Christmas musings

In less than a week's time, Malaysian Christians are going to celebrate the 2009th anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, their Saviour who brought them promise and hope for salvation and redemption.

I am not a Christian, but like many old timers, I too was educated in a mission school, specifically St Joseph's Secondary School in Kuching, Sarawak.

The La Salle Brothers there from Ireland laid a solid foundation in the English language in me for life, motivated me to aim for excellence in all my endeavours, and opened my eyes to the vision of ultimate concern.

You could say that studying in a mission school was a life-changing experience.

Unfortunately, after independence, these mission schools were slowly integrated into the Malaysian national education system, and the fine schools that educated people like me no longer exist.

According to the 2009 census, Christians made up 9.1% of the total population in Malaysia. Most of the Malaysian Christians are to be found in the Eastern states of Sarawak and Sabah.

In fact, the Christian population stands at 47 percent of Sarawak's total population, making Sarawak the state with the greatest number of Christians in Malaysia.

The major Christian denominations in Malaysia include the Anglicans, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Non-denominational churches, and independent Charismatic churches, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians.

Wikipedia has the following account of the history of Christianity in Malaysia:

"Early Christian presence in the Malay Archipelago may be traced to Nestorians from as early as the 7th century and to Persian and Nestorian traders in Malacca prior to the Portuguese conquest in 1511.

"The British acquired Penang in 1786, and in 1795 took over Malacca, which had been conquered by the Dutch in 1641.

" Catholic priests from Thailand established the Major Seminary in Penang in 1810. The LMS was based in Malacca and Penang from 1815, but most Protestant missions collapsed after 1842 when it became possible to enter China.

"Catholic leadership remained, but was divided between Portuguese and French. The old Presbyterian ministry dates from 1860 and Methodist from 1885. Presbyterianism grew through Chinese churches in Johor and expatriate congregations in Penang, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

Mission to the Sengoi indigenous people began in 1932. Pentecostalism became a larger influence through the Charismatic Movement of the 1970s, but North American and Ceylonese Pentecostal missionaries had been active from 1935.

"Migration was an important factor in church growth. In Sabah, the Basel Mission began work among migrant Hakka Chinese in 1882, many of whom were Christian.

"Tamil migrants to Malaya included Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, and Methodists. Chinese emigration increased after the Boxer Rebellion, particularly to Sitiawan and Sibu, still strong Chinese Methodist centres.

Long and complex history

The Mar Thoma and Syrian Orthodox Churches were established in the 1930s following emigration from the Kerala Coast of India.

"In Sarawak, the rule of Rajah Brooke included support for an Anglican ministry from 1847 and Catholics were later admitted.

"In 1928 the Australian Borneo Evangelical Mission began work with modest resources which nevertheless resulted in the largest indigenous church in Malaysia today, the Borneo Evangelical Church."

Though there will be those Malaysians who know little about Christianity, and think that all Christians are the same, the Christian community in Malaysia has a complex and long history in this country.

Despite the fact that Islam is the official religion in Malaysia, religious freedom is still guaranteed by the Federal Constitution, and Christmas Day on Dec 25 is a public Holiday.

Nowadays, Christmas is pretty much a universal festival, and it is also celebrated where Christians do not form a majority.
Major exceptions - where Christmas is not a public holiday - include countries like China (except Hong Kong and Macau), Japan, Saudi Arab, Algeria, Thailand, Nepal, Turkey, and North Korea.

Christmas is a Christian and a religious festival, and Christians do celebrate it with prayers, special masses, special family meals, and in Malaysia, probably open houses hosted by Christians for their fellow Christians and people of other faiths.

Hollywood, crass commercialism stain

But in recent decades, there is another kind of Christmas celebrations inspired by the dream factories in Hollywood, often infused with pre-Christian pagan symbols such as Christmas trees, mistletoe, and even Father Christmas and Santa Claus, who were probably invented by the American Washington Irving and his fellow 19th century New Yorkers.

The commercialisation of Christmas celebration is plain for all to see in the cavernous shopping malls and hypermarkets, decked with the colours and symbols of this festival enticing potential customers to part with their hard earned cash to buy all kinds of gifts for their loved ones.

In the past, this festive season was always the busiest and most lucrative time of the year for the retail industry in Western economies, but this year I do not think theAmerican, Canadian, and European consumers are going in a mad rush for a shopping spree any time soon.

In the large cities and towns in Malaysia, restaurants and entertainment outlets are already advertising their Christmas Eve dinner and dance.

There is no shortage of takers for these special offers, even among non-Christian Malaysians, because Malaysians have come to expect Christmas to be a season for an orgy of feasting, drinking and making merry, to be continued on New Year Eve.

On Christmas Eve, thousands of boys and girls of all races will probably descend onto Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur, with all the paraphernalia for making a large colourful and noisy street party till the small hours of the morning.

The same process will be repeated on New Year Eve. Whatever the state of the economy, they are determined to have a good time at the end of the year.

I am sympathetic with those Christians who feel that crass commercialism and ribald capitalism have contaminated the religious meaning of the modern celebration of Christmas.

Every year, as I watch on TV images of wild celebrations of Christmas and New Year Eve in open street parties in the great cities of the world, I think of the millions in all those parts of the world ravaged by war, diseases, and hunger.

Then, the glaring contradictions of our human condition make me very sad.

We are a multiracial and multi-religious society. Although the Christians are a small minority in Malaysia, they can still celebrate Christmas as a public holiday, so things cannot be that bad.

In honour of the religious significance of this holiday, I will not discuss the political problems faced by our Christian brothers and sisters, for now.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!