Friday, October 8, 2010

Malaysian Strangers

Hi

Xinyi, outside the Sun Yat Sen Museum

This post is long overdue. I met these people back in June/July when I went to Malaysia for six weeks.

Two of the strangers are mother and daughter, Jessie and Xinyi. They both work at the Sun Yat Sen Museum in Penang. I learned lots of things there, like Sun Yat Sen was kidnapped in London and that he was a bit of a fugitive, moving around alot and I get the sense that he had a women here and there.

The museum itself is in a beautiful old Chinese townhouse on Armenia Street. The house is very long as frontage was taxable and incorporated several feng shui elements into its design. There's a an airwell that lets in wind and water, satisfying the feng shui as the Chinese believe that water flowing in, means wealth coming to the family and it also cools down the house. The Penang Convention was staged here, this led to the Guangzhou upraising in China and eventually the fall of dynastry rule in China. Pretty monumental historical event, eh.

Jessie and Xinyi

Xinyi, the daughter, is a very cheerful and charming girl. She took me around the museum explaining the history of the man and the place. She speaks English, Malay and Chinese, and works at the museum on Sundays. She thinks Europe is very romantic and its her dream to travel Europe one day - go girl, I'm sure you'll be in Europe sooner than you think.

Jessie, told me about the feng shui elements of the house and showed me a video of Sun Yat Sen's life (probably where I got the idea that he had a few women in his life). Like her daughter she's very helpful and cheerful.

Kheng

Kheng works at 79 Travellers Lodge in Penang. He's an incredibly kind and helpful man. All the people I met at the hostel loved him because of his consideration to people's needs. I enjoyed chatting with him, especially as he entertained my Chinese.

I have passed a 100 strangers already but I haven't posted them yet. More on this soon.