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Amazing Sarawak – Part 9

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IN 1967, Sarawak Governor Tun Datu Abang Haji Openg made the first $250 donation for the construction of Sri Srinivasagar Kaliamman Temple at Ban Hock Road, Kuching.
REVEREND Father Aloysius Hofgarten spoke fluent Hakka, a common chinese dialect in Sarawak.

First Local Catholic priest

As a tribute to the success of the Roman Catholic Mission in Sarawak, and a credit to the hard work done by the missionaries, the first local priest, Reverend Father Joseph Chin Ing Huong who came to Sarawak from China whilst still a child, was ordained on 4 December 1932 by the Bishop of Malacca at the College General in Penang. To commemorate the occasion, a large celebration was held in his honour at St. Joseph’s Church, Kuching. Thirty-two years later, in 1964, a Mukah-born priest Reverend Father Lawrence Chua was ordained.

First European Priest to learn Hakka

Reverend Father Aloysius Hopfgartner succeeded Monsignor (Mgr) Dunn as Prefect Apostolic of Sarawak on 14 November 1935 after the latter’s 54 years of ministering in Sarawak.

Mgr. Hopfgartner was a stalwart of the Roman Catholic Mission during 48-year term in Sarawak and was the first European priest to learn Hakka, a Chinese dialect. He was so fluent that he could preach sermons in Hakka.

First Carmelite Sisters

In addition to Mgr. Hopfgartner’s tremendous achievements, he also realized a dream to establish a ‘power house of prayer’ in the form of a convent for Carmelite Sisters. His dream came true six months before he died on 15 May 1949 at the age of 75.

Seven discalced Carmelite Sisters arrived from Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu) in British North Borneo (Sabah), on 10 December 1948. They were accommodated in the convent built for them in Jalan Rock, Kuching.

First Methodists

In 1901, Wong Nai Siong, a lay Foochow preacher, led a group of 600 emigrants, mostly Methodists, to Sarawak, escaping famine and persecution in China. On arrival in Singapore, they were joined by Bishop Frank Warne of the Methodist Church for the trip up the Rajang River in Borneo. Despite the rigours of their three-month journey from China, the pioneers eagerly gathered on the first Sunday for a thanksgiving service.

Wong’s foresight and pioneering spirit brought three successive batches of settlers to open up the virgin jungle in the Rajang Basin for agricultural purposes. More than two-thirds of his recruits were members of the Methodist Church in Foochow. But his stay in Sibu was short and Wong left for good in 1904. American missionary Rev. James Hoover succeeded him as the leader of the Foochow settlement.

Protector of the Foochows

REVEREND James Mathew Hoover gained the confidence of the local community and the government by learning to speak Malay and Foochow.

James Mathew Hoover was born on 26 August 1872 in Greenvillage, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. to the village shoemaker and a godly woman. At age 15, he knew he wanted to serve God full-time and joined the overseas missionary service when he was 27. After arriving in Penang to teach in 1899, he went to Singapore. In 1903, he was sent to take care of the growing Christian community in Sibu.

The first few years were full of hardship for the new settlers. Many succumbed to sickness and died and those who were disillusioned returned to China. The people grew rice but there was no income. They tried sugar cane but the nearest sugar mill was in Singapore. Through friends in America, Rev. Jim Hoover set up the first rice mill in Sibu.

He learnt to speak Malay and Foochow and won the confidence of the local community and the government. Soon, he was appointed government official without salary and named “Protector of the Foochows”.

He married Ethel Mary Young in 1904 and they settled into the routine of teaching, preaching and building up the community. A boys’ school and later a girls’ school were established. According to Hoover, “Our missionary business includes the whole range of human interest: religion, education, politics, medicine, immigration, town planning, road building, machinery, boats, etc.”

He introduced the first foot-push-bike or bicycle and brought in the first motor launch in 1906. His friends in Philadelphia sent him a one-horse power engine and an 18-inch circular saw to cut hardwood. During his trip home to America, a friend donated a generator set and an engineer designed an ice-making factory.

Rev. Hoover helped the government operate the radio in Sibu and was judge and advocate, helping to settle problems between Chinese and Chinese, and Chinese and the local people. He was fondly known as Tuan Hoover by the local Malays or “Ho sing-sang” by the Chinese.

Years of hard work took its toil and the Reverend succumbed to malaria in 1935. In recognition of his contribution, the Third Rajah of Sarawak, Sir Charles Brooke, commissioned a bronze tablet for him. It can be seen at the Xin Fu Yuan Methodist Church in Sibu.

Heroes of the Faith

Gerald and Esther Summers came to Sibu in 1935 to continue the work of the Hoovers. They set up the Methodist English School which is now the SMK Methodist, Sibu, whose main edifice is known as the Summers Memorial Building.

Rev. and Mrs. Paul H. Schmucker, who were in Sibu during a furlough of the Summers, pioneered faith planting among the Iban people in 1939 and established the first Iban Methodist School in 1940. Rev. Lucius Mamora, a Batak missionary who arrived in 1939, supported their work.

