The terror of tigers overwhelmed the whole of Malaya in the 19th century. Father Mauduit had himself tackled these man-eating cats even till his last days at the Mission Station. These flesh-consuming beasts preyed on susceptible Chinese coolies who worked in fields which were fenced by the jungle walls. There was no telling what hid behind the trees, and the beasts were not selective about their next meal, whether they were Christians or not.
Father Perie here gives a most chilling account of an attack on one of his Christians.
"One Sunday, at about 10 o'clock in the day, one Christian came to me saying, 'Father, a tiger has eaten up Kam-ko-Pe.' I called for helpers with guns, axes and picks, and we went (to the scene). A man said that Kam-ko-Pe, while returning home from mass, passed in front of his pigsty and found that one of his pigs had disappeared. He shouted to his son in the house, 'A tiger has taken the pig.' And without telling anyone, he went with a big knife to the place where the tiger would have to pass to return to the forest. He was hoping to find the carcass of the pig. As soon as Kam-ko-Pe reached the woods, they heard a shout, and then a scream. The son heard and understood it all. 'My father is dead,' he said. The boy wanted to run to his father's aid but was restrained by the people.
"At the entrance of the forest, we fired our guns to frighten off the tiger. The hat of the poor Chinese attracted our eyes. It was there that the tiger took the man. It was eating the pig when it heard Kam-ko-Pe (approaching). And thirsting for blood, the tiger left the first victim to eat the man. After a few steps, we noticed some blood and a few pieces of clothing. So, we were sure of his death. Then we saw more blood and a bone with some flesh. Surely, the tiger was here. The fright was general among the hunters because everyone feared that the monster would jump at him. 'Kam-ko-Pe is here,' shouted one of my men. Indeed, next to the trunk of a tree, lying half devoured was the body of the unfortunate Christian, and it was difficult to recognise. Immediately, with some branches, we made a stretcher to carry the remains back for burial."
The Christians in the middle of the jungle lived in constant danger. If it was not the hoeys, it would have been the snake or the tiger that would cause hurt or even death. Sadly, there was still a more painful reality as far as the laws of the jungle was concerned - the life of a coolie was worth little. In one incident, a Christian coolie was carried off by a tiger. The monster, still clutching the poor soul in its jaws, leapt over a river and hid the body of its victim in some bushes. The Chief of Police for Bukit Timah came to know of the incident and forbade Father Perie to remove the body for burial...
"The chief of the police of Bukit Timah however forbade us to touch the body, wanting to hunt the tiger near the victim. (Despite) this) we found the body and carried it on branches to the church for burial. But the police stopped us. They wanted us to return the body to the forest where we found it. But I, the priest (of the parish), refused and sent my catechist to the Chief of Police, and the corpse went to church.
" The Chief of Police became very angry and was quite against me. I ordered the dead body to be put in front of the church, with the Christians in charge of watching over it. Soon I saw the Chief of Police coming with seven policemen. I was not afraid, but my Chinese friends were. I came down when the English policemen arrived at the door. I invited him (the Chief of Police) to my room. He accepted, and knowing of his love for brandy, I asked my servant to bring two glasses and a bottle of alcohol. I poured the cognac, and my visitor drank it quickly. I was saved. Politely, I told him that the law forbade the touching of the bodies of those killed by knives or suicide, but no one leaves the bodies of persons who had drowned in the water, and was not the law to apply in this case?
"The Englishman said, 'I understand, but had we killed the tiger, its skin had the value of one hundred dollars, and the newspaper would report this fact.' I gave him a glass of brandy and he was pleased with me. (Then) I asked if he would like to see the wounds of the poor victim, he agreed, and we came down. The Chinese who came to see were very anxious. They were happy to see the policemen leaving. They were afraid that I was going to be imprisoned. But now, the Chief of Police shook hands with me and left."
In colonial Singapore, only the "White Man" was worth anything, just as in other colonies of the time. Clearly, the Christian Church had a most important role in the lives of the ordinary Chinese in such countries.
Besides preaching the gospel, Father Perie found that he had to teach and show his flock that every one of them counted, and they were equally important and deserved a measure of dignity.
Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/tiger-tiger-tigers (extracted on 28 August 2016)
The priest who started a farm and rebuilt the church
Born in the year of the Chinese Revolution, Father Joachim Teng was ordained in 1937 and posted to St Francis Church, Malacca. He moved around in Malaya till the end of the war when he ended up in Taiping, his last post in Malaya, before arriving in Singapore in 1949.
In April that year, Father Teng stepped into St Joseph's, where he would remain for almost two decades. Almost immediately, he demonstrated his fierce tenacity and dogged determination to visit all the outposts attached to St Joseph's as well as to teach in the St Joseph's Sino-English School himself, for at least two hours daily, after the school's English-language teacher left. He had two classes of 50 boys and girls.
Father Teng then took on the gargantuan task of building a new church for his growing congregation. The old church could seat only up to 250 people. By 1950, many had to stand on the sides during mass. He built the new church himself, as he was his own contractor. This new edifice would seat four times more people than the old one. He actually supervised his own masons and carpenters.
Father Teng also started an annual fun-fair during the Feast Day to raise funds for his new church and various building projects. And in so doing, he started the annual Food and Fun Fair tradition which is still organised till this day. And before the cement of the new St Joseph's could dry, he started building the Catholics of his Mandai outstation their own church.
In the same spirit as his MEP (the missionary group Missions Etrangeres) predecessors, Father Teng was a true missionary in modern times. As he spoke the Teochew dialect well, he had no problem communicating with the people in the district. So, he started visiting families who had settled around the church. And they would walk up to his house and have a chat with him through the night after a hard day's work, just as it was during the days of Father Mauduit. No one should wonder why the years Father Teng sojourned at St Joseph's were also the period the parish reached the apex of its development.
