Two faces of Kathina, 2013

Well, there we were again at the Buddhist Hermitage Lunas yesterday to participate in their annual Kathina festival. Kathina is the period that comes immediately after the end of the Buddhist Vassa, the three month-long rainy season retreat that is observed mainly by Theravadin Buddhist monks.

For us Chinese Malaysians, Kathina is quite typically a solemn and serious affair. The first order of the day upon arriving at the Hermitage would be the symbolic pinabaht ceremony, which was the offering of food to the monks. This was done through scooping rice into the monk's bowls.

Everybody then retreated to the main hall to await the start of the Kathina procession. The ringing of the temple bell at 9.30a.m. would denote the start of the walk and the procession, led by someone holding a small stone image of the Lord Buddha, then slowly wound its way around the grounds: going past the river and dining hall, the monks' kutis, round the pagoda and then beside the bhikkunis' quarters before ending back at the main hall.

Back at the main hall, there would be the offering of new robes to a row of visiting and resident monks. The ceremony would end with some chanting before the meals are served to both monks and devotees at the dining hall. These volunteers below were packing up the non-vegetarian meals.

For a long time, the Kathina ceremony at the Buddhist Hermitage Lunas had been a solemn occasion. But ever since the grand arch at the entrance was completed in 2008, the Burmese community have turned the Hermitage into their spiritual home-away-from-home and added their local touch to Kathina. It must be remembered that the Burmese workers around Penang and Kedah had contributed a lot of their time and effort in erecting this arch.

To the Burmese, Kathina is a time for great celebration and nowhere else in this particular spot of the country but here in Lunas was this more clearly seen.

When we arrived at the Hermitage yesterday, the open space in front of the kitchen had already been turned into a small carnival area. Yes, you read correctly. A carnival atmosphere. Tents had been set up and the Burmese were busily cooking away. Somewhere in the background, a small group were putting out the beats on their musical instruments. Except for one or two signs that betrayed the fact that this Hermitage was in the middle of semi-rural Malaysia, one would have thought that this rustic surrounds could be anywhere in Burma.

Fried beehoon, Burmese style

Burmese kerabu

Vegetable soup

Chicken rice, served the Burmese way

 

And then, there was Burmese laksa

Anyway, for a few short hours, the Burmese had taken over and this was showcase Burmese culture at its best. The crowd was unmistakably young and Burmese, and their conversations were all in their own language. The young Burmese men and women strutted and vied for attention. And of course, Burmese food was offered freely to everyone, including those Chinese devotees that dared to stray into the Burmese quarter on the Hermitage grounds.

Within the same area, the Burmese were also getting ready their Kathina trees or badaytha bin. I used to refer to them as money trees because they were decorated with currency notes. They still are, by the way, and the designs seemed to get more interesting with each passing year.

Meanwhile at the pagoda, various groups were milling around and taking photographs. All wearing their finest clothes befitting a grand occasion for celebrating.

And how did they celebrate Kathina? No, they did not participate in the Buddhist prayers at the main hall of the Hermitage. No, they did not join in the procession earlier. And no, they did not join in to offer any robes to the monks. At least, now while I was there, maybe they would do so later. I don't really know.

Then at about 11.45a.m., the Burmese started their own procession around the Hermitage grounds. Curious, I mingled in to see how they did it. Well, not vastly different from our own procession earlier except that, remember, they were in a carnival mood, complete with people playing their musical instruments. And one over-enthusiastic person dancing gangnam style to the beat.

So what do I think about this year's Kathina festival after seeing how we Malaysians observe it and the Burmese celebrating it too? Well, those are the two faces of Kathina. Ours is so solemn and serious; theirs is so light-hearted. But do not take their light-heartedness to mean they are anything less than devoted to Buddhism and the Lord Buddha. No, they are not, and friends who have been to Burma tell me the same. Indeed, I think the Burmese do know when to celebrate and be thankful for what they have.

And methinks we should also learn to lighten up and loosen up and regain some sense of humour. Religion should not always be straight and narrow. There is always room for flexibility and accommodation.

Magical misty moment

I opened my front door this morning to find a blurry sight: a rare mist in Bukit Mertajam. It was already 7.45a.m. but outside my gate, the fine mist engulfed me. I stepped out to the road and turned my eyes towards the BM hill. I couldn't find it. The mist became noticeably thinner as I drove into the town centre. Then the sun came out and the last of the lingering mist lifted. The magical moment was over.

