December 2009
The Spirit of Christmas comes to Singapore in a big way lighting up even before the ‘Apec Meeting’ with myriads of tiny lights and festive decorations decked the street from Orchard Road all the way right up to Suntec City and Fullerton. To-day Christmas is commercialized worldwide as a lucrative business to woo consumers, tourists and locals alike, even non-Christian towards big spending, acquiring more material things to satisfy our human cravings. In fact it has become a trend or culture inducing people on what presents to buy, what clothes to wear to look good and stay in fashion, what jewelry, perfume to put on, going clubbing or where to wine and dine in style. Morally it would be wrong to use Christmas or any other religious occasion for abuse to further our own self-indulgences that could lead to excessive habits like drinking, leading to drunkardness and disorderly behaviour. Our traffic Police records show an increase in drink or drunk driving and accidents during festive seasons and launched the ‘drink, don’t drive’ campaign. Jesus is not against drinking, if he was then he would not have changed water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana. What is important is that it should be consumed moderately so as not to impair or loose one’s senses. It should be a time of joy and merry making with Jesus as the central figure, the main reason for the season; his birthday. To bring peace and joy to the world. You know God loves the world so much that he gave us his only son. For centuries tradition has brought forth new attractions or distractions, distortion depends how one feels. From advertisements it appears that Santa has taken a premier role amongst other things. He is portrait as riding on a sleigh driven by reindeers with stack of presents or descending down the chimney. Some even need live Christmas tree despite of what is going on; saving our planet. One time I saw a Christmas tree displayed up-side down hanging from the ceiling; what significance I did not know. We must have turkey the Christmas bird, buy many gifts and attend parties. And probably fail to focus more on the spiritual aspect, the coming of baby Jesus. The word made flesh, came into this world in a humble setting on a silent night and holy night. He brought peace, a peace the world cannot give, joy and ultimately the promise of our salvation.
Santa standing prominently above presents at street corner
Reindeer with Santa on lamp post above
A giant Christmas tree at Ion
At night myriads of lights and neon signs deck the street
Christmas comes from the Latin word “Christe Missa” meaning the Mass of Christ. The Eucharistic celebration is the central pillar of the Catholic faith and can be trace back to the Lord’s Supper. When Jesus took bread and wine bless it and gave to his disciples to eat and drink. Christ said that is his body and blood and offered himself as the sacrificial lamb which is a re-enactment of his passion and crucifixion on Calvary. He also said to do so in memory of him. The first Christians were Jews they went as a body to the Temple every day and returned to their houses for the breaking of bread (Acts 2:46) Footnote: ‘breaking of bread’ for Christians implies the Eucharistic ceremony(Jerusalem Bible) Early Christians assembled for Divine worship in the house of one of their number as a beginning of ‘house-church’. During the Roman persecution in the 1st century, Emperor Nero blamed the Christians for burning Rome. The Christians were driven into hiding in catacombs, a network of underground caves, grotto, where people seek refuge, assemble for prayers, worship and also burial. Practically catacombs are Museum containing valuable written traditions found in numerous carved inscriptions in Latin or Greek pertaining to prayers, belief, symbols, fresco paintings on walls of burial chambers or crypt. Holy Mass was celebrated on the tombs of martyrs, which gave rise to the practice of imbedding the relics of martyrs in the altar.
Latin is the language of the conquerors and in 313 A.D. Constantine the Great (324-337 A.D.) the first Christian emperor issued the edict of Milan proclaiming ‘freedom of worship’ which led Christianity to spread like a wild bush-fire throughout the entire Roman Empire. Another Emperor Theodosius who in 380 A.D. declared that Catholism as the State Religion (De Fide Catholica) that led to the elaboration of the Liturgy throughout Christendom. The change from illegal and private ritual into State-supported and a public one. Subsequently Latin became the official language of the Catholic Church up to our present time. Saint Jerome, a linguist took 35 years to translate the Bible from Greek into Latin called the ‘Vulgate’ which appeared in 400 A.D. The Bible became widely available only in 15th century Europe with the invention of printing press. A printer named Johannes Gutenburg a Catholic, printed the first book; it was the bible and in Latin.
