Subud Vancouver
Contact:
Latihan Hours
Tuesdays and Thursdays: 8 pm. Men and Women Mondays: 8 pm. Men and Women Helpers
Sundays: 9:30 and 10:30 am. Men and Women
About Subud Vancouver
To begin with, the group did latihan in members’ homes. Then in l959 they rented the upstairs of a building whose lower floor housed a night club called “Oil Can Harry’s”. When the owners of the building doubled the rent, the group moved into the upstairs of a tiny quilt factory. Since the space was almost unbearably cramped, the group began to look around in earnest for a place of their own. It wasn’t long before they found a suitable place – a former church. After removing the pews and making some minor renovations, the group moved in. The purchase of the property was made possible by a very large donation from one of its members, Arifah Thom, supplemented by smaller contributions from the members.
After several months of looking, a suitable property was found. It was a large catering hall in a central location, close to a bus line, and in a business district that is one of the safest in the city. The decision was made to buy it and to continue with the catering enterprise. The price of the property was met by proceeds from the sale of the group’s former building and from taking out a large mortgage. The move to the new hall took place in 1981; and it was during that year that Bapak visited Vancouver and dedicated the hall.
Although the hall has seen many happy times – Bapak’s visit, Subud weddings, Christmas concerts, musical events, cultural evenings, and other social functions – not everyone has been happy with the hall, primarily because it lacks a social area and there are no rooms for helpers and committees to do their work. However, with the payments on the large mortgage being covered by leasing and rental revenue, the group has been relatively free from financial worries. Since at the time of writing (2010) there are only a few years left on the mortgage, once it has been paid out there will be money available to make much-needed improvements to the hall.