See Christmas decor in five regions at Hoover Memorial Square

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The brightly lit Hoover Memorial Square.

SIBU: Masland Methodist Church has adorned its Hoover Memorial Square at Island Road here to showcase Christmas celebrations in five regions.

The project organising chairman, Yiing Sy Huat, said the regions are the United States, Brazil, Russia, the Philippines and Africa.

“Our project goes by the theme ‘The Greatest Gift’, the same as the Association of Churches (ACS) Sibu branch’s month-long Christmas celebration.

“This year, we want to tell the story of how different countries celebrate their Christmas.

“Christians believe that Christmas is the greatest gift for all humanity, and how wonderful if we can see how different countries are celebrating this festive season,” he said.

‘The Greatest Gift’ logo.

A family taking photographs before the Africa station.

The Brazil station.

The USA station with the sleigh and the ‘Statue of Liberty’.

Members of the public take photographs at the Russia station.

Christmas celebration at The Philippines station.

Yiing said plans to decorate the Hoover Memorial Square with lighting started early this year.

“We had a rough idea on what we wanted to do and in the process, we tried to come up with a story that the public could follow.

“We’ve a team made up of members of different movements in Masland Church, including the Boys Brigade, Girls Brigade, Women and the Youth sections.

“The team is sub-divided into small teams with each team taking charge of a station (nation).

“Our message is simple, Christmas is the greatest gift for all of us – our salvation,” he said.

He added that Christmas celebration in America is as grandeur as the Lunar New Year celebration by the Chinese.

“In America, Christmas celebration is preceded by a thanksgiving mass.

“To Brazilians, Christmas celebration is an important event for their nation, said to be the largest Catholic country in the world,” Yiing said.

For Russia, he said, the country celebrates Christmas twice a year.  “It’s not exactly on Dec 25, but on this day Christmas decorations could be seen everywhere in Russia.

“The Russians normally celebrate Orthodox Christmas on Jan 1,” he added.

Of all nations, the Philippines has the longest Christmas celebration.

Yiing said the season of Christmas in the Philippines spans from October till December, with many corporations throwing Christmas parties.

“Africa has about 350 million Christians, and on Christmas Day, carols fill the air from Ghana to South Africa,” Yiing said.