I am wondering what the first Christmas was like more than 2,000 years ago. I can vision it as a big contrast to our time; just the opposite of everything. Imagine going back in time of Annunciation, when angel Gabriel appeared to a virgin named Mary and proclaimed that she has found favour in God and that she was chosen to bring forth a child which must be named ‘Jesus’. The simple village girl was in shock, how could that be since she was a virgin. The assurance was that God will sent the Holy Spirit and so she put her trust and humbly accepted.
At that time Emperor Caesar Augustus declared a censorship of the whole population in order that the Romans could take count all those that registered. So Joseph had to take his spouse Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem a distance of about 80 miles to the place of his ancestry of the house of David. The time consuming journey undertaken by Mary on a donkey was fraud with risks, discomforts and dangers.
1. Risks - because of Mary’s condition, she was already conceived with child.
2. Discomfort – riding a donkey over rugged terrain in a hot day cannot be comfortable.
3. Dangers - at anytime they could be way-laid by brigands.
When they arrived at Bethlehem, by the way Bethlehem means ‘house of bread’ and Mary was about to bring forth Jesus the ‘Bread of Life’, meaning spiritual life. She must have been totally exhausted and apprehensive as her hour for delivery drew near. Mary naturally must have felt terribly disappointed when the couple was rejected accommodation at that critical moment. She could have been pondering over the angelic message that ‘He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High’ and yet how come there was no place for him as the Inns were full.
The only alternative left was the cave where animals were kept, not as portrait in the crib as shown in photo; clean, neat, so cute and children love it. We must be realistic the cave must have been dark, dingy and filled with the sound and foul smell of the animals and their droppings; the stench could be overpowering. There was no bedding and Mary had to be contented with a make-shift bed of straw. Meantime Joseph had to improvise a cradle by putting straw in the trough that was used to feed the animals. When Jesus was born Mary wrapped him in swaddling clothes to keep warm and laid him in the manger. How fortunate for us to-day, we can have the comfort of 1st class air-conditioned maternity ward or in the case of house delivery the attendance of a qualified mid-wife. Jesus did not have either and not even the luxury of diapers. He was in his birthday suit just wrapped over by cloth. There was no celebration of any sort and his spectators were the curious animals, the oxen, the sheep and the donkeys. It is God’s lesson to us on how humility can be that Jesus, the Son of God from the Most High came down lowly to mother earth. To be brought forth as a helpless infant, reliant on the help of earthly parents, just to be like us human in everything except sin. It was God’s promise of Salvation after kicking out Adam and Eve from the Garden of Paradise for the original sin of disobedience. In spite of humility of the circumstances Mary is seen to be full of love and joy; joy in the sense that her Divinely chosen role as God-bearer (theotokos) has been fulfilled.
Nativity scene at Church of the Holy Cross
Caves are associated with poor people those who could not afford to built houses and have no choice but seek shelter in caves. It is also used as places for the repose, tombs are carved out of the rocks to bury the dead. In the synoptic Gospel and Jn 19 clearly pointed out that Joseph of Arimathaea claimed Jesus body from Pilate and in Matt 27:58-60 had it buried in his own new tomb which had hewn out of rock. He then rolled a large stone across the entrance of the tomb and went away.
Generally shepherds use caves as shelter for their flock from the elements, from rain, snow and danger. However shepherds are at the bottom rung of the society ladder; they are a little better than thieves and brigands. Socially they are the outcast, not religious as they spend most of their time in the fields tending to their flock. So the shepherds themselves smell, probably even worst than their sheep, going without bath or change of clothing. Yet they were called to witness the birth of our Lord. The angels proclaiming to them that in the town of Bethlehem a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord, so rejoice and be glad. After seeing, the shepherds went back glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; it was exactly as they had been told. Unlike the Magi, the shepherds gave nothing as they were poor but gave praises to God and spread the Good News. In our human reasoning, many things does not seemed to make good sense for our understanding but God works in his own ways. Later even Jesus himself has taken the role of a shepherd, the Good Shepherd. At the place called Tabgha in Galilee, after the resurrection Jesus singled out Peter and asked him three times whether he loved him and Peter replied thrice affirmative. Even though not long ago during his passion, Peter had denied him 3 times before the cock crowed just as Jesus had predicted. How was that now Jesus asked Peter to feed his sheep, his lamb, to take charge of the flock; to be the leader, the shepherd.
