Summer 2013 A publication of the Friends of Malaysia, the alumni group of Peace Corps Volunteers that served in Malaysia between fall of 1962 and fall of 1982. Temporary Editor Thaine H. Allison, Jr. VP Programs Friends of Malaysia North Borneo I 1962-64. Contact us at Webmaster@FriendsofMalaysia.org We welcome your contributions and comments.
Squeaks from the Chair
Last issue we started a little contest to identify common objects from our Peace Corps days. We had one winner:
By
Contest Winner: Last Issue
Barry Morris, President Friends of Malaysia Recently, a good friend of mine named David Jackson gave an address to the Institute on Cultural Diplomacy in Washington, D.C. His topic was ”uperpowers and Super Cultural Diplomacy” and in his speech he praised groups like the Voice of America (he was formerly the head of VOA) and the efforts of the State Department. He also even mentioned that the US military plays a role in cultural diplomacy. Cultural diplomacy comes in many forms, and, of course, I thought to myself “who else has done as good a job in spreading this type of goodwill than the Peace Corps”. We are still after all these years hearing from Malaysian citizens trying to find the whereabouts of their former Peace Corps teacher or friend. Sometimes we hear from a son or daughter of someone who served in the Peace Corps and they wish to hear from someone who knew something about the goodwill efforts of their parent who served in Malaysia. Being involved in a kind of cultural diplomacy was what we informally did in Malaysia all those years ago and it is what we still try to do today with the Friends of Malaysia organization. We look for projects to become involved with, we seek to serve as a kind of bridge network with Malaysia, and we seek to remain involved and connected the large number of returned Peace Corps volunteers represented by the NPCA. We recently donated $300 as part of a matching grant program sponsored by the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Wisconsin – Madison. The purpose of this grant is to strengthen the Peace Corps Mentoring Program, improve the (Continued Page 9)
By Donna McCarthy
I recognized the “mystery picture” on in the Apa Khabar away. right Newletter Malaysia of Friends wsletter sia/docs/ne http://issuu .com/friend s-of-malay spring2013 It is a coconut grater. You sit on the stool (straddling it), take a mature coconut, cut or broken in half, and scrape the inside against the metal piece, grating the coconut “meat” into a bowl below. Good for using in making curries, if I remember correctly. I did not own one, but our Malay headmaster at the primary school did. Several times we would jointly host the teachers and he would supervise us in making the curry, etc. One time I had to help hold the chicken so he could kill it halal, by cutting its neck and letting it bleed to death. He made the cut and ran away from it. I tossed the poor thing which fortunately died fairly quickly. Yuck!! Not a pleasant memory!
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I was posted to the Government Secondary School in Semporna, Sabah from 1964 to 1966. I taught “Bridge Class” about Junior. High level for kids transitioning from Malay or Chinese language primary schools to the Secondary School which was in English. They had had English lessons but I was basically teaching in English a lot of the subjects they had had in their own language, such as geography, science, art. Most of the time I was learning about what I was teaching by reading the chapter ahead of (Continued Page 2) them! I learned a lot!
(Winner Continued:) I am currently living in San Diego. We were originally Sabah/Sarawak V, but Sabah became part of Malaysia, so we became Malaysia VIII while we were in training. Gus Breymann and Julia Chang were in a group just a head of us. My housemate Pat Richardson and townmate Bob Jackman were also in a group ahead of me (now the revered Buddhist monk Ajahn Sumedho, living in Thailand) I believe. My husband Brian McCarthy was in We would like to hear from you. Tell us the story and where my group (our orang tua) and stationed in Kiulu for a year you are now and how Peace Corps Malaysia made a difference in your life. Send your answers with contact inthen Penampang. formation to webmaster@friendsofmalaysia.org Brian and I and our son went back in 1995 and could not believe the changes to Kiulu. When he was there it had four dirt floor shops. When we came back there were many shops and a four story building. We told the driver this was the wrong place, but he insisted it was Kiulu!
New Contest: What Is This and Where Did You Encounter It?
