My most heartfelt congratulatory wishes go to Fr Bartholomew KC Wong, Fr Lionel Thomas and Fr Moses Rayappan on their sacerdotal ordination yesterday evening by the Rt Rev. Paul Tan SJ, Bishop of Melaka-Johor.

Picture above (from left): Deacon Andrew Stephen (from the Penang Diocese), Fr Anthony Ng (Chancellor of the Melaka-Johor Diocese), Bishop Emeritus James Chan (former Bishop of the Melaka-Johor Diocese), Fr Lionel Thomas (newly ordained), Bishop Paul Tan SJ (Bishop of Melaka-Johor Diocese), Fr Moses Rayappan (newly ordained), Fr Bartholomew KC Wong (newly ordained), Archbishop Emeritus Soter Fernandez (former Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur), Msgr Sebastian Francis (Vicar-General of the Melaka-Johor Diocese), and me.

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Assisting the Bishop at Confirmation Mass in St Francis Xavier's Church in Melaka on 11 July 2010.

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This was the thanksgiving speech I gave at the end of my Ordination Mass on 16 June 2010:

I thank my parents, Eugene and Angela, the people who gave me life. I am amazed at how they never get tired of supporting my pursuit of God’s dreams for my life.

I thank Holy Mother Church, who, through the person of Bishop Paul Tan SJ, the Priests, Deacons, Religious and laity, has received and embraced me into the fullness of the faith of the Apostles and into the vocation which has been mine to fulfill.

I thank Emmy, who, in her vocation as my wife, has countless times said “yes” to the will of God. And to our little unborn child in the womb who is present at this ordination, may your life be characterised by many little “yesses” at the bidding of your Maker.

I thank Sheree, my sister, for always knowing my heart; also, for the gift of her beautiful family (Phow Loong, Christina and Christopher).

I thank all the Franciscans, religious and secular, for being my family and for allowing me the privilege of sharing with you the call to “Restore [Christ’s] Church”.

I thank my brothers and sisters of the Church of the Visitation (Seremban) for helping my family and me to rediscover the depth of friendship during moments when our faith convictions had cost us many friends. I thank the priests of the parish (while I was there), Fr Michael Chua and Fr George Packiasamy, for initiating me into the life of the Church and for making the parish a place of refuge during my moments of desolation. I particularly want to mention the RCIA Team of Visitation Church; your witness has inspired me very profoundly.

Reverend Fathers, religious sisters and brothers, and laity who have come from distant towns – Sabah, Sarawak, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Nilai, Mantin, Seremban, Melaka, Singapore, and other towns in Johor – I am overwhelmed at how you have travelled such a long distance just to be here.

I thank Fr Paul Wong, the Master of Ceremony for this ordination, for graciously taking this role and discharging it so steadily. Thank you, Fr James Rajendran, Rector of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Johor Bahru, for your gracious hospitality in permitting the use of the Cathedral for this event.

I thank the organising committee led by Mr Edward Yong, together with all coordinators, the choir led by Mr John Ng, altar servers and all helpers for your diligent labour of love. To Ms Angila Yong, our ever-energetic Administrative Assistant at the Pastoral Institute: thank you for helping me so tirelessly.

Many of the people present here today are also very treasured friends and family from other non-Catholic Christian communities. I am humbled at your generosity in witnessing this occasion. I need to make particular mention of the Presbyterian and Anglican communities wherein I spent most of my Christian journey. Let us together pray that the full unity of Christ’s Body – an irrevocable characteristic of the Church, symbolised by Christ's seamless garment – be one day realised in a most visible way.

I thank all of you, my brothers and sisters and dear friends, for participating in this Eucharistic Celebration. This is our faith; this is the faith of the Church and of the Apostles. Let us be proud to profess it in Christ Jesus our Lord, the Lux Mundi (the Light of the World).

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ABOVE: After the Prayer of Consecration by the Bishop, my wife approaches, receives a stole and a dalmatic from the Bishop, and puts them on me. This is, of course, a practice peculiar to the ordination of married deacons.

ABOVE: The Bishop hands me the Book of the Gospels, saying, "Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you now are: believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practise what you teach."

ABOVE: The kiss of peace from the Bishop, who is the first to greet me in this manner immediately following the Rite of Ordination.

ABOVE: The kiss of peace from several other brother Deacons (they are Transitional Deacons, not Permanent Deacons). In the picture above is Deacon Lionel Thomas.

ABOVE: I take my seat at the altar on the right hand of the Bishop.

ABOVE: My parents bringing the offertory gifts to be prepared for the Eucharistic sacrifice.

ABOVE: Fr Paul Wong, Master of Ceremony, with the altar servers lined up behind him. As you can see, this MC has style!

ABOVE: Being now an ordinary minister of the Holy Communion, I give the Body of Christ to my parents.

ABOVE: I am delivering my thanksgiving speech. It was an emotional moment as I recollected my journey into the Catholic Church. Okay, maybe I'm just a crybaby. But last I checked, I was quite a stoic man.

ABOVE: The Bishop delivers a 10-second speech.

ABOVE: A short birthday celebration for me, as this ordination fell on the exact day of my 34th anniversary.

ABOVE: The Bishop and my family. From left, Phow Loong (my brother-in-law), Sheree (my sister), Emmy (my wife), myself, Bishop Paul Tan SJ, Eugene (my father), Angela (my mother), Christopher (my nephew) and Christina (my niece).

ABOVE: The Bishop and me, his new Deacon.

The concludes the series of pictures from my recent ordination I've wanted to post up on this blog. I wish to record my deep gratitude to all who were present at this occasion and to those who had assisted in the animation of this liturgy. This has been one of the most meaningful moments of my life.

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ABOVE: The Vicar-General, Monsignor Sebastian Francis, makes a request to the Bishop on behalf of Holy Mother Church to ordain me as Deacon. The Bishop asks if I have been found worthy, and the Vicar-General informs him that I have been found worthy upon enquiry among God's people.

ABOVE: The Bishop announces that I am now chosen for the Order of Deacons.

ABOVE: I stand before the Bishop as he delivers his homily to the congregation and me on my role as a Deacon of the Church. He subsequently asks me a series of questions pertaining to my resolutions to embrace a way of life appropriate to my role as a clergy of the Church, to which I have to respond.

ABOVE: I place my joined hands in between those of the Bishop's as I make a promise of respect and obedience to him and his successors.

ABOVE: I prostrate as the Litany of the Saints is being cantored. We invoke the saints to pray for us, and particularly for me as I enter into this sacrament of the Holy Orders.

ABOVE: The Bishop imposes his hands upon me in silence as I kneel before him.

ABOVE: With his hands extended over me, the Bishop says the Prayer of Consecration: "Lord send forth upon him the Holy Spirit that he may be strengthened by the gift of your sevenfold grace to carry out faithfully the work of the ministry."

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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.

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Click on image to enlarge

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Throughout this year, I will be teaching the following courses multiple times in various places and at various times:

1. What's the Difference?
Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants

With the Catholic Church’s recent response to the Traditional Anglicans, people have become increasingly curious about the differences in the practices and beliefs of the Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant Christians. This 8-session course helps you gain a deeper understanding of the differences while also strengthening your understanding of the Catholic faith.

This talk aims to help its participants better understand the beliefs of people coming from various Christian traditions. This is so that we can avoid making premature conclusions about other Christians before seeking first to understand what they truly believe.

Session 1 - A Brief Historical Survey
Session 2 - Conversations about Faith
Session 3 - Conversations about God
Session 4 - Conversations about Worship
Session 5 - Conversations about Salvation
Session 6 - Conversations about Leadership
Session 7 - Conversations about Contemporary Issues
Session 8 - The Call to Christian Unity

2. The Splendour of Truth:
Difficult Questions about the Catholic Faith

Why has the Catholic Church committed so many atrocities throughout history? Why must Catholics have Tradition and not just Scripture alone? Do Catholics worship Mary? Why do Catholics communicate with dead people? Is purgatory not just some Catholic superstition? Isn’t indulgence just a money-making mechanism created by the Catholic Church just before the Protestant Reformation? Why does the Catholic Church have seven sacraments? If the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Christ, doesn’t that make Catholics cannibals? Was the Apostle Peter really the first Pope? Is it reasonable to hold that the Pope is infallible? Why must Catholic priests be celibate? Why must Catholic priests always be men?

These are some very crucial questions about the Catholic faith, among many others, asked by a good many people from other Christian communities. Unfortunately, not many Catholics are actually able to answer these questions, especially when other Christians demand evidence for these teachings from the Scriptures. This 8-session course aims to help Catholics to better understand the Scriptural and theological bases for such Catholic beliefs which are usually difficult to explain.

Session 1 - Relationship of the Catholic Church with Other Christians
Session 2 - Difficult Questions about Church History
Session 3 - Difficult Questions about Scripture and Tradition
Session 4 - Difficult Questions about Salvation and the Afterlife
Session 5 - Difficult Questions about the Sacraments
Session 6 - Difficult Questions about the Papacy
Session 7 - Difficult Questions about the Priesthood
Session 8 - Difficult Questions about Mary and the Saints

3. The Hour of the Laity:
Understanding Our Lay Participation in the Mission of Christ

After the Second Vatican Council, there often seems to have been confusion among clergy, religious and laity in the Church on what the differences are in their vocations. As a result, we witness today unprecedented movements in the Church towards the gradual laicisation of the clergy and the clericalisation of the laity. A proper understanding of the roles of clergy, religious and laity needs to be restored.

This need has become particularly pronounced among the laity as the lay faithful have been given more prominent emphasis in the Church since Vatican II. The Church continues to call for the formation of all the lay faithful who share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Christ in the world. This 6-session course aims to help the lay faithful of the Church - families, married couples, parents, single people, young people, lay leaders - to understand the characteristics of their lay vocation and the roles and responsibilities proper to their vocation. It helps its participants to understand what this all means for their daily lives as the lay faithful of the Church.

Session 1 - Defining the Laity: What They Are Not
Session 2 - Defining the Laity: What They Are
Session 3 - The Priestly Mission of the Laity
Session 4 - The Prophetic Mission of the Laity
Session 5 - The Kingly Mission of the Laity
Session 6 - Mary, the Supreme Model of Lay Vocation

4. Call to Worship:
A Journey towards Being the People of God

The Pentateuch recalls how the people of Israel were called by God to walk in relationship with Him based on a covenant they shared with Him. From once being no people, they were now a people called "Israel".

