The church continued its journey under the guidance of several more priests namely Fr. Carolus Chang (1959), Fr. Selier (1963), Fr. Chong (1973) and Fr. Barnabas Gao. During the state of emergency in Malaya (1948-1960) the people living in rural areas were resettled in New Villages within a perimeter of barbed wires for the sake of security, so as to starve the communists staying in the jungle. So
me of the Christians living in Province Wellesley went over to Kulim town and those of Pagar Teras saw their church closed and even dismantled. Selier abandoned Machang Bubok to live in nearby Kulim where he built a church using some of the stained glass windows. It was opened in 1957 under the same name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Chapels were built in the various new villages under different titles, St Anthony in Machang Bubok, St Joseph in Junjong and the Pure Heart of Mary in Sg. Selier went away to France for a short period, on his return he was sent to Kangar, then was back in Kulim 1963-1973 where he died and was buried near the ruins of the former church of Pagar Teras, according to his last wishes. In 1915, the number of the Tamil speaking Catholics at the Sg. Ular Estate, BMR Estate, Dublin Estate and Bukit Sidim Estate had begun to grow. They were guided by Fr. Ribound (1927) and were also supported by priests who came mainly from Nibong Tebal, Bagan Serai, Penang and Sg. Petani. To accomodate the growing number of Catholics in this area Fr. L Ribound saw to the construction of their chapel. In 1928, St Theresa’s chapel was constructed and its building costs were generously donated by Tan Ah Choy. Between 1934 and 1975, many priests had been stationed at St. Theresa’s chapel. They were Fr. M. Bonamy (1934), Fr. D. Vendargon (1941), Fr. L. Norris (1948), Fr. Manickam (1960), Fr. Dorett (1961), Fr. Maurice (1973) and Fr. Catel (1975). In 1980, when the diocese of Penang implemented its policy of dividing parishes according to territory rather tahn to language, the Indian District of South Kedah and the new villages of Machange Bubok and Sg. Lembu in Province Wellesley came under the care of the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Kulim, which is existing reality today. Having such a large community to work with, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kulim had to divide the parishioners into several areas namely, Machang Bubok, Sg. Lembu, Junjong, Pdg Serai, Malau, BMR, Dublin and Sg. Ular – Serdang. Under the guidance of many priests SHJ Kulim continued its journey of growth. The priests who had rendered their services were Fr. Peter Pang (1982) and Fr. Pathinathan (1984). Stephen Liew was posted to the parish in 1985 for about one and a half years until he left for studies in Rome. In 1986, Fr. Augustine Wong of Bukit Mertajam Parish was assigned to look after Kulim Parish and in Sept 1989, Fr. Michael Cheah was posted to the parish as assistant. This was followed by Fr. James Saw (1992-1998). In 1998, Fr. Bernard Paul continued to guide the church and took over where Fr. Saw had left off. Under the spiritual guidance of Fr. Bernard Paul, SHJ Kulim continued to grow to what it is today. Several construction works took place in order to continue to accomodate the growing number of Catholics in Kulim town. In 2005 during a reshuffle of priests in the diocese, Fr. Bernard Paul was transferred and he was replaced by Fr. Maiccal Sinnappan. Son of parish, Fr. Henry Louis Rajoo was ordained here in 2001, and was the parish priest in 2011. Currently, Fr. Thomas Koo, CDD is the Parish Priest of SHJ, Kulim.