After the Second World War, Rev. and Mrs. Eugene O. McGraw came to Sibu. Rev. McGraw resembled the late Rev. Hoover in his practical ability. Under his able direction, the new buildings on Island Road and Telephone Road (the present Jalan Tun Abang Haji Openg) in Sibu were constructed.

John Pilley and his wife, who came in Sibu in 1949 from Foochow, China, helped build up the Methodist English School and the Chinese Methodist High School. Mrs. Pilley went on to establish an orphanage which is now the Methodist Children’s Home.

IN 1967, Sarawak Governor Tun Datu Abang Haji Openg made the first $250 donation for the construction of Sri Srinivasagar Kaliamman Temple at Ban Hock Road, Kuching.

Notable Achievements

Local Chinese and Ibans took over after the missionaries left and nurtured the Methodist Church from strength to strength. With the Malaysian government providing adequate health services and education, the church concentrated on other areas of social concerns.

The Methodist Children’s Home continues to shelter kids from dysfunctional families. The Methodist Pilley Institute offers affordable post-secondary commercial courses for students in the Rajang Basin. The Methodist Care Centre provides support for both autistic children and their parents. The church runs numerous kindergartens ensuring essential pre-school education. The nursery and child care centre under the women’s group provides child minding services for working mothers. On the drawing board is a drug rehabilitation centre.

The Methodist Church, which celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2000, has contributed much, especially in education and social services. The propagation of Christianity has helped transform many into law-abiding citizens. The existing church membership is over 60,000 in 120 churches throughout Sarawak and Sabah.

First Hindu Temple in Sarawak

The South Indian Hindu community grew from the importation of workforce from India to work on Rajah Brooke’s tea plantation at Gunung Serapi, Kuching, since 1887. It was imperative that a temple be built for their worship, and so the first Hindu temple was built in 1897. Erected on a piece of ground near the tea plantation, the temple was a small, strong building constructed with “belian” or ironwood. The deity of “Sri Maha Mariamman” was brought in from India to be placed in the temple. Eventually, the tea plantation developed, and more than 1,000 Indians worked there. Sadly the tea plantation closed down in 1912, and many of the workers returned to India. A small number stayed back and they were employed by the Public Works Department. The temple was abandoned and the statue of the deity was moved to a new wooden temple erected at Batu Lintang, Kuching. On 26 May 1991, a new temple at Rock Road was consecrated to replace the older temple at Batu Lintang Road. The original statue of the deity was relocated to the new temple, where it is worshipped to this day. This new temple, costing RM300,000 was built by a committee headed by T Komarusamy, President of the Temple.

A prominent Hindu landmark in Kuching

The Hindu temple is the centre of worship, religious activity and social interaction of the Hindu community. It is also a venue for marriages and other Hindu rites.

The Sri Srinivasagar Kaliamman temple at Ban Hock Road, Kuching was built in 1915. The then president of the temple committee was the late Arnasalam Konnar who succeeded the late Singaram Pillai. It is believed that there was already a temporary structure of a temple nearby, but there was a need for a proper place of worship. There were three deities placed in the temple after its consecration;- the Goddess Kalliamman, the Lord Subramaniam, and the Lord Perumal. In 1966, it was decided to build a new temple building. The first donation of $250 was received from the then Government of Sarawak, the late Tun Datu Abang Haji Openg on 4 August 1967. The temple was completed in 1971, at a cost of $60,000 and consecrated on 27  November 1971, Major renovation works were carried out in 1988, and again in 1998. On the grounds of the temple, there stands a “Boh tree” which, according to the elders, used to be home to a white snake.

Thaipusam Festival in Kuching

Thaipusam is among the biggest and grandest annual Hindu religious events observed by the Hindu community. It occurs on the full moon in the Tamil month of Thai (January-February), where the star “Pusam” reigns, hence the name “Thaimpusam”. Before Malaysia day in 1963, the festival was celebrated on a small scale in Sarawak. Grander celebrations were held after an influx of West Malaysian Indians into the State, consisting of mainly government officers and those in military and police. In 1967, the first Thaipusam procession took place in Kuching, with ‘kavadi’ being carried. The route started from the Sri Maha Mariamman temple at Batu Lintang Road, Kuching. After 1967, the long lines of Thaipusam processions were held every year with ‘kavadi’-carriers and devotees, who become vegetarian and fast for 3, 5 or 7 days before the event. The ‘kavadi’-bearers observe a stricter fast, and sleep in the temple on the eve of Thaipusam to wake up early to pray the next morning. They then proceed to the river at the Satok bridge to bathe, then perform certain rituals at the time of taking the ‘kavadi’. There are many types of ‘kavadis’ from Pal Kavadi, that is just carrying a vessel of milk to Alagu Kavadis where the devotee carries a kavadi made of rods or spears (vel) piercing the body or cheek to fulfil vows made to Lord Muruga.

(To be continued)

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