The Huron Expositor, 1977-01-06, Page 19Effective
January 1,,
1977
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WCTORIA an
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18,--iHE HURON EXPOSITOR, JANUARY 6, 1977
AND h
e
BASKETBALL CHAMPS he SDHS senior.girls
:team placed second In ,W SA comp'etitiOn before
Chrittmas. With coach Marianne Weiler are team
members, back, • lett,;::„ Linda: Vanneste, Linda
sip•Pik-i-- •
Dorssers,...Vickl O'Rourke, Cindy.Dorssers,,_Sbirley.
Chalmers, Cheryl Seymour and front, IVrarg
Kathy O'Leary, Gayle Beuermann, Kathy Bruxer,
Lori 'Savauge and Miss Weiler. (Expositor Photo)
VIP. lounge to await the arrival
of our car which was by noW'
several hours behind. The over-
head fan, comfortable 'chairs and
washrooms were greatly appre-
ciated. None-- of us had . even
entered the toilet on the train. We
happened to be sitting downwind
and that alone was enough to
prevent it. People crowded the
station platform. Malay, Chinese
and Tamil Indians (originally
brought over to work on the
rubber estates) all waited
listlessly in the heat for trains.
:The-49th „century architecture 'of
the station; "the many nationali-
ties, a hideously deformed victim
of elephantitis, and the intense
heat made us feel like itiangers
in another land and time-true
"travellers of the. Orient."
The mail train carrying Our car
chugged into the station- about 3
hours later and by duskwe were
on our way again to driVe the 40
mlieS to Achota Bahru - our first
stop on -the 'East coast of•
Malaysia. Khota Bahrti is only 30
miles froin the border of Thailand
but trains travelling onward are
manned by armed soldiers due to-
communist guerilla activity. We
were not tempted tS proceed
further.
Khota Bahru is -an interesting
'blend of the busy ambitiOus
Chinese and the more languid
Malays. In the morning we visited
„the town market with its fascinat-
ing array Of local produce and
aromas, and then drove out of
town to the "Beach of Passionate
Love" (a code name used by the
British in the Second World War.)
After a refreshing dip in 'the
lovely Smith China Sea, we
stopped at. a ,Malay house 'where
the men of the household special-
- ize in, .making the -famous
Kelantin. Kites. Kite-flying in
Malaysia is considered a serious
adult sport-and it not unusual to
see kites spanning 8' or more. We
Were given Ffriendly dernonstra-
_ tion before purchasing a smaller
Version of the brightly coloured
paper kites. "They are .now
adorning,,,Alaima •and,,. Derek s
walls bufwill be flown in Canada
with the first breeze of autumn in..
1977.
Reluctantly we. left Khota
Bahru•- and - drove-on to Kuala
Trengganu• passing by some
much appreciated open •country-
side where coolies in wide
brimmed conical hats• and,
ponderous water buffalo labOured
in the rice padi. -
The first-Morning at Trengganu
found us on the beach by 6:30
a.m. to watch the Malay fisher-
Men in action. There was great
excitement as many 'schools of
tiny shritrip and ikan bilis (a small
fish that is, spread out 'on' Woven
-tats to dry in the Sun), were
jumping in the water. All the
village fishermen were rushing-
'down with nets. With-'one Man on
each side they waded waist deep
into the waterto scoop tip the tiny.
tali. Within Minutes' they
managed to net thOusaMIS - a fact
that obviously brought great,
delight to . the. commitnity. The
beauty :.of the beach scene 'Wag,
slightly.„Marre,d by „the dirty
morning "eXpintierie , the.
WhiCh lirghfidellad not
-yet fernoVed'and Whieli tieCeSti
fated-satie4feltedtwork-onAlte
part Of thP Armitages.
`
- RCM 'fitiP
(Editor's Note: Seaforth native
Phyllis Armitage and her'
"husband" 'Howard and children
Manna and Derek are spending 'a
year in, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Where 'Howard is working for the
Canadian International Develop-
ment" Agency on the faculty of
business and commerce at the
UniVersity of-Kuala Lumpur.. She
is' r daughter of Mrs. Betty
'Walker and the late Dr. Russ
Bryans„ef 'Seaforth and a grand-
daughter of the late Harvey
BtyaitS of Brussels. The following
story, sent to family • and friends'
with Christmas cards, appear
courtesy _of .her "mother Mrs:
Walker. The Armitages will be
back in CaTzlia summer-)
Ourlirst major trip :took
K.L. on a -steadily winding
climb up to , Bukar—Prazer
(Frazer's Hill). This •is a' pleasant
6000' escape from the heat • of.
