If you still haven’t heard, Pope Francis, 87, will be visiting Singapore from September 11 to 13. This will be the final stop of his Asia-Pacific tour, and it marks his longest trip away from the Vatican since becoming head of the Catholic Church in 2013.
Here, the Pope will meet with President Tharman and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. He will also preside over mass at the National Stadium, and lead an interreligious dialogue session at Catholic Junior College.
Two months before the Pope’s arrival, a 44-year-old Singaporean carpenter, Govindharaj Muthiah aka Raj was tasked by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore to make chairs for the Pope’s upcoming interreligious dialogue.
Despite the tight schedule, Raj managed to complete the chairs as well as a miniature model he hopes to give the Pope.
You can read more about Raj’s process of working on this monumental project in this CNA interview.
Some Singaporeans have since taken to Reddit to react to the news of the handmade chairs. And let’s just say that local netizens are a really cheeky bunch.
“Oh…no Secretlab chairs for the pope?” read the top comment in the thread. To that another replied: “He doesn’t want to go to Heaven so fast.”
The gaming chair brand was started in Singapore, and has since gained repute for having some of the most comfortable and ergonomic, not to mention, expensive chairs in the market. We can’t imagine the Pope seated in a swivel chair though.
“Will the chair be a saint once the Pope sits on it?” quipped another netizen, while others wondered “why can’t the Pope sit on chairs that are already made”.
“They’ll probably want to display it somewhere after that so cannot possibly use a normal chair with common design,” explained one netizen.
What do you think?
Photos: CNA Lifestyle/ Marcus Mark Ramos, franciscus/ Instagram