Ian Jenon Leslie and Alquin Frences Patres

by Stanley Lee

The young adults in our Cathedral originate from many different parts of Malaysia. In particular, a significant number of the young adults who are attending the Bahasa Malaysia and Iban services are migrants from Sabah and Sarawak who have settled in Kuala Lumpur for work and study opportunities. A few from the Iban service are soldiers who are posted to army camps that are located in Peninsula Malaysia.

There are also a minority of Sabahans and Sarawakians in our Cathedral who attend English-speaking services. Ian Jenon Leslie and Alquin Frences Patres are young adults from Sarawak who are currently members of the SMACC 2 service. Ian had been living in Kuala Lumpur since 2007, where he studied Aerospace Engineering in Universiti Putra Malaysia whereas Alquin came to Kuala Lumpur in 2014 to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Education from University of Malaya. Both are currently full-time workers in Kuala Lumpur.

Being strangers in a new city that is far away from home, many of them often encounter various challenges in adapting to the fast-paced lifestyle in Kuala Lumpur. Language and culture are common obstacles: the majority of Sabahans and Sarawakian converse mainly in Bahasa Malaysia. As such, they find it difficult to mingle with Christians in Peninsula Malaysia who are mainly English or Chinese-speaking. The lack of public transport at their accommodation and evening traffic jams make it difficult to get to church activities, especially on weekdays. Homesickness is also another struggle among them as many would only go back once or twice a year for Kaamatan, Hari Gawai, or Christmas. Living in a community who do not know Jesus, is also a struggle for them, as it is in stark contrast to the strong faith in Jesus among their families.

The Cathedral has been actively communicating with church leaders in Sabah and Sarawak to get connected and identify Christian young adults who are migrating to Kuala Lumpur. There are leadership courses and Bible classes that are organised in Bahasa Malaysia and Iban to enable Sabahan and Sarawakian young adults to increase their Bible knowledge and have a better understanding of their identity as Christians. Prayer meetings and social activities are also held regularly in church to build relationship and fellowship among the community of Christian young adults from Sabah and Sarawak.

For Ian and Alquin, our Cathedral has been a supportive church family for them in Peninsula Malaysia. Ian shared about the many opportunities he had been given to serve in the services and he able to learn about the Bible from the sermons. Alquin also found her time in St Mary’s to be an encouragement to her as she has received faithful preaching from the Bible and she felt welcomed by the members every Sunday.

There are many ways we can continue to be a supportive church family to our brothers and sisters from Sabah and Sarawak. We spoke to Gloria, Eyuda, Yunis, Efney, Aldrin, and Willy from the BM service to find out more. We can provide transport for students coming to church; offer short-term accommodation while they settle in to life in Kuala Lumpur; help financially by providing subsidies to church events; make them feel accepted and comfortable without language being a barrier between them and the English or Chinese-speaking communities.

Let us continue to be a loving and caring community in our Cathedral to our brothers and sisters from Sabah and Sarawak!

This article is written with the assistance of Gloria Ng, Carbella John, Alquin Frences and Ian Jenon.