But being God's people entailed more than just religious rites. It meant a whole new way of life, an entirely new identity which separated them from the identities of their neighbours. In having called them, God had to disciple them and teach them how to be His people.

Similarly, the people called the Church of Jesus Christ are now a people called by His name. We are to walk in relationship with God, to bear His name, and to reflect His nature and character. But what does all this imply for our daily lives as Christians?

This brief series (preferably conducted as a retreat) will explore what it means to be God's people, what God's will is, and how we as His people can live according to His will.

Session 1 - Living as God's People
Session 2 - Living According to God's Will
Session 3 - Living in Trust
Session 4 - Living as Aliens in this World

Note: My schedule for this year is already packed, and will no longer be able to fit in any new engagements. To ensure that requests for sessions in 2011 can be met, it would be good to communicate them to me at least 8 months prior to the intended dates.

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Special Sharing by a Woman Bhikkuni

At this Symposium, we also had a specially invited guest to come and share her struggles with us as a woman seeking to be recognised as a legitimate cleric in her own religious circle. (I do hope this wasn't done with particular reference to any undertones of seeking to have "women priests" in the Holy Catholic Church!)

Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, ordained Bhikkhuni Dhammananda, is a Thai Buddhist monk. On February 28 2003, the Venerable Dhammananda received full bhikkhuni ordination in Sri Lanka. She is the first Thai woman to be ordained in a Theravada monastic lineage. She is the abbess of the only temple in Thailand where there are fully ordained woman monks. She currently resides at the Songdhammakalyani Monastery in the Muang District, Nakhonpathom province, Thailand.

Since the Venerable Dhammananda was ordained nine years ago, many other nuns had been ordained as monks. They were not illegal, but neither were they recognised officially by the Thai government. Their temple had likewise not been recognised by the Thai government, and this recognition was contingent upon the recognition of women monks by the government. Thailand boasts of the highest population of Buddhists, with Myanmar being the second.

The speaker mentioned that the Buddha did ordain women. The first women he ordained were his own stepmother and aunt. Initially, he did not agree to ordain them and refused them three times. After three times asking, the Buddha did ordain them because he recognised that women could be enlightened.

She commented, in response to a question by an Archbishop from Myanmar, that Myanmar would be the last nation to ever recognise the ordination of women monks. This was because the monks in Myanmar were very strong and confident that their understand of Buddhism was the only right interpretation. It seemed almost impossible that they would be enlightened in terms of woman participation in the clerical role of women in Buddhism.

Most male monks in Thailand, she explained, accepted women monks at a personal level, even very senior male monks. However, because the religious community had not given official recognition to the women monks, this acceptance remained at a very personal level. Male monks who ever attempted to openly demonstrate acceptance of women monks might suffer structural discrimination.

The Venerable Dhammananda also recorded her dismay at the way in which the people of the world wasted resources such as water and food. She commented that the people of God had to be particularly serious about ecological concerns, as the world was now living on the resources of our children and grandchildren. Her comment was a sober reminder of our common responsibility for ecological responsibility.

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Fifth Talk
My talk was the fifth and the last plenary talk at this symposium. For a more "objective" report of the talk, here is the article published in UCANews about it.

HUA HIN, Thailand (UCAN) -- Men and women Religious are needed in Asia today to inspire laypeople and be a powerful a sign of God's presence in their economically driven societies.

This was the message a lay Church worker gave to leading Asian Religious gathered for a Federation of Asian Bishops' (FABC) meeting in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Religious must live the consecrated life not only for themselves but as an inspiration for laypeople, who face the pressures of modern living, Sherman Kuek told some 60 nuns, brothers, priests and bishops at the Nov. 16-21 FABC symposium. The meeting had the theme, "The Impact of Today's Culture on the Church, especially as regards Consecrated Life in Asia Today."

Kuek, 33, is director of the Melaka-Johor Diocesan Pastoral Institute in Malaysia and was the only lay speaker at the symposium. Religious must live radical antithetical lives that inspire and excite laypeople to emulate them, albeit in their lay state of life, he said.

He noted that laypeople live in a culture that urges them to "work more, earn more, spend more," and which is "at odds with the Gospel."

He said that laypeople have inevitably reinterpreted, redefined and compartmentalized religion. From being at the center of their lives, it is now relegated to a corner. They faithfully perform religious duties and obligations but otherwise they are busy engaging with a culture that advocates consumption and the acquiring of wealth.

In modern Asian societies such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, laypeople "choose both God and mammon," Kuek asserted.

Now the Church in Asia is challenged to answer a prophetic call to authentic discipleship, Kuek continued, explaining that this call is for Religious to make a stand for the sake of the laity.

"The Church can shout and shout" in condemning materialism and urging charity but laypeople do not necessarily listen because they have to survive in the modern world, he stressed.

Many Religious said on the sidelines that his call to them was a powerful challenge.

Filipina Sister Julma Neo noted that after Vatican Council II, many Religious not only "adapted" to the world, as was intended, but also "adopted" the ways of the world.

The former general councilor for Asia of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul agreed that for the consecrated life to make sense, it must be mystical, prophetic and counter-cultural.

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Fourth Talk
The fourth talk was delivered by Sr Judette Gallares, RC, the only woman speaker in the symposium. She spoke on the issue of spirituality of consecrated life and how it was impacted by the post-modern culture. She began by commenting that we in Asia had been using the term “postmodern” for a number of decades and yet had not come to a proper understanding of it.

The question which Sr Judette sought to answer was, “How do we [religious] become models of hope where people are so confused and discouraged?” The diversity present in the world today with its multiplicity of experiences and options, according to the speaker, had turned the world into a supermarket of ideas. What followed such a phenomenon was, therefore, a relativistic worldview in which subjectivity reigned.

A result of this confusion was that people had begun reacting to the need for some rootedness and certainty. The breakdown of belief systems had led many to pander to a form of fundamentalism in their religious beliefs. Whilst this may have been unhealthy and misrepresentative of the heart of religion, it also represented a new search for spirituality among people.

The speaker affirmed that there was a relevant form of spirituality for the postmodern times, and that the religious could be “joyfully reoriented” into this form of spirituality. This new form of spirituality entailed a renewed perception of God. This new perception of God, she explained, was such that it believed in a God who moved us not by determining what we were going to do or by external threats, but rather, by seeking to inspire us towards better ways of being.

Sr Judette affirmed that the young people of today were hungry for authenticity and would not settle for pretences or mere ritual. This, she said, posed a challenge to the religious to walk the talk in order that the young people might find their spirituality attractive and authentic. She encouraged the re-reading of the Gospels from the postmodern perspective, such that the life and experiences of Jesus could come alive to the reader in an inspiring way.

In all this, the speaker encouraged the religious to be open to a joyful reorientation of their spirituality in order that they might be relevant to the state of spirituality in the postmodern world and the prospects it presented.

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Third Talk
The third talk was delivered by Maryknoll Priest, Fr Robert Astorino, MM, the very-reknowned expert in social communications. His talk pertained to social communications and the Church.

In making mention of some Church documents, Fr Bob had demonstrated that the way in which the perception of the Church towards media had changed over the decades from something to be “vigilant” about into something that was “magnificent”.

He highlighted that people born into eras which employed certain communication technologies shaped the way they grew up and became.

In speaking of the internet today, Fr Bob explained that the internet changed people and the way they understood things. So did equipment like iPods. All these new communication technologies had caused a major crisis to printed newspapers. All this showed that we were today in a period of transition, and the world as we knew it was going to change fundamentally in ways beyond our imagination. He felt that the Church had not truly kept up with these changes as yet. In Fr Bob’s literal words, “You’d better take the internet seriously, because if you don’t, you’re talking to the wall!”

Fr Bob had also directed our attention to the message of the Holy Father for the 43rd World Day of Communications in May 2009, entitled “New Technologies, New Relationships: Promoting a Culture of Respect, Dialogue and Friendship”. He summarised this message as being that the world had changed partially because media had changed. As a result, the Holy Father had called upon the Church to pay attention to the young because it was now their world. This must have been one of the most dramatic changes in the world.

The speaker gave very practical guidance about what to do if we had to communicate in speech to a graphic-oriented generation. He said it was important that we told good stories, because that was what worked. Fr Bob emphasised the importance of taking Jesus as an example of a good storyteller. He said the reason that the telling of parables worked well was quite obvious, as people connected with stories by forming images in their minds as characters came alive to them.

The pertinent implication from these realities must surely be that the religious of the world, in this case, Asia, have to be sensitive to modes of communication prevalent among the younger people today. This would affect the awareness of people regarding the existence and roles of the various religious orders and the effectiveness with which people are inspired towards consecrated life.

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Second Talk
The first talk was, naturally, followed by the second talk (duh!) The topic of the second talk was the challenge confronting religious life in the face of moral relativism. The speaker was Fr Vimal Tirimanna, CSSR. Fr Vimal began by underlining the fact that he would be focusing on the negative points of moral relativism, thank God!

Often in today’s world, the objective truth about things have been diluted or even completely distorted by the subjective opinions of individuals and groups. This, in fact, is a direct result of personal experiences acquiring the status of a source of knowledge. When each and every opinion is granted equal status, then relativism simply follows.

When experience lacks a common reference point, it is exclusive subjectivism which excludes any link with other views. The individual then becomes the measure, the standard of everything (“the truth depends on me”). The individual is not the arbiter of what is right or wrong. Rightness and wrongness exist apart from the individual.

The speaker then moved on to also highlight the three criteria as expounded by St Thomas Aquinas on how to avoid falling into moral extremism. The three criteria were: i) the act itself; ii) the intention; and iii) the circumstances.

Fr Vimal, along with materialism and hedonism, that another serious “ism” which posed serious attack on consecrated life today was surely moral relativism. He highlighted eight areas in which consecrated life was under attack in the light of such moral relativism. Moral relativism might have led to:

1. Religious being unsure about the sustainability of life-long commitment;
2. Religious placing the Individual over / above the community;
3. Religious perceiving their vocation as jobs rather than vocation;
4. Religious emphasising doing rather than being;
5. Religious becoming unsure of the meaning of religious vows;
6. Religious interpreting the charisms of their congregations / orders subjectively;
7. Religious had erroneously compared consecrated life with marriage, as if the former was abnormal;
8. Religious had now been given haphazard programmes of formation according to the whims and fancies of formators.

