The annual pilgrimage

One thing about Indians in Penang, mainly of Tamil stock, is that they have a solid attachment to Thaipusam celebrations. I remember growing up in Penang around low, middle-class Tamil families; Thaipusam was an important event. For Penangites, Thaipusam meant three trips of prayers. Anything else would mean incomplete worship of Lord Thendayathapani. On the eve of Thaipusam, it was customary to follow the day-long chariot procession that traversed almost the whole town.

The main event on Thaipusam was a giant fiesta. It was the go-to place to meet up with old friends and long-lost relatives who refused to keep in touch. Climbing the Waterfall hill to pray at the small temple atop is necessary. Watching wave after wave of colourful kavadis. Kavadis came in various sizes with degrees of intricacies, architectures and varying displays of theatrics by the kavadi bearers and their entourage. Music was compulsory. Those days, there was not so much restriction to the songs played over the P.A. system of the numerous refreshment sheds (thaneer panthal). So, it was left to the creativity of shed owners to whip up catchy songs that drew a crowd. Upbeat Tamil movie songs with sultry lines ruled the day.

To accommodate the hot season that used to hit Penang in January and February (now the weather pattern has taken a toss), kavadis mainly came in two shifts - early morning and late evening. 

If one thought that was all for Thaipusam, they were wrong. After recovering from the two days' merrymaking, the chariot had to return to its original resting place. It was a night-long affair, with the chariot starting in the late evening and moving slowly through town to reach its destination the following morning, making it the fourth day of festivity. 

Now, there was a local urban legend in Penang about Thaipusam. When someone misses a year's celebration, somehow, the curse of not attending would continue for another two years.

Now that my mother, a true blue Penangite and an octogenarian, is incapacitated and essentially homebound, she became restless as Thaipusam approached. She reminisced about the good old times when she could just partake in the celebrations back in Penang at the drop of a coin, at her will. 

She smiled the moment she laid eyes on the Batu Caves temple steps, filled with saffron-attired worshippers with hypnotising drums. For her, Thaipusam was done. Of course, she viewed all these from afar in the comfort of a car perched on a flyover overlooking Batu Caves and the iconic Murugan Statue. 

P.S. At the end of the day, the question that begs to be answered is whether Thaipusam, a religious obligation, has slowly evolved into a cultural revelry and ethnic entitlement.

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Saturday Night with Pa

FICTION 

Saturday Night with Pa 

Farouk Gulsara

Saturday is usually a busy day for Pa. After finishing his work at the printing press about 6 in the evening, he hurries home for his routine of fashioning up for his night out with his bosom buddies. Come what may, the appointment must be upheld at all costs, and his grooming and styling must be completed like a religious ritual. After a vigorous shower to scrub the stains of printers’ ink off his skin, he inspects himself in front of a three-sided, half-length mirror, which gives the illusion of a 360-degree view of oneself. 

Pa would powder himself with Himalaya on Ice talcum powder and dab his newly shaved chin with the stinging but aromatic Old Spice aftershave. Hair is next. It must be immaculate, and nothing is better than Tancho nourishing pomade. He dons a crisply ironed shirt and matching pants, creases like knife blades, and the drill is complete. This is no quick endeavour. Pa takes as long to get ready as Ma takes to tie her six-metre-long sari, as well as plaiting her long hair.

...cont.

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Wrath of the Goddess?

Wrath of the Goddess?

By Farouk Gulsara

The big day will be here soon, tomorrow, to be exact. School life had been going on, dragging its feet. They say time flies when you are having fun. I do not remember having any fun, but it flew by anyway. 

Whenever I start thinking of the future, time seems to be ticking like a time bomb. There is so much uncertainty, and so much can happen. So, I tell myself to tread one day at a time. The best thing to do is not to think too far ahead. But then, that would make me no different from my father, would it not? Enjoy today of what is uncertain tomorrow.

Continue here... Wrath of the Goddess?

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Jalan-jalan cari makan! *

Spoilt for choice!

We say so many things about food. That we eat to live, not live to eat. That food be treated just as we treat medicine; not to overconsume, over-indulge or abuse. Like the Tamil proverb says, in excess, even honey turns poison. When we have the stomach to taste, we don't have the means; when there are the means, we don't have the stomach for it!

Some would insist that eating to satisfy the senses is a sin. It is viewed as disrespecting Mother Nature, who provides and protects. Why go far? Gluttony is listed as one of seven deadly sins that Man should not commit. Various food abstinence regimes are considered highly by many religious beliefs. Fasting during Lent and Ramadan is recommended. So do Hindus during their multiple prayers. Then there are the Jains and Pythogorians with their dos and don'ts about eating and the types of foods that can be consumed. Tubers and root vegetables are avoided by Puritan Jains as ingestion of these foodstuffs kills underground organisms or deprives them of their food.

