Local Community

An unidentifiable anguish of the spirit led Peter Ng on the path that in turn led to the blossoming of the Singapore chapter of The World Community for Christian Meditation. The story is best told in his words.

Peter Ng is Chief Investment Officer at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. He is a Trustee and Guiding Board Member of The World Community for Christian Meditation.

An Unidentifiable Anguish

It was a time in our lives when my wife Patricia and I were searching for a meaningful spiritual path. At the level of material needs, we were then quite contented. Our standard of living well exceeded what we had expected in our youth. Family life was joyful. Patricia was feeling quite fulfilled in the experience of motherhood. Yet there was for both of us a restlessness amidst the material contentment. Perhaps this feeling was what Fr Laurence, in his introduction to Light Within called an “unidentifiable anguish of the spirit straining beyond the superficiality and meaninglessness of modern life-styles” and opening the mind to the “need to journey to the heart”.

Our spiritual search led us to observe that meditation was an essential practice in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions. As Christians, we wondered whether there was a similar way of prayer but rooted in the Christian tradition. On a visit to the church bookshop, Patricia’s eyes fell on Light Within the moment she stepped inside the door. She immediately began to meditate in the way recommended in the book. I postponed the journey, preferring to wait until we had a chance to meet some of the people involved in the teaching. Soon we had the opportunity to visit the London Meditation Centre. Our meeting with Sr Madeleine, and the first experience of meditating with a group there, kindled the flame of interest. I returned to Singapore resolved to begin the journey.

Flickering Flame

It was, as Fr John said, simple but not easy. Just to be still physically proved to be more difficult than I had thought. The difficulty of entering the stillness of meditation, coupled with the continuing demands of a busy executive and family life, meant that I meditated when I could and felt like doing it, rather than when I should.

The critical juncture of my journey was in February 1988 when Fr Laurence visited Singapore on his way to Australia. It was our first meeting with him. We arranged with our parish priest, Fr Alfred Chan, for Fr Laurence to give a talk to the parishioners at Holy Family Church. About four hundred people attended. We were astounded by the huge turnout, and we could feel that the period of meditation after the talk brought a new dimension of worship in our church. Before he left Singapore, Fr Laurence suggested that we should get a weekly group going. With the enthusiasm of the moment I agreed that it was a reasonable follow-up to the good response at his talk. The next day, as I mulled over the proposition, I recoiled on realising that I was poorly prepared for the task of starting a group. I could not honestly explain to a group that the teaching was that they should meditate every day, twice a day, and for at least twenty minutes each time, when I myself fell well short of this discipline.

Light

In that dilemma I realized that the time had come for me to make a commitment. I would have to re-order the priorities in my life. For three weeks I somehow found the time for morning and evening meditation and the fortitude to endure the mental distractions and physical discomfort. I found that the discipline was possible. We now have 29 groups in 18 parishes. I have found that the work of starting and leading groups has been the greatest source of encouragement and sustenance for my own journey. I have discovered, too, that the most important requirement to passing on the teaching effectively is my own fidelity to the discipline.

How has meditation changed my life? I now have a glimpse of what Father John meant when he said that meditation would add a dimension of incredible richness and be the great integrating power in one’s life, giving depth and perspective to everything we are and everything we do. Meditation is a self-authenticating experience.

Milestones of our journey

1987

Patricia Ng found Light Within: The Inner Path of Meditation by Laurence Freeman OSB at Katong Catholic Book Centre.

1988

Fr Laurence Freeman gave a talk on Christian meditation to 400 parishioners at Church of the Holy Family. The first meditation group started at the church soon after with the support of the parish priest Fr Alfred Chan.

1989

The next meditation group formed at Church of Christ the King with the support of Fr Anthony Ho.

1990-2019

Meditation groups sprouted around the island as we conducted introductory sessions and leaders meetings to support them.

1997

We began to reach out beyond Singapore bringing Christian meditation to Mauritius (1997), Indonesia (2004), Myanmar (2013), and we continue to support them.

1998

We began serving the sick and the aged at St Joseph’s Home, Gleneagles Hospital (2004), Catholic Aids Response Effort (CARE) (2012), Orange Valley Nursing Home (2013).

1999

We organised our first Essential Teaching Workshop to train leaders and teachers of the community, followed by more workshops in 2003, 2005, 2011.

2001

The WCCM Singapore Christian Meditation Centre officially opened at Church of the Holy Family with a Eucharistic celebration and blessing by Fr Alfred Chan.

2005-2006

Patricia Ng, our founder, returned to the Lord. The community bade her farewell at a funeral mass at Church of the Holy Family celebrated by Fr Laurence Freeman.

We started producing the Meditatio Talks Series of CDs quarterly as a gift to group leaders worldwide. The series still continues today.

We undertook the operation of Medio Media, the publishing arm of the World Community.

2011

The first Mandarin-speaking group formed at Church of St Bernadette followed by others at: Church of St Mary of the Angels, Church of Holy Cross, Church of St Bernadette, Church of the Holy Trinity.

We began introducing Christian meditation to children in catechism classes and at schools, followed in 2012 by The Gift of Peace: Forum on sharing Christian Meditation with children, led by Fr Laurence Freeman with Cathy Day and Ernie Christie, Director and Deputy Director of the Catholic Education Office, Townsville, Australia.

2012

We teamed up with the Archdiocesan Council for Inter-Religious and Ecumenical Dialogue (IRED) to hold the seminar Common Ground.

2013

We commemorated our 25th anniversary with the Holy Eucharist celebrated by His Grace Archbishop Emeritus Nicholas Chia, Fr Patrick Goh and Fr Joachim Chang followed by lunch.

2014

We introduced meditation to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at his invitation.

2017

We introduced meditation to the business world with an in-house programme at DP Architects Singapore led by Laurence Freeman, Peter Ng and Mark Hansen, and a talk at the SMU Mindfulness Convention, followed in 2019 by talks at Far East Organisation and Singtel.

2019

We commemorated our 30th Anniversary with mass celebrated by Fr Laurence Freeman, lunch. And talks by Fr Laurence at Church of the Holy Family, Church of the Holy Cross and Church of the Risen Christ.

2020

The first online meditation groups were formed.

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