Nun, music teacher among many who helped in preparing for Pope Francis' visit

Senior Social Affairs Correspondent Assembling the 1,700-strong choir and wind band for the papal mass held at the National Stadium on Sept 12 attended by 50,000 Catholics was no easy feat.

- Esther Loiand

Married couple Alphonsus Chern, 44, and Angela Lim, 36, the choir's co-chairmen, had to juggle the needs of singers aged 10 to over 80 years old, and get everything right with only one four-hour, fulldress rehearsal the day before the mass.

This meant getting choir members seated, training them to blend their voices together, and allowing sound engineers to make technical adjustments.

There was no guarantee that things would work out on the day itself, but Ms Lim told The Sunday Times they were thankful they managed to get four hours' worth of practice because it was "amazing" how everything came together during the actual event.

The chorus included Primary 6 pupils who had to take their Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) the day after the mass, as well as members from all 32 Catholic churches across the island.

"We wanted all the children to join this huge papal mass choir as it's something they'll remember for the rest of their lives," said Ms Lim, a music teacher.

Pope Francis left Singapore on Sept 13, after a three-day visit which included giving a state address, meeting young people during an inter-religious dialogue and meeting Singapore's leaders.

Some 5,000 volunteers were involved in this historic visit the second by a pope to Singapore. The late Pope John Paul II visited in 1986.