Yet some believe we are given one life, and our chance to be born as a human is our reward for enduring whatever lowlife and insignificant births before this. To be immersed in bliss is, therefore, our right. Who knows what we will be later. We are here right now and probably never again, so indulge in satisfying all our worldly senses to our soul's content. 

What better way to stimulate our gastronomic senses after tickling the olfactory bulb and arousing the gustatory juices than to go on a foodie trail on the sideline whilst attending a secondary school get-together. And which better place to reminisce the nostalgic taste of the yesteryears than in the hometown that we grew up in. If, in those days, the economy was the stumbling block to giving a go at various foods all at once, now it is the guilt of going against medical advice. But what the heck, we told ourselves, we only live once. But again, we only die once but a happier person.

  

From top to bottom:

Mee Rebus & Ice Kacang

Potpourri of Penang Street Food - Ice Kacang & Rojak

Char Koay Teow & Hokkein Mee

Cendol of Penang Road

Various Pohpiahs

Wan Tan Mee & Toast

Popiah & Grilled Stingray

P.S. Thanks to Yew Teik Hock for the photos. When others say grace before a meal, he religiously snaps a picture on his mobile. Also, to George Ho for choosing the various outlets for each particular dish.

* In the Malay language, the literal translation is going on a stroll, looking for something to eat. Equivalent to going on a food trail. A 'tongue-in-cheek' meaning would be sneaking around to sow your wild oats. Or like ‘Have Gun Will Travel’, how a fornicator scavenges for free meat. Go figure!

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Unplugged!

1950s P Ramlee

The teachers thought he was mental. Living in his own world, humming to the tunes that emanate from his mind, they were sure he would end up as a nobody. Some even toyed with the idea of sending him off for a psychological assessment, and perhaps to a lesser taxing environment, unlike the grammar school that he is placed in. Collectively they thought he belonged to the loony bin. Surprise, surprise, 20 years on, he was composing music, making movies and winning international awards for his acting skills. The boy grew up to be the one and only, the legendary P Ramlee, a national treasure. 

An elderly auntie once told me that she and her husband had decided to leave their first home in Lorong Seratus Tahun in Penang. They were particularly disturbed by the loitering of boys along the roadside, strumming away their guitars and crooning into the deep of the night, crooning in their high pitched squeaky voices. They were not thrilled by their unkempt beehive hair, beatings of drums, either. They thought that the neighbourhood was not conducive to bringing up their children. 

Little did they know that their kids were listening to the same guys who their parents wrote off ten years down the road. By then, three of those roadside boys had become the Alleycats. Their beehive hairdo was then fashionably called ‘Afros’!

Of course, the Alleycats are the most successful of Malaysian bands with international recognition.

The world is a cruel place. People forever want to exert their dominance over the other as much as and whenever they can. They will not rest until and unless their position on top of the perch is secure. They would be wary of any behaviours by the other that is not mainstream. What if the others’ actions put them in the limelight, and their puissance is bowled out?

Alleycats

Every time I held my guitar, people would exit the room. They would say I should not act weird and stick to my daytime job. They assert that wearing too many hats would make me a Jack of all trades but master of None. They asked me what I was trying to achieve and was it my narcissistic tendencies that pushed me to venture into new frontiers considered self-indulgence?

Covid was God-sent. They left the room, citing my contact with the public that puts me a potential transmission source. That arrangement was just dandy. Nobody was there to be bothered by my disjointed and out-of-tune strumming. They did not disturb me, and my practising did not annoy them.

Fast forward. I could say I did not do too badly with my self tutoring. As is seen in the short snippet below, everyone is having a good time.

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Pulau Talang Talang sedia berlepas...

Found it floating around the social media, WhatsApp specifically.

PULAU Talang Talang sedia untuk berlepas (Pulau Talang Talang is ready to depart),” the voice booms over the public announcement system. This is quickly followed by two short blasts of the ship’s horn. Almost immediately, the entire vessel starts to shudder as its powerful engines below deck effortlessly nudge the submerged propellers to life.

Fortunate to get a choice position right next to the metal railing at the upper deck bow, I join the dozens of excited holidaymakers and regular commuters in enjoying the scenic landscape that lay in front of us as the ferry slowly glides towards Pengkalan Raja Tun Uda, our disembarkation point on Penang Island.

