 
Archive : January 2005
Ash Wednesday Directive
Since this year, Ash Wednesday, a day of Penance, falls on the same day as Chinese New Year - a day of National Celebrations, the 3 Bishops of Peninsular Malaysia agree to the following directive for better co-ordination and harmonious liturgical celebrations.
1. That Chinese New Year Mass shall be celebrated either as a Chinese New Year Vigil Mass on 8th February 2005 as a Sunset Mass or as a Chinese New Year morning Mass on 9th February 2005.
2. That another Ash Wednesday Mass shall be celebrated on 9th February 2005 with the imposition of ashes at an appropriate time.
3. That the sacrifice of Fast and Abstinence (which is an Obligation) for Ash Wednesday shall be on Friday 11th February 2005, and
4. That the faithful are reminded that Ash Wednesday is a day of penance and not a day of obligation and it marks the beginning of the Season of Lent.
Yours fraternally in the Lord,
Archbishop Murphy Pakiam
Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese
Bishop Antony Selvanayagam
Penang Diocese
Bishop Paul Tan
Melaka-Johor Diocese
Dated : 13th January 2005
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Farewell and Welcome
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Klang : The parish of Our Lady of Lourdes received a new parish priest to guide and build the parish community while having to let go of another.
As of Jan 9, 2005 Fr John Gnanapiragasam was appointed as the parish priest while the beloved Fr Gerard Theraviam has returned to teach at College General, Penang.
Fr John was installed by Archbishop Murphy Pakiam as the new parish priest during the 6pm mass on Jan 9. The archbishop led Fr Gnanapiragasam in the renewal of his rites of ordination before they signed the official letter of handing over.
In his homily, the archbishop explained the importance of a priest in the parish. "We are all people of different standards and status... and to bring them all together in one mission is the great task of the parish priest. The priests have to pull together so many people and bring them in faith.
"We must be grateful that there are priests in the parishes to keep this mission going. We have to become more and more aware and committed to achieve this mission that God has given us," he added….
For the story in full, kindly refer to page 3 of the Herald.
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Medical assistance needed in tsunami-affected countries
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Petaling Jaya : The Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia in collaboration with the Archdiocesan Office for Human Development is making an urgent appeal to all doctors for their services to the victims of the recent Tsunami disaster.
There is a dire need for medical care in Sri Lanka or Acheh. Volunteers may need to spend up to 2 weeks in Sri Lanka or Acheh.
There is also a need for antibiotics, vaccines, anti-diarrhoea medicine and Oral Rehydration So-lutions.
A medical team headed by Dr Andrew Choo left for Aceh on Jan 6. They were accompanied by Jesuit Father Paul Dass.
According to Dr Choo, 38 boxes of medical supplies and aid were cleared through customs without any hassle and are now with the JRS office in Medan.
Those interested in volunteering his or her services can contact Dr Anthonysamy at (Tel:03-42572875) or Dr Assunta at (Tel:03-3070204.)
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Successful employment rate for Montfort graduates
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Shah Alam : There has been 100 per cent employment rate for all graduates of Montfort Boys Town (MBT) over the years.
Established 45 years ago, MBT has come a long way from its early days. Today it is a highly-respected institution that produces youths with industry-relevant vocational skills.
MBT students can choose from a variety of departments to learn a skill. These departments are Motor Mechanics, Machine Shop, Welding, Printing, Carpentry, Computer Maintenance and Graphic Design and Multimedia. Upon completion of the two-year pro-grams, students graduate with a Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (Level 1 and 2) certificate. Today, there are 20 young women at MBT studying Printing, Computer Maintenance and Graphic Design and Multimedia.
Khor Kay Sin initially didn't want to go to MBT because he thought it was a home for `bad boys'. But having little say in the decision made by his mother, he swallowed his unhappiness and joined the Home in 2004 to study to become a Motor Mechanic
But it didin’t take Kay Sin long to realise that Montfort's tag of being `a home for bad boys' was the furthest from the truth. It was, he realised instead, a place where he and some 300 other young men were getting a unique opportunity to better their lives.
"When I first came here, I had problems, but after two weeks, I felt like I was part of a big family," he said.
"People here help each other. There are many who come from poor and broken families. After two years of study here, they have become somebody else.”…
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Successful employment rate for Montfort graduates
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Shah Alam : There has been 100 per cent employment rate for all graduates of Montfort Boys Town (MBT) over the years.
Established 45 years ago, MBT has come a long way from its early days. Today it is a highly-respected institution that produces youths with industry-relevant vocational skills.
MBT students can choose from a variety of departments to learn a skill. These departments are Motor Mechanics, Machine Shop, Welding, Printing, Carpentry, Computer Maintenance and Graphic Design and Multimedia. Upon completion of the two-year pro-grams, students graduate with a Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia (Level 1 and 2) certificate. Today, there are 20 young women at MBT studying Printing, Computer Maintenance and Graphic Design and Multimedia.
