The Christian Post, Singapore
March 12 2011
Armenian Church: 175 Years of Spiritual, Community Anchoring
By Edmond Chua
Saturday, Mar. 12, 2011 Posted: 3:26:48PM HKT
The Armenian Church of Saint Gregory the Illuminator has been the
spiritual and communal rallying point for the small but wealthy
community whose members built the historic Raffles Hotel, co-founded
the national Straits Times, and hybridised the Vanda ‘Miss Joaquim’.
This is not to mention the fact that the Armenian Church is itself the
oldest church here.
Singapore Armenians will be celebrating, on the last weekend of March,
the 175th anniversary of their church. The celebrations are aimed at
highlighting the Armenian community here and its importance and
contributions to the nation, according to a committee member of the
church.
“It also serves to highlight the fact that there is an Armenian church
all the way in the Far East,” Mr. Pierre Hennes told The Christian
Post Friday in an interview.
It is a little known fact among Armenians that their people have
constructed churches in the Far East. There are but a handful of
Armenian churches in the region. This includes six in India, one in
Bangladesh, and one in Myanmar.
Singapore Armenians, who numbered only 16 in 1824, contributed over
half the construction cost of 5,000 Spanish dollars to build their
church. It was a testament to the religious devotion of the community.
Armenians held religious services within two years of the landing here
of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1821.
The rest of the money for the construction came from Armenians in Java
and India and a small portion from European and Chinese merchants in
Singapore.
A third aim of the celebrations is to raise funds for ongoing repairs
of the church over the next five years. There are plans to convert the
unoccupied parsonage on the church premises at Armenian Street into a
community centre.
In this way, “We will be able to open up and show a bit more of the
history rather than just the place itself,” Pierre expressed. The idea
is to create a more interactive, public space, he added.
The house comprises a small office and a meeting room. There is a
small museum that the committee is trying to refurbish with a few
artefacts including books and pictures. It is currently not open to
the public on every day. This is because there is no permanent
curator.
Such plans come just as the community has brought the major problems
of termites and humidity under control, Pierre pointed out. The next
step is to turn the parsonage into a community centre.
However, funds are required to do this. This is because the church is
run by volunteers. All funds raised are channelled toward preserving
the physical structures and maintaining the grounds. This includes
paying the lights, the gardener and the accountants.
The celebratory event will begin with a gala dinner in the main
ballroom of the Raffles Hotel to be held on the evening of March 26.
This will be followed, on March 27, by a Sunday morning mass and a
picnic on church grounds.
Up to 150 Armenians from the United States, Europe, Middle East, South
America, Asia and Australia are expected to fly in for three or four
days to attend the event.
Dignitaries from government, religion and embassies and other
representatives are expected at the event. This includes two
archbishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church from Australia and
Armenia. They are the highest ranking religious figures in Armenia
after the head of the church, the Catholicos.
Some ministers from Armenia, the ambassador of Armenia to Singapore
and representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) will
also be present. This is in recognition of the MFA’s part in forging
ties between the two countries.
Both countries have conducted a few exchange programmes in the last
couple of years. Last year, Armenia’s minister of health visited
Singapore. That same year also saw Armenian athletes arrive here for
the inaugural Youth Olympic Games. Earlier this year in January, a
group of 18 government officials from Armenia visited Singapore under
Singapore’s Cooperation Programme.
Due to its fundraising aim, the committee of the Armenian Church
requests a minimum donation of $600 per head for participation in the
celebrations. Proceeds will defray the cost of the gala dinner and
food and beverages. A portion of it will be channelled for church use.
The celebrations were given momentum by previous events commemorating
the 150th and 170th anniversaries of the Armenian Church. Armenians
here plan to hold celebrations every five years.
Free for all
Another celebratory event is being held at the church this weekend.
Initiated by the National Heritage Board (NHB), the two-day event will
raise awareness of the fact that the Armenian Church is public space.
“There’s a lot of people in Singapore who simply don’t even know that
it’s open, or they can walk in, that it’s a public space,” said
Pierre, 38. “The Armenian Church has always been open to the public:
it’s open every day from nine to six, 365 days a year.”
The committee welcomes the public to visit the church premises. “We
would like to encourage more Singaporeans to come to the space because
it’s a beautiful, very tranquil space in the middle of the city,” said
the venture capital investor.
The event will also highlight some aspects of Armenian culture.
Armenian musicians from Malaysia will perform on Saturday. Local
Armenian musicians will play on Sunday.