Apart from enjoying the fresh and invigorating sea breeze blowing in our faces, quite a number of my fellow passengers also start taking selfies and wefies with the imposing city skyline forming an irresistible backdrop. At the same time, the smell of freshly baked bread wafting in the air successfully attracts quite a number of hungry passengers to the snack shop just a few steps away from me.

BIRTH OF THE FERRY SERVICE

Everyone on board seems to be having a whale of a time as there’s practically nothing to dislike about this iconic ferry service that first started to take root in its most basic form sometime between 1893 and 1894. The inaugural regular service was initiated by a local entrepreneur, Quah Beng Kee who, together with his four brothers, worked under the collective name, Beng Brothers.

The siblings descended from a well-established Straits Chinese family headed by their China-born father, Quah Joo Moey who immigrated to Penang in the middle of the 19th century. Beng Kee, born in 1872, was educated in Penang Free School and Roberts’ College in Calcutta, India. He married the daughter of Chew Choo Im, the Chinese Kapitan of Deli in Dutch-ruled Sumatra and had five sons and two daughters.

The Beng Brothers’ service operated between Kedah Pier on the island and Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier in Butterworth. Apart from this main route, they also provided transportation services to other nearby areas like Teluk Ayer Tawar, Bagan Ajam, Bagan Luar, Simpang Empat, Bukit Tambun and Kuala Kurau. As motorised vehicles were yet to make their appearance at that time, the fleet only consisted of three large steamers and seven smaller steam launches.

BUSINESS EXPANSION

A few years later, in 1897, Beng Kee bought out his siblings’ shares in Beng Brothers and began operating the ferry service under his own company, Guan Lee Hin Steamship Company. When his business prospered in tandem with growing passenger and cargo demand, Beng Kee made the decision to convert his concern into a limited company and named it the Eastern Shipping Company Limited.

Besides maintaining its lucrative local ferry service, the Eastern Shipping Company Limited extended its activities by running ships regularly between Penang and ports in other parts of Malaya, Sumatra, Siam (today Thailand) and Burma (now Myanmar).

While keeping a close watch on his expanding shipping venture, Beng Kee also made his fortune by exporting copra from his Penang estates in Glugor and Sungai Nibong. He also dabbled in iron works and owned the Penang Foundry.

The onset of the First World War in 1914 witnessed the Straits Settlements Government requisitioning all local steamers including those belonging to the Eastern Shipping Company Limited. Thanks to the limited effects of the war on Malaya, the authorities released the vessels back to their owners by the end of that same year.

It was business as usual for Beng Kee until 1922 when he accepted a lucrative offer from Singapore’s Straits Steamship Company Limited to take over the ferry service between Kedah Pier and Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier. The new owners’ tenure, however, proved to be short-lived as the venture changed hands once again when the Penang Harbour Board gained control on Dec 1, 1924.

TRANSPORTING CARS AND PASSENGERS

At that time, the Penang Harbour Board was aware of the exponential growth of cars in Malaya, and it was just a matter of time before service to transport vehicle across the Penang Straits was needed. It conducted a study of the harbour and found that the water depth during low tide at the Bagan Tuan Kecil Pier wasn’t sufficient for the ferries transporting motor vehicles to operate efficiently and safely.

This revelation resulted in the construction of the Church Street Ghaut Pier on the island and Mitchell Pier on the other side. By early 1925, the transportation of cars using decked-in lighters towed by launches were initiated. The trial service was so successful that a steam ferry vessel, aptly named Seberang, built by the Singapore Harbour Board was put into service late that same year to transport both motor cars as well as passengers.

By the beginning of 1928, the number of passengers and vehicles using the ferry service had increased to the extent that vessels with higher carrying capacity became a necessity. An order for two larger steam vessels was subsequently placed with the Singapore Harbour Board.

NEW VESSELS ARRIVE

Contracts for extension work on both piers were also awarded, and the work was completed before the new ferries, Tanjong and Kulim, came into service in early 1929. Together with Seberang, the fleet provided uninterrupted half hourly services during daylight hours.

The number of passengers and vehicles using the ferry service continued to increase annually in the first half of the 1930s. By 1937, it became evident that the older Seberang could no longer accommodate the burgeoning vehicular traffic. Seberang was sold off after the Singapore Harbour Board delivered a new vessel named Bagan in 1938.

The three vessels continued to serve the company well and contributed enormously towards Penang’s economic growth. Things, however, began to take a turn for the worse when the winds of war started blowing towards Malaya in December 1941.

CHAOTIC WAR PERIOD

Just as the Japanese Imperial Army was making its way across neighbouring Kedah, a strategic decision was made to scuttle Kulim within the boundaries of Penang Harbour while Tanjong, whose engines were already damaged, was sunk by gunfire in the same area. The sinking of both vessels was necessary to prevent them from falling into the hands of the advancing enemy.

