The Digital Awakening » A Journey Of Faith

St. Anne’s Feast Day 2010

Peter Tan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:02:15 +0000

St. Anne’s Church Bukit Mertajam.

St. Anne’s Feast Day falls on 26 July. It has been a tradition for Mum to make a pilgrimage to the St. Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam a few days prior to the feast day to avoid the traffic jam and the crowd of pilgrims. Since moving to Kuala Lumpur, I have tried to keep to that tradition by going back to Penang towards the end of July and then onward to Bukit Mertajam with Wuan.

I love to be there, to soak in the ambience of the hallowed ground, to let my eyes follow the stairs of granite up to the distinct structure of the church halfway up the hill. It is a wonder that despite the bustling all around the church compound, I always felt a sense of serenity whenever I was there. If there is anything that I look forward to in the month of July, it must be St. Anne’s Feast Day celebrations in Bukit Mertajam.

Unfortunately, we are not able to go on the pilgrimage this year. Wuan has been inundated with work and had to go back to office on weekends, too. She has not had a good night’s sleep for weeks now. We may make a trip to the church when we are in Penang next. I foresee that it will be a totally new experience to be there without all the activities and pilgrims.

Would Allah Sanction This?

Peter Tan — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:59:58 +0000

The one thing I dread waking up to in the morning is bad news. This morning took the cake. Reading about two churches that got fire-bombed early today got me all riled up. The term “domestic terrorism” screamed loudly inside my head. Later, news came out that another church was also firebombed.

The Malaysian Insider reported that the Metro Tabernacle Church in Desa Melawati got hit first at midnight. Its administrative office was gutted in the fire. A molotov cocktail that was thrown into compound of the Church of Assumption in Jalan Templer, Petaling Jaya at 4am. It did not break and explode. No damage was reported. At 9am, the Life Chapel Church in Section 17 in Petaling Jaya was attacked with two molotov cocktails that exploded and caused some damage to the porch.

In situations like this, I would be quick to point an accusing finger but somehow restrained myself from doing so. “No,” I told myself, this is not the work of people affiliated to any religion, certainly not Muslims, if the current controversy of the word “Allah” has to be dragged in anyhow.

No God-fearing person, no Allah-fearing person for that matter, would allow themselves to succumb to such destructive inclinations, especially to houses of worship, in the name of the Almighty. If they claim they are, they are liars. Seriously, would Allah sanction this? Would Allah encourage the sowing of fear through such acts of terrorism in His name?

All Souls Day 2009

Peter Tan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:08:08 +0000

Photo by Wuan.

The gravelly laterite road wound through rambutan and durian trees that provided a welcome shade from the scorching midday sun. This is the path many had taken, by foot, in cars, in a hearse. Many tears had been shed as heavy feet trudged on the sometimes muddied trek to a loved one’s final resting place.

I made that journey once, a long time ago, accompanying my Ah Kong in the hearse that carried the casket he was resting in. First stop after leaving the house where the wake was held was the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, an imposing structure in rural Balik Pulau, for the funeral Mass. His father, my great grandfather, helped build the church. Many of our relatives worship there, and had their last Mass there, too.

After Mass, the casket was taken on a slow ride down the narrow tarred road, pass a wooden bridge, up the laterite road and on to a small grassy field where the hearse stopped. A simple structure stood on the left, a zinc roof supported by pillars, perhaps to shade mourners when the heavens opened up. Tall rubber trees bordered the field on the far edge and on the right. Drab grey granite tombstones filled the rest of the open space. They looked like dominoes arranged close to one another. My Ah Kong’s freshly dug grave was frontmost.

Mum would visit her father’s grave on All Souls day every year, without fail. I would tag along, not understanding the significance then. Lighted white candles were placed before the tombstone and on the mound. She would then pour some water into a glass jar that we brought and put stalks of chrysanthemums, orchids and carnations – whatever were available from the florist that day.

Wuan and I were in Penang last week to “tiam chek ga” for Mum. “Tiam chek ga” means lighting candles on All Souls’ Day in the Hokkien dialect. Mum’s youngest sister, Cheng Ee, went with us. We had picked her up from her flat somewhere in town. Where white candles are usually used for such occasions, I have decided to use tea light candles instead. They do not leave melted max and burn longer.

We brought along joss sticks, a pair of red candles and some joss paper for Dad, too. He practiced a mix of Buddhism and Taoism when he was alive. For one reason or another, I have never thought of bringing joss sticks and red candles the numerous times I were at the columbarium to pray for Mum although their niches were next to each other.

The columbarium is not accessible. I had to make do with getting Wuan to pray on my behalf while I said my prayers in the car parked just outside. I had instructed Wuan on what to do. On one part, six tea light candles were for Mum; on the other, the joss sticks and red candles were for Dad.

We brought some chrysanthemums too but forgot to bring a jar. The caretaker found one for us one and even filled it up with water to put the flowers in. By the time Wuan and Cheng Ee came out from the columbarium, it had began to drizzle. There was one thing left to do. They walked over to the pagoda-shaped furnace by the perimeter fence to burn the joss paper.

