Waves of Death: Please Help

Church Bulletin
Cathedral of the Holy Spirit

1, Tingkat Besi Satu
Island Park, 11600 Penang.
Tel: 04-6584909
Fax: 04-6564309

A great tragedy has struck our region and country. More than 125,000 dead, 66 in Malaysia. An unprecedented scale of mobilising of aid and relief work is underway throughout the world. On our part the Catholic Church in Peninsular will have a second collection at all Masses on 31st December, 2004, 1st & 2nd January, 2005 for this purpose. In the spirit of Christmas please give generously. Donation by cheque, please draw in favour of “Diocese of Penang” and write “Tsunami Relief” at the back of the cheque.

Penang Office for Human Development (POHD) in response to the urgent pleas from the Sri Lankan Embassy is collecting dry food, water, clothes, medical supplies specifically painkillers, cough, cold and fever medication etc. for the survivors of horrific Tsunami. If you wish to donate at this parish please contact the following:

  1. For medical supplies and surgical gloves, please contact: Dr. Marina David – 012-4816191
  2. For clothes please contact : Mr. Sebastian Pillai – 012-4073121
  3. For food etc please contact: : Mr. Anthony Yong Wong – 016-4876936

You may also bring your contribution to Ground Floor, Pusat Keuskupan Katolik, 290 Jalan Macalister, Penang. Make your contribution by January 7, 2005. The POHD is mobilising a container of posthaste to Sri Lanka.

Lucia had blogged about this here. Her entries at TsunamiPenang are here and here.

Author: Peter Tan

Peter Gabriel Tan. Penangite residing in the Klang Valley. Blissfully married to Wuan. A LaSallian through and through. Slave to three cats. Wheelchair user since 1984. End-stage renal disease since 2017. Principal Facilitator at Peter Tan Training specialising in Disability Equality Training. Former columnist of Breaking Barriers with The Borneo Post. This blog chronicles my life, thoughts and opinions. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

3 thoughts on “Waves of Death: Please Help”

  1. Hi Peter

    Yours is a blog, as the song goes, “gentle on my mind”. Simple and without rhetoric, it’s a pleasure to read. I’ve been content to read without comment.

    However in the aftermath of this unprdecented disaster, with the relentless telling of death and devastation and its all pervasive doom and gloom, pardon my intrusion. This bunch of prose is much inspired by and adapted from works of a poet long departed:

    Mother Earth from whom all mankind proceed
    God’s garden planted with yielding seed
    While angels witnessed with wonderlit eyes
    In whose bowers linger still stray gleams of Paradise.

    To crown the dying year
    Summer shed her warmest tear
    Sacred earth that clothed the form divine
    Groaned to spawn fearsome ripples on shores of Time.

    Shattered peace of daily life
    Exploding grief and harrowing strife
    Death riding the foam of troubled waters
    Bringing woe for fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.

    Primeval source of mysterious energy and continuous birth
    Waves of dearth scathing the beauty of Earth
    All creation groaned and travailed in pain
    Over earthly loss and pain, mortals wailed in vain.

    Tens of thousands weep on desolate shore
    Relentless the seas roar and waves soar
    For miles of bedraggled space is seen
    Land and sea merged to one in between.

    A whirlwind of sorrow overtaken
    The tempest shaken, breath and spirits broken
    Mournful echoes of the question – Why?
    Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding and dying.

    Fear not my child the Hand that made
    The breeze and sunshine, light and shade
    From the organ in the evening calm
    Drew forth notes of remembered psalm.

    No wail of anguish shall linger
    Where he lays his strong and loving finger
    Discordant echoes cease
    On notes that thrill for peace

    Weep to leave us, good Old Year
    EMMANUEL looms over transient fears
    On twilight’s gathering gloom
    To lay the Old Year in the tomb.

  2. thanks for linking me, peter.

    yes, i blog about donations of items from POHD as per the links you put up (one is asking for volunteers load the items), but about donations of cash in church, i blog on it much earlier on 30th dec. here:
    donation drive

    hope that the church collects a lot from these 3 days.

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