To altar server Terrence Michael, 17, Father Michal is a person who tries to bring people closer to Jesus. “He doesn’t come down hard on people but will always explain how and why things are done. He is always there when you need him,” Terrence added.
Apart from his parish responsibilities, Father Michal is also chaplain to students at National Technical University and National Institute of Education. He makes monthly visits to a detention centre in Woodlands, which he described as a “privilege to hear the inmates’ stories, struggles, dreams and hopes”.
Despite his busy schedule, he remains very much a nature-lover. He said he has “a need to get out of the Singapore concrete jungle” and does this by going to Changi Beach, MacRitchie Reservoir and the Botanical Gardens for some quiet time, to pray, and “okay, sometimes, to jog!” he admitted with a laugh.
When he was at St. Joseph parish, he especially enjoyed taking “a walk around the grounds with my rosary” in the evenings.
Father Michal will bid farewell to Singapore on Jul 1 to return to Western Australia. It is there that the largest community of Myanmar people in Australia is located and is a good base from which to continue the work of building shelters for the people in Myanmar.
He will miss some things about Singapore – kopi-C siu-tai (coffee with milk, less sugar); the Singapore weather (because in Poland, where he was born, the temperature drops to -22 degrees Celsius); and the people he worked with here – but no real regrets coming here or going back to Western Australia.
“My philosophy is simple. As long as I can work, I am happy,” he said. He is also happy dealing with people. “After 21 years of priesthood, one knows that you will always come across most wonderful and inspiring people, as well as challenging characters. But c’est la vie, such is life.”
