St. Joseph The Worker's Feastday
Early this morning, about 40 parishioners, young and old, boarded a chartered bus to make a pilgrimage to Kuala Krai to St. Joseph's Chapel. We started about 8.30 am and reached our destination at about 9.45 am. A few families went in their cars. This was the first time after many years (5 years in fact) since the December 2014 floods (when the Chapel was flooded almost up to the ceiling) Mass was being celebrated here. Only about 3 - 4 families are staying in Kuala Krai, the families of Dr. Mary Abraham, Mr. Clarence and Mr. Jason Kam and one from Manik Urai.
The chapel has been renovated after the floods and is now available for mass and other activities.
Parishioners from Kota Bharu were introduced and later, treated to s sumptious lunch. Fr. Francis hopes that this pilgrimage will be an annual affair.
A Brief History of St. Joseph's Chapel
I have since learnt a bit of St. Joseph's Chapel's history. According to uncle Anthony Lee, he was born in Kuala Krai and his father, then a municipal clerk with the British Administration, had in fact drawn up the plan of the bungalow which is now the Chapel. The first owner was a Policeman who later sold it to a Dr. Hughes who later donated it to the Catholic church. Later, I found out from Mr. Michael Tang, who lived in Kuala Krai until he got married, that his father owned a dispensary which hired some British doctors to operate their clinic. His father rented the said bungalow to use as the doctor's quarters. Dr. Hughes later built his own clinic and donated it to the Church. According to my records, the Kuala Krai St. Joseph's Chapel was established in November 1961. Fr. Jean Caset MEP, stayed there as Priest in Residence from 1963 - 1973. (There was another parish priest in Kota Bharu -Fr. Robert Chan (1968-72) and Fr. Michel de Gigord (1973 - 78). There were two Parish councils at one time. In 1985 -86, during the time of Fr. Ben Nieukey, we had cordial meetings with the Parish Council of Kuala Krai. Initially, there were about 20 families in the parish, which later dwindled to the 3 families. Mr. Jerome Fernandez a former headmaster in Kuala Krai and once a PPC chairman has written a brief history of St. Joseph's Chapel.
(If any reader has any recollection or photos of St. Joseph's Chapel, Fr. Jean Caset , you are welcome to write to me: email jowang1953@gmail.com )
by Joseph Wang
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| The chartered bus that took us to Kuala Krai |
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| Passengers on the bus |
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| Group photo of The parishioners of Kelantan (Kota Bharu & Kuala Krai) |
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| The Statue of St. Joseph newly installed after the floods |
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| Fr. Francis Andrew celebrating the first Mass after the floods |
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| Some of the parishioners of Kuala Krai |
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| Mr. Jason Kam, whose father was a caretaker of the Chapel, was introduced to the congregatiopn |
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| Mr. Prismus, chairman of the POHD being introduced to the congregation |
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| A sumptious lunch was shared by all |
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