Khor Kay Sin initially didn't want to go to MBT because he thought it was a home for `bad boys'. But having little say in the decision made by his mother, he swallowed his unhappiness and joined the Home in 2004 to study to become a Motor Mechanic
But it didin’t take Kay Sin long to realise that Montfort's tag of being `a home for bad boys' was the furthest from the truth. It was, he realised instead, a place where he and some 300 other young men were getting a unique opportunity to better their lives.
"When I first came here, I had problems, but after two weeks, I felt like I was part of a big family," he said.
"People here help each other. There are many who come from poor and broken families. After two years of study here, they have become somebody else.”…
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Local Church offers emergency assistance to affected countries
KUALA LUMPUR : The Catholic Welfare Services/National Office for Human Development is co-ordinating the Emergency Assistance to some of the countries that were affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami disaster. "We also see our support within a long-term perspective, that of on-going rehabilitation, reconstruction and human development," said National Director Bro Anthony Rogers, FSC. "We began our responses by working with the Sri Lankan High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to send by Air Freight essential medicine and food. We will also be sending on a regular basis other essential food items and clothing by sea cargo. We are in the midst of finalising the details of our plans with Caritas Sri Lanka (SEDEC - Episcopal Commission of the Catholic Bishops) through our General Secretariat of Caritas Internationalis based in Rome. "Our first shipment to Sri Lanka was sent on Jan 3,
2005 in a 40-foot container, consisting of boxes of water, noodles, rice, biscuits, canned food, medicine and clothes. These items were both from Penang (Penang Office for Human Development [POHD] and many other friends) and the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. Indeed the response from the church and the public has been overwhelming. On 2 January 2005, a Sunday night, about 100 volunteers, many of them youth, came to the Community Services Centre in Bukit Nanas, and offered their help to physically download the numerous food and other items from a container which came from Penang. They stayed till 1.30am - working until the wee hours of the morning - despite many of them having to go to work that very morning. "The following night, another batch of volunteers came to load more items into the container which left for Port Kelang. These items were bound for Sri Lanka," said Bro Rogers. He added that there were also many volunteers who have been coming to the Centre to sort our
clothes, label boxes and do inventories. A team from the Catholic Welfare Services/National Office for Human Development has left for Sri Lanka to do an initial survey of the needs of the people there. The team met up their counterpart in the Church, namely SEDEC - Caritas Sri Lanka and other Ecumenical and Interfaith Organisations to ascertain the nature of the mid-term and long term support needed. Bro Rogers said that the Malaysia group will continue to work closely with the Emergency Response Support Team (ERST) that has been set up by Caritas Internationalis. Bro Rogers also thanked Catholics and the general public for their support. "The responses to the appeal for clothes and food items have been encouraging and we will continue to offer help to the Arch/dioceses in Malaysia who wish to continue the Emergency Assistance to both Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia. Provisions and clothes can be sent to the Community Services Centre, No. 5 Jalan Bukit Nanas, 50250 Kuala Lumpur.
For more details, contact Bro Rogers at 03-20780239.
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Archdiocesan Chinese Language Apostolate do their part.
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KUALA LUMPUR : The Archdiocesan Chinese Language Apostolate Committee (ACLAC) has been playing an important role in providing aid to victims of the recent earth-quake and tsunami disas-ter. Joseph Lim, the chair-person of ACLAC said that a Chinese daily, Sin Chew Jit Poh has formed a committee to raise funds for the tsunami victims. "They invited ACLAC to be part of this commit-tee. Others in the commit-tee are representatives from the Buddhist and Christian groups. "Our members went around collecting clothing and foodstuff for the vic-tims in Aceh and Sri Lanka. We also helped out during the packing and loading at the Community Welfare Services centre in Bukit Nanas," said Lim. According to Lim, Sin Chew is also organising a fund-raising run and ACLAC will assist in this run. "We have been given the responsibility of help-ing to allocate funds to the countries which have been affected," he added.
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Churches pray for victims
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KUALA LUMPUR : Several churches in the Peninsular Malaysia observed a minute's silence to remember the victims of the earthquake and resulting tsunami that shook Asia. During the New Year Eve and Day Masses as well as the Sunday Masses, prayers were said as priests led their flock to try to understand the disaster. On January 5, the whole of Europe observed a three-minute at noon (6 am EST) to reflect on the Dec 26 earthquake and tsunami, which killed more than 150,000 people. Tens of thousands more people remain unaccounted for as hopes of finding the missing fade. Pope John Paul II in his weekly audience on Wednesday, Jan 5, marked the day of mourning by appealing for people to extend their prayers to tsunami victims. "Once more, I ask all to join my prayers for the many dead and for the populations in grave difficulties," said the Pope during his weekly audience.