K.L. anda, favorite weekend trip
• for many a refreshing 75,,
degrees on our first visit. In the
city one 'can becOMe almost
claustrophobic from the lack of a
clear view due to ,all the, lush
vegetation, and the fact that K.L.
is situated in a small valley. At
Bukit Frazer the varied greens of
-the jungle and the-blue of the sky
stretch on endlessly. • L,
We continued on from Frazer's
Hill Making the tortuous- descent
• •through dense jungle, plantations
and bustling Chinese towns to
Krala Lipis.
• Kuala LipiS is literally the end
"of the road. The jungle ii `k thiCli •
in this part of Malaysia, that the
only way to proceed north is via a
-single narrow gauge railway
track.
- We spent the night in a quaint
upcountry resthouse and the •
following Morning lve were up
with the • birds: waiting patiently
for our car ' to be loaded and
securely "tied onto a' railway
flatcar: (This is a story in -itself
-that defies explanation here.)
After waving it out of• the Station
on the mail train, we departed a
short time later on. the local,
"Express" waS- ,
racing).: Once during the 7 hour,
journey we passed Our car sitting
on a lonely siding and wondered if
we'd ever see it: again.. ' •
Jungle Train
TheArain travelled throrigh the
rugged jungles of central
Malaysia. The nearly impene-
tfable maze of towering trees
entwined with creeping vines,
--.---ienormens:--ferns and bamboo
thickets is staggering- A wrong
turn and the inexperienced would
be lost for life. There is a large
elephant ;population inhabiting
• this region but they are rarely
Titled because , of the dense
jungle. At the quiet village steps
along the Way, Women with
- heavily laden baskets balanced
on their heads, carne to; the train
Windows to' sell bananas• and
ramirittati to the weary travellers.
(Rambutan 44: ARIA, fecal fruit
With a prickly red, the
fruit inside is tangy and refresh.
ing): Legging IS an important part
of the ecotiOnty and4e iiitaong
trains barely able 'to Mott along
,,the tracki--'-hurdened With
hundreds of huge•tree tunics, The
jungle may not laSt Pre'Ver. '
Kith krai, one hundred miles.
and seven lot doistY hyurs Wet,
FOrthitately* We Were , given the
• •
Lateriin the day we enjoyed 'a
boat trip up a coastal river and,
saw many Malay fishing villages
with their wooden houses built on
stilts near the water's edge.
Our --next stop was Kuala
Dungun where we stayed at the
poshest place in ,town - .the
grubby but inexpensive Molek
Inn. The purpose of this stojrwas
to witness one of the, "wonders of
nature:"
Year after year Giant Leather-
, back Sea Turtles measuring, 6' to
10' in, length return-to the same
expanse of beach `Rawang•
'Abang', a few miles outisde the
town of Kuala Dunga; to lay their
eggs. These giant creatures
lumber ashore about midnight
and begin the arduous task of
, making their way up-the beach to
a safe spot above the tide line,
Once found, they labouriously 'dig
a hole with their large: hack
flippers and lay from 60 to' 150
eggs. (the eggs are slightly larger
thln a golf ball with a very soft
shell.) The only way one finds the
turtles is by searching die beach •
with a flashlight until corning
across-their tracks which might be
confused with giant tractor-tire
Markings in the sand. Having
buried the eggs, the turtles rest
about an hour before slowly
heading back to the sea where
their speed and mobility greatly
Contrast their defenselessness :on
land. The fact' that the. Leather-
backs return only to this 10 mile
stretch of sand is made all the
more remarkable when one
-considerS that some have • come
from as far as 10,000 miles away.
We returned to Our hotel room at
3 a.m. with a deep sense of
admiration for these huge but
gentle creatures and-.a, feeling
that we had indeed witnessed
something Special.'
- Mosquea
.....tLeaving Dungan we drove past
picturesque. alay villages where
the Mosques are. all the centre Of
community •stopPing when-
ever the sights demanded it, and
enjoying the fe4prely driVe. Iii
Ktiantian we stayed at another
ovIrnment rest house where the
d was excellent - delicious
fresh seafood cooked ,,,,,,to.
perfection ,,While there we visited
Ahe sorigketweavers(a very finely
woven Cloth decorated with gold
threads) and .saw villagers
weaving mats and baskets from
palm leaf. We ,continued south
and after, a frustrating four hour
wait„ at a . ferry crossing, we
reached Mersing‘ - a delightful
Malay town which was to be our
starting point for a few days in
South Pacific paradise.
Early next,Corning we left on a
fishing boat for the four liOtir ride
rto otiK'Island iii the,Sun" - Pilau
Tioman.