Fr Vimal concluded by noting that moral relativism had come to stay. Every individual needed to engage their subjective moral judgements in ongoing dialogue with the objective moral standards of the Church.

I personally have nothing much to say about this talk except that it was a superb and timely response to what many of us today need to hear.

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First Talk
After Archbishop Quevedo’s keynote address, the first talk began. This talk was done by Br Varghese Theckanath, SG, who highlighted how the issues of social justice were a challenge to religious life in Asia today.

He affirmed that human rights was an issue that appealed to all people. In fact, even people who did not have track records for upholding human rights seemed to speak positively of it. But in the socio-political scheme of Asia, various hindrances presented themselves to the Church’s struggle for human rights, which the speaker touched on briefly.

According to Br Varghese, human rights must be equal for all, inalienable, universal, indivisible, and binding on the state. The speaker also spoke of how the Church and certain popes failed to uphold human rights during what he called “the dark ages”. (I personally have serious misgivings about such dispensational misinterpretations of various epochs of the Church, especially when done so without due consideration to the historical context of each epoch. But anyhow, I’m just reporting what had been presented.)

The speaker affirmed that the Chuch had made great contributions to the development of human rights as we had them today. And yet the Church itself was said to be characterised by contradictions: “Heroic defense of human rights outside, little room for human rights inside”. He gave three live examples of how this was so. (Again, I personally think that one must learn to distinguish between the Church and the people/leaders of the Church. Our ecclesiological nuance is such that one must not confuse between the Church itself and the failure of her people/leaders. But I do agree with this observation to a large extent, as I recall a religious brother having once commented, “We go around teaching about human rights, but we cannot even fight for human rights in our own diocese”.)

This talk does leave us much to think about in terms of how we choose to respond to the call and need for upholding human rights in our world. The tricky part lies in being able to do this without heaping blame on the failure of Mother Church, or anyone else, for that matter.

I also take on very keenly to Archbishop Quevedo’s comment that we need to balance the aspect of human rights with the gospel of the Jesus Christ who laid down his rights by “turning the other cheek” (I’m paraphrasing here).

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The Office for Consecrated Life (OCL) of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC) is now holding its Second Symposium on Consecrated Life in Hua Hin, Thailand. It is to be held from 16 to 21 November 2009.

The topic of this symposium is "The Impact of Today's Culture on the Church Especially with Regards to Consecrated Life".

I flew from Changi Airport with two Mother Superiors of Franciscan congregations in Sabah and Sarawak, and the Right Rev. Paul Tan, SJ, Bishop of Melaka-Johor (who is also in charge of the Office for Consecrated Life in the FABC).

Here we are upon arrival at the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, afterwhich we had to take a big van to our venue in Hua Hin (200 km south of Bangkok). It was a three-hour drive to the Salesian retreat centre there where our symposium was to be held. In the picture above is Bishop Paul Tan, SJ, looking all casual - and exhausted from his recent return to Rome, afterwhich we had to fly to Bangkok almost immediately upon his return.

Here is the stage of the conference hall, all decorated and waiting for the symposium to begin.

Participants trickled in throughout the whole of yesterday (until late last night). Our day began this morning with the Morning Office and the Holy Mass celebrated by Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, OMI. The participants consisted of Asian bishops, religious priests, and a vast many major superiors of the various religious orders in different Asian countries.

Archbishop Orlando Quevedo is the Secretary General of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC). He began the entire symposium with his keynote address, outlining some of the socio-political and cultural issues peculiar to the Asian context. This keynote address would then open the way for further explication by the subsequent speakers as they considered how religious life in Asia was being challenged today.

Archbishop Quevedo is an extremely dynamic man with an adorably wacky sense of humour; utterly spiritual and yet down-to-earth.

The symposium continues... more updates to come throughout the day...

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Just a brief notification which has been long due...

I appreciate the recent requests from various people to speak or teach at your parishes or organisations. Unfortunately, my diary really cannot fit anymore appointments for this year. Many apologies.

It does deeply excite me whenever I hear of communities of people being keen to learn more about the Christian faith and the teachings of the Church, and as far as possible, I'd very much love to meet all these requests.

I hope you can try to fit me into your schedule for next year (2010) instead, and I'll certainly do what I can to spend time with your communities.

Harap maklum. (Please be notified.)

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I'm sorry that the blog has not been updated as regularly as I'd like it to be. Even though each day is characterised by a surge of reflective thoughts which I'd have really loved to pen down, time just has not permitted for this possibility.

Anyway, here are my graduation photographs - the real ones that were taken at the studio, not the "home video" type:

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Here are some pictures taken at the occasion of my Profession into the Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis on 02 December 2008 before the Blessed Sacrament at the sanctuary of the Church of the Visitation Seremban. It was a very modest but meaningful event.

This is Br Deva, the Regional Minister, placing the tau cross over my head. This tau cross would be my "habit" as a Secular Franciscan, to be worn everywhere I go as a witness to the world of the way of life I have chosen in response to God's call.

Making my profession before Sr Gertrude D'Costa, Minister of the local fraternity, who then accepted me into the fraternity in the name of the Church and of the Order. In the background is Fr Michael Teng, OFM Cap., Regional Spiritual Assistant of the Secular Franciscan Order.

These are all the Franciscans who were present at the occasion, although there were many other guests who were not Franciscans. This group of Franciscans comprises the OFM Capuchins and Secular Franciscans. The two Franciscan Friars from the OFM Cap. were Fr Paul Cheong (from Penang) and Fr Michael Teng (from Johor).

If the picture before this is the Franciscan family, this picture (just above) is the family of the Franciscan.

These are some very special guests who graced the little occasion - the beautiful sisters from the Daughters of St Paul. On the far left is Sr Elizabeth, FSP, and on the far right is Sr Bibianah, SFP. The man beside me is Br Paul Chin who works closely with the Daughters of St Paul.

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My temporary profession to the Secular Franciscan Order will take place on 02 December 2008 (Tuesday) at 1640 hours before the Blessed Sacrament at the sanctuary of the Church of the Visitation Seremban. All are welcomed to witness the occasion.

The Secular Franciscan Order (SFO) is a community of Roman Catholic men and women in the world who seek to pattern their lives after Christ in the spirit of St Francis of Assisi. The Order was founded by St Francis himself about 800 years ago at the beginning of the thirteenth century.

The Secular Franciscan Order is approved and recognised by the Holy See by the official name of Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis (OFS). It is open to any Roman Catholic not bound by religious vows to another Religious Order. It is made up of the laity (men and women) and also secular clergy (deacons, priests, bishops).

The Holy See has entrusted the pastoral care and spiritual assistance of the Secular Franciscan Order (SFO), because it belongs to the same spiritual family, to the Franciscan First Order (Friars Minor) and Franciscan Third Order Regular (TOR).

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These are two pictures taken during my talk at NUS last Thursday:

There's me giving a critique on materialism and introducing the audience to St Augustine's teaching on "Using the World".

This was taken during the interaction moment. Let me introduce a couple of them. On the far left in blue shirt is Samuel Wang (doctoral student at Trinity Theological College and Lutheran pastor). The elegant looking man with a beard and dressed in a black shirt is Dr Syed Farid Alatas (Associate Professor of Sociology at NUS). On the far right in white shirt, Friar Father John Wong, OFM.

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This tradition of church-and-world interaction poses a challenge to the church of Singapore in her interaction with a modernity that is unique unto the Singaporean nation. For decades since Singapore emerged as an independent nation, there has been insufficient articulation from the Christian theological community in Singapore pertaining to the city-state's modern culture. As the Singaporean Church matures, it is now time for her people to interact critically with her wider societal ethos in an attitude of solidarity with the country, and certainly as no less than children of the nation.

This talk highlights some dominant expressions of Singapore's unique modernity, such as secularism, materialism and pragmatism. It delineates how these expressions are variant from what seem to be similar expressions of Western modernity. Thorough descriptions and interpretations of these embodiments of Singaporean modernity will also be presented. Together with that, the speaker will rigorously critique these facets of Singaporean modernity from a Christian theological viewpoint.

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So here's the final installment of my photographs taken during my week at Cipanas, West Java:

This was taken on a Sunday morning, just after the Mass, at the Catholic Church in Cipanas. Ignore the two cute girls standing beside me (they're students at the seminary which I visited) and look at the background. Those are traditional musical instruments.

On that particular Sunday, whilst the Mass was still as thoroughly Roman as ever, the liturgy was sung entirely in tunes of the Sunda culture. I couldn't connect with the music, that's true, but it was really inculturation at its best! Even until now, it still rings in my head.

It so happened that the priest celebrating the Mass at the parish that morning was a guest priest. I met him after the Mass, and once he realised that I was a visitor, he introduced himself to me as a Carmelite priest. He told me that his Order had developed an entire valley into a retreat centre that was able to accommodate 5 or 6 thousand people for retreats at one go, and asked if I would be interested to visit the place with him. Which fool would say no?

So here it is, Lembah Carmel (Carmel Valley). Again, ignore those two pretty girls. Look at the little chapel behind us. That little chapel can accommodate about 300 people with lots of space to spare. Further up the hill was a humungous chapel which could accommodate 4 thousand people!

This is a view of the frontage of Lembah Carmel from a different perspective. The landscape was indescribable. A vast valley surrounded by mountains, greenery, and infested by clean cool air.

This is another place called the Cibodas Botanic Gardens. It is a very vast piece of land, again on a very high place, that is preserved as a rainforest. The natural waterfall even flows onto the road, and then back again into yet another waterfall - this must have been one of the most unique waterfall sights I had ever seen.

A stream that is formed from a waterfall.

More waterfalls.

This is the iron horse that was used to take me around to Lembah Carmel and to the Cibodas Botanic Gardens. Thanks to Pak Yosef (who works at the seminary) for having so generously offered the vehicle for my use. No lah, I didn't drive it; someone else drove me around.

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These are more pictures from my recent trip to Cipanas, West Java:

One of the events organised by the seminary was a 2-hour seminar entitled "Catholic-Protestant Relations: Ecumenism". It was attended by the students of the seminary. In this talk, I highlighted the Catholic priority of ecumenism and also explained the various factors which until now are hindrances to the achievement of ecumenism between the Catholic Church and the Protestant communities.

