front-page coverage!

whee! for the first time my article to the herald appeared on front-page (latest issue – 3 august). it was the article about the penang’s CM visit to the church of the assumption. i guess it is because it involved a VIP, that herald choose to feature it on front page.

in that same issue, 2 of my other articles were published too! one is about the ‘street walk’ project (bringing food to the homeless people on the streets) and the other one is my coverage of the island district youth overnight vigil.

ahem! very proud lah to see my article on front page and also 2 other articles. i’m quite disappointed though that herald did not put a caption to the picture. hey, may people may recognise penang’s CM but not many may recognise the bishop of penang or our parish priest. also, why didn’t herald publish the picture of the church? the 3rd disappointment has to do with the heading. in my heading i did add something about the church being picked as UNESCO’s world heritage site but when it was published in herald, it was not mentioned at all. the church being picked as world heritage site is most certainly much more unique than a CM visiting the church (after all, another church in penang had been visited by the CM before), thus i felt that mentioning the church as a world heritage site would attract more readers.

ok since, my article had already been pubished in the herald, now i will share with you the article. i will give you the original non edited one.  not much changes i noticed. they cut off the part about we penangites being happy and the part where the CM remarked ‘music gives harmony to the spirit’. oh, and the history of the church was left out all together. well, it’s good for readers of my blog to know the history, so i’m including the history.

ok, here is the article:

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The inscription of George Town as a World Heritage Site was announced by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), when the Paris-based World Heritage Council met in Quebec, Canada on 7 July.

One of the religious icon listed in the inscription is the Church of the Assumption in Farquhar Street. Other religious icons included are the St George’s Church (Anglican), Jalan Mesjid Kapitan Keling Mosque, Lebuh Aceh Malay mosque, the Goddess of Mercy Temple, Sri Mariamman Temple and Khoo Kongsi, all within walking distance of each other, in a street dubbed as ‘Street of Harmony’.

Naturally, Penangites were proud and overjoyed on receiving this news. To celebrate this wonderful news, the Penang government organized a 3-days celebration beginning from 25 July to 27 July. The first day celebration, on 25 July, began with  a heritage trial walkabout, themed ‘Street of Harmony’. Several places of worship were marked for the visit during the walkabout, and the Church of the Assumption happened to be the first stop on this walkabout.

The Chief Minister arrived at the Church of the Assumption at about 9.50am, with about 100 people which comprises of state executive councilors, assemblymen, state government officials representatives from NGOs and the media. Several college students and tourists also tagged along.  

He was greeted by the Bishop of Penang, Rt Rev Antony Selvanayagam and the parish priest of Church of the Assumption (which is part of City Parish), Rev Fr Michael Thoo at the Church’s entrance. 

As YAB Lim walked into the church, the lovely melody of “Trumpet Voluntary” by Jeremiah Clark greeted him. It was played by Leonard Selva Gurunathan, the church’s organist, on the church’s pride – the only piped organ in the state (and arguably the oldest – 94 years – in the country).  

Together with the Bishop and Fr. Thoo, YAB Lim walked down the centre aisle to the front of the church. He and his group stood there for some time admiring the architecture of the church. Many of them were impressed with the stained glass windows.  

Fr. Thoo presented YAB Lim a book on the history of the Church, and  the Bishop Selva promised to present him another book on the history of the Penang Diocese. 

Mr Ian Campbell, the Choir Master, was on hand to meet YAB Lim too. He presented to him recording of  hymns sung by  the Church’s choir on 2 CD. 

As YAB Lim and his entourage walked down the aisle, leaving the Church, organist Leonard played his own composition ‘Invention No. 1’ to bid them farewell. 

The Chief Minister was obviously enthralled with the 2 pieces of music played by Leonard as he made a remark that music gives harmony to the Spirit. 

Before YB Lim left the Church, he dropped in the Heritage Shop, which is in the grounds of the Church. The Heritage Shop is run by a parishioner of City Parish, Mr Peter Foo. 

Bishop Selva was very happy with the Chief Minister’s visit and was pleased to note that the Church of the Assumption was the first heritage site on the list of ‘religious icons’ to be visited along the ‘Street of Harmony.’  

(note: the ‘Street of Harmony’ which encompasses Farquhar Street and Jalan Masid Kapitan Keling, was so named because of the many buildings of  worship representing various world religions are lined up along an axis. After YAB Lim’s visit to  the Church of the Assumption, he will visit an Anglican Church, 2 Chinese temples, an Indian temple and 2 mosques – all within walking distance.) 

“It is good to see people getting interested in history and heritage.” said Bishop Selva, “The Church of the Assumption, with its unique piped organ music playing and church bells ringing had enliven the hearts of the parishioners for ages. “Certainly, we feel proud that this Church had been listed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Site.” 

While Fr. Thoo welcome the news of the Church of the Assumption as a World Heritage icon he had this to say, “It is my hope and desire that the State Government will assist us to maintain the building and the Public Works Department to conduct check on the building now and then.” 
 

HISTORY OF THE CHURCH

The Church of the Assumption is the oldest Catholic church in Penang, formed in 1786 by the Eurasians of southern Thailand and Kedah. It boasts of the only piped organ in Penang state and arguably the oldest in the country. (94 years).

In 1786, Fr Arnold Garnault from the Paris Foreign Missions (MEP) and members of the Roman Cathohlic Community of Kuala Kedah settled in Penang (then Prince of Wales island) at the invitation of Captain Francis Light, to set up the first Catholic community. They arrived in Penang on 7 April 1786 and formed the first community, later to be the parish of the Assumption. The first church was a wooden structure built within the boundaries of Church Street, Bishop Street, China Street and Pitt Street. This church was named the Church of the Assumption when Msgr Ganault returned to Penang on 15 August 1787 (Feast of the Assumption) after his Episcopal ordination in Pondichery, India. Msgr. Garnault served as pastor from 1786 – 1792 and as Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Siam (Penang which was part of Kedah was under this Vicariate) from 1787 – 1811. 

In 1857, the Church of the Assumption on Church Street was demolished and Fr. Claude Manissol built a new church on Farquhar Street. It was blessed and opened for divine services on the first Sunday of October 1861. This was the first phase of what is now the present church. In 1924, Fr. Adrien  Devals, the next vicar of the church, did extensive renovations on the church, at  a considerable cost, to include two spacious wings, one on either side of the existing structure. The Church now took on the shape of a crucifix.  

During the Japannese occupation, a few months after the bombing, the bells used to ring the morning and evening Angelus. The end of World War Two marked the beginning of a new era for the Church of the Assumption. At the celebration of the Marian Year 1954, the statue of Our Lady of Fatima was carried through the streets of the town and placed in a shrine specially built in front of the church, where it still stands today. In 1995, the Church of the Assumption was raised to the status of Cathedral in the Diocese of Penang.  

As Penang developed, new parishes were opened and there was a marked decrease in the number of the church congregation attending services at the Church of the Assumption. In1988, a decision was made to amalgamate the four parishes in George Town into one parish. The Church of the Assumption, the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, the Church of St Francis Xavier and the Church of St John Britto ceased to function as individual parishes and came under the umbrella of ‘City Parish’. In the year 2003 the status of Cathedral was transferred from the Church of the Assumption to the Church of the Holy Spirit in Green Lane. 

(excerpt from the book ‘Golden Jubilee of the Diocese of Penang’. Also can be found in Herald of 5 Sept 2004)