By Alang Bendahara
SHAH ALAM, Dec 25 — Two years have passed since carols filled the air and streets at Christmas, as strict pandemic rules forced the singing synonymous with the celebration to go online in 2020.
Yet this year, despite the lifting and relaxation of most restrictions, carolling — which usually takes place from house to house before Christmas day and services at churches — will only happen in hybrid form.
In conjunction with the celebrations, Selangor Journal spoke with several pastors and church officials on what to expect this year.
Last year, when no activities or gatherings were allowed during Christmas, the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur’s Catholic Research Centre came up with the ‘Catholics At Home Podcast’ idea to bring the spirit of Christmas carolling online via Facebook and Youtube, straight to everyone’s homes.
“Given that the celebration of Christmas is still restricted but not as how it was last year, we wanted to keep the same spirit of bringing joy to the homes of many people who have in the past looked forward to carollers visiting their homes.
“Since we cannot go to their home physically, we thought we could do this virtually and try to recreate the spirit of Christmas carolling for everyone,” said the centre’s director, Reverend Father Dr Clarence Devadass.
Father Clarence added that for carolling this year, they will be joined by some talented local artistes like Mayabayu from Sabah, Brendan De Cruz, Russell Curtis, Pete Kallang from Sarawak, Juwita Suwito, Joy Victor and Daniel Soliano Guerzo.
Viewers can watch the carolling on the ‘Catholics At Home’ Facebook and YouTube channel.
Meanwhile, Church of the Divine Mercy Parish Priest Reverend Father Gerard Theraviam expects that there will be more excitement in their Christmas services in Shah Alam this time around.
“Last year wasn’t so good as we couldn’t even have the Christmas services and everything was online.
“As far as the church is concerned there is more excitement this year as there is the possibility for family members to meet and be together on Christmas, just like during Hari Raya.
“Also, they can go outstation to visit families and be reunited as Christmas is a family occasion.”
Father Gerard said this year, there will be some carolling but they will not be going from house to house.
Instead, carolling will only be done before the church’s Christmas service which will be held at one-third capacity in accordance with the standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“However, the church services will be carried out in hybrid form, physically and aired live on the church website and its social media account,” he said.
In accordance with the SOPs, the church will also advise those who come for the service to not mingle after it ends.
“This will dampen their spirit a bit and also affect the sense of community,” he said.
He also voiced his hope that the new Covid-19 variant Omicron will not force the closure of the Christmas service.
According to Wesley Methodist Church’s Reverend Gaurri Maniam, their Christmas service in Klang will also be done in a hybrid manner.
“However it will be a watereddown version of what we usually do during the pre-pandemic days. “We will not be able to hold dramas and skits,” she said.
Yet Reverend Gaurri is confident that all who come for their service will have their hearts filled with joy.
“For us, this service is a way for us to worship God, which is the main purpose for us to come to the church. So I am sure they will make room in their hearts to fill it with joy and happiness during the Christmas service,” she said.
She also advised those who want to attend to register early at their website as there are limited seats available due to the SOPs.
He said carolling is something all Christians look forward to as it brings fond memories to them.
“That is what we aspire to share with people in our show this year by creating a Christmas cheer in homes through music.
“Our two-hour long show will be called “O Holy Night — A Christmas Special” and it is on December 22 at 8pm.
Through our music and song, we want to bring the atmosphere of the holy night of Christmas to homes.
Father Clarence said last year the team which consisted of volunteers did it on a smaller scale and garnered more than 2,000 viewers during its live stream and later hit more than 9,000 views.
“We know others are doing different initiatives, but we are planning to make ours unique. Last year our project was to bring together Malaysia’s largest Catholic virtual choir and we succeeded in putting together nearly 500 people in a virtual choir. This year we are planning something unique too,” he said without letting out the surprise.
He did, however, say that families can request and dedicate songs to their loved ones for that event, especially to those they will not meet this Christmas.
“There are many people who are confined to their homes, especially the elderly. We want to reach out to them and many others whose lives have been disrupted by the pandemic — to put a ‘small’ Christmas smile on their faces and we hope we can do that.”
