Teary send-off for Sister Julianna

The passing of Sister Juliana is felt deeply by many who had known her personally

SEREMBAN: About 1,000 people attended the funeral mass of Sister Julianna Lim at Church of Visitation in Seremban today. Sister Julianna succumbed to brain injuries on Tueday after she had been assaulted by a robber last week.

The cortege left the church for the Sikamat Christian cemetery at about 2.40 pm.

Among those who conducted the funeral mass included Father John Gnanapiragasam, the Parish Priest of Visitation Church; Papal Nuncio to Malaysia, Archbishop Joseph Marino and Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Murphy Pakiam.

In a joint press statement, they extended their deepest condolences to the family of sister Julianna.

“The parish also wishes to record with deep gratitude the selfless services of the Infant Jesus sisters to the under privileged children in dysfunctional families due to single parenting and alcohol addiction at Kampung Pasir, Rasah.

“We pledge to continue working in solidarity with the Infant Jesus sisters in reaching out to the least, last, lost and the lonely.

“Our grateful thanks to all who have shown their care and concern for greater concerted action for safety and security at all places of worship and greater collaborative efforts at inter-racial integration and inter-religious harmony in the country,” they said.

Meanwhile FMT spoke to a few people who had known Sister Julianna personally.

Many fond memories

G Anthony, 65, a taxi driver said he had known Julianna for more than 10 years and claimed to have had a very close relationship with the nun.

“I have many fond memories with her as she always uses my taxi service to go for various social welfare activities.

“Sometimes I also joined her in social welfare activities including at the Orang Asli settlements.

“She is a nice person and of course I miss all the nice moments (social welfare activities) with her,” said Anthony.

Church volunteer, Adrian Van Huizen, 50, said he knew Julianna for the past two years as a person who helped the poor people especially poor children who needed decent education.

“She conducted regular tuition classes for the poor school going children at Kampung Pasir, Rasah.

“She gave better hope for life for the poor children by providing free tuition classes, to improve the children’s performance in school.

“As we know nuns always sacrificed their life for god. Give up family life and take vows.

“Sisters or nuns should be respected,” said Adrian.

Another church volunteer, A Anthony, 41, had also known Sister Julianna for two years and said it was a great loss especially for the poor children.

“Sister Julianna provided free tuition for about 30 poor children in Kampung Pasir, Rasah.

“She also provided dinner to poor children on special occasions like Christmas every year.

“I regard her not only as Sister but as a very good and very nice friend,” said Anthony.

Sister Julianna, 69, and Sister Marie Rose Teng, 79, were attacked with a helmet outside the Church on May 14, early morning. Julianna died last Tuesday without regaining consciousness.