Remembered for his inspiration to the poor

‘No one can predict the hour or the day’, so it was most certainly a heart wrenching evening to receive the tragic news that at the young age of 56, Fr Phillips Muthu was no longer be with us.

Sep 23, 2016

Dear Editor,

‘No one can predict the hour or the day’, so it was most certainly a heart wrenching evening to receive the tragic news that at the young age of 56, Fr Phillips Muthu was no longer be with us.

Being tucked away in faraway Terengganu did not deter Fr Phillips from staying in touch with the archdiocese he served. His 'Facebook’ fan page attests to this. Shuttling as Parish Priest between the St Philip Minh Chapel in Kemaman, the Catholic Community in Dungun and the Catholic Mission in Kuala Terengganu, Fr Phillips always found time to entertain anyone who called on him. The locals knew, and more importantly, liked and respected him. He did not need long drawn out prayers, for he pastorally lived his life as a prayer. That was his obvious tipping point. Fr Phillips’ large shoes are obvious, his shoulders larger than life.

In Kemaman, where he died in community, Fr Phillips is so reverently remembered for his inspiration to the poor. A group of parishioners tell of his championing the Indonesian migrants, the needy and the Orang Asal communities in far-flung areas. Parishioners speak of his constant need to be active and his sudden disappearances to serve people who cried to him. He just stood up, and he showed up, like he did during the great East Coast Floods in 2014. He would often say, ‘The Church is not here, but out there’. Far from ending at the pulpit, his work within the community was a bigger grace that touched the people whom God sent his way.

Fr Phillips did not have a big cheque book at his disposal. He did not need a leather chair and an ornate office. He did not look for such things. He knew who Jesus was and he knew who he was. He did not clamour for the trappings that would cause him to be bogged down with materialism. He was as we saw him: what you see is what you get. He just wanted us to stand up and show up as people of God. He perhaps held things more in his heart than those he knew in his head, and it showed. This handsome man with grayish sideburns at his temples will be seen no more. But when we hold onto his love, we hold onto his alluring memory.

Dempsey Fernandez
Petaling Jaya

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