In 1978, I was a scrawny 19-year-old teenager with a huge lust for adventure.
I wanted to experience something exotic so I enrolled for a semester at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. On the weekends I would leave campus and explore parts of Malaysia. I used my thumb to hitch rides and slept wherever I could set up my tent. I immersed myself in the Malay culture and loved every minute of it.
On one trip to Malaysia’s east coast I wandered into a village and was introduced to a pair of Peace Corps Volunteers. After leaving that village I decided that I would finish my studies and also join the Peace Corps. The experience shaped my life.
During that time I hitched to Penang. I got a ride to Batu Ferringhi where today we are staying in a 5-star hotel. Things were much different then. I set my tent up on the beach and camped there a few days. There were probably a few hostels and maybe one of two resorts but it was primarily a destination for budget travellers like myself.
One morning, I crawled out of my tent and there was a fisherman who pulled his boat up on the beach near my tent. He was the first albino man I had ever seen. He was strange yet when he asked if I wanted to go fishing I said sure. We went out in his little dugout boat and pulled in his nets. We only got one fish that day which we then cooked on the beach for breakfast. I’ve been looking for that albino but have seen no sign of him 35 years later.
Nowadays as you walk the beaches of Batu Ferringhi you just get pestered by hawkers wanting to sell you time on the jet skis. The beach is now lined from start to finish with hotels and there is a constant hum of the jet skis in the background.
It’s a different world now and I can’t say that I like it. I’ve got my memories of the old Malaysia so I’m happy with that. I guess when Joseph reaches my age he will also look back to the old Malaysia of 2013.