Ajahn Sumedho, Bob Schmidt and a Thai monk went back to Sabah in ~2007 and it was a great trip. Now Semporna is a big diving center, big modern six story hotel. Amazing! I worked for about 20 years in pharmaceutical research side for a company the was contracted by the major pharmaceutical companies to do their clinical trials. We did a bunch of the common antidepressants now, and also a number of Alzheimer’s Disease medications (thanks for that, I will need them soon!) I decided to try to get in touch with as many as our group as I could. Five had died, leaving 35 and I think I found 25 of them. We had a group of about 13 in Hilo for the reunion, including spouses and partners, including Rod Zwirner, who turned me on to Friends of Malaysia. The Hilo reunion was fantastic!! It was as if we never skipped a beat. Lots of laughs and lots of memories. One guy came from Australia, where he lives now and a British VSO who taught at the same Secondary school as I did came from the UK.
(S.P. Kedah Continued ) PCV to go to Malaysia in the fall of 1968. After six weeks of training in Honomu, a sleepy plantation town outside of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, I and a group of other wide-eyed, enthusiastic education volunteers had six weeks of Bahasa Malaysia instruction and teacher training in Kuala Trengganu, the conservative east coast town on the South China Sea. Our Group XX was the first PCV group to have half of its training in-country. I was then assigned to Sungei Patani, or S.P., as I affectionately came to know it. It was a small, west coast town on the main north-south highway in the heart of Kedah’s rice-growing and rubber estate country. Penang, then still a free port and still connected to the mainland by only a ferry service, was to the south and Alor Star and the border with Thailand were up the road to the north.
Jumpa lagi!
S.P., Kedah – It’s Still My Kinda Town By Mike Anderson The old saying goes “What a difference a day makes,” but try 45 years. It was that long ago that I arrived in the young nation of Malaysia to participate in a life-changing international experience. As a naive “BA generalist” from the University of Minnesota and one who had never traveled outside North America, I was selected as a (Continued next column)
For two challenging, but very rewarding years, I lived simply in a small Malay kampong house up a stilts on the outskirts of the town. I had wonderful Malay, Chinese and Indian neighbors, plus electricity and one tap for running water, but no air-con, telephone, TV or indoor toilet. Of course, cable TV, Internet and smartphones did not yet exist, and a few locals even questioned whether men had really walked on the moon in 1969. Many Malaysians were baffled why a young U.S. college grad would want to live in a small town in Malaysia. (Continued Page 6)
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A RPCV recently discovered this clipping from Hays Daily News, Hays, Kansas, spring of 1963 in one of her mother’s cookbooks. Terry was a member of North Borneo/Sarawak I, the first group to train in Hilo and be posted to Sabah before independence. We recently reconnected with Terry. We will have a feature about Terry next issue.
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Our physical surroundings. The Waikea-Uka Center was a wooden, L-shaped one-story structure. The PCVs stayed in two rooms with rows of cots. Each cot had a sheet, a pillow and one or two olive-green Army blankets. There was a kitchen and dining hall; meals were trucked in from Hilo. There were three classrooms, and one medical room. Outside the building was a grass courtyard, and behind it by were several flowering Hawaiian trees. I ca not forget how Dan Peed, Malaysia XIX exotic those bright green trees with the red flowers seemed Our Peace Corps adventure started on the morning of July to us. In the distance, on a clear morning, you could always 5, 1968. That was nearly 43 years ago. I have not see the huge 13,000 foot mound of Mona Kea. forgotten. My memories are still with me, of that morning, the training in Hawaii that followed, and then our sojourn Activities at Waikea-Uka. Each day, we had language and in Malaysia. Most important, of course, are my memories cultural classes. My memories of those have faded. But I of the people I encountered, in training and in the beautiful, still smile inwardly when I remember Kelly Speas reciting practice Malay sentences in a deadpan, North Carolina jungle country to which we journeyed. accent: “Saya fikir saya musti belajar behasa Melayu We trained on the Big Island, which has no separate name malam ini.” [I think I must study Malay language tonight]. like the others in the chain - it is simply known as Hawaii. Classes were over by 3:00 P.M. Afterward, we would play First we had to get there. For me, that meant flying all the pick-up basketball