(Never mind what the dog was doing. I never noticed it when I took this picture.)

A Philippe Pagès record from 1982

I shall surprise Philippe Pagès with this record when I see him on Tuesday. He's due for a visit here for a concert, you see, and while other people will be queuing up to get his autograph on their compact discs, I shall want to be different and get Richard Clayderman to sign on this record cover. I just pulled it out from the shelves and gave it a good clean before listening to it. Pure bliss to listen to the warm analogue sound instead of some clinically remastered digital version.

Side One: 'L' For Love (A Comme Amour), La Mer, My Way, Lyphard Melody, Tristesse, Für Elise, Ballad For Adeline
Side Two: Rhapsody In Blue, Bach Gammon, Sentimental Medley, Liebestraum, Moonlight Sonata, Romeo & Juliet, Murmurs

Old and new railway stations at Bukit Mertajam

Behind these few trees stands the old railway station at the end of Station Road in Bukit Mertajam. The building has fallen into disuse recently because the station has been relocated down the tracks (about two kilometres away along Jalan Permatang Rawa) due to the double tracking project. The new station is modern, unlike this old one which is steeped with nostalgia.

I was very surprised to see that all the old platforms have been torn down. Even the rickety metal overhead pedestrian bridge that enabled passengers to walk from the station building to the furthest platform had been dismantled. All that was left was a vast expense stretching from left to right and of course, the rail tracks.

The overhead bridge on the far right of this picture is not accessible from the railway station's grounds. It just stretches across the tracks and connects Jalan Megat Harun to the old quarters of Bukit Mertajam town.

In my opinion, the biggest casualty was that the old station signboards which displayed the name of the railway station to arriving passengers had also been removed. And, I have no idea what is to become of this old building itself. Big, big pity, indeed.

Anyhow, the building wasn't entirely deserted. Apart from workers and a security guard, there were three or four old timers spending their time here either reading newspapers or sitting quietly. For this latter group of people, perhaps they still couldn't get used to the fact that trains no longer stop here. No more passengers or their their waiting families. No more hustle and bustle of people two or three times a day.

But the trains still do go past the old railway station. About a minute or two before a train whizzes by, a whistle would go off, ostensibly to warn workers and trespassers off the tracks. Then the train would come rumbling by. But it doesn't slow down nor does it stop. No, it just goes speedily down the track and disappears into the distance. There's certainly a pang of helplessness when watching this unfold right in front of your eyes.

In the meantime, this is the spanking new railway station off Jalan Permatang Rawa in Bukit Mertajam. It was still work-in-progress when I took these pictures in late September. The station had just been relocated here. During a one-week transition period, vans were utilised to transfer arriving passengers to the old station just in case they had people waiting for them there.

These are the new platforms. I noticed that there weren't much activity either. The staff were just relaxing away until a train arrived. There weren't any extra train tracks either, or an increase in the number of platforms. But the station certainly was more spacious.

On the outside, life was just as slow when I was there. And the ticketing office was just a makeshift structure built out of old containers. So sorry that the staff had to work under such conditions until the building is fit for occupation.

This sign irked me a lot. But considering how the standard of English in this country has gone to the dogs, I am not surprised that Malayan Railways - that's what KTM stands for: Keretapi Tanah Melayu - had overlooked this very fundamental mistake that the new station's correct name should be Bukit Mertajam Railway Station. This wasn't the only signboard with the mistake. There were several dotted along the access road leading to the new station. Anyhow, if only KTM had saved the old station signboards and relocated them here instead of destroying them...

A little bit of Bukit Mertajam history

Today's blog article is a translation from a story, 王琛发 (2008), 大山脚历史, that might have appeared originally in a forum hosted on Zoom Penang and possibly copied later to Wikipedia, or vice-versa. However, Zoom Penang no longer exists as a website while Wikipedia still carries the history bit (still full of grammatical errors and all). As I now live in Bukit Mertajam, this story below is both fascinating and interesting to me.

Prior to my moving to Bukit Mertajam, my main interaction with this cowboy town was as a staff of the now defunct Ban Hin Lee Bank. The bank opened its fifth branch in this town in December 1977 and on and off, I had occasions to visit the branch which was initially located at Aston Road and later at Station Road. After Ban Hin Lee Bank was acquired by Southern Bank in 2000, I was sent to this Bukit Mertajam branch for several months where I underwent training and familiarisation before redeployment to Kulim as the head of its deposits department.