Father Teng left on Jan 24, 1972, for St Stephen's Church in Salim Road where he would stay for the next 10 years before retiring. He also completed the building of this church. He died on Feb 13, 1994, at the age of 83 at Bethany Home (next to the then Little Sisters of the Poor) in Upper Thomson Road.
FRUIT FROM THE EARTH
One way in which Father Teng generated much needed revenue for his parish was to plant fruit trees in the church's compound. Fruits like durians and rambutans were sold and the income went to the maintenance of the parish.
Before the new church was built, Father Teng also kept goats and cattle on the church compound. And these livestock, while they were still around, had the freedom to roam about, even up to the steps of the church. St Joseph's was then an old rustic countryside church with a parish community of simple people. The cattle were transported down from Malaysia and were kept in front of the church where the big carpark is today.
From these livestock, Father Teng had milk which he sold or made into butter for sale. Unfortunately, though, this parish dairy-farm business did not last long. Father Simon Yim recalls very well the tragic end of this "Bull Story".
"Father Teng was nearly killed by the bull. The bull charged at him. (Fortunately, Father Teng was alerted when) the children shouted at him, (and he managed) to hold on to the bull by the horns. But the beast lifted him and threw him against the trunk of a coconut tree which left him unconscious. The bull then "went in for the kill" and charged at Father Teng (while he was still on the ground). The children (seeing the danger), shouted at Ah Soon (for help). Ah Soon (came quickly. Seeing the situation), he shouted the bull's name. It stopped in its tracks. And that saved Father Teng! Ah Soon was the one who fed the cattle daily and they recognised him."
Following this near-death event, Father Teng got rid of the cattle and goats. Besides, after the British pulled out, many soldiers who lived in Chestnut Drive had already left, reducing the demand for his dairy products.
Also, when health inspectors started surveying the area at this time, they found Father Teng's livestock and told him to remove the animals. Consequently, he gave his goats to the surrounding people, and some to the people of Mandai. He sold the cattle. There were six cows and a bull. Father Teng had wanted the herd to multiply for its milk, not its meat. And there ended Father Teng's "St Joseph's Farm".
A Chinese Christian marriage
During Father Perie's stay in Bukit Timah, the Christians of the hill multiplied, and many more marriages were solemnised, especially during feast days. Some of the girls of the Station were sent to Town to the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus. There, the nuns prepared the girls for baptism. And when they came of age, marriages were arranged for them to Christian men. In Town, the Sisters ran an orphanage, a school for the young girls from Town, a boarding house, a refuge for destitute women, as well as a hospital.
Father Perie was not just a mere minister in a marriage of his Christians, he was the loco parentis. It was a Chinese custom in those days that parents arranged marriages for their children, and the male party had to "pay" a wedding basket. In the Mission, there were many young men who had come from China to make a living, and were without a single relation. And as Father Perie became their paternal custodian, he was obliged to make the customary arrangements for the marriage, which included discussing...the wedding basket.
"When I wanted to marry (give into marriage) one of my Christian boys, I had to go to Town to ask for a convent girl, bringing with myself the young man. A Religious (nun) (would then) call a young girl. They would then talk and, after eight to 15 days of prayers and reflection, both gave or refused their consent to the superior in charge. The parents of the young man and I would then have to decide what to give for the wedding basket."
A Christian wedding in Bukit Timah, like all Chinese weddings, must include the customary Chinese dinner...
"The wedding day is always a big feast day for Chinese pagans or Christians. All the parents and friends would be invited, and I have seen tables for 150 people. If they have many invited, they would be considered 'high class' and would have more friends. At the wedding dinner, everyone must give at least half a dollar. The men are always separated from the women. I was invited often to bless wedding dinners. There were no tables, nor chairs, nor benches, but some big square mats (were placed on the ground, taking the place of tables). On them were placed for each person two small sticks to eat the meat (chopsticks), a wooden spoon to drink the gravy and a cup to drink the rice alcohol or brandy. The food is placed on plates in the middle of the mats. All the meat is cut into small pieces. Taking turns, each would take a piece of meat and a spoonful of gravy and drink a cup of wine. They eat a lot of meat prepared with chilli; so hot that I was never able to eat any. At the end of the meal, they eat a bowl of rice. When I was invited, they prepared for me roasted meat and rice. After the meal, the pagan man takes his bride, holding her hands and presents her to the friends. They go around, saluting everyone. Then, the oldest one who knows how to write, takes a big piece of paper to certify the wedding for the archive of the family. "
Christians, being the minority on the island, faced many difficulties. And this included finding a Christian partner for marriage. But more often than not, one of the partners would not be a Catholic, and this created many problems for Father Perie. This cannot be more clearly illustrated than when one of his catechists chose a non-Christian girl to be his life partner. Father Perie instructed and baptised her. A great number of the Chinese pagans packed the church on the wedding day.
"The church was full. I gave a good sermon on marriage and they listened well. After the mass, I blessed all the mats for dinner. In the evening, the 12-year-old sister of the bride, Gek-Mio, who had followed the catechism of her sister, wanted to remain with her and to be baptised. The father, who was a strong pagan, was furious. I talked to him, telling him that I did not push his daughter to do so, (but at the same time reminding him that) she was already 12, and has the freedom to decide what she wanted to do with her life, according to English law. The father later died a pagan, and Gek-Mio became a fervent Christian, and a good mother..."
