In the 70s and early 80s, my Dad used to do some work in Penang, Malaysia. In the Australian, long, January school holidays, Mum and us kids would travel to Penang too and enjoy a relaxing holiday. We always stayed at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort at Batu Ferringhi. I just went back for the first time in over forty years.
When I was travelling to Penang in the late 70s/early 80s, it wasn’t the norm for kids to travel overseas. In fact, I didn’t know any other kid nor family who travelled overseas. I learnt a hard lesson early – not to talk about my travels. None of the other kids wanted to know. They couldn’t understand it I don’t think. In those simple days, there was no Internet, no social media. If you wanted to know something about another country, you read a travel brochure or an encyclopedia.
It's ironic that, in recent years, I have become a travel writer and I can wax on about where I go. Nowadays, people seemingly want to listen!
Those weeks in Penang were my first taste of life outside suburban Melbourne. They ignited a love for travel and learning about other cultures.
Having said that, I remember as I became a tween and teenager complaining to my parents about going to Penang for the January school holidays. One time we even flew on Christmas Day which, to me, seemed like the Grinch stealing Christmas! I can still hear younger me now, “Why do we have to go there? I just want to go to Rosebud like my friends!”
George Town then and now
We would stay in Penang for four weeks or so but only visit the capital, George Town, once. It was dirty and nothing like the city it is now. Mum would give us perfumed hankies for when the smells of the open drains became too much. A far cry from walking through UNESCO-protected George Town nowadays. The smells now emanating from this foodies’ hotspot are of delicious food cooking.
I remember when the first escalator was installed in a brand-new shopping complex in George Town. The locals were amazed at these magical, moving stairs. We encouraged some more nervous locals to give the escalator a try. With a population in Penang now of over 1.7 million, shopping centres and their magical, moving stairs are no longer a curiosity.
When we used to visit, the only connection between Penang and Butterworth, mainland Malaysia, was the ferry. That’s what Dad would catch routinely. Now, there’s a 13.5 kilometre bridge, the Penang Bridge.
Batu Ferringhi then and now
Batu Ferringhi has changed a lot too – as with George Town and surrounds, high rise condominiums dominate the skyline. There were none forty years ago. There is also a string of hotels. When I started visiting, there were two – the Palm Beach Hotel (now demolished and a nine-hole Pitch and Putt golf course as part of the Shangri-La 
property) and the Rasa Sayang.
We didn’t do heaps of sight-seeing when I visited as a kid. Dad would work during the day and use the hire car. Mum had no interest in wrangling three kids when she could lie back on a sun lounge as us kids swam and free-roamed the Rasa Sayang grounds. I learnt to swim in the Rasa Sayang pool. Not the two lagoon pools there are now. The lifeguard taught me in the original pool which was a plain rectangular shape.
Next to the “big” pool, there was a kiddie pool and I remember seeing women in burqas supervising their littlies. I never saw a burka in Melbourne and I wondered how the poor women kept cool in the humid heat. I still wonder that to be honest.
When we did sightsee, it was always fascinating. The Monkey Temple and the Snake Temple were favourites. But it was what I saw of normal Penang life that made an impression on me. The kampongs (Malaysian villages) we would pass by where the locals lived. So different from my three-bedroom, two-bathroom double-storey house in middle-class Glen Waverley. I was amazed too at the proliferation of motorbikes, carrying whole families.
I noticed the reverence with which my father was treated in those days. His first name was John and he was always addressed as “Mr John.” My Mum was addressed as “Mrs John.” It was my first taste of a woman’s worth being tied to her husband.
Returning to the Rasa Sayang after forty years was a surreal experience. On the one hand, I felt like I was back where I had spent months of my life. At the same time, the Resort bears little resemblance to what I remembered. Not surprising given the passage of time and the fact that it closed down between 2004 and 2006 to be almost completely rebuilt.
My Dad died last year. He loved Penang and I wish that I had returned there when he was alive so that we could have reminisced together. I shouldn’t have waited so long.
Although tinged with nostalgia and some sadness, I am glad that I finally returned to Penang. Visiting there stirred up many memories. And I was reminded of where my fascination for and love of travel first started.
Leonie Jarretti, was a guest of Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort, Penang, Malaysia. She is an avid traveller, lives in Melbourne, Australia with her Husband of more than 3 decades, her 4 adult children and her 2 Golden Retrievers. Follow Leonie here.
