PENANG: When the parishioners of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit were invited to a musical drama by the youths of the parish on Dec 19, they expected just that — an evening of song and entertainment for Christmas.

These teenagers had spent a greater part of the school holidays being involved in a series of formation programmes in the church with talks, visits to an old folks’ home, the Spastic Centre, Eden Handicapped Centre and orphanages. In fact, Fr Fabian Dicom, assistant parish priest and main driver of the formation programmes had a prerequisite for those who wanted to take part in the musical drama — perfect attendance for all three days of the camp including a week of visits to the various organizations followed by a two-week period of prayer, reflection and of course practice for the drama.

And 37 youths found themselves in complete conformance to these conditions. Under the tutelage of Andre Ong and Christine Ho, the driving force and support behind so many of the youth formation programmes, these young adults found themselves immersed in the roles that they had to play. Ten minutes into the first act, there was a realization from the audience that this was no ordinary play acting — the youths were passionately reliving what they had seen, heard and experienced.

They touched on various aspects of social issues — the way migrant workers were treated, be they maids or menial workers in coffee shops. Nameless men and women who were treated like scum of the earth by so many who saw them as useless burdens to society.

Kevin Leong, 14, related how he felt about the foreign workers who had come here to work after listening to a talk about the problems these people faced in their daily lives.

“Most of them had done well in school with good grades but could not get jobs as they did not have the necessary connections,” said Kevin. “They had to borrow heavily to pay agents to bring them into the country with false promises of lucrative jobs. They were often left stranded after being cheated by these agents, without money, or long hours of work with very little pay. On top of that, they face harassment from locals and officials almost on a daily basis,” he recounted. “I really feel sorry for them,” said Kevin. “They are not wanted in their country or in this country.”

When Adrian Rene Oyog, 16, sat in his wheelchair, his face and limbs contorted with deep unintelligible noises coming from his mouth, it was difficult to believe that he was just play acting. In fact, Adrian was one of those who had spent time with the disabled people in the Eden Handicapped Centre.

“I was devastated when I first saw them,” said Adrian after the performance. “The autistics have the body of a ‘normal’ person but the brain of a child. The ones who have cerebral palsy don’t have control of what their bodies can or cannot do through no fault of their own.

They can’t go to normal schools although one of them did manage to get 3As in her exam and went on to university to get her Masters and is a lecturer now.”

“We should be patient and treat them like normal people with the same feelings like us,” continued Adrian.

The loneliness of the aged abandoned by their children in homes was perfectly portrayed and it tugged at the deepest emotion of all present. As Nicholas Choong, acting as an old man, pointed out to his dying woman friend when a group of carollers appeared, “Look, Ann, remember, isn’t this what we used to do when we were young?”

Benjamin Han, 16, who had spent some time in the Old Folks’ Home, related how the old men and women there did not want to let him go at the end of the day. Perhaps, in their loneliness they were reminiscing about their own children or grandchildren who seldom had time to visit them. “It was tiring and exhausting, but certainly fulfilling. I know that this is what God wanted me to do,” he said.

Even orphans are treated differently from others. Many of them were excluded from ‘normal’ society because of the stigma attached to their status. Vijayshankar Jason, 14 felt that spending time with the orphans was an eyeopening experience. “I feel so sad. I can go back to my home and family at the end of the day, but these children can’t,” lamented Vijay.

And what could be more fitting than to have Jesus (portrayed by Mark Reuben) appear at the end of each act to embrace and walk with these people that society had rejected or abandoned. “Truly, I say to you: whenever you did this to these little ones who are my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40. As those words rang out, tears flowed.

Fr Fabian, in reference to the parish’s Advent theme, ‘Room at the Inn,’ reminded everyone in his concluding speech of the Child who had no room but who gave all of us a room in His heart. “It is a privilege that in creating a space in our hearts for others, it has brought so much joy and satisfaction. It has given us love - and that is the true meaning of Christmas.” — By Elizabeth Simon