Church receives 1,050 pipe organ to celebrate 200th anniversary

GEORGE TOWN: Hymns sung by Christians at the St George's Church here are now accompanied by a brand new 1,050 pipe organ.

The organ was donated to the Church by the family of the late Datuk Tan Kim Yeow for its 200th anniversary celebrations.

Family representative Andrew Yong said the family hoped to provide an organ for the church.

He said the church had been using electronic keyboards for the past 10 years during the worship service.

"We felt that every church needs an organ," he said after the Sunday morning service yesterday.

During the service, Anglican Church of the Province of Southeast Asia Archbishop Datuk Ng Moon Hing led a service to dedicate the pipe organ for the work of God.

The first pipe organ in use by the church was a 16-stop pipe organ built in 1899 by Forster and Andrews and was destroyed by looters after bombs damaged the building in World War II.

Throughout the subsequent years, pianos and electronic keyboards were used for the musical accompaniment.

The new organ is made by Mander Organs of London and took a year to build before being shipped to Penang where workers took some four weeks to install.

It is one of two pipe organs in Penang, the other is at the Church of the Assumption in Lebuh Farquhar.

Ng meanwhile said he was happy with the new organ, pointing out two other Anglican churches in Malaysia have pipe organs, the St Mary's Cathedral in Kuala Lumpur and the All Saints' Church in Taping, Perak.

On the bicentennial celebrations, St George's Church Vicar Bishop Charles Samuel said the celebrations will culminate in 2019 when the church will host a full service to be attended by top clergymen from the region.

He said the church also aimed to collect RM1million to be used for social programs, noting its program to feed the poor has already begun.