The Magi, the 3 wise men, Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar were astrologers travelling from the East, must have assumed that Jesus, the Messiah be born in a palace in Jerusalem so they seek Herod to explain the reason for coming. Herod also seeking Jesus under pretence to do him homage but actually wanted to dispose him as the new born was a threat to his throne. God's revelation to the Magi was by nature through the guiding ‘Star’ which led them to Bethlehem. And they did him homage by offering gold, frankincense and myrrh; they are symbols of Jesus’ kingship and burial. It was another shock for Mary and Joseph, in the poverty of the cave surroundings they were surprised and honoured by the visit of the wise men. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, the Magi left the country by a different route.
Actually everyday God is calling us by way of his church, proclaiming the word of God to take censorship of ourselves, by reviewing our life-style whether in keeping his commandments. In this season of Advent (Advent means coming) prior to Christmas, we are called to repent and return to God’s ways. Advent is the time of joyful preparation and expectation for the birth of Christ. John the Baptist a cousin of Jesus was the voice in the wilderness calling the people to repent. He was preparing the way for the Lord, to make the path straight, valleys be filled, mountains and hills made low. Everything crooked be made straight, the rough paths made smooth.
The problem is with ourselves we tend to create our own spiritual mountains, our winding life style detour us away from God. By acting in anger, hatred, revenge, pride, selfishness, jealousy, impatience, intolerance, inconsiderate, dishonesty etc... They are barriers separating us from God; therefore we are called to repent, to seek God’s forgiveness and only by his saving grace will it make our path of life smooth and straight, our mountains made low and the valleys filled.
To get into the spirit of Christmas, we attended a concert by SYC ensemble on 13th December held at the Esplanade Theatres of the Bay. They sang a good mix of songs from Lithuania, Russia and Latin and it was conducted by a Lithuanian named Vytautas Miskinis. After intermission, we were listening to light Mass, hymns in Latin of the following Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. It had a modern touch being played on piano, violin, base-guitar and drums; unlike on traditional church organ that I used to hear in my younger days. I am cradle-born Catholic and baptized in the Church of St. Joseph at Victoria Street a Portuguese Mission. In the early 15th century, Spain and Portugal were great Maritime powers. In order to avoid conflict between the two Catholic neighbours, the Pope partitioned the world into two zones of influence. Spain to sail West and the Portuguese to sail East to their new discoveries, to establish trading posts, colonize and spread Christianity.
The next day we followed up listening to Christmas caroling held at the Esplanade outdoor theatre by the Church of Korea. A splendid performance with full choir accompanied by string instruments, violent, cello. Other acts included a female soprano, a male group, children in their national dress sang in Korean and English. It was very entertaining and the outdoor theatre was packed full; the crowd, included locals, tourists and Koreans that came to support.
Church of Korea choir performance at Esplanade
Korea children in national costume singing Christmas carols
Then on 17th we attended the China-Singapore Religious and Cultural Exhibition 2009. The Inter-religious Organization held an exhibition at Suntec City celebrating it’s 60th Anniversary. The world’s major religions took part, Islam, Christianity, Judaism. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zoroastrism, Jainism, Baha’i and Sikhism. The exhibition had old religious books, paintings, statues and artifacts, also talks were held and performances by the various groups. Our Catholic Church was represented by St. Mary of the Angels and they gave a musical performance, singing Advent songs and Christmas carols in Latin and English. We saw Franciscan Friar John Tan welcoming the Catholic delegation from China headed by a bishop.
On 19th we were back again and heard the China Catholic priests and nuns singing hymns and Christmas Carols more in traditional Latin than English. The main objective of the above organization is to foster religious harmony and promote religious tolerance and peace. It is for better understanding and respect for one another’s faith; continue to maintain friendly dialogue. It is a sensible thing to do since we all live in a multi-religious society and try to accommodate each other in this tiny island as God’s creatures of different species as in ours Noah’s Ark.