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Catholic Doctors on fact-finding trip to Aceh
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Petaling Jaya : The Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia will be mobilising a team of doctors to offer free medical services to victims of the earthquake and tsunami disaster in Aceh.. Based on reports received from the Jesuit Refugee Services Centre in Medan and Aceh, there appears to be a dire need for doctors, nurses as well as people to help counsel victims who have been psychologically affected by the disaster. A team comprising Mr Peter Goh, the National President of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, Dr Andrew Choo, he President of the Catholic Doctors Association of Malaysia and several members of the Catholics Doctors Association left for Medan on January 4, 2005.
Efforts are also being made by members of the Catholic Doctors Association to obtain free medical supplies from the local hospitals. The Assunta Hospital in Petaling Jaya is one of the hospitals which has agreed to provide free medical supplies. According to Sr Mary Anne Fletcher FMM, Assunta Hospital has already taken up a donation drive headed by its finance director amongst its multi-racial, multi-religious staff hospital. "The response to the donation drive has been tremendous and the hospital will also be offering assistance in any way it can," said Sr Mary Anne who heads Assunta Hospital's Pastoral Care department.
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Melaka parishioners offer prayers for tsunami victims.
Petaling Jaya : The faithful who attended the Eucharistic celebration and Open House at the Good Shepherd Seminary in Melaka on Jan 1, 2005 to mark the start of the new year spent time praying for the tsunami victims. During the celebration, Bishop Paul Tan, SJ urged the faithful to rally with prayer, reflection and donations towards victims and survivors in their time of grief and need. The bishop also called on the faithful to continue praying for the families of the dead, those who were injured and homeless so that they (the victims) could come to terms with the catastrophe which has afflicted them. The homily during the Eucharist was delivered by Fr Moses Lui who in echoing the Holy Father's message for World Day of Peace said that he was convinced that the evil that such a tragedy has brought must be overcome with good. "We must believe that the promotion of the overall well-being of victims will bring about peace and solidarity among people of diverse backgrounds in Asia," he said. As many people continue to contribute towards the tsunami relief fund, Bishop Paul Tan SJ too has made a personal donation of RM30,000 towards the tsunami relief fund of the Melaka-Johor diocese. –
By Percy D'Cruz
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Pray and Donate
KUALA LUMPUR : Anguished over the deaths and destruction caused by the tsunami on Dee 26, 2004, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called of all New Year celebrations throughout the country.
He directed that all government-organised celebrations be replaced by prayers for the tsunami victims. The Prime Minister also requested the private sector to put on hold concerts and other festivities.
The Prime Minister urged Malaysians to spend the eve of Jan 1, 2005 in remembrance and prayers or those who lost their family members and homes in the disaster.
The Bishops of Peninsular Malaysia issued a message of condolence expressing sympathy for the victims and made an appeal for funds (see page7 for full text). Special collections were held during the services in the various churches on Dec 31, 2004 and Jan 1, 2005.
The funds generated were channelled to the victims and those affected.
Individuals and organisations are still welcome to make donations and send them directly to the respective dioceses.
Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese
All cheques are to be made payable to:
Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala LumpurRumah Uskup Agung
528, Jalan Bukit Nanas50250 Kuala Lumpur
(Please write Tsunami Fund at the back of the cheque)
Penang Diocese
All cheques are to be made payable to:
Diocese of Penang
290, Jalan Macalister10450 Penang
(Please write Tsunami Relief at the back of the cheque)
Melaka-Johor Diocese
All cheques are to be made payable to:
Titular Roman Catholic Bishop of Melaka-Johor Majodi Centre
2 1 0 1, Jalan Masai Plentong
81750 Masai, Johor
(Please write Tsunami Fund at the back of the cheque)
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St Anthony’s parishioners bib farewell to Fr Mari
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Kuala Lumpur : The parishioners of the Church of St Anthony bid farewell to their former parish priest Fr Mari Arokiam during the Eucharistic celebration commemorating the Feast of the Holy Innocents on Dee 28.
The Mass was presided over by Fr Mari Arokiarn. Fr Jestus Pereira, who was officially appointed as parish priest on Nov 1,2004, concelebrated at the Eucharist.
In his homily, Fr Mari reminded the congregation to remember the suffering of the Holy Innocents, the little children who were martyred, not because of their strength or faith but because of their innocence. Fr Mari also invited the faithful to also ponder on the suffering of innocent children were killed in the Tsunami catastrophe.
"If we think negatively about the natural disaster or 'act of God', then we will feel bitter or angry with God. But if we think positively and take God into consideration and try to understand what God is telling us about such disaster, why so many people were killed, then we can learn something, maybe God is trying to tell us something or get us to be prepared for His second coming," said Fr Mari. Later in his farewell speech after Mass, he thanked all the parishioners for their support and understanding during his tenure as their parish priest and requested the same support to be given to the new parish priest.
