We had a PHCC VW Combi van to take us around .....
The Perpetual Help Communication Centre was created by Fr Dave Anthony (then) and we the OMPH youth (when we were still youth in the 70's) assisted him. There was Fr Dave, Cyrus, Lim Chin Chin, Margret, Paul,Raymond, Paul, Joe, Francis, me etc...quite a number ........
I remember it was within the Convent grounds
..breakfast on the badminton court ..that year we were joined by Fr Peter Chin, Master John Lee and a girl Bernie .....
(right photo) Bernie and Chin2 ..early morning blues ....
...later we did a little jungle walk up the tea plantation ... it was above Tanah Rata ....
.. in the 70's Tanah Rata was still cool about noon .....
toward sunset ...return to the badminton court .....
...a mass in the evening ....
..those days no social media ...all there was around the camp fire and chit chat...
It was a
beautiful weekend last week. It had all the ingredients of the old times, multi racial, multi cultural and above all it felt harmonious and united .
It all began when our wonderful Prime Minister Anwar
Ibrahim visited Batu Caves at the invitation of the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple
Devasthanam KL to observe the Thaipusam preparations taking place this week.
It must have
been a wonderful visit for he backtracked from a contreversial proposal to
issue guidelines for Muslims who want to participate in non muslim events
saying ….”there is no need for guidelines as Muslims should know ‘the do’s and dont’s….like
right now I’m here (at SMMTDKL) not to participate in any (Hindu) prayers” .
Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin graced the state-level Chinese New Year 2025 celebration at the Fo Guang Shan Dong Zen Temple in Jenjarom.(pix: the star)
From there it got better with the Selangor Sultan' call for unity, rejecting proposed guidelines on Muslims at non-Muslim celebrations
In a statementissued by Istana Alam Shah on Saturday (Feb 8) the Selangor Sultan had ...'expressed stern disagreement against the proposed guidelines especially in Selangor....“As the head of Islam in Selangor, His Royal Highness opined that the proposal was made at an unsuitable time when the people, from various ethnicities and religions, were strengthening goodwill to propagate national unity,’’ added the statement.
Sultan Nazrin Shah and Tuanku Zara Salim at the state level Chinese New Year celebration in Ipoh
Over in my home state Perak it was unity and harmony that i felt when Sultan Nazrin Shah graced the Perak state-level
Chinese New Year 2025 celebration at Stadium Indera Mulia in Ipoh. Accompanying him were Raja Permaisuri of Perak
Tuanku Zara Salim, Raja Muda of Perak Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, and Raja Di
Hilir of Perak Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain Sultan Idris Shah
Sultan Nazrin (centre), (Raja Muda,Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa (right) and Raja Di Hilir, Raja Iskandar Dzurkarnain Sultan Idris Shah (left) participating in the celebrations (Bernama)
It certainly was a pleasant weekend. I dare say it might stay that way for a while so lets enjoy it all.
Fr Anthony
(Charles) Prabhu CSsR was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal William Goh,
Archbishop of Singapore at the Novena Church, Singapore on Friday 17 January
2025.
A group from the OMPH Church travelled down in 2 buses at midnight early Friday to
attend the evening event and returned the same night arriving early
Saturdaymorning.
It was a
little tiring but the event was very grand and being in the new Novena Church
was a treat. Just to view it now and compared to its former self was awesome, like a total transformation of adaptive reuse within the same grounds.
The event started with Cardinal William Goh and the long train of priests entering the church. For the next 2 hours it was wonderful event reliving all the steps of the ordination.
Rite of Ordination of a Priest
.......you are fighting against the devil..you must fight aginst temptation...the devil likes tempt priests, the big fish …..
A bouquet of Thanks
Until it ended with Fr Prabhu's word of thanks to the multitude of people from his family to the Redemtorist confrere and supporters along his journey .
..a group photo with his confreres
Fr Phillip Lai with Fr Prabhu's family ....
Perhaps it
was grand because his personality shone brightly during his words of thanks
which made him stand out as an all-rounder priest.
...taken before the event started .....
And then it was time for dinner. It was held at the back of church. It was spacious area.
..it was a wonderful dinner..simple and sustaining ..chappati, tomato rice, vadei and masala vadei and a desert PaiRasam ...it would see me through the night going home by bus ......
Fr Anthony's family ....
the Redemptorists Priest's can sing ....must be the Filipino connection .....
