Penang

We left Pankor with a rebuilt windlass motor to travel the 15 miles to the first anchorage which would then allow an easy day sail the next day to the island of Penang. We dropped the anchor to find that it would not drop properly or pull up again—aaagh!!! We made the most difficult but only sensible decision to motor back early the following morning and have the mechanic look at it again. After adjusting the height of the spline which he had not tested adequately we were ready to head off once again. We wanted to make the rally tour and dinner so motored overnight to arrive at Jerejak Island anchorage at dawn. We actually had a few hours of sailing which was a rare treat. The tour turned out to be a visit to a shipyard—not a great attraction to cruisers but they were the sponsors so were promoting their yard as a place we may have work done in the future on our boats. The outdoor War Museum was next on the agenda and this was as one may expect a sobering experience. The Japanese bombed Penang in December 1941 and with 30,000 invading troupes the British surrendered their 100,000 in a day. No Japanese lives were lost and it is hard for us to conceive this easy defeat—I suspect the Japanese may have wondered why there was no resistance. The British forces and the local people were then subjected to horrific torture by the cruel Japanese forces until the atom bombs were dropped in Japan and they surrendered. Many Japanese generals were held accountable and were put on trial and found guilty of war crimes. The day ended with a dinner at a local Malay restaurant which although was not a memorable meal it was nice to connect once again to the rally crews who at this time are spreading further apart. Over the next two days we wandered the streets of Georgetown. As in most of Malaysia the history and culture are evident in the streets. Once again we see the magnificent colonial buildings alongside narrow streets where the different ethnic cultures live to this day. The unique Baba Nonya culture developed when Chinese migrants intermarried with the Malay women and formed a distinct language and food. Many of these people appeared to be extremely wealthy and we visited a mansion which displayed the magnificent art and crafted furniture of the time. Now they are becoming more aligned with their Chinese heritage and appear ambitious and well educated. Malaysia prides itself on their multicultural and tolerant society but we getting the feeling that all is not well under the façade. The country was formed by joining twelve regencies each with its own Sultan who agreed to form the country of Malaysia. Each Sultan has a 5 year term and it then transfers to another Sultan. It is a hereditary position only a Malay Muslim can hold power. This means that the industrious Chinese and Indians feel they work very hard but have no power and we heard stories of resentment from both of these races. Recently 300,000 educated migrants left to find opportunities in the western world and 95% of these are Chinese. We heard comments saying that even though the government purports to hold the teaching of English in math and science they important they “talk the talk” but do not “walk the walk”. English was the official language before the British gave independence but with the concern that their own language would be lost a generation of young people had almost no English language skills. Realising that this would be an international disadvantage the government has promised to change this. It appears it is not being followed through and many people are resorting to private education for their children. Both the education system and the health system seem to surpass any other country we have visited other than our “western world” it would be sad if they continue to lose their brightest and best. We did enjoy our short stay in Penang and will spend more time as we retrace our steps on our return voyage next April. Our last stop on our northern journey will be at Rebak Marina in Langkawi near the Thai border and we will be happy to finally stop a while and smell the roses—well frangipanis anyway!!! There we will be joined by Ken and Tracy from Calgary and Dave and family will be coming from Hong Kong for Xmas.