How we began..........

The beginning of the new century seems an appropriate time to take stock of our history in a country which was seen by our forefathers as a temporary stop. According to The Mar Thoma Church: A Malaysian Perspective, " there was no question of the chauvinistic malayalee permanently settling down in either the Indian cities or in Malaya or Singapore(p.5). And yet, settlement has very decidedly taken place, with some families having been here as long as 4 or 5 generations; the present generation, while acknowledging India as an ancestral homeland, undoubtedly feels that it belongs to this country.
While Marthomites have generally been thoroughly absorbed into the mainstream Malaysian society, there still remains a very strong sense of belonging to a small and unique community. Indeed 'community' is an important concept for the Marthomites in this country. As Vergis George has pointed out, the "Mar Thoma Syrian Church in Malaysia was started neither by missionaries nor by ordained priests. Rather it was through a group of early Marthomites who were employed here..." (Christianity in Malaysia: A Denominational History, p.220). Clearly the urge to congregate as a community has always been strong. For the Marthomites in Malaya, this need was expressed as a spiritual desire for the kind of worship they have been brought up with in Kerala. It was a need which remained strong, despite fluctuations in the Marthomite population despite uncertainty over the wisdom of settling here, even despite war and privation.

The beginnings of the Mar Thoma Church in Malaysia were small indeed. Until around 1930, there were only about 70 Syrian Christians in the whole of Malaya; the first was Mr. Isaac Benjamin, known as 'Ninan Inspector', followed in 1911 by Mr K.C. George. Mr George "laid the foundation for the Mar Thoma Church in Malaya" (The Mar Thoma Church, p.45) by actively encouraging the movement of Syrian Christians from Kerala to Malaya, in spite of the dangers posed by malaria, rampant this country at that time.

Initially, Mar Thoma services in Malaya generally took the form of prayer meetings in various homes, there being no Syrian Christian priests in the country. The 1920s, however, saw the beginnings of something more organised, with "regular Sunday morning divine services at the Jubilee School, Klang ... Every first Sunday, services were conducted according to Mar Thoma Service Order" ( The Mar Thoma Church, p. 46). This service was begun in September 1 926. In 1 929. Marthomites in Kuala Lumpur began to hold Sunday services at the Penuel High School in Chow Kit Road, which was managed by Mr. K.G. Mathew.

In 1928, the Very Rev. V.P. Mammen visited from India; upon his return home from Malaya, he recommended that a Syrian Christian priest be sent there,to meet the desire of Marthomites to hold formal worship services in Malayalam. In 1932, Mar Thoma members in Klang, Kuala Lumpur, Banting and Kuala Selangor passed a resolution to request the Home Church to send a priest from India, who would be resident in Malaya for a few years.
There were doubts and some resistance - how, for example, could a priest perform an effective pastoral ministry, when his parish consisted of small, isolated pockets of members spread throughout the length and breadth of Malaya and Singapore?

The doubters had not reckoned with the energy, fervour, and spiritual commitment of Rev. T.N. Koshy, who arrived in Malaya from India in August 1936. He negotiated with existing churches in Malaya to use their premises for Mar Thoma services, and he travelled all over the country, to the detriment of his health, in order to help knit together this physically far-flung but spiritually close-knit community.

Those who had doubted the viability of creating a 'parish' out of this scattered community, had not reckoned on the steady growth of the population. While most Syrian Christians still thought of Malaya as a temporary shelter, there were signs of increasing commitment to this country; one of the most important was the purcnhase of a piece of land in Kuala Lumpur, on which to construct a church. What is significant is that the land was bought during the Japanese occupation - surely a time when most people with ties to other lands were questioning whether they wanted to remain in this war-ravaged land.

This commitment proved to be well founded, for after the war, the number of migrants from Kerala increased. Another priest was now necessary, to assist the over-worked Rev. Koshy; this need was filled by Mr. (later Rev.) V.E. Thomas, who was already in Singapore and was employed as a Teacher; he went to India to be ordained as a priest in1947, and returned to Malaya.

Soon after that, the steadily increasing population necessitated the services of a third priest, Rev. P.C. John. There was now a large enough population, that each priest was put in charge of a few parishes within a specific region. By 1982, things had progressed to the point where the formerly united Diocese of Malaysia and Singapore was allowed to function as two separate, administratively and financially autonomous zones, namely the Malaysian Zone and the Singapore Zone.

