On Christmas, long-awaited gift finally arrives for Kuala Langat Catholics

BANTING, Dec 25 — It was a moment that was 40 years in the making, but today, the Catholic community of Kuala Langat will celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ together in their brand-new church building.

Until last month, they had still gone to the Catholic Church of Fatima that was started in 1975 to serve the 11 Catholic families originally in the area.

Now, it is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul’s home to the congregation of worshippers that outgrew the small riverside bungalow that had served as the parish church.
The new Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Banting provides a bright, new setting for the faithful in Kuala Langat to attend mass.

A brightly-lit building with a soaring ceiling and fitted with the latest in audio-visual technology and air-conditioning for the comfort of up to 450 faithful at any given time, it is one of the more modern churches in the country.

Officially opened on November 24, enthusiasm among its parishioners for the new church is still effusive.

Cynthia Duraisingam, a regular at the church, calls it “the best Christmas gift ever, because we waited for a while to see this happen.”

The newly opened Church of Saints Peter and Paul is the best Christmas present for Kuala Langat's Catholic community, says church-goer Cynthia Duraisingam.

The journey from colonial bungalow to an entirely new church building was also no easy task, involving over four decades of saving and creativity to be able to afford the construction.

According to Ivan Alloysius Goonting, the chairman of the building committee, they ran the gamut of fund-raising activities in order to finance the new building.

These included car washes, brunch food sales, recycling projects, raising funds through pledge cards, Advent and Lenten Fast collections, and a “Run 2 Build” Jogathon.

“[Reverend Father Louis Guittat] was really good at planning and working out fund raising. He came up with all sorts of ideas, and he got a lot of things going,” said Goonting.

Guittat had administered the church for over 20 years before his passing in 2001.

The Frenchman, who spoke fluent Tamil, was responsible for carving out the Kuala Langat parish, which stretches from Dengkil to the holiday enclave of Morib, and practically all areas in between.

The growing congregation has had to attend weekly mass in limited space at the Catholic Church of Fatima over the past four decades, with many having to stand outside, rain or shine.

The Catholic Church of Fatima, also known as The Church by the River as it sits along the bank of Sungai Langat, had been converted out of an old colonial bungalow.

Guittat also set up a kindergarten for the children from poor families in the area, taking in as many as 120 students a year, though it eventually closed down in 2001 due to a lack of response from families in the surrounding neighbourhood.

The completion of the new Church of Saints Peter and Paul is a nod to the legacy left behind by former parish administrator Father Louis Guittat.

The parish continued to use the kindergarten as a community hall, before it was eventually demolished last year to make way for the new church building.

“There are four, maybe five generations of Catholics in the area. When the church started in 1975, there were 11 families. Now we have around 150 families in the congregation,” said 59-year-old Cynthia, who was born and raised in the area.

“Father Guittat was a real man of the people. There is a special place set aside for priests to be buried when they die, but he requested to be buried at the Sungai Sedu cemetery just near here.”

The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is the only church in the peninsula to have such a unique name in the peninsula, says parish administrator Father Peter Anthoney.

Current parish administrator Father Peter Anthoney said the plan for the new church building, which was completed in one year at the cost of RM3 million, would most likely not have come to being if not for Guittat.

“But the plan also had a lot of support from the local community, who put in their own money and also organised fund raisers and sent out appeal letters to other parishes... a lot of people have contributed to the dream,” Anthoney said, adding that his immediate predecessor, Father Lawrence Andrew, was also instrumental in getting the church’s construction going.

Though the new building may not be as close to the river as the previous church, Cynthia said the new name given by the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur could not be any more apt.

The new Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Banting provides a bright, new setting for the faithful in Kuala Langat to attend mass.

“The old church used to be called The Church by the River, and Peter and Paul were both fishermen, so it suits the new church building,” she said.

Anthoney also pointed out the uniqueness of the church’s new name.

“The name of the new church was given by the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. It’s the only church in the peninsula region that has the name, and they settled on it because both Peter and Paul are pillars of the church.”

Saints Peter and Paul are two of the most prominent figures of the New Testament.