Only the relatively new Bagan was spared a watery grave. The British War Office used it to transport evacuees to Singapore, and from there on to Sumatra. Unfortunately, Bagan was captured during the final leg of its journey and was used by the Japanese to support their war effort in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

These unlucky string of events left Penang without any proper ferry services during the Second World War. To maintain a connection between the island and the mainland, the Japanese authorities operated an irregular service using a wooden motor ship for passengers and decked-in lighters towed by launches for vehicles.

“Look! There’s something in the water!” a middle-aged gentleman near me suddenly hollers while excitedly gesturing towards the water surface. I crane my neck to have a closer look, wishing for the most remote possibility that he’d discovered the long-lost wreckage of Kulim and Tanjong. Alas, the mysterious object turns out to be a common jellyfish swimming slightly below the water surface.

SERVICES REINSTATED

Returning my sights to the distant horizon, I’m in time to see another ferry glide past in the opposite direction. The regular service that we enjoy today is indeed a far cry from the haphazard ferry schedule experienced soon after liberation in September 1945. During that time, the returning British forces tried their best to reinstate the popular ferry services by reassigning four Z-type tank landing crafts for cross-strait transportation.

The situation improved further after the Penang Harbour Board was reconstituted in April 1946. Bagan, which was recaptured by the Allied forces during the closing days of the war, returned to Penang where it was quickly put back into service.

To improve service further, two of the military landing crafts were given simple modifications at the Bagan Dalam slipway. Renamed Senangin and Lidah, these two vessels teamed up with Bagan to meet the essential needs of passenger transport.

The remaining two tank landing crafts, however, underwent extensive reconstruction at the Bagan Dalam slipway. They were each given an entirely new passenger deck that boasted of higher standards of convenience and comfort. Called Talang and Tenggiri, the two vessels formed part of the post-war fleet that managed to keep up with the growing cross-strait traffic until the mid-1950s.

COMPLETE MAKEOVER

The number of vehicles carried by the ferry service in 1946 was nearly 247,000, but a decade later, the number almost tripled to 711,000. Keen to maintain this phenomenal growth momentum, the Penang Harbour Board hired consulting engineers, Bruce White, Wolfe Barry & Partners, London in 1953 to examine the possibility of increasing capacity as well as plan an entirely new set up to replace the existing ferry service once it reached the point of saturation.

The study revealed that the existing fleet was outdated and had to make way for a new generation of ferries endowed with greater power, capacity and manoeuvrability while equipped with separate passenger and vehicle decks. The consultants also recommended building new terminals, each with double berths, on both sides of the Penang Strait so that service frequency could be increased beyond 15 minutes.

Accepting the recommendations, the Penang Harbour Board put in place plans in early 1955 to help achieve its ultimate service frequency of five minutes. To make this feat a reality, contracts for new double-ended ferries with end-loading capabilities for faster vehicular embarkation and disembarkation times were awarded. The one for a single prototype was assigned to the Singapore Harbour Board while Cheoy Lee Shipyard in Hong Kong received an order for four vessels.

A NEW DAWN

The prototype, named Penang, was delivered in May 1957. Apart from its many revolutionary new features, it retained the old styled side-loading capability so that it could still be used at the existing piers while awaiting the completion of the new ferry terminals.

“Excuse me. Please move aside,” the voice of the attendant jolts me out of my reverie. Looking around, I realise that the ferry has already reached its berth. The attendant swings the railings apart as soon as the hydraulic drawbridge is in place and in that instant, everyone starts to surge forward.

While walking through Pengkalan Raja Tun Uda, I pause momentarily to turn back the hands of time to Sept 24, 1959. On that historic day, this terminal was simultaneously declared open together with Pengkalan Sultan Abdul Halim on the mainland. The opening heralded a new dawn for the ferry service in Penang.

By the 1970s, the ferry service’s exponential growth eventually became its own undoing. Second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak mooted the idea to build a bridge linking the island to the mainland to ease the frequent traffic congestion at the ferry terminals.

The ferry service lost its prominence on Aug 3, 1985, when the Penang Bridge was officially opened by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in his capacity as the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia at that time.

Even though it’s the slower alternative to reach Penang, many were heartened by Transport Minister Anthony Loke’s recent comment to retain Penang’s iconic ferry services. Loke announced plans to improve services by introducing catamarans and upgrade existing ferry terminals. With these novel ideas in the pipeline, there’s definitely better days ahead for the Penang ferry service.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson 

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