The Chinese Choir was formed in the 1950s by Mr Huang Min Ling, a parishioner from Penang, together with the young people in HRC under the guidance of Fr. Wang. The purpose was to lead the parishioners in singing the songs during Mass so that everyone can participate more fully in it.
At that time there were dozens of members and Uncle Paul was the organist, Mass hymns were mainly taken from other hymn books. In the early days, the choir sang in the gallery upstairs during Mass, it was only after the late 60s that the choir moved to the front rows in the church. Other activities then included recording Mass hymns into cassettes for sale to raise funds, and organizing picnics at parks to strengthen the friendship among the members.
In the 70s, Fr. Peter Ma proposed that the choir could conduct caroling during the Christmas festive season in church members’ homes, and that was when Christmas caroling became the annual activity of the choir. At the peak, the choir was even invited to carol on radio and shopping malls. During that time, Father Ma compiled the Mass hymns composed by him and other priests into the current Chinese Mass hymn book that HRC is using.
Currently there are about twenty to thirty choir members, and the monthly choir practice and yearly Christmas caroling are still being carried on.