"I hope that with his new appointment from administrator to parish priest, more can be done for the parish in the near future," he added.
Fr Mari will continue his studies in the Philippines for several more months before returning to Malaysia for his new posting.
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A warm Christmas come the heart, says Deputy Premier
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Petaling Jaya : Interfaith dialogues are essential for our multi-racial and multi-religious nation.
This was highlighted by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during the national-level Christmas celebration held at Padang Timur on Dec 25.
The deputy prime minister said that inter-faith and inter-culture dialogues should be encouraged so that the people are familiar with and appreciate universal values.
Stressing that tension between the Christian and Muslim civilisations can be eased if there are more such dialogues, Datuk Seri Najib said, "Despite the differences in faiths between the two religions, the two communities have similarities in terms of positive values which could become the platform in forming a nation and race which is strongly united and lives in harmony."
The deputy premier pointed out that besides Malaysia, there were not many countries where the people of diverse cultures and religions could live in harmony.
"We have the foundation to form a united nation of people. Thus, as Malaysians we must be grateful. Let us inculcate this legacy among the youths. This must be embodied in the younger generation so that they can continue the struggles and appreciate Malaysia's uniqueness as a model country of diverse cultures to the universal communities.
Extending greetings to the whole nation, Datuk Seri Najib said, "In Malaysia, we can't give you a white Christmas, but a merry Christmas, a very warm Christmas. A warm Christmas comes from the heart as we believe we can build a prosperous Malaysia together. We look forward to you in building a better Malaysia in future."
Following Datuk Seri Najib's speech, the Yang diPertuan Agong Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra launched the open house.
Among the 20,000 strong crowd were the Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Fauziah Tengku Abdul Rashid, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohd Khir Toyo, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and Works Minister Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu.
Also present was Archbishop Murphy Pakiam, local clergy and representatives of the Christian Federation of Malaysia and the Council of Churches Malaysia. The open house was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage and the state of Selangor.
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CFM Christmas high tea at Rumah Uskup Agung
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Kuala Lumpur : The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) hosted a Christmas high tea on Dec 25 at Rumah Uskup Agung, the official residence of Archbishop Murphy Pakiam.
Approximately 250 guests including ambassadors and high commissioners attended the reception.
The guest of honour was Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman, who represented Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who was overseas on official business. Also present were Datuk Seri S.Samy Vellu, Datuk Dr Rev Prince Gunaretnam, President of CFM and leaders of other faiths.
Residents of Asrama Cahaya, Bukit Nanas were also feted at the reception.
In welcoming Datuk Azalina Othman, Archbishop Pakiam said that it has been a tradition that the Prime Minister graces the Christmas celebration organised by the Christian community.
“But since this year, he is tied up by other commitments, he has gracious enough to deputise you and we are honoured and we welcome you indeed,” said the archbishop.
Hailing Datuk Azalina as a new generation of national leaders, Archbishop Pakiam said, “I believe that a person of your vitality, standing and attitude will be able to break down the walls of misunderstanding and suspicion and shoot down that disquieting tendency towards racial and religious discord…
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Sacred Heart parish organizes Muhibbah Hi-Tea
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Kuala Lumpur : Under-privileged children and the elderly were the guests of honour at a Muhibbah Hi-Tea organised by the Sacred Heart Church, Jalan Peel at the Grand Maya Hotel on Dee 18.
The 200 guests were from Pertubuhan Kebajikan Anak-anak Yatim & Miskin Sungai Pinang Kiang, Yayasan Sun Beams Home, Praise Emmanuel Children's Home, TASPUTRA Perkim, SVP Sacred Heart and residents of Wesley Old Folks Home.
"The fellowship which was held to co-celebrate our religious festivals - Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas and Chinese New Year was initiated s mission to share the festive joy with the under-privileged," said William Kenneth, the event director.
"Starting with zero funds an all-out effort by all the BECs to get sponsorship received fantastic support from many corporate oganisations.
"Special mention must also be made of our friends and their friends and their friend's friends who pledged their financial support and prayers for the success of this event. We are also grateful to En. Haji Mohd Kodri, Puan Noormah Bte Dato Raofand En Yassin bin Abdul Kadir of the Jabatan Kebajikan fortheir invaluable assistance," he added.
Guests were entertained by clowns, a bagpipe player, belly dancers, carolers and perfor-mances by children of the homes.
All guests received a bag of gifts and the homes were also presented with essential items like washing machines, clothes dryer and electric hot water pots.
"Reaching out to the under-privileged is a way of giving thanks to the Almighty for the many blessings He has bestowed upon us," said Shaun Jacobson, CEO of Ampac Group Asia who donated the washing machines.
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