There was now no looking back for the Mar Thoma community in Malaya and Singapore. In the period 1952 - 1953, Mar Thoma church buildings were erected in Kuala Lumpur, Klang and Singapore,reflecting the needs of an ever-increasing population that was also increasingly committed to settling permanently in this country. Gradually 'own church buildings' were constructed at Johor Bahru, Kluang, Labis, Melaka, Banting, the latest addition being Sungai Petani in Kedah.The end of the war, as well as the events of May 13, 1969, caused many people, primarily those still unsure of their position here, to go back to India. But by and large, those who had come to Malaya chose to stay. This was reflected in the increasing number of activities organised by the Mar Thoma Church - the Evangelistic Association, Sunday School, Sevika Sangham (Ladies Association), Youth Fellowship, annual Youth Camps, Adult Fellowship, annual Adult Fellowship Workshops, Mission Centre, Day Care Centre, and so on.

Rev. T.N. Koshy was made the Vicar General for Malaya in 1958 in recognition of the valuable services he rendered in encouraging and fostering the growth of the church in Malaya. In 1962, he was transferred to India.In recording these activities, we should certainly not forget the tireless priests who came from India and worked so hard to make these things happen; some names not yet mentioned are Rev V.A. George, Rev. P.K. Koshy, Rev. A. Abraham, Rev. P. Samuel, Rev. K.C. George, Rev. C.G. David, Rev. N.M. Cherian, Rev. P.V. Thomas, Rev. Kurian Thomas, Rev. J. Varughese, Rev. N.V. Korulla, Rev. N.S. Varughese, Rev. P.C. Joseph, Rev. P. Chacko, Rev. C.K. Varughese, Rev. M.C. Mathew, Rev. K.G. Koshy, Rev. V.T. John, Rev. Simon Behanan, Rev. K.G. Mathew, Rev. Abraham Chacko, Rev. K.V. Varkey, Rev. Easow Mathew, who have all returned to India. Currently only two priests from India are serving in Malaysia - they are Rev. K. Thomas (Vicar of Johor Bahru and other parishes in the south) and Rev. Samson M. Jacob (Vicar of Kuala Lumpur parish).

An important point is that although many Achens have come over from India, Malaysia and Singapore have also produced 'home-grown' priests. Rev. George Vergis, who was formerly an Inspector of Schools with the Malaysian Ministry of Education, accepted ordination upon retirement from government service. Achen is now retired. Rev. John Abraham of Singapore also accepted ordination, and served for two years in Malaysia before being transferred back to Singapore. Rev. Thomas Philips (a member of the Banting Parish) was ordained as Deacon on 5 January 1980 and as Kaseessa on 21 June 1980, and is currently serving as Vicar of Banting, Seremban and Melaka parishes. Rev. Mathew K. Punnoose (a member of Kluang parish) was ordained as Deacon on 26 January 1994, and as Kaseessa on 9 February1994. He is currently based in Klang as parish Vicar there, while also covering all parishes in the north.

From its small and rather tentative beginnings, the Mar Thoma Church has expanded remarkably. There are now parishes in Banting, Batu Pahat, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Klang, Kluang, Kota Baru, Kuala Lumpur, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Labis, Melaka, Muar, Penang, Seremban, Sungai Petani, and Taiping. It must not be forgotten however that parishes or centres of worship had existed in many other places, but were dissolved or amalgamated with other parishes as membership declined. These were: Alor Star, Bahau, Batang Berjuntai, Bukit Besi, Bukit Iban and Kuala Rompin, Cameron Highlands, Dublin Estate, Kuala Lipis, Layang Layang, Ladang Gadis Estate, Sepang, Sungei Tinggi and Segamat. Nowadays, however, the dissolving or amalgamation of a parish reflects migration within the country (away from agricultural and towards urban centres, perhaps) rather than a decrease in the population of Marthomites in the country as a whole.

As a community, we have undoubtedly done well for ourselves. But in our prosperity, we have not forgotten the church which is the centre of the community. As Vergis George notes with some pride, we "receive no financial help from outside sources. Our churches were built by the contributions of our members. All our current expenditure is met by the donations of our members and we are ever grateful to them" (p.227).

While the church is small, with a total membership of less than 2000, it is a strong binding force, centering Malaysian Marthomites both spiritually and culturally. It cannot be denied that traditions are perhaps no longer as pure as they once were - with so much of the younger generation unable to speak, read or write Malayalam, this loss of purity is inevitable. But this speaks also of the successful assimilation of Malayalee Malaysians into Malaysian society. In spite of this assimilation, however, the younger generation holds as best it can onto the traditions of its forefathers, and has survived nearly a century in a foreign country. The church needs people of clear vision to lead it into the future and we pray that God will show us the way and call forth men [and women] of integrity and vision".