Tiernan is a mountainous
jungly island with stretches of
beautiful Paint fringed beaches -
its 4000' peak beckoning from the
distance drew us-like.a.„,rnignet
across the water.
The crystal- turquoise
water of :theASZitith China Sea,
,ibundant with exotic and colour-
ful corals and fishes, fabu-
lous far sribrklingiNite all had a
sense, cominghome f imerrmories
ef r iViornbaSk flooded back as we
swam (Ver-Oottig,04spitiyblaCk-4-,,
Sett UrthinS ittO marvelled, at the,
array of coralMuch to Ifs.
delight, add to
his Cowrie collection, and found
a perfect spetimeti of a spider
conch just lying on the reef, at low
tide.
Muddy Tian
We also made our, first jungle
trek,- spending one, morning
hiking to a waterfall.,. Slipping-and
sliding on the wet muddy. trail,
climbing over boulders and fallen'
trees and under the huge fern
fronds, we made our way steadily
upward. The steepness of the
climb and the steaming heat •of
thelungle made it an exhausting
hike but a unique memory. It's
not something we'll likely have
the opportunity to do again,
Tioman is the first place in
Malaysia that has been -able to
measure up to our memories of
Kenya and ..as the boat pulled
away from the dock, we all felt a
twinge of sadness at leaving such
a special place. This incidently is
the Island where many scenes for .
the movie "South pacific" were
filmed and we can certainly
understand why.
The Anal stop in our journey
was Malacca - an ancient seaport
which-14s been- a crossroads for ,
traders fromChina, Indonesia,
India and Europe, for centuries.
The architecture and character
of the town:.reflect its Moslem
heritage; -the town square the
Dutch occupancy of 1641,,and the
Catholic, Churches Trend as monu-
ments to the Portugese and their
descendents.
From 1521
In 1521, the' Portugese built St.
Paul's Church and St. Francis
Xavier onducted Mass here on
several )._visits to Malacca. A
Portugese sailor of the 16th
century wrote, "Malacca is the
richest seaport with the greatest
number Of merchants and abund-
ance of shipping that can be
found in...the whole world." ..,
The Malacca area also. has
some'of the most beautiful Malay
homes :that _we've 'seen. These
spacious wooden structures built"
on stilts about four feet off the
•
returned to the resthouse - an
iinpesing old building used as
headquarters by' the Japanese
dining the war.
On the three hour drive back to
k.L, in, the morning, we promised
"ourselves a return visit, to browse ..
along the oarrow streets for
antiques and to savour' the history
of a ',now much quieter but
charming town.' -
A few Words abotit life' in Kuala
Lumpur. .• . . -„,,
The bad things - 2" cock-
roaches waving their antennae at
me out of drains and drawers in
' spite of- endless spraying and
cleaning; the ,incredible traffic
Probletris; mosqUitoes and sleep-
ing under mosquito nets; rising at
a,m. daily to be ready for the
schOol bus and the ceaseless heat.
. The good thingS flowers,
trees, birds and butterflies; our
Cheerful Malay. amah and the
delicious curry with coconut milk
that she makes; the interesting
cultures; the inexpensive outdoor
eating stallS, where Satay (barbe-
cued meat served with a hot spicy
peanut sauce)";, and a fantastic
_array of Chinese foods are served;
- and .the marvellous travel
'opportunities.
, Roads Flood
Monsoon season has begun on
the East coast. Roads • will be
oded and fishermen will pull up
their boatsand_nrove their homes
further inland away from , the
violent winds.
In Kuala Lumpur the daily
thunderstorms burst suddenly
from the sky, flooding the ground
within minutes and overflowing
the drainage ditches. In spite of
the cupboardS and cushions going
musty, and mold 'growing on our
'shoes virtually overnight; we
breathe a sigh of relief to have a
couple of hours respite from the
heat. •
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVLEW'REV -
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Last year, our social convener gaved us, a fantastic Christmas
present. "Moxy". Their music and show were unbelievable,
from a flashing sign and dry ice, through .piercing vocals and
screaming guitar solos, to the final' resounding expiosion of
their flash pots: The turnout was great and everyone enjOyedrhe
conce::1-t. That's another deed well done, Brent!
The new year carries with it both, the problems and the
unfinished jobs of '76. By working together, everything will 'be
completed before too long.
hope_ 1977 is "the_ best year yet *for, S.D.H.S. •
-Well, although I'm six days late, Happy New Year everyone. I
'Dale Parsons
Editor
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After in interesting pedicab 4
tour, and a tasty meal at the local It is time to welcome the new babe, 1977, into our. hearts. -,, stalls' ' along-the waterfront .we Another year has slipped throrigh our fingers. Soon, all too soon,
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