“O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD,
let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation”
-Psalm 95:1-
It was truly a moment of glory for HFK parishioners when the Tamil Youth Choir triumphed as champions of the Tamil Hymn Festival 2019 held on 12 August 2019. The 17th Tamil Hymn Festival that took place this year at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL), Klang saw the participation of 13 parishes from all over Peninsular Malaysia. The annual event organised by the Uravadum Kudumbam Tamil Monthly Magazine in association with the Tamil Apostolate of OLL, is aimed at fostering unity and harmony among the Tamil choir groups from different parishes. In this event, participants were encouraged to compose new liturgical hymns to showcase their musical talent.
The victorious journey began when a meeting among the members of the HFK Tamil Apostolate Youth and Choir was held about the event. The team chose to compose a recessional hymn as they believed the melody and lyrics represented joy and happiness in living forth the word of God. With the help of Fr. Vincent Thomas and Grace David from the Tamil Choir, the lyrics were successfully created and the song was composed by Marco David within two weeks. In a short space of time, this team of 14 (5 musicians and 9 singers) managed to compose the piece, intensely rehearse and perform the song splendidly, impressing the Festival’s panel of judges.
“We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to God Almighty for guiding us through it all and all our parish priests who not only supported us, but also continuously encouraged us from day one,” said Steve Eric David, the team coordinator. He also added that the Tamil Apostolate, various parish ministries as well as family members played a pivotal role in making this happen. From financial sponsorship to preparing meals during meetings and rehearsals, HFK parishioners came together as one holy family to lend its full support to the competing team.
When asked about the challenges they faced, Steve said that, “The most difficult part about this competition was time – the lack of it. We had so much to do in such little time and it was extremely difficult trying to coordinate schedules to get everyone together,” he added.
The team received a trophy as well as an honorary statue of Mother Mary for their achievement. Steve and his team strongly urge the young people of the church to step forward and dedicate their time and effort towards serving God in the simplest ways possible. As youths, he believes it is important to keep Jesus as the main focus and to persevere and do everything with great love, joy and hope. May this team and their victory be a good example to the young community of the church, to come and carry out the mission of God.
