Party Hearty Penang!

Kek Lok Si Temple of Supreme Bliss

The IlCA/WABA Fellow usually arrives in Penang in late October, early November and stays working with secretariat staff until Christmas or the New Year.  But I requested holding off on arriving until my residency here coincided with my practicum site requirements - I am only able to count hours spent working with the Secretariat that occur within George Mason University's official spring semester calendar.  ILCA and WABA graciously accomodated my request, so I arrived here just in time to take in all three of the country's major religious holidays: Chinese New Year, Mohammad's Birthday, and the Festival of Thaipusam.

The Chinese New Year celebration lasts 15 days - this year it began on 23 January, which means that the 15th day,  and day of the Lantern Festival, was this past Monday, February 6th.  In traditional Chinese families, the day is spent worshiping the Heaven Officer and praying for luck.  Traditional lanterns are made of paper with candles inside. 

Kek Lok Si

Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas

After spending the afternoon with the Mother-to-Mother Breastfeeding Support group at the local YMCA, I came back to my flat, sticky with sweat and weary.  If I had given into my inclination to take to my bed, I would have missed an amazing experience.  Luckily, my adventurous spirit won out and I hired my weekday taxi driver, Mr Suresh, to drive me over to the largest Buddhist temple of Penang, and even, perhaps Malaysia, Kek Lok Si(Temple of Supreme Bliss). Begun in 1893, the temple continues  today to add to its remarkable pagodas and statues.  Arriving at 6:00pm, I was quite impressed with the sight.  But then, at dusk, the lights came on and WOW - truly amazing!  I spent over 2 hours just walking around.  Only two things were lacking:  a guide to explain what all the shrines meant, and sharing it with my family!  My camera battery ran out halfway through the tour, and I ended up using my Iphone camera.  I also ended up asking a young Chinese girl to take my picture so i could prove that I really was there!  My taxi driver said to meet him at the bottom of the hill at 9pm.  The flow of cars journeying to the temple was almost more amazing than the temple! - Mr Suresh couldn't get back to me to pick me up at our agreed-upon location until 10:20pm.  So I decided to make myself useful by standing there at the walkway entrance on the side of the street, and directed the1st time visitors to the correct path!  I must have pointed the way to over a hundred tourists before Mr Suresh waved me to his taxi.

The Year of the Dragon!

I awoke Sunday morning and truly said "Hurray!  I am going to church today!"  I got up, put on my best sundress and enjoyed the 10 minute stroll down to Wesley Methodist Church, which, although it sports a bright unmistakable UMC logo (apparently a 'blast from the past'), is not a United Methodist congregation: Malaysia Methodism became an autonomous denomination in 1968.  Wesley Methodist has a traditional (English) service at 9am and a contemporary (English) service as well as a traditional (Hokkien) at 11 am - I chose the contemporary service held in the Fellowship hall.

Wesley Methodist Church

And within minutes of entering the worship service, I felt as if I had stepped back into a contemporary service in a small-town church in Virginia - except for the fact that I was 1 of 3 'Anglos' in the congregation.  Most of the songs were about 10-15 years old so i recognized almost all of them.  There were drums, keyboard, and one guitar.  a praise band of 4 young adults, and the worship leader was a young Indian female.  We had to alter the service's order of worship so that the pastor could get there - he was over at the Hokkien service serving communion.  His message, when he finally arrived,  was more 'teaching' than 'preaching',  - I missed hearing David (husband)'s sermon, but I was happy to be a part of Christian community.  Everyone was super friendly, and I had a brief conversation with the middle-aged couple from Australia sitting farther down my row.  The husband is a chaplain with the Australian Royal Airforce, and they have just been here a month.  We exchanged phone numbers and perhaps I'll be able to develop a friendship with the wife, Narelle.  The pastor, Rev. Hwa Jen, invited me to a brief Friday morning 7 am chapel service at the Methodist Girls' School which is located just down the street from my apartment building.  I hope to attend.

Smashing of coconuts to cleanse street

Knowing that Malaysia is officially a Muslim country, I expected that there would be big celebrations on Monday in honor of the prophet Mohammad's birthday - which reveals how ignorant I am concerning the Muslim faith.  Muslims do not attempt to give honor to God through any sort of partying but rather by saying special prayers at their routine daily prayer times.  So, it's not surprising that to me, an outsider here, there did not seem much difference in day-to-day activity around me on Monday.  The major markets were all open for business (perhaps because most of the store owners seemed to be Chinese!), and I was able to obtain the additional 30 day-contract I needed for my mobile modem.  My shopping outing provided me with a hot, but glorious nevertheless, walk to the downtown Prangin Mall plaza.  As I neared the shopping plaza I noticed a large crowd of people singing and dancing.  As I approached the crowds, I realized that people were picking up coconuts from a huge pile of cocunts on the sidewalk, and smashing them down onto the street.  What was this all about?  Later, on my return walk home, I just happened upon the reason for the cleansing of the road with coconut milk (milk is white = purity) -the Holy Chariot bearing the representative of Lord  Murugan, slayer of the evil demon Soorapadman and therefore Universal Granter of all Wishes, is being drawn along the road on its annual journey up to the important temple on the other side of town.  Devotees perform sacrifical acts of penance or petition, called kavadis, which involve carrying heavy jugs of milk on their heads, or piercing their bodies with skewers, spears, or hooks, in order to feel worthy of requesting the granting of a special wish.  This is a major celebration of the Hindu faith - Thaipusam.

the Silver Chariot is in the background

Tuesday, Feb 7th, was the official date of celebration, and Sita, one of WABA staff, invited me to join her family at the local sports' club (formerly the British polo club of Penang) for the traditional Thaipusam meal.  Once again - Delicious!