Also, it could be that in 1974, the Penang Schools Sports Council decided to organise that year's school chess competition in Province Wellesley. Although I had already left the Penang Free School, my ties were still strong enough and I remember my enthusiasm joining the school's chess team on a bus trip to Bukit Mertajam. Giving the team some moral support, you see.

I also remember at that time, the bus station was located near a field where the present Summit Hotel now stands. In the middle of the field was a small clock tower which has since disappeared. However, I cannot remember the results of the chess competition at all. Did the chess team win, or did they lose? I don't know. That, by the way, was my very first time in Bukit Mertajam.

So here it is, a short but unverifiable account of the development of Bukit Mertajam town. Just don't take it as the gospel truth, okay?

Bukit Mertajam is a town in Central Province Wellesley (Seberang Perai Tengah), Penang, with the Chinese community forming the majority of the total population. Jit Sin High School is one of the top performing schools in Malaysia. The town is also famed for the St Anne’s Catholic Church, with its annual St Anne’s Novena and Feast being held every year at the end of July which attracts thousands of devotees from all around the country. As a major town in Province Wellesley, Bukit Mertajam serves as one of the many economic hubs in the northern region.

A hundred years ago, Bukit Mertajam was merely a barren wasteland filled with wild animals and swampy marshlands infested with crocodiles.

Although so far there is no complete written record on the early settlement of Bukit Mertajam, archeologists had recently discovered much evidence on the antiquity of the town.

According to archeological findings, there was an early settlement in Bukit Mertajam some 1,500 years ago in the fifth century based on the discovery of the Cherok To'kun Relics, which is a stone tablet carved with ancient Sanskrit writings, and which is now displayed in the grounds of the St Anne’s Church along Kulim Road.

Based on the early Chinese settlers of Bukit Mertajam, the urban planning of the old section of the town was established in 1886 by the Hock Teik Cheng Sin temple community, with the Pek Kong Temple as a town core while the shops, markets and bazaars radiated around the temple.

The Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple along Pasar Road not only served as a centre for Chinese folk religious worship but also functioned as an administrative body for the Chinese community which consisted of four clan associations. At that time, the temple community was responsible for the economic and social welfare of the Chinese community including schools, graveyards, events, social activities and properties.

The Chinese community in Bukit Mertajam are mostly from the Teochew clan. They hail mostly from Huizhou, Guangdong, China and speaks the Teochew dialect. The Teochews once made up nearly half of the total population in Seberang Perai.

Antiquity
The time of the Malay archipelago during the fifth and sixth centuries was known as the Indian cultural era in which Malay kingdoms at that time embraced Hinduism. Evidence arising from the discovery of the Cherok To'kun Relics has shown that the early settlers of Bukit Mertajam had Hindu influence.

The Indians have long discovered the Malay Peninsula. In the Indian literature which is known as the Ramayana text, they had referred to the Malay Peninsula as Suvarnabhumi (Land of Gold). During the third century, the Indians began to trade in the Malay Archipelago regions. These traders were mainly from the Southern Indian kingdom of Chola and Pallava. Soon, the Kedah plain had a large influence of Hinduism and Buddhism with the erection of many temples and candis. The Kedah kingdom had been the trading hub and centre of Hindu civilisation in the Malay Archipelago region. Bukit Mertajam at that time focused on paddy cultivation.

The region of Bukit Mertajam was followed by Thai influence during the 18th century. During this era, Bukit Mertajam existed as a quaint Malay village which was based on paddy cultivation. However, these villagers were either persecuted by the Siamese or had fled.

Early Discovery
According to the Huizhou clan association, the town’s history could be traced back to 1822 when the immigrants from Huizhou begin to settle in Penang, involving in farming. Agriculture was once a major industry in Penang.

After Capt Francis Light discovered Penang in 1786, Penang become a centre for spice trade in the East Indies to supply the European market. Then there was a ten-year conflict between the Dutch and the British in South-East Asia. In order to dominate the spice trade and prevent it from further supply disruptions, the British started the cultivation of spice in British colonial settlements like Province Wellesley.

Major Forbes Ross MacDonald was the Superintendent of the Prince of Wales Island (Penang Island) in 1799. In his report, he brought in the Huizhou people and assisted them by providing transportation to travel to Penang from their homeland, land for cultivation, housing and social welfare. This opened up the floodgates for more Chinese to venture into farming in Province Wellesley. At that time, many people in the Huizhou region in China suffered from famine, drought and violence due to land disputes. People from Huizhou came to Penang to look for greener pastures.

