Holiday with Mum – Penang

As we travel through Malaysia by train from Bangkok we get the impression that the standard of living in this country is higher. The quality of the houses is generally better, with most that we see having tiled roofs (rather than tin) and many built of blocks (rather than wood), with a car in a car port. The original houses were built of wood on stilts, but as people become better-off they close in the underneath of the house to make additional living space – the equivalent of us building up into the loft, I guess.

Village house

Village girls on their bikes

The people of Malaysia are made up mainly of the indigenous Malay people, plus Chinese and Indians and then there are other minority groups such as Indonesians and Philippinos. The British governed Malaysia (then called Malaya) from  to 1825 to 1956.

Penang island is off the north east coast and is connected to the mainland by an 8 mile long bridge. It was founded by Sir Francis Light in 1786 as a trading post of the East India Company.

Our hotel is on the north of the island, right on the beach at a place called Batu Ferringhi. The beach is beautiful white sand and extends for about a 2 miles. There are a handful of hotels along its length, but it is not overly crowded. Unfortunately we are told that it is unadvisable to swim as there are jellyfish in the sea, so the only activities are some jet skiing and parascending.

Hotel and beach

At one end of the beach there are a few fishing boats and some fishermen’s shacks at the back of the beach.

Fishing boats and fisherman's shack

Malaysia is a Muslim country and many of the guest in the hotel are Muslim tourists; both from Malaysia and from other Muslim countries. Some women wear only a head dress and many others are all in black, with a veil. The men mostly wear western shorts and T shirts, although there are also a few men wearing white Arab dress. This is very much a holiday hotel and many young couples pose for photograhs on the beach with the woman covered in black, with only her hands and her beautiful dak eyes showing and the man in shorts and T shirt. In our hotel room there is an arrow on the ceiling, which points in the direction of Mecca.

Mecca this way

On our first day on Penang the group has a sightseeing tour around George Town which is the capital and is named after George III. First of all we visit Penang Hill via fernicular. This was the first British hill station to be built in Asia. There is now a brand new Swiss-built train which makes the 700m ascent in 10 minutes.

Penang Hill funicular

The views from the top are stunning and we can see across the water to the mainland and the 8 mile-long bridge which connects the island to the mainland.

Views from Penang Hill

Me and Mum on Penang Hill

After this we go into George Town itself, which is a World Heritage Site.

Typical traditional George town house

We visit the fort which is at the site where Sir Francis Light built the first fort when he landed on Penang.

Sir Francis Light’s statue at Fort Cornwallis

We then take a walk through an area of the city called Harmony Street so-called because there are Chinese and Hindu temples and mosques almost side-by-side. We visit a Chinese temple. Inside the air is thick with incense, as Chinese people make offerings. Outside, a man has small birds in cages and you can buy a cage and set the birds free with a prayer.

Chinese temple

Caged birds for making offerings

In a side street we visit a small workshop, where Mr Lee makes joss sticks by hand. He is 83 years old and has been making these sticks for 50 years.

Mr  Lee joss stick maker

Just down the street we visit a mosque. This is the first mosque built in Penang; it was built by workers of the East India Company. The women in our group are leant black robes and head scarves, to see inside.

Penang's original Mosque

Next we visit a beautifully restored Chinese clan house. When the Chinese first emigrated to Malaysia, they built these communities as support for people from one village, or clan. The clan house consisted of a temple, houses, administrative offices, opera house etc – everything they would have had ‘back home’. New immigrants from that could stay here until they got settled in their new life – a kind of olden days YMCA. This site was used during the filming of Anna and the King – the version with Jodie Foster. The Thai government wouldn’t allow the film to be shot in Thailand, because it was considered disrespectful to royalty. I’ll have to check out this film. I only know the Yul Brynner version, which Mum is particularly fond of. She has a secret passion for Yul. There are 4 versions of this film – the first was with Rex Harrison, then Yul Brynner, then Jodie Foster and there is also an animated version.

Chinese clan house temple

Chinese clan house kitchen with tableau

Next are two Buddhist temples. The first is a Thai Buddhist temple which has another enormous version of a reclining Buddha. This one is looking much more relaxed than the golden one we saw in Chiang Mai.

Reclining Buddha

Across the street is the Burmese Buddhist Temple. There is a useful Thai phrase, ‘Same same, but different’ and this applies to these temples. For the first time in Malaysia we see beggars at the entrance to the temple.

Buddha image in the Burmese temple

Our next stop is a batik factory where they explain and demonstrate the process. They have two methods of making the designs on the cloth both - printing using metal blocks and hand drawing. In the printed method the melted paraffin wax is applied with the printing block and then the cloth is dyed. When the wax is removed, the design of the block remains.

Metal batik printing blocks

The hand-drawn method is more skilful, labour-intensive and colourful. The design is drawn by hand on the cloth with pencil and is then picked out with liquid wax and the dye is applied by hand. The hand-drawn designs are intricate and it’s difficult to imagine how they can apply the colour accurately. As we watch this being done we can see that the colour is dabbed on with quite a thick brush and the material soaks up the dye until it is stopped by the wax edging.

Hand-dying

On our second day in Penang we have a day to ourselves and everyone is glad to have the free time and do their own thing. Mum and I take a public bus back into George Town. Above the driver’s head is a sign asking passengers not to talk to the driver while the bus is in motion, but this doesn’t stop the driver from talking on his mobile phone and texting as he drives at break-neck speed around the corners.

Bus driver on his mobile

Once in George Town we wander through the streets of China Town and Little India, keeping to the shady side of the streets where possible. The heat is pretty fierce and we are glad to have our umbrellas to provide some additional shade.

Shady alleyway

China Town market street

Little India street

Water front

Then we take a bicycle rickshaw back to catch the bus. The driver is keen to help us find the right bus and cycles the rickshaw right into the bus station and takes us by the hand to the correct bus.

Mum in a bicycle rickshaw