6) PENANG, ISLAND OF PLENTY

I always knew growing up that my father's family spent most of WWII hiding from the Japanese, living as farmers in Penang. The full version of the storyI finally learned from my Uncle this past week.

When Japan invaded Manchuria in 1932, overseas Chinese began collecting 'war bonds' to aid the Chinese resistance fighters. My grandfather was a central figure in his locality for this type of fundraising, and when the Japanese invaded Malaya they arrived with hit-lists baring the names of these ringleaders. Therefore, my grandfather and his family were forced into hiding, first living in barracks at migrant tin miner camps, before finally fleeing, with the help of servants, to the relatively undeveloped island of Penang.

Today, the island is known for five-star beaches and hostels with the latest-wave of backpackers looking for R&R in relative luxury. Sadly, our arrival was greeted by warm drizzle and fog over the bay.

Unlike my last trip to Penang when I lay feverish in bed for several days, listening to the lapping ocean waves and Hil calling out from the beach, delighting in the surface, this was all work. I met with one of the musical Lim twins, friends of my cousin Li Han, who helped prepare me for my Hong Kong tour. Not until half-way through my interview did I figure out that there was a langauge barrier that was resulting in some rather bizarre responses to my rather rudimentary questions. Luckily my Uncle intervened and saved the day, leading the interview back to the land of the coherent. Well versed in the specificities of Classical Chinese Music, the image of Mr. Lim I will always remember was the little orange comb that protruded from the flap of his pocket.

I can now distinguish and Er-hu from a Gao-hu, which is basically telling the difference between the viola and the violin. It's a small accomplishment, but as the saying goes, the journey of a thousand steps begins with the first step.