These were the students in attendance at the seminar. A closer look would reveal that many of the full-time students of seminaries in Indonesia are rather young. It is something that is apparently encouraged. I was told by the Academic Dean that students who graduated young had many years of ministry ahead of them.

I was also asked to preach at the chapel service in the morning. I spoke from Ezekial 21:1-17 on how God had trained Ezekial to be a powerful and effective communicator to Israel. The challenge before us was how we could communicate the Word of God to a generation that had forgotten how to listen.

That's my horsecart. I can't quite remember where I was going at that time, but I got a picture taken just before I went onto the cart. Horses are such beautifully elegant creatures. You should see how the horses have raincoats put on them on rainy days!

Not all people in Indonesia are poor. There is actually a rather sizable segment of the population which is quite well off. They are rich enough to purchase posh weekend houses in elite areas in Cipanas, and they would come up to Cipanas from Jakarta to enjoy the air during the weekends.

More to come!

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From 22 to 28 of October 2008, I was in a highland town some distance from Jakarta, Indonesia.

On the 22nd, I flew to the Jakarta Airport and was greeted by a friend, who drove me to Cipanas. Cipanas is typically about an hour and a half's drive from Jakarta. But because of the usual acute traffic congestion, it took us about three hours to get there.

Cipanas is well-known for its mountain scenery and is a favourite place for the local people (especially from Jakarta) during the weekends. It is an extremely cool place (in every sense of the word).

The purpose of my week-long trip was some talks that I was supposed to deliver at the Cipanas Theological Seminary (supposedly the fourth most established theological faculty in West Java). But of course, it was also an extremely pleasant week - because of the slow pace and the chilly air - for lots of personal contemplation and the deepening of my interiority.

I have a series of photographs that were taken there (of course, I've selected only the best). First, the seminary itself:

This is the frontage of Cipanas Theological Seminary. It is actually a new block that has recently been constructed and which is still in the process of being painted, so they have yet to inhabit the block.

Cipanas Theological Seminary has over a hundred students from Indonesia (and a very small handful from Malaysia). It is a Protestant seminary owned by the Church of Christ (Gereja Kristus) but which has an ecumenical slant to its scholarship. For this reason, they were extremely open in interacting with the issues which I had brought up for discussion during my visit there. In fact, they have invited me to consider the possibility of assisting them with the development of their doctoral programme next year.

One thing I love about this seminary is that whilst many other seminaries are focusing on the training of seminarians for urban ministries, this seminary has taken the "lesser" way by focusing on the training of ministers for rural ministries. Students are taught more than theology - they are taught how to rear fish, plant vegetables, and make beancurd for economic sustenance. If you have been exposed to theological education only in the West and in urban-type seminaries, the concept of such developmental projects coupled with critical theological thinking would understandably be quite confounding for you (likewise for me).

This is the "backyard" of the seminary that contains the volleyball court. The block that you see right in front is the hostel for female students, which also houses the administration offices for the time being. On the left is the dining area.

This is the dining area. Meals are extremely simple here (unimaginably simple to some of us). How about a meal of fried egg and beancurd soup with white rice? Or a meal of two very small pieces of fish with vegetables and white rice? These students are training for rural ministry, which means they have to be acclimatised to an environment of poverty and utter simplicity.

And yet, at the end of each meal, they break out in songs of praise. I'm sure those of you who have met the Indonesian peoples are aware that when they sing, they sing. They break out in beautiful vocal harmonies after each meal to thank the Lord for what He has graciously provided them with.

I was rather impressed with the library, really. Although they didn't have many journal titles, they had lots of good books in both the English and Indonesian languages. Any library that has Karl Barth's commentary on the Epistle to the Romans must be a good one.

This is the little road just outside the seminary. Yes, what you're looking at is a horsecart. That's how people travel around that area. Cool huh?

More pictures coming up in the next couple of days. Just wanted to show some pictures of the seminary first for now.

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Amidst the sporadic single-session talks I will be giving in the coming year, I will also be conducting three different full-length courses in various localities. They are as follows:

Venue: St Joseph’s Church, Sentul, Kuala Lumpur

This course comprises of a series of eight talks, and it highlights the main similarities and differences in the practices and beliefs of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians.

It ends by emphatically echoing the words of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the search for authentic Christian unity is a sacred duty.

The course was initially designed to be taught as a parish-based course in my own local parish, but it has now been adopted by the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (AMEIA) as a part of its course offerings to the various parishes in the Archdiocese.

Venue 1: Church of the Immaculate Conception, Penang
Venue 2: Carmelite Monastery, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI had declared that June 2008 to June 2009 will be the year of St Paul in celebration of the 2000th anniversary of the saint's birth. But who was St Paul really? How much has he impacted Christianity as we know it today? And what did he really teach in his multiple volumes of letters written to the Christians in various part of the world? And most importantly, what do his teachings mean for us?

In conjunction with this declaration of the Holy Father, it is fitting that Catholic Christians undertake a deeper study of the person of St Paul and the message that he brought to the Christians of the Early Church through his epistles. This course comprises of six talks, and it guides participants through a study on St Paul’s background and missionary journeys, the Apostle’s teachings on righteousness and sin, Jesus and the cross, faith and life in the Spirit, the Church, and the last things.

Venue 1: Chapel of St Theresa Nilai, Negeri Sembilan
Venue 2: Carmelite Monastery, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan

Why must Catholics have tradition and not just Scripture alone? Do Catholics worship Mary? Why do Catholics seem to communicate with dead people? Was the Apostle Peter really a leader among the first Apostles as the Catholic Church believes? Is it reasonable to hold that the Pope is infallible? Is purgatory not just some Catholic superstition?

These are some very crucial questions about the Catholic faith, among many others, asked by a good many people from other Christian communities. Unfortunately, not many Catholics are actually able to answer these questions, especially when other Christians demand evidence for these teachings from the Scriptures. This eight-session course aims to help Catholics to better understand the Scriptural and theological bases for such Catholic beliefs which are usually difficult to explain.

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The people of Malaysia - a country fraught with its unique struggles amidst the dreams we share as a nation - need a sense of hope that our country will and can one day be the haven we all desire it to be.

Much has happened in the past one year leading to the March general elections. Upon the announcement of the election results, there was largely a cheer of exhilaration among the rakyat who decided it was time for a change in the state of the country’s political affairs.

But within several months after that, many were once again disillusioned like never before when they found that their hopes were perhaps illusive.

With this background in mind, the Revolution of Hope (RoH Malaysia) organised their annual Merdeka event on 10 and 11 October 2008. If last year’s theme was Merdeka 2007: A Revolution of Hope, this year’s event was themed Merdeka 2008: A Restoration of Hope.

RoH Malaysia is an ecumenical group of praxis-oriented theological and social scientific thinkers which aims to effect ripples of change among Christians, empowering them for creative theological reflection and greater societal involvement. The team consists of a mix of theologians and people trained in fields of the social sciences, lay people and clergy, researchers, grassroots activists and structural activists.

In this Merdeka 2008 event, the respective members of the team presented their analyses from a variety of perspectives. Beginning with the current Malaysian context, highlighting the hopes and challenges experienced by the nation, the team members then began to facilitate further thinking on the part of the participants by provoking reflection from theological, spiritual, pastoral and practical perspectives.

Participants were then divided into various groups – the corporate professionals, the NGO workers, pastors and church leaders, and youth – and led them through a thorough action planning process to contribute their little bits to the restoration of the nation. Because there is a praxis orientation in this gathering, the Merdeka events are usually deliberately preserved as small events. This year’s Merdeka 2008 had about 40 participants.

According to a number of the participants, two points highlighted in the event that most impressed them were, firstly, that our hope in the midst of social engagements must not rest on a false expectation of a this-worldly utopia. It is a hope that is cast far into the future, a Christian hope for the fullness of the reign of God to be actualised in this world order. The realisation of this historical event would be an inevitable and would be something worth hoping for when we embrace faith like little children.

Secondly, they were reminded that engagement in social concerns must not cause Christians to pander to negative rhetoric and verbal violence the way many anti-government bloggers and politicians are doing. The Christian community, in its social engagement, must always embody a way of mutual respect. In our endeavour to uphold justice and peace, our Christian values of respect for the dignity of our neighbours must not be compromised.

RoH Malaysia is committed to a non-partisan position in its political stance. As a team, they neither stand in support of nor against any political party in Malaysia. Their utmost concern reflects the concern of the Body of Christ: justice and peace. As they seek to uphold the dignity of the marginalised in society, they are committed to articulating their concerns regarding relevant issues in accordance with the theological and ethical standards of the Church. That these articulations pertaining to any socio-political reality implicates upon particular political positions and parties does not at all or at any time reflect a spirit of political partisanship on their part.

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In conjunction with the 2nd memorial programme for the Late Ven. Dr K. Sri Dhammananda Nayaka Maha Thera, the Buddhist Maha Vihara has organised an Inter-religious forum entitled

Religion and Good Governance

Date: 22 August 2008

Time: 8.00pm

Venue: P.H. Hendry Hall, Kuala Lumpur

Panel of Speakers:
Mr Harcharand Singh representing the Sikh community
Dr Amir Farid Dato Ishak representing the Muslim community
Mr P. K. Moorthy representing the Hindu community
Dato' Dr Victor Wee representing the Buddhist community
Mr Sherman Kuek representing the Christian community

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For those of you way down south from where I am, I'll be giving a talk at the Department of Sociology (Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences) of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The talk will be held in November, and the topic will be on "A Critique of Modernity in Singapore from a Christian Perspective".

More details will be given nearer to the event.

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On 4 July 2008, a seminar entitled An Islamic Perspective on the Commitment to Inter-Religious Dialogue organised by the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies, was held in the premises of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) in Kuala Lumpur. Fr Michael Chua and Br Sherman Kuek of the Kuala Lumpur Archdiocesan Ministry of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs (AMEIA) were invited participants.

The distinguished scholar invited to be the presenter in the seminar was Dr Syed Farid Alatas, Associate Professor of Sociology in the National University of Singapore.

Dr Farid aptly began by noting the importance of dialogue for national integration and racial harmony. In other words, dialogue was a non-negotiable. He expressed a concern that dialogue had thus far been relegated to the mere exchange of theological ideas among scholars rather than being embodied as a joint effort to solve very practical issues facing a multi-racial society.

Using a host of historical examples, Dr Farid elaborated his insightful observation that the positive elements of modern civilisation found their roots in multi-cultural - and to be more precise, inter-religious - encounters. Such encounters were, in his assessment, focused on understanding and appreciating rather than converting “the other”.

