While there were those who doubted the viability of creating a parish out of this scattered community, they had not reckoned on the steady growth of the population. While most Syrian Christians still thought of Malaya as a temporary sojourn, there were signs of increasing commitment to this country; one of the most important was the purchase of a piece of land in Kuala Lumpur, on which to construct a church. What was significant was that this purchase was made right at the height of the Japanese Occupation.