games in the nearby middle school gym, way from the East Coast of the mainland. My flight to LA or soccer on the schoolyard. was the first airplane flight I had ever been on. We first gathered in LA Airport, after flying there from our several Often, we would wander down to a little shop owned by a homes. While I waited for the flight to Honolulu, I met a Japanese man named Paul for snacks or cigarettes. Dinner tall, strong, sandy-haired young fellow with a strong Texas would be brought out to us around 6:00 P.M. Afterward, accent. He told me he was also going to Hawaii to train as we would read, shoot the breeze, tell silly jokes, etc. One a Peace Corps Volunteer for Malaysia. This was Dave book I remember reading was The Long Day Wanes, a novel about the last days of the British Raj in Malaya. Just Starker, my first and still one of my closest PCV friends. before lights out, John Cika would get out his guitar and We had a long over-the-ocean flight to Honolulu, then a accompany himself on some pop stuff of the day - usually connecting flight to Hilo. After that, a jitney-bus ride of Simon and Garfunkel. I can hear it now: some 9 miles to Waikea-Uka, an old, rundown former boarding house on the Hamakua (east) coast. Dead tired, Hello darkness my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you again . . . we arrived about 1:30 A.M. on the 6th, sagged down onto rickety cots, and fell off to sleep. After John stopped and the lights were out, we could hear the rain drumming on the metal roof. Being in the tropics, The next day, we took the jitney into the main Peace Corps we had bright mornings and T-showers nearly every training center in Hilo. I believe it was on Wainuenue afternoon or evening. Avenue. Outside it was a granite slab, engraved with the words of John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your country can Weekends. We had no classes on Saturday or Sunday, do for you - ask what you can do for your country.” Inside although we were expected to keep up with our studies. the main building, we were given a breakfast of fried eggs That did not keep us from going into Hilo on Friday or and toast - no bacon - we would be going to a largely Saturday night. Usually, we would wind up at the Havana Moslem country. Then forms to fill out, and new friends to Bar and guzzle 2 or 3 (or more) glasses of Primo beer, meet. That afternoon or the next, we had a picnic (volleycompete on a pin-ball machine (this was before the days of ball and hamburgers). computer games), and plug quarters into a juke-box for the pop hits of the day. I think our big number was always Soon , we got down to business - getting trained up, from “Light My Fire” by the Doors. Other hits of the day were early July to late September. This involved language “Sky Pilot” and “House of the Rising Sun” by Eric Burden classes, taught by Malaysian teachers (chegus). Also, and the Animals. Sometimes we would take in a movie. I cultural classes and information about farmers associations remember seeing The Thomas Crown Affair with Steve and fisheries in Malaysia. I did not keep a diary in those McQueen and Faye Dunaway. (Continued Page 5) days, so from now on I will have to go on random but vivid memories: (Continued next Column)
Memories of Waikea-Uka and Waipio Valley
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(Memories Continued) The Waipio Valley. After four weeks of training, all of us, including those training in Hilo, were bused up to this fabulous jungle-covered gash in the east coast. For I think 2 weeks (no less than 10 days) we lived in primitive wooden huts on the valley floor, fished, and took an agricultural survey of the farmers still growing taro in the valley. I remember walking a long way one day in the hot sun with Bob Leonard to interview a Japanese farmer and his wife as they harvested taro (a root vegetable like sweet potatoes) in a water-filled Oriental-like padi. Our survey did glean a lot of information about the economy of the island circa 1968. Each night, we had to cook our own food. One or two days, I went fishing in the Waipio River with the camp leader, Ray Arraujo, a Hawaiian of mostly Portuguese extraction. Great fun - I remember watching a white horse plod over a nearby field as we sat by the river, using bamboo poles with worms on the hooks. I caught a bunch of silvery fish which I fried in a big pan in the evening. We ate the fish with rice, of course. One night for desert, Ron Tilson and Dave Starker joined forces to produce an apple-pineapple pie. Chomping down a slab, I thought it was the most delicious thing I ever ate. I still think so. Return to Waikea-Uka. At the end of our sojourn in Waipio, we had a big luau. The local women cooked a bunch of stuff for us. While a victrola played a record of Hawaiian music, Ray’s wife and daughter did a Hawaiian dance, while wearing grass skirts.
