father. He was a veteran of the civil war. His wife had died young, and he had raised six children without their mother.

In 1909, Mrs Dodd approached her own minister and others in Spokane about having a church service dedicated to fathers on June 5, her father's birthday. That date was too soon for her minister to prepare for the service, so he spoke a few weeks later on June 19th. From then on, the State of Washington celebrated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. Children made special desserts, or visited their parents if they lived apart.

States and organizations began lobbying Congress to declare an annual Father's Day. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson approved of this idea, but it was not until 1924 when President Calvin Coolidge made it a national event to "establish more intimate relation between fathers and their children and to impress upon fathers the full measure of their obligations." Since then, fathers had been honored and recognized by their families throughout the country on the third Sunday in June.

When children can't visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental. Most greeting cards are whimsical so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.

My Say: I do not know if Malaysia is included in "one of the few countries" referred to by about.com but I just want the world to know that although Father's Day is not a holiday in my country, nonetheless Malaysians belonging to all races and religions do observe Father's Day by honoring their fathers on this day. They do the same on Mother's Day. Infact, it's a common practice among Malaysian Chinese to combine Father's Day and Mother's Day and celebrate it together as Parents' Day over grand dinners or other functions. The highlight of these functions would normally be giving special prizes, normally gold chains or pendants, to the oldest parents present.