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Fr. Ki served till the end |
| Jan 19 2009 |
November 09, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Fr Matthias Ki Kia Lim, a diocesan priest for close to 55 years passed away on Oct 24 at 4.00pm in St Francis Xavier Home for the Elderly in Cheras at the age of 81 years.
In the late 1940s, Ki — and a few Chinese priests — came to Malaya and studied at College-General in Penang. He was ordained a priest in on Dec 8, 1953. He served mainly in Perak, especially at St Michael’s Church in Ipoh before retiring, many years back.
Despite holding a Chinese passport, Fr Ki continued to serve the Catholic community, especially at the Church of the Holy Rosary (HRC) in Brickfields, as and when needed, for several years.
According to Augustine Low, a close friend of Fr Ki who handled his travel arrangements since 2002, Fr Ki built a Church in Shilin in 1998, his native birth place, in Yunnan Province. It is the first Catholic Church in China that bears the name of Divine Mercy; with contributions mainly coming from generous Christians from Malaysia, which Fr Ki collected.
Fr Ki’s last major function in HRC was in Jan 2008 where he was one of the guests of honour at the parish Charity Lunch for the underprivileged in conjunction with Epiphany.
According to Low, Fr Ki suffered injuries to his spine during a fall in the bathroom on Aug 4 while away in China. He was hospitalized in China until Sept 22, when he requested to be transferred to Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SMC), Subang Jaya on Sept 23 for follow-up treatment.
However despite much assistance rendered by SMC doctors, there was nothing left to do as Fr Ki’s condition remained the same. The Little Sisters of the Poor took in Fr Ki to care for him. Some two-and a-half weeks later Fr Ki was called home to be with the Lord on Oct 24.
Richard Chia, the PPC Chairman of HRC recalled that Fr Ki was an ardent cook and loved fishing in his spare time.
Some 300 Catholics were at the 40 minutes Memorial Service (Wake) led by HRC Prayer Group on Oct 24 together with Archbishop Pakiam and HRC parish priest, Msgr Daniel Lim. Before the start of the service at 10.45pm, the archbishop blessed the remains of Fr Ki.
On Oct 25, several clergy and hundreds of Catholics came to pay their last respects at HRC before the cortege left for Ipoh.
— By Bernard Anthony
Last changed: Jan 19 2009 at 3:55 PM
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