CONTEST: What is this object and how is it used in Malaysia ? Write us and tell us what this item is and how it was used in your home or kampung in Malaysia. Fill in the details of your experience. Where you were stationed.? What was your job.? When was the first time you saw one of these? Did you own one? Any problems or scars to divulge as a result of using this item? Send your story to: webmaster@friendsofmalaysia.org. Pictures would be great.
Comments From Your Board President by Barry Morris Happy New Year! I believe the Year of the Snake is now underway in Malaysia. When you were in Malaysia, did you have a favorite saying or proverb? For me, the best one that I heard went like this: boleh mati `accident’, jangan mati `action’. The words might be a bit off after all these years, but basically, what is says is that it’s ok if you should die by accident or beyond your control, just don’t let your action die. I thought that was a great saying and it has been one that I have thought of often and it has guided me in the current phase of life I am going through. After all that we have been through, I think we have to say that we are lucky to be still alive and to be able to keep our memories of Malaysia alive. Probably the youngest of our former Malaysian Peace Corps Volunteers would be in the neighborhood of 55 if they left in 1983 and the oldest volunteers could now be approaching 80 years old. I remember when I first came back from Malaysia in 1973, I thought that it was so difficult to hear anything about Malaysia and I would have never guessed that today, it is possible to watch videos of Malaysia by computer, to talk live with audio and video with our friends, and to read Malaysian newspapers without having them endure a lengthy (CONTINUED) 1
message by mail so that when they arrived, the news was already a few weeks old. At this stage in the Friends of Malaysia organization, we are still trying to keep the memories alive and we also continue to hope we can make a contribution to the country. Fortunately, it seems like every year about one or two of our board members head back over for a visit and have often been able to provide us with a report of some of the projects with which we have been involved. Are there any of your memories you would like to share with your fellow Malaysian Peace Corps Volunteers. As the 50th Anniversary celebrations of the Peace Corps begin to wind down, we are more interested than ever in getting anything to publish from our members. Did you have a favorite saying while you were there? What was your favorite makan? Did you ever have a bad experience while over there? How did we as volunteers ever arrange to meet for dinner or socializing if we have no telephone, no text messaging, and no apparent real way of communicating with a mail service that wasn’t always very prompt? Somehow we did arrange to meet without all the gadgets in use nowadays. What have you been doing since your Peace Corps days? We would love to receive your bio and publish it in our newsletter. Please consider submitting something to our newsletter. We are always looking for any kind of new material. Thank you, Barry Morris, President, Friends of Malaysia Table of Contents Contest of the Month………………….………P 1 Comments From the President………………..P 1 Sabah Museum Peace Corps Showcase ..…….P 2 Chinese New Year Recipe……………….……P 2 Flavors of Malaysia…………………….……..P 3 Why a Friends of Malaysia………….….….…P 4 Our Weeting with Nurul……..………….……P 4 Karen Bowlsby Project……………………… P 5 We Need Your Help……….…………………P 5 ETA’s Feel at Home………………………….P 6 Old new Volunteers Meet in D.C…………….P 7 Board Members and Application……………..P 8