THE CHRISTMAS TUNE

By LEONARD SELVA

OUR church choir had just finished its practice. There were some changes in the line-up of the Christmas carols we planned to sing because, as choir director Claude Richards put it, he couldn’t handle some of the pieces.

I know what he is talking about. The Penang Assumption Church’s pipe organ, which is almost 100 years old, is on its last legs. Keys keep getting stuck. Some notes don’t have any sound, or the response is slow.

A string of organists have played on this instrument, among them Ben De Cruz and his son Arthur. When I took over as organist, I felt I had to carry on the tradition of providing good music for the Lord and his people in the church. Whenever I touch the stained ivory keys, I can feel how it has gone through generations of organists, who undertook the joyful responsibility of playing.

As a teenager I used to take the bus to the church just to hear the organ. Back then it rang out with grand, solemn tones. I was touched by how Mr Ben, the first church organist, cared for the instrument from day one, followed by Arthur and, during the later years, Uncle Ian Campbell, our former music director.

Uncle Ian did most of the maintenance DIY style as it would have been expensive to get the nearest organ builder we knew then to come over from England to fix some trackers or keys. Whenever something got in the way of smooth playing, he would fix it based on his experience, and advice from England via email.

Last night’s Christmas practice made me recall how, years ago, I made a glaring mistake while playing a song but everybody thought it was because the organ’s keys had become stuck.

Last night I played my best, but a key got stuck during one of the carols and we had to stop mid-way to pull it up. But I wanted to say that it was my fault, not the organ’s, because seeing an instrument you’ve played on for years on its last legs is heart-breaking. It was struggling to keep up with me.

We have managed to get an organ builder from Britain to have a look at ours. His words, “Unless you restore it, it will be singing its last tune,” play on my mind.

The church has formed a commitee to raise money to restore the organ. We have applied to various trusts, in the hope that funds will come in.

It was raining when I left the church. As I headed down the choir loft with a gloomy feeling, I looked at the altar. Somehow, I got the assurance that this was not the last Christmas tune the organ would be playing.