We lived and studied at close quarters. But I remember absolutely no quarrels or major disagreements. We genuinely liked each other. One weekend, Dave Starker, John Hays and I hitch-hiked around the entire Big Island. One evening, arms draped over each others shoulders, Joe Gosa and Dave joined voices in that old Gospel standard: Gonna rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham O, rockin’ my soul. So high, can’t get over it. So low, can’t get under it. So wide, can’t get ‘round it O, rockin’ my soul. In mid-August, trouble struck. John Cika had been feeling poorly, was sent to Hilo for an exam, and was found to have meningitis. That meant the rest of us had to be quarantined for two weeks. Also, we had to be given gamma globulin shots. These were administered by a rather starchy, middleaged Public Health Nurse named Miss Lindsey. She must have been around 40, but we thought she was ancient (well, we were 22-23). The upshot (pun intended) was that the shots had to be put in your keister. That is because Miss Lindsey had to use an especially long hypodermic needle to inject a large amount of cold fluid. The amount you were given depended on your weight. I remember being very glad I was on the slim side.
When Jururawat (that is Malay for “nurse”) Lindsey called my name, I reported to the medical room. She confronted Oh, we gonna go fishing me, holding upright, one of those long needles. “How are The old Hawaiian way you feeling, Dan?” she asked, closing the door. I said I felt We’re gonna do the huki-lau fine. “How much do you weigh?” I told her (truthfully), We’re gonna do the huki-lau, “About 140 pounds.” She did a calculation, filled her We’re gonna do the huki, huki, huki, Huki, huki, huki hypodermic with what still looked like an awful lot of fluid, and ordered me to over to the examining table. After the Huki-lau. shots, we horsed around a lot. Truth be told, we acted like Who could forget watching their shapely bodies swaying in a bunch of 8th graders. the moonlight? Ray told us, “Keep your eyes on the hands!” but I do not think I’m the only guy who had his On to Honolulu and Beyond. At the end of training, we eyes directed otherwise. were flown up to Honolulu and given some time (2-3 days) The next day, our jitney took us back to Waikea-Uka. Back to the grind. Ralph Lueck and I used a primitive, clunky “computer” (it was electric, not electronic) to compile the data from our agricultural survey of Waipio. We continued our regular studies. By now, we had made our rooms more home-like (or college dorm-like). On one wall of the room in which I stayed, were two movie posters - one of Sophia Loren in a revealing dress, the other of Humphrey Bogart firing a tommy-gun. (Continued Next Column)
to relax. I remember seeing the stunning new SF movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Less than a year later, Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon. We have never established a Moon base, though. The year 2001, now seen in retrospect rather than as the future, is remembered for something far different from space travel. In our hotel ballroom, we were formally sworn in, and then boarded a flight to Taiwan for 2 weeks of extra training. That was a thrilling adventure in its own right, but not the (Continued Page 6)
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(Memories Continued) subject of this piece. Others can tell of our service in Malaysia better than I can. I was there only 6 months. Words can never express how much I respect and honor those who completed their tour of duty, doing all that was expected of them. On a Hawaiian vacation in August 1979, I visited Hilo and toured the Big Island. The Waikea-Uka Training Center was long gone - no building there at all, although some locals remembered it. Also, I took a Jeep down into the Waipio Valley. The wooden huts were gone too, although I retrieved some old Peace Corps training papers from the floor of the valley. We are in our mid-60s now. Of the 91volunteers who reported for M-19 on July 5, 1968, ten we will never see again in this life, including the aforementioned John Cika and Bob Leonard. Ray Arraujo is gone too.
(S.P. Kedah Continued from Page 2.) Each morning, monsoon rain or tropical sun shine, I would hop on my Peace Corps bicycle and ride two miles into town, where I was assigned to the main Malay-medium primary school, Sekolah Kebangsaan Pusat. Although S.P. had had a series of Peace Corps workers since the program began in 1962, I was the first American teacher at that school, and most of the students and staff had never experienced an American up-close and personal. I was posted there precisely at a time when the young Malaysian government was shifting away from elite English schools and trying hard to develop Bahasa as a nation-building, truly national language. The idea was to place native English speakers in key Malay primary schools so that the standard of English could gradually be improved and poorer students (and teachers) would have access to the language that was still considered the gateway to higher education and success.
