Penang
Penang or Pulau Pinang in the Malay Language, is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
The name Penang, to the local people, usually refers to the main island of the state, Penang Island. The main city on the island, George Town, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A former British colony, Penang has always been a melting pot of cultures and peoples from all over the world.
The first Bahá’í to visit Penang was Siyyid Muṣṭafá Rúmí in 1883, a Baghdad-born trader who founded the Faith in Burma (modern-day Myanmar). While on a business trip to Penang to trade in ponies and gems, he met Sheikh Omar Basheer al-Khalidi of the Acheen Street Mosque and was his guest for a few weeks. It would be more than half a century before another Bahá’í visited Penang.
In August 1937, Martha Louise Root, an American journalist from Pittsburgh who circumnavigated the world four times to share the Faith, stopped briefly in Penang. She met the illustrious editor of the Straits Echo, Manicasothy Saravanamuttu, and presented him with a book about the Faith, which he promised to read and share with the Rotary Club of Penang. On 18th September 1950, Shirin Behjat Fozdar, a pioneering advocate of women’s rights in Asia, was on the way to Singapore from India. When her ship also stopped briefly in Penang, she gave an interview to the Straits Times which was published the next day under the title, “Must Be Equality of Sexes in Malaya”. This brief stop would herald the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in Malaya shortly after. Mrs Fozdar would later establish the Singapore Women’s Council and the first Bahá’í Centre in Malaya.
Upon reaching Singapore, she contacted an old acquaintance, Yan Kee Leong. She had met him in December 1949 at the World Pacifist Meeting at Santiniketan, India. He was then a noted Malayan artist and cartoonist publicly known as Yankee Leong. Mrs Fozdar asked for his assistance to arrange for her to give some talks throughout Malaya. The first of her lectures, organised by him in Malacca in December 1953, was attended by over 300 people and was chaired by a renowned leader of the Chinese community, Sir Tan Cheng Lock (later Tun). After helping her with the talks, Yankee Leong himself embraced the Faith, becoming the first ever Bahá’í believer from Malaya.
Over the next few years, Yankee Leong and Mrs Fozdar, using Kulim as a base, tried to share the Faith in Penang. On 9th September 1957, Jeanne Loria Frankel and her mother, Margaret Kelly Bates, on their way to the Cocos Keeling Islands to introduce the Faith there, found themselves in Penang for a few months awaiting their visas. At the urging of Mrs Fozdar, they taught the Faith to those they met during their stay in George Town. On 21st April 1958, the first Local Spiritual Assembly (LSA) in the north of Malaya was elected at No. 42, Peel Avenue. It was the residence of the Sundram's and served as the Bahá’í Centre in Penang.
The founding members of the Local Spiritual Assembly were Dr Chellie John Sundram (Principal of the Dental Nurses' and Technicians' School) and his wife Shanta Mary Sundram (daughter of Checha Davies, a leading Singapore women’s rights activist), Ong Kim Seng (businessman and philanthropist), Mrs Mairi Ong Huck Lim (Women’s Institute chairperson), Chew Swee Seng (artist, businessman and grandson of the Kapitan of Padang), Liew Ah Moy (dental nurse), N. Jegatheesan (Principal Assistant Secretary (Finance) to the Penang State Secretariat), Lily Jansz (hair salon owner) and Dr Pasupuleti Krishnaji Rao (Assistant Municipal Veterinary Surgeon).
The Penang Bahá’í community, still as cosmopolitan and diverse as ever, will celebrate its 65th anniversary in 2023.
The members of the first Local Spiritual Assembly of Penang were (in alphabetical order) :
- Dr. Chellie John Sundram
- Mr. Chew Swee Seng
- Mrs. Keong Hean Kok (née Liew Ah Moy)
- Miss Lily Jansz
- Mrs. Mairi Ong Huck Lim (née Mairi McGliden)
- Mr. N. Jegatheesan
- Mr. Ong Kim Seng
- Dr. Pasupuleti Krishnaji Rao
- Mrs. Shantha Sundram (née Shantha Mary Davies)
One of the Penang community's greatest contribution to the growth of the Faith in Malaysia was the printing and publishing of early Bahá'í publications of the Bahá'í Bookshop. This community effort, spearheaded by Shantha Sundram, produced numerous Bahá'í prayers books, posters and other paraphernalia which were eventually sold around the world by the Bahá'í Bookshop.
By 1963, Penang community had also created the largest Bahá'í library in Northern Malaysia, comprising books, reading materials and recordings from all over the world. The library included a reference, sales and borrowing section which was well utilised by Bahá'ís and the general public alike.
The Penang community were also early adopters of using of music as a means of teaching the faith through the formation of the Penang Musical Group. Collaborating with other musicians from neighbouring Bahá'í communities, the group's musical performances opened doors to a wide segment of the society and allowed them to share the teachings of the Faith to a wide audience.
Contact[edit]
The Penang Bahá’í Centre
11-2-1 New Bob Centre,
Jalan Gottlieb,
10350 Penang,
Malaysia
E-mail : info@bahaipenang.org
References[edit]
- Manisegaran, A. (2003). Jewel Among Nations - An account of the early days of the Bahá’í Faith in West Malaysia. Malaysia: Splendour Publications.
- Quah, Eugene (2023). The Bahá’ís of Penang (1883-2022), Unpublished Manuscript, March 2023 version. Malaysia: The Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Penang (Timur Laut).
