PARISH OF THE CHURCH OF THE SACRED HEART KAMPAR,

PERAK, MALAYSIA (1908 - 2005)      English Version           Mandarin  Version        Tamil  Version

In 1908 a small plank chapel was built by Rev. Fr. G. Cheveuche in Kampar on a piece of private land belonging to a mining company known as S.E.K. Co. Ltd. it was situated near the old Railway Station along the Kampar - Telok Anson route about a mile from the town. It was an outstation of the Motor Church, St. Joseph, Batu Gajah.

From our records we have gathered this relevant information:-

"In the year of Our Lord 1908 the 11th. day of the month of October, 18th. Sunday after Pentecost,on the feast day for  the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I, the undersigned, Bishop of Malacca, solemnly blessed the first church erected by Rev. Fr. G. Cheveuche in the town of Kampar and dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Rev. Fr. G. Cheveuche and G. Sausseau being present."

Signed by: Barillon,Bishop of Malacca. G.Cheveuche  G.Sausseau

Rev. Fr. Cheveuche (Parish Priest of Batu Gajah) looked after the Kampar parish until 1911, after which Rev. Fr. N. Maury took over
from him.

Rev. Fr. N. Maury then went on leave and the parish was placed in the hands of Rev. Fr. Brossard in 1915.

In 1916, when Rev. Fr. N. Maury returned from leave, Kampar came under his care again.

In 1925 the plank chapel in Kampar was already 17 years old and Rev.Fr. N. maury felt that Kampar parishioners deserved a concrete building which was completed and blessed on 8.11.1925.  The following is an extract from our records:-

"The 2nd. church in Kampar, erected by Rev. Fr. N. Maury and dedicated to the Most Sacred heart of Jesus, was solemnly blessed by Rev. Fr. N. Maury, on the 8th. day of November 1925. Rev. Fr.N. Deredec being present."

Signed by: N. Maury

In 1934 the Church was demolished by the S.E.K. Mining Company to make way for tin-mining. Out of goodwill, the Mining Company compensated the Church with a new building (the present Church)on a hillock along the North-South Highway. It was officially opened and blessed on 31.7.38 by Bishop A. Devals.

In the year 1930's we saw a quick succession of priests viz. Rev. Fr. Joseph Sy, Rev. Fr. Dupoirieux and Rev. Fr. L. Cordiero.

Inspite of the Japanese Occupation, Rev. Fr. L. Cordiero continued to serve the people in Kampar.

In the forties came the first Chinese priest, Rev. Fr. Philip Lee. As his predecessor had to face the Japanese Occupation, Rev. Fr. Philip Lee had to go through the Emergency period.

In the fifties Kampar, for the first time, had resident priests viz. Rev. Fr. Peter Hsiu and Rev. Fr. Joseph Liu.

During the period 1965 - 1974, Rev. Fr. George Lee was the parish Priest. He made an impact on the indigeneous people (Orang Asli) converting and educating them. The Chapel of St. Rita at Air Kuning,built by Rev. Fr. Philip Lee on a piece of temporary occupation land (T.O.L.) came under Kampar parish.

In May 1974 Rev. Fr. Peter Shyu took over from Rev. Fr. George Lee.  Rev. Fr. Peter Shyu was responsible for renovating the Church with a proper entrance and an accessible metalled road leading into the Church compound.

After demolishing the Chapel of St. Rita at Air Kuning. Rev. Fr. Peter Shyu built the Immaculate Conception Church there on Church land in 1981.

Rev. Fr. Peter Shyu continued to look after the vast parish: Kampar, Air Kuning and Malim Nawar.

After 9 years stay in Kampar, Rev. Fr. Peter Shyu left the parish to Rev. Fr. Andrew Lau.

The breakdown of the Christian community in Kampar at this period was:-

    Indian ------------ 476                 Chinese ------------ 328
    Others ------------- 29

In August 1983, Rev. Fr. Andrew Lau proposed to the Parish Council that we should rejoice and celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the Church of the Sacred Heart, Kampar on 18.12.1883 in conjunction with the Holy year (1983 - 1984) - for which this Church has been designated as a 'Pilgrimage Church'.

While he was in Kampar in 1986 we celebrated his Silver Jubilee as  a  priest.

In February 1989 the Church of St. Joseph, Batu Gajah was also put under his care. Apart from this, he had to travel to Tanjung Malim, Bidor, Tapah and Teluk Intan to say Mass once a month.

Then for five months in 1994 he was also appointed Acting Parish Priest, Church of St. Anthony,Teluk Intan.

After 15 years in Kampar he retired to the Home of  The Sisters of the Poor, Penang in February 1998 where he lived for 2 1/2 years until the Lord took him away on 24-06-2000

The parish was left to Rev. Fr. Anthony Pillai as administrator with Rev. Fr. Arulnathan as the Acting Parish Priest.

Then in August 1998 Rev. Fr.Benedict Chu was installed as the Parish Priest. In less than a year of his stay in Kampar he renovated the Church and the Parochial house.

After 5 years of stay in Kampar, he retired in May, 2003.

The parish was takn over by Rev. Fr. Arulnathan as Administrator from June 2003 to August 2003.

Then in September 2003, the parish came under the care of Rev. Fr. Nelson Joseph.

After a short stay (16 months) in Kampar he was transferred to Sitiawan, Perak on 2nd Jaunary 2005. Rev. Fr.Vincent Paul from Butterworth took over the parish as Administrator, assisted by Deacon Dominic Santhiyagu.

Deacon Dominic Santhiyagu left the Parish for Our Lady of  Lourdes Church, Silibin, Ipoh on 1.3.2005.

Rev. Fr. Vincent Paul was officially installed as Parish Priest of St. Anthony, Teluk Intan, Perak on 16.5.2005.He remained as Adminstrator for Kampar parish.


Compiled by :  Rev. Fr. Andrew Lau  and  Mr. Ng Thye Chong(PJK)   

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