Being posted in S.P. was not a “hardship” assignment, but it did give me a good, balanced insight into the history, growth and diversity of Malaysia. I have fond memories of not just my students and co-workers but the very town itself. Just living, learning and working in that community for two years (including during the traumatic May 13, 1969, postelection communal violence and national emergency) gave me great insight into what made Malaysia tick. This is a century poet. Our renewed connections, however, are living painting of how I vividly remember S.P. Created by a proof that love can outlast time and death. And I guess that Malaysian teacher friend, it shows traditional rice planting song we sang pretty much sums up my Peace Corps and Kedah Peak in the background. experience “so high I can’t get over it..” You could make a million on the stock market, and lose it in a crash. You could buy a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz, and crash that too. But we have something that is priceless and cannot be lost - our memories of friends, adventures and service we can be proud of. Time has taken its toll, and will continue to do so. We are not 23 anymore, and do not look it either. “Time, you thief,” wrote Leigh Hunt, a 19th
Bio of FOM Board Member Marjorie Harrison Friends of Malaysia Board Member Marjorie Harrison began and ended her international career in Kuala Lumpur. Originally from the Boston area, Marjorie received a B.A. in History from Brandeis University. After completing a Master’s Degree in Educational Media at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, she followed her Kennedy-inspired dream and joined the Peace Corps in August of 1974. I learned much about Malaysia’s colonial history and its development problems and opportunities, and really came Following a “staging” in San Francisco,(the day Richard to appreciate its rich cultural diversity and its unique blend Nixon resigned, Marjorie and her PC group traveled to of Malay, Chinese and Indian influences. In many ways, Malaysia via a roller coaster route. The itinerary took them Malaysia was, as the tourism commercial goes, “Truly from San Francisco to LA to Hawaii to Guam to Okinawa Asia,” and everyday seemed to be a mini-Asian studies to Hong Kong. An overnight in Hong Kong was followed seminar. I also learned much about my own country since I by a final flight via Taiwan to K.L. Training took place in was always being asked about life in America. Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of Perak, and the whole group was invited by the Sultan of Perak to a party in their honor A wonderful mix of rural and urban life, S.P. had developed at the Royal Palace. as a commercial, transportation and district administrative As an “urban” volunteer based in KL, Marjorie was an English Language Advisor (TESL), traveling to schools throughout the Federal Territory and Selangor to give demonstration lessons and serve as an advocate for teachers (Continued Page 7)
center to serve the area’s rice farmers and rubber plantations. My school was adjacent to the town’s main Malay-medium high school, Sekolah Menengah Khir Johari, and a lovely public park and a golf course with a (Continued Page 7)
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(Continued from Page 6 Harrison ) with their headmasters. She was also involved in writing scripts for the English language educational radio programs for elementary school children. Twenty-seven unforgettable months created a love for international experiences and a love for Malaysia which has lasted and lasted.
