According to the Golden Jubilee Book of the Diocese of Penang, the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded for Mandarin speaking Catholics of Machang Bubok and Pagar Teras around the 1840s. I think, rather than Mandarin (which would be regarded as a "foreign language" at that time), the early congregation probably spoke Hakka, if not Hokkien.
The church in Kulim was established in 1948, when its original Pagar Teras site was deemed insecure due to Communist threats, and the British decided to move the Hakka farmers out of the area. As a result, they had to abandon their church in Pagar Teras, dismantling among others the statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the stained glass windows. It also took with it its original name, becoming the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Kulim.
When the Diocese of Penang changed the administrative territory of parishes, from according to language, to according to geographical location, the Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kulim, became the parish church for surrounding chapels, including those in Machang Bubok, Sungai Lembu and Junjong.
Grotto of the Virgin Mary, Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Kulim (17 July, 2015)
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