Residents of Catholic home surmount loneliness, old age with poignant Christmas celebration

THERE are no loud carols sung here nor boisterous greetings of Christmas.

For the 64 inhouse residents of the Little Sisters of the Poor Home for the Elderly in Penang, the festive occasion showers its warmth upon them in its own unique way.

The traditional Christmas eve mass held yesterday may have seemed slow and subdued, but it was no less poignant, and the air of holy observance was certainly not lost.

It was presided by the octogenarian Father Robin Andrews, who is also a resident of the home.

The 86-year-old recited prayers using a walker.

The majority of the attendees came with walking sticks and walkers as well as wheel chairs for the brief yet meaningful prayer gathering in the home's chapel.

The Vibes was given access to the home for the aged during the Christmas season by Mother Superior Moira Wong Mei Wan.

The average age of the residents here is 70. The oldest is 93 and has lived at the home for the past 33 years.

The home has employed special assistants from Sabah to care for these individuals.

The nuns at this Catholic institution, located at Batu Lanchang in Penang, are now down to less than ten. One of them is 103 years old, and several others are also ageing.

They need help from fellow nuns from other countries.

However, the home’s management has encountered some technical hiccups with the immigration authorities in bringing foreign nuns in.

They also need to constantly renew their work or visitor visas.

Christopher Kushi, the legal adviser to Roman Catholic cardinal Rev Datuk Seri Sebastian Francis, is hoping that the authorities can help the home to allow the entry of foreign nuns.

The dedicated nuns can help the home to care for the senior citizens.

As it is, their services would be invaluable, especially as Malaysia is on the way to becoming an ageing nation by 2030, he said.

The sisters are part of the Little Sisters of the Poor Mission, which is an international movement of Roman Catholic religious women founded in 1839 by Saint Jeanne Jugan.

Together with a diverse network of collaborators, the nuns serve the elderly poor in over 30 countries around the world.

The order is specially trained to handle the plight of the aged, in particular those who do not have families or friends to care for them.

Wong said that the home is coping relatively well, but they can do with more volunteers and donations to ensure that the best care can be offered to the aged.

It is usually during festive occasions that the residents particularly feel lonely, Wong noted.

Many of the residents are single or widowed with limited network of family or friends to offer company during the festive period.

So, the management appreciates efforts by churches and other charity organisations to render help.

Among the few guests present was Bernard Lim Peng Aun, who is living up to his late philanthropist father Peter Lim's legacy of offering annual donations and help for the aged.

"Our family has donated thousands over the years courtesy of my father Peter. We have to live up to his legacy of helping them," said Bernard. – The Vibes, December 25, 2023