The Church needs to do something fast to resolve the issue of the settlers near the St Francis Xavier Church along Penang Road with fairness and compassion.
The controversy, involving the settler-descendants of church workers and their families, should be of pastoral concern to the church. Resorting to church lawyers instead of persevering with face-to-face discussions and negotiations to deal with the settlers suggests that something is not quite right.
When I wrote about the issue last year I received some flak (directly and through the grape vine) from certain quarters within the church, the thrust of which was that I did not know the real background to the issue from the church’s perspective etc etc (although I had spoken at length with the residents). I was duly briefed on what the church thought of the residents.