At a very practical level, Dr Farid expressed his view that for such inter-religious encounters to take place authentically within Malaysia, the manner in which education took place had to be revised. The present education system, particularly its contents, caused polarisation more than giving rise to healthy dialogue. Since the way subjects were taught should propagate respect for various cultures, Dr Farid suggested that textbook contents should be changed. Should this effort be undertaken with utmost seriousness, he was quite confident that the next generation of people would be inherently dialogical in their view of inter-religious interactions.

The presenter was extremely and eloquently forthcoming with his views regarding the state of inter-religious dialogue in Malaysia. He commented that if real dialogue was actually taking place in Malaysia, the Muslims would be upholding the rights of Christians to, for example, erect crosses on their religious buildings instead of feeling threatened by such religious expressions. He emphatically stated that Muslims had a duty to help persons of other religions to solve their problems at a very practical level.

Listening to Dr Farid’s exposition on inter-religious dialogue from an Islamic perspective was extremely refreshing and hopeful. It is our hope that more Muslim scholars like him will rise up to reflect the spirit of Islam for what it really is - a religion of love and compassion.

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In an age where medical science has discovered an ability to tamper with the human life - to artificially create it, to prolong it, or to shorten it - the modern world is once again obliged to ask itself questions pertaining to life. With such newly discovered power which brings humanity towards an unprecedented potential as well as peril, we are once again confronted with questions such as these: What is existence? What is life? What is the meaning of life?

On 4 January at 4 pm, the International Medical University at Bukit Jalil gathered some 90 students, lecturers and guests before a panel of speakers representing various faith traditions to ponder over the meaning of life. I was asked to speak with the audience on the meaning of life from the Christian perspective. It was entirely intriguing to hear the other speakers presenting their perspectives on the meaning of life from the Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim perspectives. The way in which every speaker affirmed the inherent human search for meaning was heartwarming. At a level beyond our religious convictions, there was a sense of human connection and solidarity.

This inter-religious forum subsequently turned to questions of medical ethics pertaining to life issues. The panel of speakers was asked to address issues such as abortion, active and passive euthanasia, as well as DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) Orders. Once again, the solidarity demonstrated by the panel of speakers was amazing. There was such like-mindedness in the way the entire panel categorically affirmed the utter dignity and utter sanctity of the human life. The panel of speakers felt that the human life is to be preserved with a great sense of responsibility and at all cost insofar as medical science renders it possible. We all resonated with the notion that the termination of life, and even the termination of deliberate measures taken to preserve life, is morally wrong. There was also a consensus that one does not have a right to take away one’s own life or another’s life to alleviate temporal suffering, for beyond finding the meaning of suffering, part of the human quest is to also find meaning in suffering.

I think it is very crucial that the various faith traditions in a nation like Malaysia come together to seek points of common agreement whilst not having to sacrifice our own convictions and creeds. I believe it is no mere coincidence that when it comes to familiar human issues, most of these religions demonstrate very similar values and therefore responses; that life is a very precious gift.

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It surely is promising to be an exhausting month to start the year with. But I'm quite sure that by the end of it all, I'm going to be whispering, "It was all worth it". My schedule for this month is as follows:

Writing a Research Paper
“Prospects for Ecumenism in the 21st Century”
World Council of Churches

04 (Friday)
Speaking on "The Meaning of Life"
Inter-Cultural / Inter-Religious Forum
International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

06 (Sunday)
Preaching at Sunday Worship Service
Christian Life Gospel Centre, Petaling Jaya - Malaysia

12 (Saturday)
Academic Research & Personal Consultation
Singapore

18 (Friday)
Conversation Partner at "Conversation with F. LeRon Shults"
Jointly Organised by Friends in Conversation & RoH Malaysia
Bangsar Lutheran Church, Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia

Here are two particular events to look out for:

1. IMU INTERCULTURAL / INTERRELIGIOUS FORUM
The International Medical University has organised an Intercultural / Interreligious Forum on "The Meaning of Life". Each religious group will be represented by a speaker who will share on the meaning of life from his or her particular religious perspective.

I'm honoured to have been invited to represent the Christians in this Forum. But of course, I'm not sure all people who call themselves Christian would approach this issue from the same perspective. So it'll be my "Christian" perspective. But I'm sure it wouldn't be too far off from the official perspective of most ecclesiastical communities.

Date: 4 January 2008 (Friday)

Venue: International Medical University, Bukit Jalil

Hall: LT2

Time: 4pm - 6pm

I'm told that a large crowd is expected at this forum, as it's an issue close to many people's hearts. This event is open to the public, except that visitors are required to get a visitors' pass from the guard at the entrance.

2. CONVERSATION WITH F. LERON SHULTS
LeRon Shults is a professor of theology at Agder University in Kristiansand, Norway, who has authored numerous books.

Friends in Conversation (Emergent Malaysia) and Revolution of Hope (RoH Malaysia) are honoured to be having him here with us for a day to have conversations with us pertaining to issues of discipleship, church, and evangelism.

This promises to be one hell of an event! Ahem...

Date: 18 January 2008 (Friday)

Venue: Bangsar Lutheran Church, Kuala Lumpur

Tentative Schedule:
0930 - 1230 hours     Becoming Human: Changing Lives
1330 - 1600 hours     Becoming God's People: Changing Churches
2000 - 2130 hours     Becoming Friends: Changing Evangelism

LeRon will be flanked by a conversation partner in each of these three sessions, and I will be the conversation partner for the first of the three.

If you would like to have more details on this event, please send me an email.

To January!

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The following report (on the Merdeka 2007: A Revolution of Hope event held on 25 November 2007) is adapted and edited from Alwyn's weblog. Nobody does reports on events like he does. Thanks, Al! **hat tip**

It was a tiring Sunday afternoon. But Jojo, Sherman, Tricia, Veronica and Sivin gave the 34 of us folks more than a few things to ponder on at the first RoH public gathering, Merdeka 2007: A Revolution of Hope.

One theme which resounded strongly throughout was the reign of God as a world/other-redeeming project cum phenomenon which the church has unwittingly turned "on its head" into a post-world/self-focused endeavour.

According to Sivin, the church is the sign and instrument of the kingdom of God, i.e. the societal/communal expression and implementation of the fact that God so loved the world that He gave Himself for it.

When the world is the mission, as a methodological starting point, therefore, the world’s unchallenged diversity of contexts and disciplines must find its way into our theologising; hence, RoH’s emphasis on drawing upon the social sciences as dialogue partners with theology (the spiritual science?) The people’s disciplines is a key ingredient in constructing a theology for the people, with the people, by the people.

Sherman also made it clear that he did not believe there was any right or wrong way to do [this kind of] theological reflection. What he probably meant was that it wouldn’t help to limit theological reflection to only one absolute right way, as he did point out a wrong way: a theology without imagination (a fascinating area to look further into, surely).

God made and loved the world. We are called to impart true humanity to this world, fallen and craving to be all that it could have been. This impartation is one done via listening, discerning, understanding, imagining, recognising and embracing all that God has already done in every culture and people-group.

For example, Sherman shared about his Muslim friend many years back who stopped his daily prayer to answer his mother’s call. When Sherman asked why he did that, the reply was that his faith taught that heaven was at the mother's feet (syurga di telapak kaki ibu), an eye-opening albeit not uncontroversial Hadith. The point is that God has not left Himself without witness (Acts 14:17), not least in traditional folk wisdom and religion, and the act of discernment must learn to reap such glorious - if quiet - nuggets of His truth.

To use an awkward but obvious analogy, God has lazed the targets - are we locking on? A people’s theology is a contextual theology done from the ground up, beginning with experience, using all available resources by and/or with those who’s sweat and tears have fallen on it.

Perhaps this is the intellectual component of a willingness to suffer for a particular community. And presumably only a suffering theology can be a prophetic one?

Where there are people, there is politics. Sunday’s session had a huge plus-point over against the recent one in October (note: not RoH), where one (and unfortunately only one) message was clear i.e. that Christians should get involved. Tricia supplied the how. Her helpful clarification of the issues in Malaysian socio-politics served to more clearly conceptualise the players, the problems and the possible steps we could take (including the nurture of an active civil society - surely we’ll be hearing more in days to come).

It’s worth repeating Tricia’s remarks that, in response to the political situation:

* only a tenth of Malaysians would opt to march and protest;
* another third would leave the country; and
* the remaining 60% would do nothing, content in the bosom of government.

These rough statistics belie the goal of keeping government in fear of the people instead of vice-versa. I wonder, though, about people who are far from feeling content at their life’s lot, but can neither raise their fist against the country nor flee it . They can only hope.

Which brings us to what must be a RoH distinctive (over against other theologically reflective movements in Malaysia): a heart for the marginalised and voiceless communities, the poorest of the poor. I reckon no ROH session would be (or should be) complete without some light shed on the status of these people.

A sample of their stories was brought out by Veronica, whose jouney from rags-to-riches to enriching-the-ragged, was the sober highlight of the afternoon: women in their 50s’ protecting grandchildren from their abusive parents; 14-year-olds heading their parentless families; boys seeking out abandoned objects for sale; women etching out a living in the midst of mother- and widow-hood. Veronica herself lived through a time and place of bread lines and poverty which included low-rent accomodation in a haunted house.

According to Jojo, these are telltale signs that Malaysians and the church have largely abandoned the social contract. By this he meant more or less two things, in the context of Malaysia:

1. We must ensure that all people-groups in the country are afforded equal access to the basic necessities of life and the means of improving life, i.e. education, technology, etc.

2. We must uphold the sacredness of the Federal Constitution.

And why must we? Because, to put a covenantal spin on the whole thing, this is God’s arrangement for our country.

A people’s theology is a covenantal theology, one which calls us to be faithful to the deal we have been graciously given or the story we’re part of. This (Gospel) story, when told and lived and shared, is the vehicle of God’s restoration of our personhood.

Embodying change and sharing God’s tender and aggressively compassionate life is a crucial step in changing mindsets - this is the trumpet call of RoH, which seeks to help people realise their true humanity. For isn’t the virtue which never dies also the same one which always guards the needs of others? (1 Cor. 13:7-8)

A people’s theology is also a protective theology of the watchful love of God.