China Catholic priest/nuns singing in Latin
A China nun in Mongolian costume signing in native tongue.
Exhibition: Judaism corner
Taoism
Hinduism
Zoroastrians
Jainism: 3D picture
Buddhism. Retainer contain relic of Buddha.
Roman Catholism: Exhibit a ‘chasuble’ An an outer garment (a sort of overcoat) of Roman origin worn by priest celebrating Mass. This chasuble made in France and ended up in Vietnam.
For me this festive season also brings back unpleasant memories of my tragic past, the road accident on Christmas Eve 2006 that left my pillion-rider dead and I seriously injured. My agonizing six months in and out of hospital for 4 surgical operations including a heart by-pass. At one stage I had a second heart attack and was at the verge of dying. My wife Josephine desperately got a priest to administer ‘Extreme Unction’; a Catholic ritual of anointing in preparation for death. This year my wife and I wanted to make a retreat, to be away from dazzling lights, the noise of the maddening crowd, the hive of activity in cooking and making goodies. to escape to the quietness and tranquility of a secluded place outside Singapore. Our small group was made up of Doris our sister-in-law and Lucy our neighbour from opposite block. So through Serene we booked on-line for the package ‘Christmas Weekend Getaway at Batam.
24th December (Christmas Eve)
On Christmas eve, we were a group of 8 people including my son Ian attending an earlier Christmas Mass at 8.00pm at the Church of St. Theresa at Kampong Bahru. This church was built on the hill in 1929 to traditional style that is if looking down from above it takes the shape of a cross and the horizontal part having 2 wings, left and right. In the interior a large sculpted monumental canopy standing on 4 tall pillars over the high altar is unique not found in other churches. It is just like the bronze baldacchino in the Basilica of St. Peter’s, Rome except much smaller in size. At the top is the ‘Chi-ro’ (Christ) symbol, like a ‘no parking sign’ actually it is the first two character of word Christ in Greek. Similar in Russian their alphabet ‘X’ is pronounce ‘Kh’ and their ‘P’ is ‘R’ in English. Two other symbols on either side, Alfa and Omega.
Traditional Church of St, Theresa
Three of us, Lucy, my wife and I chose not to attend the traditional midnight Mass because we have to wake up early next morning to be at Harbour Front lobby by 7.30am. The Christmas Mass is the celebration of the feast of Nativity, the birth of our Lord, more than 2,000 years ago. At St. Theresa Church the children were dressed as shepherds and angels and with the opening hymn led the procession of warden and lectors into the church; Fr, Devin the celebrant following behind. The Catholic Mass is divided into two parts, the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist. In the Liturgy of the word, there are two Readings, one taken from the old Testament and the second from the New Testament. After that followed by reading of the Gospel and the priest’s homily. In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, that is Holy Communion by which we receive Jesus as our spiritual food. Then followed by concluding rites with blessing and dismissal ‘Go and proclaim the ‘Good News’ to the world; closing with a final song.
Early Christianity retained some practices of Judaism in liturgical worship, altar, tabernacle, use of incense, scriptural readings, hymns, calendar, fasting, male priesthood etc... Jesus himself a devote Jew preached in synagogues and read the scroll from the Old Testament.
Interior of St. Theresa /Altar
Children as shepherds and angels leading into the church
25th December Christmas Day/Saturday.
We woke up early at 6.00am, for me a light breakfast before joining up with Lucy and took a bus ride down to the Harbour Front. Mr. Tay our shepherd from Maxpac was there to guide us through the security and immigration to departure hall. We were a group of 30 and boarded our ferry named ‘Jet Raider’ at 9.30am Singapore time for a smooth one hour’s voyage to Batam, landing at Sekupang. There is a time difference as we are ahead by one hour. We were met by Indonesia guide Mr. Yanto who is bi-lingual so no problem encounter, everyone could understand him. So as not to waste time he took us direct on tour to visit a bridge solely built by Indonesian themselves without foreign assistance. It is quite an achievement to complete this engineering feat; of course it became the pride of the country, the Indonesian people and providing a prominent landmark for Batam. The length is 642m x 28m high and wide 21m; there is 6 other bridges that join 7 islands.
