My ordination as a Permanent Deacon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Melaka-Johor, Malaysia, took place on 16 June 2010 (Wednesday), which was also my birthday. I was ordained by the Right Reverend Paul Tan, SJ, Bishop of Melaka-Johor, at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

ABOVE: The church bell rings while all the altar servers, lectors, cantors and clergy get in place to prepare for the procession. The man you see right in front is Fr Paul Wong, a priest of our Diocese, who is serving in this event as the Master of Ceremony. A large number of clergy from my Diocese as well as neighbouring (Arch)dioceses turned up for the Ordination.

ABOVE: The procession has begun. This is Deacon Lionel Thomas carrying the Book of Gospels, as he serves as the Deacon of the Word for this celebration. Deacon Lionel will be ordained as Priest on 23 July 2010.

ABOVE: That is Bishop Paul Tan, SJ, right at the end of the procession line. Preceding him is Deacon Moses Rayappan, who will also be ordained as priest on 23 July 2010.

ABOVE: I take my seat at the front pew with my wife and parents whilst waiting to be called to the front later on when the Rite of Ordination begins. Prior to that, I'd have to be seated with my family for the Scripture reading, the Responsorial Psalm, and the Gospel proclamation.

ABOVE: The whole group of priests seated together at the front portion of the Cathedral, near the altar. There were, I think, at least around 40 priests present from our own Diocese and some neighbouring (Arch)dioceses.

ABOVE: The turnout of the congregation was also delightful, as the pews of the Cathedral were filled. This means that between 600 and 700 people were present at this event. Other than the local people, many others came from far-off places like Sabah, Sarawak, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Seremban, Mantin, Tampin, Melaka, and neighbouring towns of Johor (including Singapore).

I will be posting up more pictures later on the Rite of Ordination.