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| Bukit Mertajam view from Jalan Seri Bukit |
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| A crowd gathering under the tree along Jalan Seri Bukit |
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| The small Hindu Temple under the tree |
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| Curry chicken served |
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| A young helper Yoyo Boy |
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| Brothers and co-organizers, Somasundram and Ganesan with friends |
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| Plenty of rice on banana leaves at the side of temple |
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| Little boy seeking blessing from the priest |
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| Hindu priest or Sami Subramaniam praying |
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| Another devotee being bless |
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| The little shrine for deity with the food offerings |
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| Grandma Devi and grandson |
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| A old lady in prayer |
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| Women folks at the other corner |
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| Other deities at the side of the temple |
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| Another little shrine at the side |
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| The Cobra Deity shrine |
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| Folks gathering |
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| The big pots of rice, curry chicken and curry mutton |
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| The cook, Mr Ravi and his assistant |
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| Another co-organiser, Mr Mathuveeran |
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| The tasty curry mutton |
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| The small Hindu temple |
As I was passing by Jalan Seri Bukit after attending Sunday Worship Service at Bukit Mertajam Baptist Church (BMBC) and after having lunch at Chinese Restaurant at Jalan Cheok Sah, Bukit Mertajam, there was a crowd gathering at a small Hindu temple under a tree. It is located on opposite of the road of the BM High School in between the Shell Station and the school.
Thinking that it was a wedding occasion, I went to check it out and were invited by the people gathered there to join in for free lunch of banana leaves rice served with curry chicken and curry mutton.
The people were so friendly and made me feel welcome and insisted I eat lunch with them. As I just had my lunch, I asked just for a cup of drink. However, they served me the banana leaf rice and curry chicken and curry mutton but I could only oblige to eat a small portion and curry mutton. Thank you to my new found acquaintance for playing host and for their warmth hospitality
As we chatted with the helpers, they saw me with my camera and allowed me to take some pictures as shown above. One grandma can speak Chinese "Hokkien" dialect as her mother was a Chinese and she also insisted that I eat lunch with them. She explained to me what the feasting was about and the priest saw me and offered to bless me too. Really nice people out there. They did not know that I am of Christian faith and never asked about my faith. I had sent my family home from Church Sunday Worship Service that morning and were on my way out to take a walk along the railway double tracking project within Bukit Mertajam Town and hoping to practice some photography skills. Will relate and share about it in another post soon.
Since my hosts are so kind and friendly, I obliged and said thank you for their warmth hospitality. Before I eat, I also gave thanks and pray to our Father in Heaven, Lord Jesus Christ for his mercy, blessings and sanctification of the food quietly as my hosts were with me. Now you probably ask whether Christian can eat foods at Hindu temple or the Chinese temple? Let us refer to the Holy Bible book 1 Corinthians from Chapter 8 verses 1 to 13 by clicking the
link here to NETBible and also a study by Keith Krell on the same bible verses by the
link here.
" Scripture quoted by permission. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are
taken from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
www.bible.org All rights reserved. This material is available in its entirety as a free
download or online web use at http://www.netbible.org/ ."
Thanks to the above two links courtesy of the Bible.org and NETBible for the reference and study.
If you need helps to study the Holy Bible in Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaysia, you can join BMBC Bible study class conducted by the pastors of the Church usually before the Sunday Worship service at the Church at address No. 2209, Jalan Kulim, 14000 BUKIT MERTAJAM, SEBERANG PERAI TENGAH, PULAU PINANG, MALAYSIA. You can contact them on the telephone number 604-5391854 or link to
BMBC Facebook for more information.
Thanks to BMBC and the pastors for the bible study classes.
Just a little history here; BMBC has been my home Church since coming to Bukit Mertajam more than a decade ago.
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