File photo of a Christmas parade in Kuching during a previous celebration.
KUCHING (Dec 3): There will be no Christmas parades or Combined Christian Service in Kuching this year, said Association of Churches in Sarawak (ACS) chairman Archbishop Simon Poh.
He explained that the collective decision made by the Christian churches to cancel these annual events was due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and to contain the spread of the virus in Sarawak.
The 2020 Christmas Parade in Kuching was originally scheduled to be held this Saturday (Dec 5), while the ACS Combined Christmas Service to be hosted by the Catholic Church at the Christian Ecumenical Worship Centre was supposed to take place on Dec 17.
“In response to the current Covid-19 situation, both events have been cancelled for this year. This is because these Christmas events will be gathering people from different churches and places including attracting thousands of spectators on the roadside,” he said today.
On another mattter, Poh, speaking on behalf of the Kuching Catholic Archdiocese, encouraged Catholic youths to be creative and utilise technology to spread the spirit of Christmas through online means such as YouTube and other social media platforms.
He said the concept of e-caroling can be used in place of the absence of house-to-house Christmas caroling this year which is not allowed in line with the standard operating procedure (SOP) put in place by the authorities to curb the spread of Covid-19.
He also appealed to Christians to be generous and include charitable works as part of their activities for Christmas which is a season of sharing and giving, such as contributing towards helping poor families and people in need or by donating blood to the blood bank.
“I invite all Catholics and friends of good will to contribute and donate to your respective churches for this noble good work of alleviating poverty to bless those in need and to bring hope and encouragement for families and students. You can send your donations to the Archdiocesan Advent Appeal using the QR Code for our e-Collection during livestream masses.
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