Many Malaysians have been helping victims of the floods that devastated parts of Malaysia on Dec 18 and 19 following non-stop rain. Some people bravely waded through floodwaters to rescue victims while others brought food to them.
One week later, people are continuing to help; this time mostly by preparing and sending food, clothes and other basic necessities to victims, or assisting in the cleaning up.
I’ve already received WhatsApp messages asking me and others to now help the people in the east coast in cash or kind as the Pahang river’s water level was yesterday reported to be rising dangerously. I’m sure many will answer the call to give.
This giving is part of the Christmas spirit.
And there’ll be no shortage of Good Samaritans coming to the aid of those affected by the floods this Christmas season.
Christmas seems magical partly because of the tales of Santa Claus and flying reindeer and elves. Although only children believe in these, they are still very much a colourful part of Christmas.
One image that has become deeply associated with Christmas is that of the rotund Santa Claus. The accepted story of Santa Claus is rather interesting. It’s based on a bishop by the name of St Nicholas who lived in the third century in the town of Myra (in today’s Turkey) who helped poor women get married.
From what I’ve read, women had to give a dowry in order to get married in Europe in those days or they’d remain unmarried. Bishop Nicholas would secretly place money as a gift at the houses of poor people with marriageable age girls. It was the first Christmas gift, if you like.
He was canonised after his death and over time, certain things changed but his act of gift-giving became part of the Christmas tradition. How did St Nicholas become Santa Claus? It appears that English borrowed the Dutch word “Sinterklaas” (St Nicholas) and, in the process, it became Santa Claus.
I also read that the current look of Santa Claus – with his pot belly and red-and-white suit – owes its origins to a marketing gimmick by Coca-Cola in the 1930s.
During my school days, I had many friends. One group of friends included Raymond Edward, Jamil Ahmad, Simon Ong, Jeff Lee and MP Vijaysegaran. We used to hang out at each other’s houses. We called ourselves (don’t laugh) Les Gurus. Jamil, Simon and Raymond could play the guitar and we’d gather in my house or in one of their houses to sing and have a good time.
This was in the late sixties and early seventies when Woodstock had burst onto the world stage (1969) and hippie was a beautiful word to youngsters like us. It was a time of The Beatles, Deep Purple, Santana, Bee Gees, Creedence Clearwater Revival and the Rolling Stones; it was a time of Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, Lulu, Simon and Garfunkel, Dusty Springfield, Diana Ross, Cher, Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck.
Recently I caught up with Raymond and Simon at the wedding of Vijay’s daughter Myddily to R Kirenraj in Penang. It was a wonderful reunion. I hadn’t seen Raymond in a while and it was therefore pleasant to relive old memories.
I remember following Raymond to his church and also partaking in the activities at the youth centre of the All Saints (Anglican) Church in Taiping. I would attend Christmas Eve mass and together with those present repeat the prayers and sing hymns. It’ll end with a sip of wine.
One of my favourite hymns was, “When the saints go marching in” and I can still remember the first few lines.
One year, I even acted in the Nativity play at the church. I was one of the Magi, or three wise men, who travelled thousands of miles from “the east” to worship the child Jesus Christ. Raymond sang in the choir that year.
I would also go carolling with Raymond. It was great fun moving from house to house and singing and sharing in the joy. The carols included “O come all ye faithful”, “Mary’s Born Child”, “Go tell it on the mountain” and “Hark, the herald angels sing”. Of course, it was never complete without “Silent night, holy night” and “Jingle bells”.
No one cared that a Hindu was participating in a Nativity play or going carolling. The Christians were very welcoming, of course. Neither Raymond nor my other Christian friends tried to convert me.
We were friends. We were not Christians or Hindus or Muslims or whatever. Such thoughts never crossed our minds because the environment then was not toxic like it is today. As I recall, no one had hang-ups about their religion in those days.
My parents certainly had no objections. In fact, they encouraged me to make friends with everyone and were fine with me going to the church or gurdwara or mosque. Perhaps I’ll talk about that in another column.
On a few occasions, some of the friends I mentioned and I would join Raymond’s family for Christmas lunch.
However, we liked it best when Raymond’s parents were away outstation visiting someone or other. Why? Because it would be party time! Raymond would invite some friends over, place vinyl records on the turntable and we would dance and be merry.
The word “merry” has become so attached to “Christmas” that the two have become inseparable. Today we associate “merry” with being jovial or cheerful or festive. There was a time when it meant “pleasant” and some say “merry” had even been equated with “drunk”.
Over the years though, the greeting “Merry Christmas” came with “and a Happy New Year”. Could it be because people wanted to avoid sending greetings twice within a week?
Whatever it is, even though Christmas this year may not be merry for many Malaysians, particularly victims of floods, let’s pray that it is indeed a Happy New Year for all of us.
Merry Christmas everyone.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.