HIKING WAS a very common activity for Scouts: We are thankful for photos of them. Westlands Primary is lucky that one of its scoutmasters, Mr Hwang Hong Shi, saw it fit to take and organise them in albums (above).
During our time at Westlands, the scoutmasters, Mr John Low Thean Hock and Mr Vellasamy, were not as adventurous as Mr Hwang Hong Shi and Mr Thomas Khor who took a group of 12 Scouts on a trek to Taiping and Maxwell Hill and back. Read here. Truth be told, our parents would not have given us permission to go on such a journey – not mine, anyway. Nevertheless, we had a few small adventures.
Hiking up Bukit Cendana: One morning in 1965 about 20 of us gathered at Mr Vellasamy’s home along Waterfall Road (if I am not mistaken) and headed for the Moongate. It was my first hill hike. On the way up the trail forked. Mr Vellasamy, in full Scout gear too, guided us up one path (the right); the left would have taken us up to Penang Hill. Read details here. Atop the hill was a dilapidated bungalow overlooking Tanjung Tokong, Pulau Tikus and the city. We stopped there for a small picnic. The building has, apparently, been burnt down. There are a few pictures of it, taken in the 1970s by Rob Dickinson, in this post here.
The view was breathtaking — the huge cluster of houses below set against the sea without obtrusive high-rises and the abundant greens; they made us very proud of Penang. We thought we had trekked through virgin forests but it was not true. The British had cleared much of Penang’s hills for the planting of spices in the 19th century. There were warnings of environmental degradation and their ill-effects (like climate change!) from as early as 1848. Read here.
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| Picture taken in 1930s or 1940s showing large patches of Bukit Cendana that had been stripped of vegetation. Source: anilnetto.com. Read his story here |
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Using the Mount Erskine route to reach here, we passed
through Pulau Tikus, Gottlieb Road and the cemetery. Photo by Liu Ruxia on Flickr |
Journeying to Choong Lye Hock Road: After getting the Tenderfoot badge, we took some of the tests for Second Class. It involved a “journey”. A few of us decided to walk from the school to Mr Low’s house. It required us, among others, to draw maps, provide landmarks, name the roads and give directions. This is one of the reasons I cannot forget his address. Regretfully, the map book that I drew with meticulous detail is gone.
Job Week: Every Job Week, I would classify the people I do “jobs” for into three groups (a) donors (b) socialisers and (c) people who want serious work done. I would approach my grandfather, parents, uncles, etc, to donate on my Job Card before heading off to other homes. The uncles and aunties who wanted to socialise would invite us in for tea and biscuits after doing a token job like cleaning the wheels of their car or polishing shoes.
The people I dreaded most were those who wanted serious work done. One old lady got us to weed an entire garden. While the space was small, just a patch in front of a linked house, the weeds were thick and there were numerous garden furniture (a swing and large stands for potted plants) that we had to crawl under. It was back breaking but, sportingly, we completed the job and was amply rewarded with a very grateful smile and one dollar to be shared among the two of us.
The general “Burmah” (including Salween, Tavoy, Irrawaddy and Mandalay roads) and “Birch Road” areas were our favourites because they comprised linked houses. The distance between the houses was much shorter and, if there were dogs, we could spot them quickly. The bungalows were probably more lucrative; however, the jobs could be more extensive and they probably had bigger dogs hidden away where we could not see. My friends and I generally avoided them – unless it was the home of a relative or friend.
There does not seem to be a coordinated effort to have Minggu Kerja for Scouts in Malaysia. It is still going strong in neighbouring Singapore which has the same Scouting roots as us. Read here.
Scouting in Penang: Some snippets
This is the third of three parts:
– Lim Siang Jin
Job Week: Every Job Week, I would classify the people I do “jobs” for into three groups (a) donors (b) socialisers and (c) people who want serious work done. I would approach my grandfather, parents, uncles, etc, to donate on my Job Card before heading off to other homes. The uncles and aunties who wanted to socialise would invite us in for tea and biscuits after doing a token job like cleaning the wheels of their car or polishing shoes.
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Mr John Low (right) with Mr Cheng Hin at the 2003 gathering
of Old Frees (1970-72), Bukit Jambul Country Club on 2nd
February. We invited him because he taught many of us.
Mr Low has passed on. When I went to fetch him that day, he
talked about preparing to hike up Mount Kinabalu: “Once a
Scout, always a Scout,” as people say
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The general “Burmah” (including Salween, Tavoy, Irrawaddy and Mandalay roads) and “Birch Road” areas were our favourites because they comprised linked houses. The distance between the houses was much shorter and, if there were dogs, we could spot them quickly. The bungalows were probably more lucrative; however, the jobs could be more extensive and they probably had bigger dogs hidden away where we could not see. My friends and I generally avoided them – unless it was the home of a relative or friend.
There does not seem to be a coordinated effort to have Minggu Kerja for Scouts in Malaysia. It is still going strong in neighbouring Singapore which has the same Scouting roots as us. Read here.
Scouting in Penang: Some snippets
- The first Malaysian Scout Jamboree was held in Penang in 1966. According to a story in the Persatuan Pengakap Malaysia, Pulau Pinang website: “Jubilee Camp, the then campsite of the Local Boy Scouts Association, was transformed into the Jamboree Village with nearly 3,000 inhabitants of various colour, class and creed, adhering to the tenets of the Scout Law, which incidentally was the Law of this camp... Eleven countries, including Malaysia participated; 2,328 scouts from Nationalist China, Great Britain, India, South Korea, Laos, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia took part. The Chairman of Organising Committee and Camp Chief was Wong Pow Nee; it was declared open by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the Sultan of Trengganu.” Read the story here.
- Claims made at the jamboree that scouting in Malaya was founded in Penang in 1908 via an experimental troop with the YMCA are apparently not true. According to Wan Meng Hao, co-author of Scouting In Singapore 1910-2000, “the photo of that 1908 scout troop was taken at Fort Canning, Singapore. Goh Guan Ho was working and living in Singapore in 1908. He had yet to relocate to Penang”.
- In 1934, Lord Baden-Powell and Lady Olave Baden-Powell made a visit to Penang, Kuala Kangsar, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. In Kuala Lumpur on 25th Nov, the 77-year-old Chief Scout was quoted as saying to 30-odd Scouters: “You chaps won't get a chance to see me again. Let me shake hands with you.” He went on to have a word with all of them individually. The group was struck by his informality. It was indeed his first and only visit to Malaya. He retired from public Scouting in 1937 and died in Kenya in 1941. Read more here, here (The Straits Times, Nov 26, 1934) and here.
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| Aerial photo of the 1966 First Malaysian Scout Jamboree at Jubilee Camp. Source: Persatuan Pengakap Malaysia, Pulau Pinang. Read the story here. |
– Lim Siang Jin
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