The Armenian Heritage Ensemble, comprising a violinist, singer,
pianist and one who recites poetry all from Armenia, will also be
performing. Formed in 2009, the group holds quarterly concerts to
highlight different aspects of Armenian music and culture.
At the fair, visitors will get to taste Armenian cuisine cooked by
Armenian ladies. Armenian juices and beers will be sold.
“There will basically be a taste of food, beverage, music and maybe a
few other surprises there that the public can expect,” said Pierre, an
ethnic Armenian. The NHB will also organising some activities
including games for children and families. Local musicians like
Michaela Therese will be performing at the event.
While the event will run from 12 noon to around 10 p.m. on Saturday
and Sunday, music performances will start only at 6 p.m.
Pierre is happy that the NHB initiated the event. “It demonstrates
that Singapore is recognising the importance of the smaller
communities,” he said.
The Armenian Church and community
At least one if not two Armenians from the U.S., Europe, Middle East,
South America, Russia, Armenia or Australia visit the church every
day. Pierre knows this from the writings left in the small guestbook
in the chapel.
These are probably either tourists or businesspeople working in
Singapore or passing through for meetings. There are some three
million Armenians who live in Armenia itself. More, around seven
million, live outside the landlocked country.
Some signatories of the guestbook also claim links to the famous Moses
or Sarkies families.
Pierre estimates that the church sees at least 100 visitors per day.
Ten to forty people sign the guestbook daily. “But I imagine that not
everybody signs the book,” he said. “So a lot of people do come.”
Armenian visitors are likely to treat the church as a place for
prayers. This is because “religion is a very important part of the
community and a fabric of the community,” he said.
They are also likely to visit the small memorial garden on the church
premises. The tombstones are of the famous original settler families.
There are no bodies underneath, however. The tombs were originally
located in Fort Canning or Bukit Timah.
When the government needed to clear land in the 1980s to build
residential housing, it exhumed the tombs and was about to throw the
tombstones into the sea for land reclamation. An Armenian man learned
of it, rescued the tombstones and brought them to the church, lining
them up in the memorial garden.
The church is ‘central’ to the identity of the Armenian community in
Singapore. It was arguably the strong Armenian emphasis on faith and
community that led to its impact on the nation.
A firm Christian identity enabled Armenians to survive, work hard and
prosper amid threats of invasion and in other difficult circumstances.
On the other hand, a communal focus has meant that Armenians are
willing to integrate and intermarry with their host communities and
work toward their welfare.
Armenians here have not had a priest since 1938. This is because the
community is too small, Pierre explained. The community, however, does
have an archbishop from Australia who makes periodic visits and
conducts service. This archbishop will be here for the 175th
anniversary celebrations.
The church committee allows other groups to use the premises. One, the
Coptic Orthodox Church, uses the premises on a monthly basis. “It’s
possible that other groups have mass but we don’t ourselves have
mass,” said Pierre. “But it’s a centre for community; it’s a centre
for bonding for the Armenian community.”
Singapore Armenians gather every month at the premises.
“Everybody brings a bit of food and drink,” said Pierre. “And it
usually happens in the evening so we stay till late, so it’s a good
way to bond with the community.”
Singapore Armenians number 70 to 80 people including around 20
descendents of the original settlers, 20 to 30 Armenian expatriates,
primarily businesspeople, from around the world and another 20 to 30
Armenians from Armenia, mostly intellectuals or involved in the arts
and education. The third is the fastest growing group, Pierre
highlighted. Over the past two years, ten babies were born to the
community.
Singapore Armenians continue to use the church even today. They use it
for prayer. Many Armenians go to the church regularly either after
work during the week or on Sundays with their families. They spent a
little time in the church, say a prayer, light a candle and then go
off someone else, Pierre observed.
Sometimes Armenians with beautiful voices lead singing in the church.
Armenians may also say the Holy Father. In general, piety is
individual and community gatherings tend to be social in nature. There
is no regular preaching because there is no priest.
God continues to be intimately at work in the community. Pierre says
he once received an email from an Armenian couple living in Los
Angeles who visited the church. They had been trying to have a baby
for a long time. Then they visited the church and prayed. When they
returned home, they found that the wife was pregnant. So the baby was
delivered and they named it Greg, after the first Armenian monk
Gregory after which the church was named.
From: A. Papazian
http://sg.christianpost.com/dbase.php?cat=society&id=1752