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7. An Afterword from My Participation in AMCU IV
Many Christians from my own tradition have an issue with ecumenism at both the levels of inter-faith dialogue and intra-faith dialogue. I am, however, unrepentantly and unapologetically ecumenical in my outlook. I thoroughly believe that it is possible for one to be ecumenical without having to compromise one’s position on the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Ecumenism is not about the disregard of our theological differences to a level of the lowest common denominator. For true unity to be achieved, it has to be attained within an environment where our differences are highlighted, honoured, and talked about.

Some people have an issue with how generous I’ve chosen to become in my embrace of the theological positions of other Christian traditions. I believe I have good reason for this. Firstly, I happen to believe (like a number of other evangelical thinkers) that my tradition has failed to examine itself critically and to reinvent itself. What was once a tradition arising from the Reformation now itself needs an internal reformation. And the last thing we need is another split from Mother Church. If anything, I believe that our own theological and spiritual deficit can find recovery only if we start paying some attention to the articulations of Mother Church before the Reformation occurred. Indeed, some say that this isn’t possible because there are corruptions in the pre-Reformation church (heck, anything pre-Reformation to them is heretic and corrupted); and this leads me to the second point: it’s appalling how we readily and conveniently compare other peoples’ worst with our best and thereafter engage in self-congratulatory affirmations, when all along our worst may have been worse than other peoples’ worst. And so, what I believe to be a healthy ecumenical spirit is to learn from the best of others and allow the worst of others to remind us of how grave our own worst is without first judging those others.

Ecumenism is very much an ecclesiological problem. And this, if I may say so, is the precise spot at which the Protestant Church finds its gravest weakness. Where in other traditions apart from the Protestant tradition do we find people saying “The church next door is more happening than ours, I think I’m going to go join them”, or “The worship and the sermons at the megachurch in town is more inspiring than ours, I think I’ll leave this church for that one”? It shows that we, the Protestant Christians, are rather unaware of what it means to be the church. It’s very telling of the state of our ecclesiology - if there is even one. And I think we would be deceiving ourselves to think that the solution to this can be found within our own tradition. If it’s worth finding a solution, one has to embrace an ecumenical outlook and be self-critical towards one’s own tradition.

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6. The Joint Statement
The nett result of the four-day seminar was the issuance of a joint statement issued by the three participating bodies, which will be disseminated to the relevant parties.

The Fourth seminar of the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU IV) was held on 11 to 14 June 2007 at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 24 participants, representing the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), and the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia (EFA), took part. Earlier AMCU seminars (Hong Kong, 1995; Bali, 1997; Chiang Mai, 2001) were jointly sponsored and organized by CCA and FABC. The participation by representatives of EFA in AMCU IV was the result of discussions carried out at the Asian chapter of the Global Christian Forum in Bangkok on 21-23 September 2006.

The theme of AMCU IV was “Our Common Witness in Contemporary Asia” and focused on the importance of Christians of all Churches and Christian communities to be united in responding to the social, political, and religious realities of Asia today. The participants shared their personal faith journeys and then examined the possibilities of joint Christian witness of faith in the context of the social challenges of injustice and discrimination and in the milieu of Asia’s religious and cultural plurality.

The participants agreed that Christian commitment must lead the Christian Churches in Asia to take a prophetic stand against any form of discrimination, such as that of caste, class, race, and gender, as being incompatible with the teaching of the Gospel. God’s message to humankind, as enunciated by the prophets and expressed in God’s word in Jesus Christ, affirms the equal human dignity of all people and condemns as sinful those human attitudes and deeds that oppress and discriminate among persons.

The common witness that Christians are called to make against patterns of oppression includes self-examination and self-criticism to become more aware of the ways in which sinful structures have also become engrained in the life of Christian communities in Asia. To be credible, Christians must oppose injustice and exploitation, not only when the victims are themselves Christian, but also in those instances where those who suffer discrimination are the followers of other religions or of no religion, and in cases where the perpetrators of injustice are fellow Christians. Christian witness, based on the Gospel imperative of loving service to others, must focus on the needs of the most vulnerable such as victims of natural calamities, oppressive regimes, and all forms of degradation of human life and should confront problems like global warming and other environmental concerns.

Faced with the multiplicity of religions in contemporary Asia, the participants of AMCU IV sought to define some elements of common Christian witness. Faith in Jesus Christ must be proclaimed in full respect for the beliefs and practices of others. Witness to Christian faith should never be carried out by putting down or denigrating the faith of others. Genuine Christian witness understands faith in Christ to be liberation from patterns of human sinfulness and which arises from a free and joyful response to God’s grace.

In the light of the various challenges facing the churches, the participants call upon the component bodies (CCA, FABC, and EFA) to address together the following concerns. One challenge is that of forming Christian youth in a commitment to build Christian unity. A second challenge is that of making our parish communities and pastors to be focal points for deeper involvement in the search for full visible Christian unity.

The three bodies can concretely promote Christian unity by getting to know one another better through mutual discussions and invitations to assemblies and plenary sessions, by engaging in joint projects such as the Asia Conference of Theological Students (ACTS) and the Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS), and by undertaking joint actions such as summer camps for Christian unity for young people. Mutual cooperation and activities at national and local levels are also to be strongly encouraged.

The participants expect to hold the next seminar for the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU V) in the middle of 2009.

Christian Conference of Asia
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences
Evangelical Fellowship of Asia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
14 June 2007

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5. The Paper I Presented (continued)

II. Suffering - the Most Distinct Challenge to Christianity in Asia
The church in Asia may interact with the challenge of suffering at three levels of engagements. The first level involves literary engagement through which the church writes about those various expressions of this reality, providing descriptions, analyses and theological responses towards them. The second level of engagement involves grassroots activism through which the church takes proactive measures to participate in the suffering of the people, and (where possible) attempting to contribute towards the alleviation of such suffering. The third level involves structural activism through which one seeks to effect systemic changes in socio-political structures.

Level One: Literary Engagement. Much writing has been done from within Asia in the last 50 years. A wealth of contextual writings has emerged from East Asia, South Asia, and South East Asia. But this endeavour still leaves much to be explored. For example, much of the contextual theological writings in Myanmar has been preoccupied with a particular social struggle, i.e. the role of women in society, and rightly so. But little has been written on the economic struggle of the people, i.e. poverty, which is by far the most rampant expression of the people’s suffering there.

Beyond that, many of these Asian writings also need to find a deeper sense of resonance from within the Great Tradition. Whilst it is right that most of these writings are spurred by their socio-political contexts, there is a wealth of articulations from the Great Tradition (referring to the synergistic contributions of Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism) which contains wisdom for these socio-political realities. An example of this is the rhetorics of John Chrysostom, the fourth century Bishop of Constantinople, in regard to the alleviation of poverty.

Furthermore, at this point of time, most of the Asian writings find their circulations within academic theological circles and have yet to infiltrate the level of grassroots Christians. The possible problem may be that of the language employed in these writings, which does not reflect the linguistic expression of the populace. It is perhaps important that the thinkers within the Asian church express their observations and theological responses in the language of the people (popular language).

There is also a sense in which we need to re-examine much of the theology we have received from our colonial missionaries. Whilst we appreciate the beauty of the gospel we have received from them, Christianity has come to Asia together with a seemingly inseparable Western cultural and theological expression. There is something of Protestant evangelical eschatology, for example, which contributes to our Asian Christian indifference towards socio-political realities. The dualism in which our faith is entrenched has likely given rise to this phenomenon of indifference towards social affairs in the present scheme of things. This calls for a re-examination, and if necessary, a revision of our eschatology in a way that is truer to the tradition of the church catholic.

Level Two: Grassroots Activism. Grassroots activism is an arena of social action which has yet to find the wide support of the Asian church authorities. Many organisations participating in the suffering of the people in Asia are either non-religious NGOs or Western mission agencies. There is little, if any, orchestrated grassroots activism at the ecclesiastical levels.

Perhaps the Asian church’s most apparent concerted effort was rendered observable in her response towards the catastrophe of the Asian Tsunami which occurred on 26 December 2004, one of the deadliest disasters in modern history. The earthquake and resulting tsunami affected many countries in Southeast Asia and beyond, including Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, the Maldives, Somalia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Seychelles and others, causing some 300,000 deaths. This event witnessed an orchestration of joint efforts and various local churches coming together to contribute to the restoration of demolished cities like Banda Aceh. Donations were sent through various organisations and voluntary relief workers from the local churches were also sent in batches.

However, the kind of help described above is sporadic in nature; hardly anyone from within the Asian church is now heard expressing concern for the forgotten effects of the tsunami. At the heart of the matter is a need for locally inspired and orchestrated efforts within the Asian church to participate in a redemptive work among the peoples of Asia in various concrete ways. These efforts should not merely be sporadic and ad hoc, but rather, sustained over a long-period of time. And more than that, sustained efforts should be orchestrated at an ecumenical level, for it is within such an ethos that power in unity can truly project the heart of the Christian gospel in concretely visible ways.

Level Three: Structural Activism. The Protestant tradition in Asia has perhaps not been entirely well-known for attempting to influence changes in political structures. Rather, much of such attempts has been attributed more to Roman Catholic endeavours, although this awareness is now becoming increasingly apparent in Protestant circles as well. Structural activism is commonly associated with the Liberation Theology movement, which refers to a family of theologies that treat the plight of the socially oppressed as a point of departure for their theology and praxis. Liberation theologies within Asia are sometimes held suspect by political entities because of the perceived employment of Marxist rhetorics in their constructions.

In highlighting some examples on how structural activism in the form of liberation theologies has affected the life of the Asian church, allow me to cite some examples from Singapore. In the 1970s, Christian students at the local universities in Singapore activated, among themselves, action for the cause of social justice despite their awareness of the impending dangers of doing so. They sought to support the cause of the working class in their struggle against poverty, injustice in income distribution, and political oppression. The state was being criticised as utilitarian and meritocratic such that materialism and selfishness had become ingrained in the psyche of the people, whilst the interests of the underprivileged continued to be ignored. English language classes were conducted for Chinese-educated industrial workers and used as a platform for arousing their awareness towards the need for social justice. By this point, suppression by the authorities had infiltrated the student movement efforts. Spies were sent into student groups, leaders were questioned by the internal security branch, and foreign workers who were deemed threats to social stability were deported. In 1976, a Parliamentary directive was issued for the student union of the University of Singapore to be directly accountable to the education minister.