In June 1800, the Huizhou people began to settle within the vicinity of the present-day Bukit Mertajam. Earlier in that year, the first Lieutenant- Governor of Prince of Wales Island, Sir George Alexander William Leith, had negotiated a further treaty with the Sultan of Kedah for the cessation of a strip of land in Kedah in the mainland which was later known as Province Wellesley. Province Wellesley was named after Richard Wellesley, the Governor-General of India.

Before the East India Company gained control of Province Wellesley, the Chinese had already begun their sugarcane plantations in Batu Kawan. In 1800, seeing the high demand of herbs and spices in Europe, the British encouraged the residents of Bukit Mertajam to grow various spices such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Besides agriculture, the residents of Bukit Mertajam begin to engage in alternative income such as quarrying.

It is known that during the 19th century, Bukit Mertajam was the largest producer of granite in the northern region. At that time, the quarrying areas in the town were the areas surrounding St Anne’s Church and Berapit. Granite was used to construct the Penang prison on the island. They were transported by ferrying the rocks across the sea. The Huizhou people dominated the granite quarrying industry until the Second World War.

During the 1930s the Chinese began mass cultivation of sugarcane in Bukit Mertajam as a source of sucrose for exportation to England. Sugarcane plantations were concentrated in key areas of Bukit Mertajam surrounding the town and the Bukit Mertajam High School area near the railway tracks.

The rivers and streams that flowed from the Bukit Mertajam hill into the low plains are now replaced by the large urban drainage systems to cope with the large amount of storm water. Around the newly built temple which was constructed along the river bank, the Huizhou people first settled as farmers in hilly terrains, farming lands as well as hills. The marketplace was established on hillocks surrounding the valley with the river flowing through the centre.

The region surrounding Bukit Mertajam during the spice trade era in the 19th century was only accessible by boat and junk. Sungai Juru and Sungai Rambai were the main transportation waterways in the town, with Sungai Rambai and the Padang Lalang region as the main harbour that served the town. There was no land transportation that connected the town, except mud roads that led to Butterworth. Therefore, all trade and products such as spices and granites had to be transported through the river.

Early Development
Records have shown the demographics of Province Wellesley in 1861, which at that time had a total population of 64000. Ethnic breakdown was as follows: Europeans 76, Malays 56,236, Chinese 7,204, Indians 3,515 and Siamese 186. The majority of the Malays settled in the northern portion of Province Wellesley as fisherman and farmers, while the Bengalis were involved in the livestock industry. Many Chinese conducted business in the town areas, especially in Bukit Mertajam.

In 1899, rubber plantations had replaced sugarcane. During that time, the railway system that connected Prai, Nibong Tebal and Bukit Mertajam was completed. The railway track which connected Kuala Lumpur and Singapore was completed next in 1909, making railway as the main transportation system. In 1914, rubber was the main production in Bukit Mertajam.

With the rapid development and improvement of the transportation system, the population of the town increased dramatically. The first Malay vernacular school was set up in 1800 in Cherok To'kun. Another Malay school was opened in Sungai Rambai three years later. The first Chinese vernacular school, Jit Sin School, was opened on 3 March 1918. Jit Sin School was first established by the Hock Teik Cheng Sin Temple committee along Jalan Pasar, after purchasing 120,000 dollars worth of land for the building of the school. Bukit Mertajam High School was first opened in 1927, the Convent school was founded in 1931 while Kim Sen School was established in 1939.

The first motorcar in Bukit Mertajam was in 1920. By 1930, there were 15 private motorcars owned by the residents of Bukit Mertajam.

Development was slow before the Second World War. Then in 18 December 1941, the Japanese troops attacked Pearl Harbour with Indochina as their military base. Japanese troops first landed in Kota Bharu, Songkhla and Pattani by sea in the same year and then travelled by land to conquer Malaya.

On the 17th of December, Japanese troops conquered Penang, and at the same time Bukit Mertajam was also affected. Before the British retreated in 1941 the railway station in Bukit Mertajam had been blown up. The railway station was constructed again in 1942 by the Japanese and they used Bukit Mertajam High School as a military base. At that time, Bukit Mertajam High School was forced to close down.

After the Second World War ended in 1945, Bukit Mertajam became a thriving town with bustling business activities and trade. Development was rapid. Entertainment centres such as cinemas and theatres were opened in 1956 and 1957.