had hosted a great Hindu civilization. Also, the beautiful Langkawi islands off the coast from Kuala Perlis were not far away, and I recall visiting there years before it became a fashionable international tourist destination and shortly after a James Bond movie was filmed on one of its spectacular beaches with fine white sand and crystal clear After her Peace Corps service in 1976, Marjorie completed water. a doctoral program in Educational Administration. She then worked at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst, I did not fully appreciate it at the time, but being a PCV in then as Assistant Dean of Students at Colgate University Malaysia was a privilege, and I certainly got more out of and finally as Dean of Students at Chatham College. After the rich experience than I contributed. After extending a almost 15 years in higher education, Marjorie joined the year in Kuala Lumpur working at a journalism training Foreign Service as a public diplomacy officer, first with center under the Ministry of Information and helping start the U.S. Information Agency and later with the Department a mass communication program at the newly opened University Science Malaysia (University Sains Malaysia) of State. in Penang, I returned home more cross-culturally Marjorie fashioned a career around the middle of the globe, sensitive, knowledgable about the wide world, and serving at embassies in the Dominican Republic, interested in both a public service career and in someday Venezuela, Benin, India, Mauritius and finally, in 2003, returning to work in Asia. Malaysia where she spent three years. For her assignments in Public Affairs, she was concerned with the development My time in Malaysia really got me interested in the and oversight of U.S. government programs involving dynamic Asia-Pacific region, and I was able to build on cultural and educational exchanges. She also worked my PCV experience and go on to a nearly 30-year career closely with the host country and foreign press. Living as a U.S. diplomat. Regretably, I never had the chance to overseas, she was able to travel extensively. Now retired, work again in Malaysia, but I did do public diplomacy Marjorie splits her time between Washington, DC and work in a number of American embassies around South Falmouth, Massachusetts. In DC, she volunteers with AFS, and Southeast Asia and had many opportunities over the program which sponsors international exchanges for several decades to revisit Malaysia on holidays. I always high school students. Anyone in the DC area want to be a felt comfortable “back home” in Malaysia and enjoyed host family? looking up old friends, returning to old haunts and (Anderson Continued from Page 6) public park and a golf observing how the country has continued to evolve and course with a members-only club house (no, I was not a prosper. member and never golfed there!). Nearby along the main drag were the town’s signature landmarks – an aging British clock tower; a railway station through which the Singapore to Bangkok international express train passed; a colonial-style British bank building; a central market; the police station; and a bustling bus terminal where you could easily connect via bus or taxi to the rest of West Malaysia or even up to Thailand. The town had numerous restaurants and hawker stands, and I quickly found my favorite places for cheap, safe Malaysian delicacies such as nasi goring, fried noodles, laksa, satay, sweet and sour pork, and roti canai. Not far away within the northern section of town was the famous Gurkha regiment training center, which the British had set up in 1948 to train tough, loyal Nepali troops to help defend Malaya and the rest of the British Empire in the so-called Far East. Off in the distance a bit to the north was Gunung Jerai, or Kedah Peak, with its hiking trails, waterfalls, hill-top Government Rest House, and Bujang Valley, the famous archaeology site that once (Continued next Column)
It was a privilege to have been part of an idealistic organization like the Peace Corps that promoted service, mutual understanding, education and exchange, and a positive image of the U.S. As volunteers, we did not always succeed and there were frustrations, but the effort was well worth it, and I think most of the Malaysians we met at the people-to-people, grassroots level welcomed our presence and appreciated our contributions and interest in their country. Malaysians felt complimented when volunteers would use their Bahasa skills, wear batik clothes or enjoy delicious Malaysian foods. Today, Malaysia is really no longer a “developing country.” S.P., for example, has boomed into a real modern city – thanks in part to the North-South Expressway, which runs by S.P. from Singapore to Thailand – and the place today has become almost a suburb of Penang and Butterworth. It now has its share of industrial parks, luxury hotels, condos and fancy housing estates, and malls with multi-plex theaters, and even more golf courses! People are now no longer limited to being (Continued Page 8)
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I wonder if there are underlying meanings to the handshake I just received. If there was a “limp fish” handshake, was there a greater meaning to it? If there was no eye contact, did that mean something? If the handshake involved only fingers touching mine, did this mean something? If the handshake was a bone-crusher one, was it an expression of dominance or “do not mess with me?” All of this makes me think that a hug is always a good thing. Has anyone ever had a bad hug?
Handshakes By Barry Morris, FOM President “[On spreading the flu or a cold] Some business executives believe in a firm handshake. I believe in no handshake… I wish we could follow the Japanese custom of bowing instead.” Donald Trump Having lived in Malaysia, many of us are aware of the many forms of handshakes in Asia and around the world. Apparently, Donald Trump is something of a germaphobe as are a number of celebrities such as Howie Mandel and Howard Stern. My favorite handshake is one that we witnessed in Malaysia – the traditional Malay handshake. Of all the handshakes I have seen, this one is the warmest and most welcoming.