On 21 May 1987, sixteen young professionals in Singapore were detained for allegedly having been involved in a Marxist conspiracy; a second arrest brought the figure to twenty two persons. The alleged leader was a prominent participant in several Catholic Church groups including the Justice and Peace Commission, Vincent Cheng. This event was deemed to be connected to the prior student movement in that the government claimed that Tan Wah Piow, the student leader from the 1970s and who was now based in London, was the mastermind of the conspiracy. The activists were said to have infiltrated the community with Marxist ideas through bible study classes, religious group meetings, and religious publications (much of which, in the opinion of the government, had little to do with religion). An aggregate of twenty two Singaporeans were eventually arrested consisting of human rights lawyers, church activists, and theatre producers. In August 1987, in allusion to this event during the National Day message, Lee Kuan Yew heightened the public’s awareness of the necessity of avoiding the intertwining of religion and politics. The role of religious communities in Singapore, he added, was confined to the practice of charity and community services. Religious clergy were warned to “take of [their] clerical robes before [they took] on anything economic or political”.

In December 1987, the Christian Conference of Asia (at that time based in Singapore) was expelled from Singapore upon having been charged with several accusations, one of which was the insertion of articles on liberation theology in their monthly publication. Later on, Lee Kuan Yew specifically emphasised that the ideas of liberation theology should not be allowed to translate into action in Singapore.

These examples are cited to highlight the reality of structural activism – it entails a high price, a cost to be borne by the Christian community within a nation. It is perhaps this reality that intimidates the Christian community, thereby causing the church in Asia to pander to a state of political passivism. At the most critical moments, official statements are issued by the church and circulated with little or no impact upon the structural realities of the societal government. This has been most apparent in Malaysia in the recent case of Azlina Jailani, a Muslim girl who became Christian at the age of 26 and subsequently changed her name to Lina Joy. In 1999, she managed to change her name in her identity card, but her religion remained stated as Islam. In a majority verdict delivered on 30 May 2007, the Federal Court rejected her appeal for the religious status to be changed. The various ecclesiastical authorities of the church in Malaysia have issued statements in response to this verdict which is deemed to have violated the right of religious freedom of the Malaysian people. But that is as far as the church can go, for to further engage in structural activism would entail a cost perhaps beyond that which we are ready to face.

III. Concluding Remarks - The Suffering Church
The church in Asia does not – and cannot – exist in an illusive Christendom which has never constituted a part of her historical reality, functioning as if she were the centre of reference for the regulation of the Asian society. She exists amidst a plethora of social realities, much of which brings deep suffering to the Asian people. And to these realities, she must respond.

This response needs to be well thought through, well executed, and expressed in a spirit of unity with the church catholic in Asia. This must be how we pray with the rest of the saints – in ages past, in the present, and in time to come – “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. Then truly will the gospel be a gospel for the Asian people and the Christ of the church be truly understood as the liberator of the suffering people of Asia.

Could it be that we in Asia are called to be the suffering church?

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5. The Paper I Presented
My paper has been published on the Union of Catholic Asian News as follows:

ASIA UCAN Document - 'Living Our Faith in Asia's Social Context'
KUALA LUMPUR (UCAN) - Christians in Asia should not be surprised that part of their calling is to suffer, says Sherman YL Kuek, an adjunct lecturer in systematic and contextual theology at Seminari Theoloji Malaysia.

Kuek shared this insight in a paper he presented on behalf of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) during the fourth seminar of the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU IV), held June 12-14 in Kuala Lumpur.

Besides the CCA, the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia (EFA) and the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference (FABC) also took part in AMCU IV.

Kuek's main interests are contextual theological methodologies and the recovery of the "Great Tradition" in the theological thought of the Christian community. He also promotes ecumenism in his travels to speak with Christians of various backgrounds and traditions. He says this helps him to reflect on faith, life, and culture in a profoundly theological and yet simple way.

Besides those involvements, he is currently writing a doctoral thesis on contextual theology with Trinity Theological College in Singapore, and he regularly adds new material to his own blog (www.ShermanKuek.net).

The full text of Kuek's paper at AMCU IV follows:

LIVING OUR FAITH IN ASIA’S SOCIAL CONTEXT
Sherman YL Kuek, OSL

[A brief paper presented on behalf of the Christian Conference of Asia at the fourth seminar of the Asian Movement for Christian Unity held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 11 to 14 June 2007]

I. Suffering - the Most Distinct Social Attribute of Asia
Asia is probably the most difficult area of the world to make generalisations about. It is fraught with a series of diverse realities which the Christian church has to constantly grapple with. 1) Asia experiences economic diversity. The polarity of this economic diversity is incredibly broad, ranging from the poverty of Bangladesh (one of the poorest nations in the world) to the wealth of Japan (one of the economically most affluent nations in the world). The majority of the economies are linked to those of the developed world, particularly the West, in a relationship of dependence. 2) Asia experiences political diversity, for within it we find socialist regimes, monarchies and liberal parliamentary democracies. One important trait of Asian politics (which frequently remains little understood by Western political entities) is that the masses of Asia are generally excluded from the decision-making process of society. 3) Asia experiences cultural and religious diversity. Religion is indelibly entrenched within the life and history of Asia. Asia constitutes the homeland of the great religions of the world - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. Other religions such as Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism and various less prominent religions also find their birth in Asia.

In attempting a more detail delineation of these various diversities within the social context of Asia, one finds a most distinct attribute of Asia’s social context - suffering. Suffering is inescapably innate within each of the Asian social dimensions identified above. 1) Asia experiences economic suffering. More than 85 percent of Asians are said to be suffering from poverty and oppression of some kind. Within the economic arena, the gap between the rich and the poor is ever escalating rather than decreasing. 2) Asia experiences political suffering. Countries such as North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia have all experienced suffering in the form of wars. Japan has constituted both a source of suffering (particular through the World War II) and a recipient of suffering (for example, through the loss of two major cities from being wiped out by atomic weapons during the World War II). 3) Asia experiences religious suffering. Countless Christians in Asia, for example, are suffering for their faith. In China, underground seminaries train their pastors methods of withstanding persecution in the event that they get arrested. In Muslim-dominated countries, evangelism and conversion are deemed punishable by execution. In such countries, non-Muslims (or dhimis, to apply the traditional designation) are accorded nothing more than a mere second-class status.

(To be continued...)

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4. Some Personal Observations of People at AMCU IV
The people were interesting. They came from various nations, Asian and Western. India was rather over-represented, strangely. Thus, at times, what was supposed to be an Asian discussion became a sole discussion on the Indian context. Having said that, I have some concrete comments on my observations of these friends I met at AMCU IV, most of whom I’d met for the first time (and hopefully not the last).

a. On the “Thereness” of the People. One observation that struck me about many of the Roman Catholic archbishops, bishops and priests, as well as the Orthodox monk and priest who were present at this seminar, was how “unbusy” they were. They didn’t look like they were in a rush to move around or entertain phone calls on their mobile phones. They seemed truly present, unlike many other Protestant gatherings I’ve attended wherein I met ministers who were physically present but seemed very anxious to leave because of family- or ministry-related issues. This latter observation can sometimes be true of me too. But these ministers I met at the AMCU IV seminar and some other ecumenical meetings, they were there. And their physical, emotional, and mental presence was very telling.

They were so present and so accessible that I even had an opportunity to have an engaging conversation, personally, with the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur. Over lunch, he asked me, "What is the position of the Protestant Church in Malaysia on interfaith dialogue?" Answering honestly was at best a painful necessity. I simply had to say, "Honestly, I don't think we have a unified position on this (or on anything else, for that matter). Even if we did, it wouldn't be visible at the lower levels of our ecclesiastical hierarchies. And for some, interfaith engagements is about 'converting them all'!"

b. On Their Concern for Christian Unity. There was a stark absence of representation from Protestant denominational leadership. Daniel rants here about this rather embarassing situation wherein the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church sent their highest level ecclesiastical leaders, whereas small fries like us had to represent the Protestant Church where our denominational leaders were nowhere to be seen. The Roman Catholic and Orthodox concern for such matters as Christian unity (or disunity) has made a deep impression on me. And it somewhat alarms me that the same cannot be said about the stream of Christianity to which I belong.

It is strange how our Protestant denomination leaders don't seem to see anything promising in the spirit of ecumenism. Okay, they may be concerned about it - but I've not yet seen it thus far. Yet I deem it too crucial an issue to be dismissed, perhaps because of how it has impacted me so deeply. My ecumenical journey has very much affected the way I have come to view things and express my spirituality. Just one simple example of this is the whole arena of dialogue. Dialogue takes place at two levels: i) with people of other Christian traditions, and ii) with people of other faith traditions.

My dialogue with people of other Christian traditions has created an awareness within myself of the poverty of the spirituality I've lived with all these years. My eyes have been opened to many things I previously didn't even know I didn't know. It prompts me of the urgency of growing beyond myself towards a more holistic appreciation of the Christian faith - not just my own tradition, but the Great Tradition comprising of the synergistic contributions of all the traditions.

My dialogue with people of other faith traditions provokes an awareness within me of what Pope John Paul II called "the scandal of a divided Christianity". It prompts me of the urgency for a visible unity within the church of Jesus Christ. And it reminds me that I constitute a part of this sad disunity.

c. On the Representation of the Delegation. By and large, the representation at the seminar was still Western-dominated. Even if the delegation was Asian in ethnic representation, the theology and the worldview was very Western by virtue of the delegates' theological training in the Western context.

Also, there were only two representations from the Oriental Orthodox Church amidst over 25 voices; this was unfortunate. As a result of the under-representation of the Orthodox voice, the dominant assumption was still one of ethical and virtuous qualities rather than an ontological one (which is fundamentally the underlying concern of Orthodoxy). In other words, for the Western-minded Roman Catholics, Protestants and Evangelicals, the bigger issue pertained to doing, i.e. what we do and how we do it. The Orthodox people, on the contrary, see being as the more pertinent issue, i.e. who we are and whose we are.

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3. Some Personal Reflections from Discussions at AMCU IV
Much was discussed during the AMCU IV seminar. Here are some personal reflections I emerged with throughout the discussions. I shared some of these thoughts with the participants during the discussions too.

a. On Life Stories. It was nice to hear the life stories of prominent ecclesiastical leaders - priests, bishops, archbishops, metropolitans - being told from their own verbal testimonies. Listening to how their life experiences had eventually led them to where they stand today in their faith journeys and ecclesiastical statures. Their life stories strip them of the coldness of their titles and the grandeur of their attires.

