My home in Penang

I grew up in Penang....which was not really a small town even in the 70's, but life was much more simple and laidback than it is today. Those were the days of the old roundabouts with far fewer cars in general revolving sedately around them, which made getting around the island much easier. And there were always those colourful rickshaws to hop into, bells ringing merrily, to get you from 1 spot to the other around town.

What I remember and miss most about Penang are the lush green hills surrounding the island and constant sea breeze of my childhood. This was a time when much of the island was still undeveloped. It was also a time before open burning had become the offence it is today; as the evening breeze was always thick with the smell of burnt coconut husks.

I lived in Minden Heights, which at that time was a new housing development. The first house I lived in was a bungalow along Jalan Gelugor. It was large and had a big garden where we kept our dog.

A few years later, we moved into a link house deeper inside Minden Heights. It had 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs, a hall with a high ceiling and dining area, a study room with attached bathroom, a large dry and wet kitchen, a store room and a maid’s room with attached bathroom. In the front was a square-shaped garden, while at the back was a little kitchen garden where clothes could be dried and chilli plants, lime plants and curry plants could be planted. My favourite part of the house was the airwell, which had an open skylight. The area was tiled with tiles in various shades of brown and had a lot of plants in it.

At that time only one road, Changkat Minden Jalan 5, was ready for occupancy. There were no other houses in front of us at the time – only lush greenery. There was a beautiful hill at the end of the road called Bukit Gambir, which was a sanctuary for wildlife and birds of all kinds. Our front garden overlooked the back of the Universiti Sains Malaysia; I remember my Dad simply opening the gate at the front of our house and walking up the hill to work!

Every evening the neighbourhood kids in Minden Heightswould head out to the playground to play "catching", ride their bicycles or swing on the swings. Every evening, the “roti” man would come around on his motorbike, laden with cakes, breads and pastries of every kind. On weekends, the “kuih” man would come by the house and we would buy all sorts of “kuih” to eat for breakfast. Almost everyone in Minden Heights at the time knew each other - many of my friends' parents also worked at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, so it was a fairly closely-knit community.