Old Mantin
No, this photo has not appeared before. But it is from
the many shots I have taken in Mar 2016 on this very old and beautiful church.
At the time of shooting little did I know that these pictures would attract so
much of attention, especially from those who had migrated elsewhere from
Mantin.
St. Aloysius church was built in 1901. It is hence 115
years old. I am not sure how old is this present building, but you can imagine
if you were standing at the same spot where I took this shot, you would be
seeing more or less the same thing, less the lighting of course.
Many years ago, when I was a kid, the resident priest
of the church was a European, a French to be more specific. He was always seen
in black robe, riding a big bicycle in town, spotting golden beard, and with a
pipe in his mouth. He used to come to the town to buy tobacco from the sundry
shops. He could speak Cantonese. He was such an unforgettable figure then, as
there were not many orang puteh in Mantin.
Besides this French Father the other orang puteh were
the executive staff of the dunnowat estate which we nick-named ‘red-hair estate
‘as it was managed by ‘red-hair people’.
This beautiful old church could really invoke my
memories of old Mantin, ha ha!