At the bridge with Mt. Tay
Next we were taken to a place where ‘kuay Lapis’ is made. It is a house converted to a sort of cottage industry where the multi-layered cake is prepared and baked several times accordingly to layer by layer; it is really hard work. There are 2 types the normal plain one or with prunes and price at Singapore dollars twenty-five and twenty-eight respectively. We ordered three cakes and Yanto will deliver the next day. By then it was lunch time and we proceeded to the Golden Prawn Restaurant. Since we were early there was sufficient time to shop at the store and buy some souvenirs or snacks. The meal was sumptuous , we had seafood consisted of steamed fish, prawns, seashell and also fried chicken. Most of us chose natural coconut water drinking from the fruit itself. After that we just walk nearby compound to watch a cultural show. There were two Javanese dances riding phoney horses called ‘kuda kepang’; followed by a mystical beast called ‘Barong’. One dancer could un-husk a coconut with bare teeth and could also swallow fire from charcoal. Another dancer probably in the state of trance started to eat glass.
Show time over and we headed for Taman Mini, a place that had houses in miniature from the 27 different provinces in the Republic of Indonesia. We took some pictures especially that of Maluku province where my dad was from, the provinces of the Batak and Bali which we hope to visit one day.
Nearby is the ‘go kart’ circuit and the youngsters went and had a go in it. I suppose they imagined themselves as Schumacher in a Formula One machine and happily speeding around the bends. It must have been exciting and thrilling for them. As for me I could just watch with envy as I am disable because of my broken leg.
Lucy posing at the Kuay Lapis factory
Lunch at the Golden Prawn Restaurant
Cultural Show: Kuda Kepang
The mystical Barong dance
Traditional house Maluku province
Self, wife Josephine and Doris sister-in-law
Traditional Balinese house
Another attraction was the flying-fox, a contraption built on the top of a 4 or 5-storey steel-tower and a cable-line is connected to the other lower end; running across the pond. Also a game for the youngsters, they had to don harness and helmet. They climbed the tower right to the top and a staff hooked them to a pulley and slide-off. It works by gravity that is from higher level and slide down to the lower end. Someone was there to receive them, used a ladder to disconnect the harness and take them down. This is another sport that I would like to do but unfortunately owing to my physical deficiency I cannot.
Then we headed for our hotel to check-in and it was so near. In a few minutes we were at Golden View Hotel, a 4-star 215 rooms hotel with swimming-pool located at Bengkong Laut close to the famous Golden Prawn Seafood Restaurant. We went for good hot shower and had even time to relax for a short while.
Wow! the room is spacious.
The swimming pool
as
The vessel ‘Golden Chengho’.
For dinner we were taken to a vessel ‘Golden Chengho’ which was berth alongside a jetty. The ship is named after a famous 14th century Chinese Admiral Cheng Ho (Zheng He) who made 7 epic voyages to as far as West Africa. He had assembled the largest number of ships around 300 ships and carried some 27,000 men. It was a show of strength, a projection of maritime power and at that time China was the only country that had the capability. Admiral Cheng Ho was an envoy of the Chinese Emperor Yongle; he was a eunuch and a devote Muslim. From the country he visited, he demanded acknowledgement and tribute to his Emperor in exchange for protection. However Admiral Cheng Ho died at sea in his last voyage.This ex-Singapore cruise-ship was de-commissioned and sold off. I was really surprised that this ship ended here for a new role as a floating restaurant. Actually not a bad idea as the ship still looking good and attractive. You know a ship is like a lady after cosmetics make-over, her looks is magically transformed into Glamourous. The Buffet-dinner offered on board had a variety of food to select so the choice is ours. After that followed ‘Karaoke’ session I sang three songs in English and played my harmonica three tunes, Danny Boy, Over the Rainbow and a Chinese tune that cock-up half-way as I forgot the notes, so very ‘lau kwee’. And in following Yanto’s style I also ask for understanding as I had learned to play harmonica by notes in only 6-months course at Kreta Ayer Community Club under my ‘Si Fu’ Soon John Kwang. Meantime our guide Yanto entertained us singing like a professional in Chinese and a Malay number. Others also came up to sing, some in English and also in Mandarin or dialect. We all had a good time, relaxing and dining on board a vessel create a special atmosphere something different. Next to us, a playground where a Pesta (festival) was on, complete with Ferries-wheel, go-kart and also miniature bike racing. It attracted a large crowd, many came on motor-cycles and especially to watch the ‘fire-works display’ that brightened the sky with every burst.
