By Christopher Khoo
SINGAPORE — He speaks seven languages and dialects, and zips around Singapore on his scooter to teach catechism to elderly and housebound people. He is also 88 years old.
Meet Mr Andrew Goh, who has been teaching catechism for the past 34 years to Singaporeans who speak mainly dialects or are illiterate.
Mr Goh was in the insurance line for many years but decided to do this special ministry fulltime after he was baptised in 1991. “God is so kind, so good,” he said of his faith experience, adding that he felt he had to “repay” God’s goodness.
After his baptism, he began to hear stories about how some adults, who were Catholic, had elderly parents who were not. Furthermore, these children were somehow uncomfortable to ask for religious instruction for their parents.
Mr Goh noted that the RCIA conducted in Singapore is mainly in English and Mandarin, catering largely to adults and youth who speak these languages. However, for the elderly who speak only dialect, “they are neglected”, he said.
He then decided to start a ministry catering to them, such as praying for elderly people in hospitals, visiting those who are housebound, and holding catechism classes in parishes.
Mr Goh speaks English, Mandarin, the Chinese dialects of Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hainanese; and Peranakan (a fusion of Malay and the Hokkien dialect). He comes from a Hokkien-Peranakan background, which makes speaking certain Chinese dialects easy for him. For other dialects such as Cantonese and Hainanese, he took the trouble to learn from others.
Catechism lessons for his elderly catechumens, most of whom are in their 70s and 80s, are simple affairs, focusing on the main tenets of the faith.
Mr Goh uses children’s books with their large colourful pictures to make certain religious concepts easy to understand, such as the Sacraments of the Church, the story of Adam and Eve and Jesus’ miracles. He has also come up with his own set of printed materials which contain instructions in Mandarin and English and easy-to-understand diagrams.
Mr Goh, who receives stipends for his work, has been performing his ministry in as many as five parishes over the years. He currently teaches catechism weekly at the Church of the Holy Family and the Church of St Alphonsus (known popularly as Novena Church). A total of about 30 people attend these classes, including some who were previously baptised through his instructions.
In addition to this, he makes eight house visits weekly to teach the housebound.
Over the decades, Mr Goh has helped more than 2,000 people get baptised and has gained more than 560 godchildren.
However, this ministry is not without its challenges. Mr Goh shared that some people leave after two or three lessons. There were also others who later decided to join other Christian Churches.
Mr Goh, who still enjoys robust health, zips around Singapore on his trusty scooter to perform his unique ministry. Currently, he has a few assistants helping him in his weekly classes but he acknowledges that help can be hard to come by.
What will happen if one day he becomes too weak to continue this ministry?
“There are already people who can speak dialects,” Mr Goh notes, adding that they can be attracted to join this ministry if the Church pays them a regular allowance. “They will come in, those who are retired,” he said.
In the meantime, Mr Goh’s catechumens shared that they are learning much from the sessions.
Ms Betty Tan, 76, who attends the classes at Novena Church with her 85-year-old sister, said she is “learning how to pray, how to make the Sign of the Cross, and how Jesus helped others“.
Mr Simon Low, 75, who attends the sessions at the Church of the Holy Family, said he looks forward to “going deeper” into learning the faith, and also to being baptised.
The writer is a Singapore-based freelance journalist and educator.
