Interview with Fr. Colin Tan, SJ
(Ordained in 1999, country coordinator for JRS Singapore and involved in other ministries, at point of interview)

Fr Colin Tan, SJ

1. In your opinion, based on your experience of being a Catholic Christian and a Jesuit, what are the challenges facing the Church and where should we go?
I think that one of the most important aspects of faith today is to be able to help people recognize God in their lives and therefore the Church has a duty to, as it were, mediate the presence of God to the people and, in a sense, to be able to present the face of God in the Church, so that people can recognize how God is indeed alive, indeed active, and dynamic in helping them, to inspire them, to guide and strengthen them in their daily duties and their daily challenges in living their lives wherever they are.

I think the Church must, in other words, be in touch with the lives of ordinary people. The minute they are out of touch with the lives of ordinary people, that’s when the Church will run the risk of losing her sense of mission, and even her sense of vocation.

2. Jesuits are often said to be contemplatives-in-action from the very beginning of their training. So, during your various stages of formation, where were you sent to work?
During studies in Philosophy, which I did in the Philippines, I worked with the street children in Cubao. Every Saturday I visited them and provided “meals-on-wheels” for them, in other words we brought food which we cooked ourselves at our Jesuit House – Arrupe International Residence. For most of the poor children, the meal that we brought whether it was some soup with some fried rice would constitute a full meal for them. We were catering for their basic needs. It was a very enriching experience to serve and provide moral support for the street children.

3. What happened in the next stage of your formation? Were you involved in other apostolates?
After my studies in philosophy, I was sent to do “regency.” I was asked to teach in a high school in Micronesia, called Xavier High School which is run by the Jesuits from the New York Province. Micronesia is a mission of the Jesuits from the New York Province. So, I was there to teach English, Mathematics and in the second year I was also running the Campus Ministry. I was responsible for organizing the various sacramental and liturgical activities like Confirmation, Masses and camps.

We also had a community project where the students helped villagers who lived in the outer and to paint parish halls, cut grass, or do whatever was needed by the people.

4. What about the time when you were sent to study Theology? Were you involved in any pastoral work then?
I was helping out with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in our local parish near the Jesuit house that I stayed in at Mulvey Park.

5. After your ordination, what happened? Where were you sent?
Well, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself being asked to going into formation work again. I was appointed Socius (Assistant to the Novice Master) in the Jesuit Novitiate and member of the Parish Team of St. Ignatius Church.

On top of these I am the Jesuit Refugee Service coordinator of Singapore. I took over from Fr. Reid, SJ who was then the contact person for JRS. And I was able to recruit about 20 lay volunteers for JRS ministry. That to me is an example of Jesuit collaboration with the laity. All of them are very active in JRS.

Apart from this ministry, I am also the chaplain for the Catholic Medical Guild (CMG), the Praise at Work ministry which is a group of young graduates who were part of the Renewal Ministry when they were in university. Since their graduation, they joined the Praise at Work ministry. These are young adults or young professionals.

6. What kind of activities does JRS do?
At the moment, apart from trying to raise funds, we also organize exposure trips to the camps themselves, we also try to send them material things such as clothing, food, medicine etc.

In the first two years of our existence we helped out in the plight of the refugees in East Timor. Currently, we are helping the refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border and in Sri Lanka as well.

Fr. Colin Tan, SJ (extreme left) with members of the JRS at a workshop in Malacca.

Links
· Called to Action
· Fr. Colin’s Vocation story and advice for discerners
· Jesuits in Malaysia – Singapore