Road Trip to Penang

We decided to take advantage of the American holiday to travel to Penang for the weekend. (Tobi gets all American and Malaysian holidays off) We plan to do things on American holidays because on Malaysian holidays travel and accommodations are sometimes difficult. So, on Saturday morning we cranked up our GPS, loaded the CRV, and headed up the E1 highway. It's about a 4 hour drive, so similar to driving from SLC to St. George. The scenery is a little different however. Lots of green. Oil Palm plantations and rubber trees and just plain jungle, north through Ipoh and then west to the coast. Across the causeway and bridge to beautiful Penang. You may remember that we traveled to Phuket, Thailand back in September and I think we both liked Penang better.

We stayed at the old, historic Eastern and Oriental Hotel, established in 1885 by the Sarkies brothers. It has hosted such luminaries as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Noel Coward and Somerset Maugham. It started out as two separate hotels, hence the unusual double name. We had a very nice suite with top level service.

We went on several long walks, visited the Cheong Fatt Tse Mansion, had some superb outdoor meals while watching the evening darken, spent some relaxing time by the pool, and met some interesting people. The E&O has been a destination for Brits on "holiday" for over a hundred years and it still is. We met a couple from England who come to the E&O every year in January and spend 3 months there. As you may not recall from your history lessons, Malaya was administered by the British for about 150 years until 1958, when it was granted its independence.

The weekend was over before we knew it but we had a very nice drive back home on Monday and we are back into our regular routine.

Scott and Tobi

Special Night

Last night I attended the baptism of Zohaib Zafar. It was the result of quite an amazing series of events. Flashback to 9 months ago when Tobi and I arrived in Malaysia and started attending the Kuala Lumpur Branch. Among all of the new faces was a beautiful young lady in her early twenties named Zobia Zafar. I later learned that she was a convert of about a year and was from Pakistan. She and part of her family came to Malaysia to avoid the religious persecution against Christians in her country. Her brother, Zohaib, had gone to jail at the age of 15 on trumped up charges and due in part to the fact that he was a Christian, there was no urgency in adjudicating his case. He remained in prison for the next 8 years.

Zobia and her mother came to Malaysia and in a short time, Zobia found the missionaries. She readily accepted the gospel and was baptized in 2008. Several times in talking with her or listening to her bear her testimony she always mentioned how concerned she was with her brother's circumstances. She always asked the members of the branch to pray for her family and her brother in particular.

Recently something happened to allow Zohaib to be released and he was able to join his family in Malaysia. Last night he was baptized. Zobia was asked to give a talk at the service and when she stood up she asked if it would be alright if she gave her talk in Urdu since her brother's English is not the best. She controlled emotions that were obviously close to the surface and, though we couldn't understand the words, the meaning was clear.

It is unusual to have a baptism on a Thursday night, but the timing was important because this morning Zobia Zafar became Sister Zafar and for the next 18 months will be serving in the Singapore Mission which includes Singapore and Malaysia.