Enjoying our buffet-dinner on board.
One of the singers with Yanto our MC
Myself playing the harmonica.
The singers at the Murai Lobby Bar
On returning to hotel from dinner at Golden Chengho, we could hear music going on from the Murai Lobby Bar. Earlier we had been told by Yanto that payment of Singapore ten dollars and you can drink till you drop. Wow! it looks like the best deal in town so count ourselves in. By the way my wife and I are not drinkers and we tend to enjoy more on music, to make friends and in the spirit of Christmas to spread good will. We met Serene and was made welcome to join the party. The two female singers were good, one sounded like our Singapore Rahima and the keyboard player was really fantastic; he was banging away. The lively rhythm and beat can get you all work up and ready to jump to the dance floor. I found myself at a disadvantage as I don’t have dancing shoes and instead wearing a ‘leg-brace’ a bulky kind of support that is stiff and rigid with no flexibility. Two couples probably Taiwanese if not mistaken were having a jolly good time dancing continuously. The guys were a bit high, tripping and falling occasionally but ok, was not unruly. One of the girls sportingly approached to invite me to the floor, so I raised my injured left leg for her to see and she understood me. I had a vodka/lime, 2 beers and my wife Josephine had Barkardi/coke, 1 beer; it was enough for us. Also the time had passed I think 1.00am and we were already exhausted from the day’s tour so we retired to our room for a good night’s sleep.
Hi! guys did you have a good time?
26th December Sunday
We were down for breakfast at the ‘Cuppa Cafe’ designed in causal and elegant style offer a wide range of food, buffet style Eastern or Western at our own choosing. It was our last day and had to check-out with our belongings as we will not be coming back to the hotel. We were taken to Indoprima/uni Massage at Komp. Penuin Centre and I had a male for my rub-down. A hand-towel folded and placed over my eyes to allow relaxation and experience by feelings, the professional hands working sensitively around my aching body. Mine was whole body massage but requested from waist up-wards; not to do my injured legs. It took a full 90 minutes and I could hear the sound of my bones creaking, I supposed because of aging and the bones are brittle. Doris and Lucy went for up-grading as they wanted aromatic flavour like Rose, Green Tea or Lavender; had to pay extra Singapore ten dollars.
After the massage we were taken to Nagoya town for free and easy tour. Our opportunity to do the last minute shopping at the Mata Hari complex. Meantime we had lunch at the Indonesian Nasi Padang Restaurant and we quite enjoyed the dishes. However we had problem with the bills, it’s itemization and costing especially for Doris. She said, so many zero’s so confusing, placed her money on the counter and told the cashier to take what is due. The shopping complex was also our pick-up point and we just had to cross the road to board up our waiting bus. In the bus Yanto handed to us our ferry boarding passes, returned our passports which we gave him for safe keeping. He delivered the kuay lapis that we had ordered the previous day. Then the bus driver drove just a few blocks away to another ferry terminal called the Batam Center.
We cleared the Immigration and Customs without any problem and by 6.30pm Singapore time we boarded the ferry and departed for our one hour return trip across the Straits of Singapore. The weather was excellent, sunshine with calm sea so the voyage underway was smooth and uneventful. We arrived at Singapore Harbour Front safely; it had been short but exciting weekend getaway. Meantime we would like to thank Maxpac Travel, to Serene, Tay and especially Yanto our Indonesian guide for making our tour pleasant and memorable.
Breakfast at Cuppa Cafe
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Arrival Singapore Harbour Front at sunset.
The End,
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