This reminds me that anything perceived from a distance - including other religious convictions - breeds and perpetuates suspicion and hostility. But when personalities are attached to these convictions, layers of bias are shed. In Martin Buber's language, the endeavour to know "the other" opens windows to a true(r) knowing of "the Other".

b. On Listening. Now more than ever, I'm convinced of the importance of listening. We are often quick to argue and present our case and points of argument, but much of what others have to say in a dialogue is deemed irrelevant, or at best, boring. Basically, only what we have to say is deemed necessary. When others share their stories, we walk away from potential boredom without realising what we are missing.

We lose out because we drown in our own spiritual poverty. We lose out because we remain dull and deaf to the world's cry for a visible embodiment of humility. We lose out because we remain blind to the need for more listeners in a world which has a story - many stories - to tell, in a world which is itself a story.

I'm not talking about agreeing. I'm talking about listening. When will we learn that there is a difference between agreeing and listening? How authentic and genuine (and legitimate) are our disagreements if these disagreements are based on our not having first listened? For many Christians, there is something about listening that intimidates them; that perhaps if they listened, they would be obliged to agree. But that isn't the point of listening.

c. On the Church's Indifference. When a church does not engage in the issues arising from her own socio-political contexts, the church becomes a stranger in her own country. It is not an issue of doctrines and orthodoxy of beliefs; it is an issue of contributing to the life of a suffering community. If she fails to walk this journey, she becomes a stranger to her own community.

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2. Memorable Quotes from AMCU IV
The following are some very memorable things I heard being mentioned at the seminar which I never want to forget:

"Our categories are never enough for the work of the Spirit."

Professor Francis X. D'Sa, S.J.,
Germany/India

"My faith experience has been characterised by the question of how to be a friend to anybody... it is the atmosphere of trust and intimacy that brings out the best in others. For me, friendship is the bottomline... The human in each of us is very, very important."

Archbishop Fernando Capalla,
Archbishop of Davao, Philippines
The Roman Catholic Church

"People of other faiths are not objects of our care and concern. They are mutual subjects on a journey towards God."

Archbishop Murphy Pakiam,
Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The Roman Catholic Church

"I think the right-wing Evangelicals have fallen prey to capitalism. Sometimes they behave as if capitalism is God itself... as if God was a capitalist. God is not a capitalist; he's not even a trade unionist!"

The Revd Richard Howell,
General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India and
Vice-Chairman of the World Evangelical Association

"Truth claims are a matter of belief. Outside the world of belief, they don't make sense."

Professor Francis X. D'Sa, S.J.,
Germany/India

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I have just returned from this three-day event held at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre in Kuala Lumpur. Over the next few days, I will be posting up a series of blog entries containing background information of the movement, my observations and reflections, reports of the proceedings of this event, official statements, and a paper which I presented there.

1. Background of the AMCU
The beginning of the Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU) can be traced to 1993 when the two Christian bodies in Asia – the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) – decided to set up the Asian Ecumenical Committee (AEC) to carry out joint programs, foster ecumenical relations at the national and local levels, and conscientize Christians of all churches to the importance of making visible the unity in Christ that already exists. Both bodies approved the setting up of such a committee at their respective assemblies in 1995 (FABC Plenary Assembly in Manila and CCA General Assembly in Colombo). The AEC therefore became a structure for implementing proposals to share information, cooperate on social issues and provide ecumenical formation.

In 1994, AMCU was conceived by the two bodies with the goal of promoting Christian unity by bringing together leaders, theologians, and ecumenical officers of the churches to study problems connected with Christian unity and to find ways to promote unity, at local, national and continental levels among Christ’s disciples in Asia.

The first AMCU seminar was held in 1996 in Hong Kong on the theme, “Making Visible Our Unity in Christ.” This was aimed at studying the theology of ecumenism, sharing vision of Christian unity, and building on what unites while overcoming what divides – all from their respective perspectives. That consultation led to a common search for practical ways to work for Christian unity in Asia and to planning a wide range of programs aimed at fostering Christian unity.

As part of their reflections on ecumenism, they have identified some obstacles to Christian unity in Asia, i.e. a long history of mutual indifference, prejudice, hostility, inadequate understanding of ecumenism, failure of the ecumenical movement to reach the grassroots, lack of structures to carry out initiatives, and unresolved doctrinal, moral and disciplinary issues.

The second AMCU seminar was held in Bali, Indonesia in 1998 with focus on “Ecumenical Teams and Ecumenical Formation.” It was aimed at preparing ecumenical teams who would give ecumenical formation course at local and national levels.

The third AMCU seminar was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2001 on the theme, “Giving Shape to a New Ecumenical Vision.” The theme echoed the desire of both bodies to enter into a process of prayer and discussion to explore the possibilities of new ecumenical structures and associations for promoting Christian unity.

The fourth AMCU seminar has just been concluded on 14 June 2007. The long gap between the third seminar and the fourth seminar is mainly due to the holding of the General and Plenary Assemblies of CCA and FABC, respectively, in 2005. Nevertheless, through these years, both CCA and FABC bodies have nurtured their relationship of cooperation by jointly holding some programs or through reciprocal invitations to their own programs.

Even as the two bodies, CCA and FABC, continue to work on their visible unity in Christ that they affirm, they have also been concerned about other Christian bodies with whom they do not have formal relations as yet. CCA and FABC have on their own made attempts to reach out to Evangelical and Pentecostal churches in Asia.

The Global Christian Forum (GCF) that was held in Hong Kong in May 2004 was one avenue in which representatives of member churches from CCA and FABC as well as Evangelical and Pentecostal churches met together. In that gathering, the three regional bodies (CCA, FABC and the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia or EFA) were given the responsibility of doing a follow-up in the region. Thus, the GCF in Asia was held in September 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand on the theme, “Affirming Our One Savior in Common Witness,” bringing together representatives from the three bodies.

One of the results of the GCF in Asia was for AMCU IV to be opened to EFA. Hence, this was an interesting development that the fourth seminar of the Asian Movement for Christian Unity had included Evangelical and Pentecostal churches under the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia.

The theme “Our Common Witness in Contemporary Asia” echoed the theme of the GCF in Asia (“Affirming Our One Savior in Common Witness”) while being conscious of our grounding in our regional context in Asia where we are called to witness to our one Saviour. Our context presents to us challenging realities in socio-economic, religious-spiritual and political-cultural dimensions. All these call for our response as Christians in Asia.

AMCU IV was well-represented. The meeting consisted of some 25 people. Representing the FABC were bishops, archbishops and Jesuit priests. Representing the CCA were their fulltime officials, an Oriental Orthodox monk and an Oriental Orthodox celibate priest, as well as academic theologians (this lucky guy managed to find his way in as well). Representing the EFA were just two of their officials, but it was a good start indeed.

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An excerpt from the website of the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA):

Preparations are on for the joint consultation "Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU)". The program is coordinated by Dr Hope Antone and will be held from June 11-14, 2007 at Archdiocesan Pastoral Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Around thirty participants representing Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), Federation of Asian Bishop's Conferences (FABC) and Evangelical Fellowship in Asia (EFA) will take part in the event.

Dr Hope reflects that the theme "Our Common Witness in Contemporary Asia" echoes the theme of the GCF in Asia ("Affirming Our One Savior in Common Witness") while being conscious of our grounding in our regional context in Asia where we are called to witness to our one Saviour. Our context presents to us challenging realities in socio-economic, religious-spiritual and political-cultural dimensions. All these call for our response as Christians in Asia. You may read more about this in the CCA website.

What is interesting about this forthcoming AMCU IV is the participation of friends from the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches under the EFA which reflects our hope for unity of the whole Christian family that we are all parts of the one body of Christ.

I'm slotted to represent the Christian Conference of Asia to share a brief paper on "Living Our Faith in Asia's Social Context". The very first problem in this consideration is the definition of Asia's social context itself, which is frightfully varied.

But this is, on all accounts, an effort worth making, for it concerns the unity of the church. A participation of such nature reflects one's desire to partake in the prayer of our Lord Jesus that those people who follow him "may be one".

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Sixth Asia Lausanne Conference on Evangelism 2006
"A New Heart for the Evangelization of Asia"

I'm back from the 5-day stint in Laguna, Philippines. It was splendid. I don't think I heard any cutting-edge papers being presented in this conference. It was merely a reiteration of the reality of Asia having the vast majority of unreached people groups, and the need for the reign of God to be proclaimed to these friends. And yet it was splendid.

It was splendid to see 150 key leaders of the Church in Asia (bishops, missiologists and Asian theologians, mission agency leaders, etc) representing 20 countries in this congregation. It was splendid to hear them sing and speak in different languages. It was a beautiful experience to watch the way in which deep generosity was expressed in the way we accepted the differences in one another's cultures and spiritual traditional expressions. This was most apparently exhibited when a pentecostal grassroots preacher was invited to speak before the audience which consisted of many theological academicians; the spirit of acceptance and forebearance was deeply moving. This was where the real beauty of the event lay; not so much in the tabling of academic missiological papers, but in the congregating of hearts and lives that find their existence and passion in the heartbeat of God.

The flight from Changi International Airport (Singapore) to Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Manila) took three hours. From the airport in Manila, a fleet of vans was present to transport us to the Caliraya Recreation Center in Lumban, Laguna, which took another three hours of travel. My bishop very kindly extended this invitation for me to participate in ALCOE VI with a flight ticket thrown in from his frequent flyer points. I was also sent to this event with my registration fee and lodging expenses fully paid by friends from my local faith community. I'm deeply grateful for such generosity.

This event, although being focused on evangelism, largely reflected the state of the evangelical tradition in Asia today (since it was a congregation of very prominent Asian church leaders). It has therefore provoked some very crucial reflections for me, which I will be blogging about in my new series called Evangelical Shifts. For obvious reasons, it wasn't appropriate to discuss some crises points of evangelicalism in a conference that was focused on evangelism. But this also means that further thought has to be put into these issues beyond ALCOE VI. There is much I will subsequently have to say in my new series of blog entries about the state of evangelicalism in Asia today. These thoughts were certainly provoked by my observations throughout ALCOE VI, but have no particular reference to and should not be taken to refer specifically to that event itself.

Photographs taken from this trip are posted here.

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