Christians throughout the country celebrated Christmas today on a moderate scale but in a joyful mood.

The shopping complexes and entertainment centres were packed with families spending their public holiday at popular haunts such as Mid Valley Megamall, Suria KLCC and Sunway Pyramid, resulting in traffic jams.

For the Christians, they went to the church for the morning mass before holding open houses and receiving relatives and friends in conjunction with the Christmas celebration.

church attacks sunday mass In the city centre, Christians flocked to the St John’s Cathedral in Bukit Nanas for the Christmas mass.

A check by Bernama revealed that Christians began to arrive at the church as early as 7am where most of the congregation were foreigners and tourists who went to the church with their family and friends.

In Selangor, many Christians flocked to churches around Klang to attend the morning mass at 9am.

As in the other places, the celebration was also felt by other members of the community who attended the open houses held by their Christian friends until noon.

A popular tourist attraction in the city, the I-City was also lively last night as the various communities in the Klang Valley also grabbed the opportunity to share the gaiety of the celebration.

Lively celebration in Portuguese Settlement

In Penang, the good weather that had persisted for the past few days enabled Christians in the state to celebrate the occasion.

The oldest church in the state, the St George Anglican Church at Jalan Farquhar drew the Christians in Penang to join the Christmas mass since last night until this morning.

In Malacca, the atmosphere at the Portuguese Settlement in Ujong Pasir, here was lively since last night with houses being decorated to usher in the Christmas.

The celebration was made more lively with visits to Christian houses by friends and family members.

In Negeri Sembilan, Christmas was also celebrated with Christians flocking to the churches to attend the Christmas mass.

    

At the Church of Visitation, the mass was conducted in the Malay language beginning at 11am and about 100 Christians of various races attended it.

Christian ministers hold open house

In Sabah, the Christmas celebration was in full swing although many Christians had returned to their hometowns.

Among the leaders who held the open house was Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan at the Dewan Hongkod Koisaan, Penampang.

 

Head of State Ahmadshah Abdullah, State Local Government and Housing Minister Hajiji Mohd Noor, who represented the chief minister, several state ministers and Barisan National component party leaders were among the 2,000 people, including foreign tourists, who turned up to greet him.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok also held a Christmas open house at the Sabah Cultural Centre, Penampang.

- Bernama