This two-in-one prayer is for the sake of expediency. I have never gone back to Penang during “Cheng Beng” to pay my respects before Dad’s remains since moving to Kuala Lumpur. In fact, I have never visited the columbarium after Dad’s remains were interred there until after Mum passed away when I had to place her remains there as well. May they both rest in peace.

St. Anne’s Feast Day 2009

Peter Tan — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:30:24 +0000

St. Anne’s Shrine Bukit Mertajam.

St. Anne’s Feast Day falls on July 26. The celebration usually begins well before that. Wuan and I were fortunate that we made the trip back to Penang just as the celebration began. We went to the Church of St. Anne in Bukit Mertajam on Sunday with my two maternal aunts. These two plucky septuagenarians are my mother’s younger sisters. Most of the relatives on my mother’s side are Roman Catholics.

Statue of St. Anne with a young Mary inside St. Anne Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
Photo by Wuan.

The church compound was not crowded. It was very hot though. It had rained a while before we arrived. With little cloud cover, the sun bore down hard on us. I had gone up to the shrine two years ago for the first time since using a wheelchair when Bryan and Reallybites went with us. It is a long steep path from level ground.

The Ten Commandments carved into a rock near St. Anne’s Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
Photo by Wuan.

It would take a lot of effort for Wuan to push me up. So we gave going up to the shrine a pass. Instead, we checked out the makeshift stalls set up at the car park to sell candles, flowers, statues, religious items, books, and snacks and drinks. My aunts bought a box of candles each and slowly limped their way up the granite steps to pay homage to St. Anne inside the shrine. Wuan and I browsed through the books at the Daughters of Pauline stall.

Fifteenth Station of The Cross – The Resurrection of Jesus – beside St. Anne’s Shrine Bukit Mertajam.
Photo by Wuan.

I got myself the Saint Joseph Personal Size Edition of The New American Bible and a PVC cover to protect it. I have been looking for one that I can take with me whenever I travel. We also bought a few Rosaries. Among them were two rose scented Rosaries for Wuan’s parents who were baptized earlier this year on Easter. After that, Wuan took the camera and went traipsing around while I took shelter beneath the shadow of the stalls and observed the activities of the growing crowd as the sun began to set.

When You Do Not Respect My Religion

Peter Tan — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:33:15 +0000

How do you expect me to respect you as a person and the religion that you claim you profess when you so blatantly disrespect the Body of Christ that we Christians hold so sacred in our hearts? It is sacrilege of the utmost degree to desecrate the Host by spitting it out, take a photo of it and then put it up in your magazine for all to see. Did your religion not teach you to respect other people’s religions?

In response to this desecration, I implore my brothers and sisters in Christ to lodge their strongest protest with the authorities and the publisher of the magazine for this grave insult. At the same time, I also urge my brothers and sisters in Christ to keep their hearts open for forgiveness and pray for these lost souls to be enlightened of their errant ways. Having said that, I am also proud and blessed to count among my friends Muslims who respect my faith as much as I respect theirs.

Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.’ Then they cast lots to share out his clothing.
(Luke 23:34 NJB)

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Screenshots – Do you read Al-Islam?
Dustyhawk :: Broken Mirror – Ravenous Religious Bigots

Read this, this and this for context.

Update:
Sunday March 7, 2010
Al-Islam apologises for hurting Christians’ feelings

KUALA LUMPUR: Al-Islam magazine has apologised over a special report last year for “unintentionally hurting the feelings of Christians, particularly Catholics”.

The apology was posted on the website of its publisher Utusan Karya on Friday.

It said in a three-paragraph statement that the report was to investigate allegations of apostasy and the actions of its journalists “were never intended to deride the Christian faith, let alone desecrate their house of worship”.

“The two reporters involved also tendered their apology for not realising that what they have done in the course of their assigment has offended the feelings of Christians. Al-Islam hopes that such a thing will not recur,” it said.

The magazine stated that the apology would be published in next month’s publication.

The report entitled Tinjauan Al-Islam Dalam Gereja — Mencari Kesahihan Remaja Melayu Murtad (Al-Islam’s investigation in the church — finding the truth on teenage Malay apostates) was published in its May 2009 issue, in which its journalists had posed as Christians and participated in a mass at the St Anthony’s Church in Jalan Robertson near Puduraya.

The reporters were said to have admitted to receiving the Holy Communion then spitting it out, an act Catholics consider a sacrilege.

Kuala Lumpur Archbishop Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam had on Thursday said the church would not pursue legal action against the magazine nor its reporters if a public apology was offered.

Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail had said stern action would not be in the interest of justice, peace and harmony at this particular time, adding that the reporters “did not know the significance of the white bread”.

Reverand Murphy said he was pleased with the quick response by the publishers, editors and authors.

“We accept their apology and extend our hand in peace. The Catholic community is now at peace following the apology. May God bless our country,” he said.