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A letter from Judy Chan in Hong Kong |
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December 2004
Newsletter from Hong Kong
One of the best parts of my job as a Christian radio producer
is listening to beautiful music. I love music. I don’t play
any instrument myself though I tried to learn piano for a couple
of years during college. I have sung in choirs though I really
can’t read music. I just sing what the person next to me
is singing. Fortunately, I can carry a tune, even a borrowed one.
Yet, music has become more and more important to me since I came
to Hong Kong because it’s an integral part of the radio
programs we put together in the ecumenical broadcasting ministry
at Hong Kong Christian Council. I need to listen to a lot of CDs
to get the right piece of music. I am constantly on the lookout
for new and different sounds for Hong Kong audiences—like
Taizé chants in Mandarin Chinese or the Lord’s Prayer
sung in Slavonic by a Russian Orthodox choir. And if I’m
having a bad day, I just put on the headphones and surround myself
with glorious music—be it classical, traditional, contemporary,
or gospel. It’s as close to heaven as I can get. |
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As in the West, Christmas in Hong Kong is celebrated by displays
of angels, Santa Claus, fake snow, Christmas trees, and even nativity
scenes. |
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The upcoming Christmas season is
one in which music reigns. Hong Kong is an international city as
well as a former British colony, so people are familiar with Christmas
carols and songs. “Jingle Bells,” “We Wish You
a Merry Christmas,” and “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”
can be heard in December all around town in shopping centers, on
television, and in concerts. What may be more surprising is that
religious Christmas songs are popular as well, even though Christians
make up only about 8 percent of the population. I once heard my
Hong Kong teenage niece singing along with the words of “The
First Noel” and “Silent Night” in English even
though she is a not a Christian. Apparently she learned them in
school as part of a glee club. Christmas is indeed celebrated in
Hong Kong with an amusing mix of angels, Santa Claus, worship services,
fake snow, Christmas trees, Hark the Herald, parties, presents,
and nativity scenes (yes, even being a part of China, we can still
have nativity scenes in public spaces). |
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Where we would be at Christmas without
the music? In fact, where would we as the Church be without Christian
music? One of our radio programs here is called “Minutes That
Matter.” It’s only 10 minutes long and comes on Monday
through Friday just before the 10:00 a.m. news. At the request of
the station, the program is half talking and half music. We like
to think of it as spreading the gospel through the spoken and sung
word. The radio station may think of it as a way of keeping a check
on our evangelizing. Most of our speakers prepare by writing down
what they are going to say first and then find compatible Christian
music to play along with it. When it’s my turn to do the program,
I do it the other way around—I choose the music first and
then base my message on that. It’s easier for me. |
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Christmas carols are popular in Hong Kong among both Christians
and non-Christians. |
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Perhaps that is what we do at
Christmas as well. We play and sing and listen to the magnificent
music of this holy season and trust the message will rise up from
it. There’s no other Christian festival that Hong Kong embraces
the way they do Christmas. I say rejoice in that and let the music
perform its magic. That’s what happened 2,000 years ago,
in the words of a famous Chinese Christmas hymn:
Angel ranks in chorus sing, Silken sounds from heaven ring,
Frightened shepherds hear them say, “Christ comes down
to earth today!”
Glory be to God on high, Blessed are all beneath the sky.
Judy Chan
The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
245
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