There was significant urbanisation after 1957. What started as a village later developed into a major urban area. Recent development followed with the establishment of new townships such as Taman Sri Rambai, Taman Kota Permai, Taman Desa Damai, Taman Alma, Taman Sentosa, Taman Bukit, Taman Tenang and Taman Mutiara.

The hospital along Kulim Road was built in 1960, the post office was built in 1968, while the train station was built in 1983.

Today, Bukit Mertajam remains one of the trading and economic hubs in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia.

Protestant cemetery

I was at the old Protestant cemetery in Northam Road, George Town, Penang, recently and this is the grave of the Revd Robert Sparke Hutchings, founder of the Penang Free School, which celebrated its 197th anniversary on the 21st of October 2013. 

This year also marks the nonagintennary of The Old Frees' Association (If you don't know what "nonagintennary" means, go figure it out yourself. I also had to look it up, haha....) and the golden anniversary of the present OFA building in Northam Road. The association was established in 1923 by a group of Old Boys and we have been carrying on with the proud tradition of fraternising with fellow Old Frees ever since. In 1963, the present premises was declared open by the previous Raja of Perlis who also happened to be the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong at that time.

And to cap up a rather magical moment on Monday, the 21st of October was also the anniversary date of Francis Light's death. It is to be noted that Light was a sea-faring captain and was never knighted by any British monarch. 

Capt Francis Light, the man who established the Prince of Wales Island as a trading post for the East India Company in 1786 and became its first Superintendent, died on 21 Oct 1794 itself (and not 25 Oct 1794 as erroneously reported in wikipedia and elsewhere that chose to copy this mistake without verifying.) This is his grave at the Protestant cemetery.

I found two other references or sources to support this date of Light's demise. The first is the marble slab in the canopy at the grounds of the Church of St George the Martyr in Farquhar Street, George Town, which had this dedication that read: "In Memory of Francis Light Esq who first established this island as an English Settlement and was many years Governor born in the County of Suffolk in England and died October 21st 1794"

The second was a 141-page book, A Short Sketch of the Lives of Francis and William Light by Archibald Francis Steuart, which was published in 1901 by Sampson Low, Marston & Company of London.

On page 33, Steuart wrote: "At the commencement of the settlement the colonists were surprised by the absence of fever, but in 1787 the superintendent was struck down with a malarial attack. In 1794 he was seized by another malarial fever. He was able to dictate a will on the 20th of October, but succumbed on the following day, to the great grief of his friends and of the islanders."

I did not have time to walk all around the whole cemetery as I had to rush to the Penang Free School for their Speech Day, but I did manage to locate a few graves of several notable early pioneers of the Prince of Wales Island, such as:

John Alexander Bannerman was the sixth Governor of the Prince of Wales Island. He died on 8 Aug 1819. 

William Petrie was the fifth Governor of the Prince of Wales Island. He died in office on 26 Oct 1816.

James Scott was Francis Light's business partner. He died on 19 Sep 1808. I still have doubts whether or not Scott acted fairly for Light's widow, Martina Rozells, in the execution of Light's will.

James Richardson Logan was a prominent lawyer and an early human rights supporter. He died on 20 Oct 1869.

And of course, the grave of Thomas Leonowens, a person of almost anonymous status if not for the fact that his widow, Anna, later went on to become a Royal Governess for six years in the court of Mongkut, King of Siam. Think Thomas Leonowens, think of The King And I.

Rainy day landslips

My wife and I went walking on the tar road at the Bukit Mertajam hill in Cherok To'Kun last Sunday afternoon. Sky was much overcast but luckily, there wasn't any rain. Anyhow, the wet weather of the past fortnight had already inflicted its damage on the hill slopes.

As per our routine if we use the road, we would walk only to the part where the road joined one of the hill trails (accessible by a ladder propped up against a slope), maybe a distance of about 1.3 kilometres one-way from the car park. Along the way we came across at least seven landslips, some severe, some less so.

Several parts of the road were covered with yellow soil. Small boulders had also rolled down from the eroded slopes. On the way down, we overheard a fellow hiker commenting that he was at the hill the previous day but he gave up all attempts of climbing because yellowed water was gushing down from the hill slopes.

Here are a few pictures of the damage. I know that the authorities already have their hands full helping people who are affected by floods on the mainland of Penang, but I hope they can also clear up the mess here as soon as practicably possible.