Continued From Page 7 Anderson) rice farmers or rubber tappers or hawkers. They have access to better jobs, technology and new media and to more educational choices. The country has many political, social and economic problems, but few would argue that it has not rapidly progressed into an impressive middle income country where U.S.-Malaysia relations are excellent and where the Peace Corps legacy of 1962-1983 continues. NOTE: Mike Anderson was a Group XX PC who served in Sungei Patani and Kuala Lumpur from 1968-71. A retired senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer, he lives in Arlington, VA., and serves on the boards of the Friends of Malaysia and the Malaysia-America Society.
Recording History of the Peace Corps: A Video Log
The traditional Malay handshake is known as salam whereby both parties extend their arms and clasp each other’s hand in a brief but light or firm grip. The man offers either one or both hands, grasps his friend’s hand and brings his hands back to his chest to mean, "I greet you from my heart". To me it almost seems that the handshake many of us use in everyday life is one that says “do not come too close; I have your hand and I can push you back if needed”. Now, I know that this is rarely seen and we all can appreciate the friendliness of someone who shakes our hand genuinely and with firmness, but I do not think you can find a better expression of warmth and friendliness than the traditional Malay handshake. It is almost like the person you greet is saying, “I am so very glad to meet you and I treasure the honor of meeting you”. Where else have you seen someone touching his or her heart after meeting you? As I recall, in Malaysia sometimes Malaysian women do not shake hands at all and we were not supposed to shake their hands unless they first initiated a handshake. I probably did not always follow this cultural guideline, but, in general I found the Malay women to be just as warm as the Malay men when they were introduced to someone new. n America, I have to admit that sometimes (Continued Next Column)
By Ernest Zaremba "Peace Corps Family Album” is an interactive Video History of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers with over 1300 RPCVs who have contributed stories from over 100 different host countries. These videos have been compiled by country and placed on youtube for easy access. Search Peace Corps Family Album on youtube.com. to get all the countries. Search Peace Corps Family Album Malaysia for the Malaysia videos. Malaysia is represented with 5 videos from 28 RPCVs. My goal is to develop a community of interacting storytellers maintaining contact with each other and the host country. This goal is happening as I have recently been contacted by host country nationals who want to be part of the videos and I am now including them. Peace Corps Family Album is truly becoming a global conversation." Google “You Tube Peace Corps Family Album” and you will find many interesting videos suggested by Ernest’s project. How about you make one about your Malaysia experience and send us a link.
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(Squeaks Continued Page 1) computer systems of the NPCA, and to consolidate the seven or so databases that the organization still uses. Some of our members recently returned from the Peace Corps Connect Conference held in Boston. They said the workshops there were very good. Next year’s conference is scheduled to be held next summer in Nashville. Is your Peace Corps group planning a reunion in the U.S. or Malaysia. Many in recent years have done so. Group 28 will be meeting there in September. If your group is planning a reunion, let us know. We would love to hear about I and share your story(ies) in the next newsletter.
Reunions, Resolutions and Rebounds By Thaine H. Allison, Jr., VP Programs I went from college one week to Peace Corps the next and I pretty much continued my Peace Corps service in the same frenetic pace as my studying days. Most days there were not enough hours in the day to accomplish the tasks I set out to do. When I left my site to return to “life” back in the states I had at least a backlog of a years' list of projects to leave to someone else. When I look at the lives of our board members I find that all are involved in a variety of service and work related activities that keep each one engaged and busy. Each of us serves on the board and have several duties, as assigned, to help make Friends of Malaysia a successful organization. One of my duties is to play detective, sometimes match maker and town crier. Since I am the webmaster about once or twice a month I get an email from some one who has discovered our web site and is looking for an old friend, lover, teacher, or acquaintance. This is a fun and exciting activity for me. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a photographer in San Francisco, David Gross. He was born in 1966 in Jesselton. His father, Monroe Gross, was the Peace Corps doctor at the time. David is preparing to visit Sabah and he is looking for RPCVs that might have known his father. I put out a call through email and received three or four responses from people that knew Dr Gross or knew someone that knew him. Over the course of about a week I was able to share about a dozen emails from RPCVs who had stories for David and some nice pictures. I do not know the full story but David has a connection to his dad's early life in the wilds of Borneo. This is just one of many reunion stories I have been able to facilitate. A couple of times people have responded, “do not give out my email”, and I have respected their request. The interesting thing to me is how easy it is to find many people and how it is impossible to find others. If you knew Dr. Gross and want to share with David contact me and I will put you in touch with him. thaineallison@gmail.com
Dr. Monroe Gross circ. 1966 Sabah Malaysia
Recreating Cambodian History By Thaine H. Allison, Jr. Like many Malaysian Volunteers I spent part of my vacation touring Angkor Watt in Cambodia. Christmas of 1963 my wife and I had taken our tickets from Peace Corps, one for me to Hong Kong return and one for her Singapore return and turned them in to two one way tickets to Hong Kong and from Singapore. We took a boat from Hong Kong, with a scheduled stop in Saigon and on to Bangkok. After exploring Bangkok for a couple of days the word among PCVs was to take a bus to Aranyaprathet and Siem Reap and on to Angkor Wat. Mr No was the guy to see for a good guide and fair prices. Off we went, next to Malaysia I have always had fond memories of Cambodia. My intermediate plans on returning from PC was to get a masters degree and spend seven of the next ten years in SE Asia starting in Cambodia in 1967. Of course I did not anticipate Mr Nixon attacking Cambodia with bombers and Green Berets and the terrible consequences of that war. I never made it back to work in Cambodia. Recently I have contemplated what I will do with my trinkets and pictures from those days. I happened to be at a trade show for government agencies that promote film production and found a booth representing the Cambodian government. In talking about my visit to Angkor Wat those many years ago, really 50, the representative asked if I had any pictures or artifacts from my visit? I said I did several dozen slides, some tie-dyed-silk and a crossbow and other little items that I had picked up in the local market. He said that there is a museum in Cambodia that is trying to reconstruct their post colonial history of Cambodia and they would be interested in my pictures and possibly other items. If you would like to share your pictures, preferably digitally, and other items please contact me and we can figure out how to be a part of reconstructing Cambodia with lost images or art. Let us talk, thaineallison@gmail.com 09
Want to Join Friends of Malaysia? Name _____________________ Maiden Name (if applicable _______________) Address____________________ Address____________________ City_______________________ State & Zip _________________ email address _______________ Dates of PC Service _____________________ Home Phone ___________________________ New Board Member Karen McClay gets a haircut from her PCV husband John, Dyak boys watch and learn.
FRIENDS OF MALAYSIA BOARD OF DIRECTORS Barry Morris, President Thaine Allison, Jr., V.P. of Programs Paul Murphy, Treasurer/ Membership Director John Pearson Lynn Juhl Mary Quattro Rod & Ruth Zmmer Michael H. Anderson Marjorie Harrison Karen McClay Bob Cricenti Ann Howes
Membership Category: _____ $50.00 Individual (Includes Friends of Malaysia and National Peace Corps Association)_____ Friends of Malaysia only $15.00 Print this application, fill in the blanks and Mail the application, with a check payable to Friends of Malaysia, to: Paul Murphy, Treasurer, FoM, 510 Little John Hill,Sherwood Forest, MD 21405. Or just go on line and do it! NPCA: http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/membership/
Learn more about the Friends of Malaysia at our web site: http://FriendsofMalaysia.org Want to contribute to Apa Khabar or join FoM? Contact us at webmastser@FriendsofMalaysia.org Other news on the web: Sabah Peace Corps Reunion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/261219670658500/ Peace Corps Malaysia: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ 201309356552602/?ref=ts&fref=ts
Hungry for Some Down Home Cookin?
Peace Corps https://www.facebook.com/peacecorps Peace Corps Malaysia XII www.facebook.com/groups/ 169875577148/?ref=ts&fref=ts Peace Corps Malaysia 72-74 www.facebook.com/ groups/22589417412/?ref=ts&fref=ts
Azam Ismail uses high-heat wok cooking to impart traditional southeastern Asian flavors at Kopi-O on Tuesday in Eugene, OR. His restaurant on Willamette Street serves http://www.registerguard.com/rg/business/30014054186/ismail-restaurant-layers-eugene-malaysia.html.csp 10