Place and Memory
Arthur Yong, B App Sc JP
Penang, Malaysia in 1958
“It was back in 1958, I was eight years old. We lived close to our photography business shop, which was located in Penang Road, Penang, Malaysia. Penang Road was one the very busy roads in Penang. There were many different shops dealing with all sorts of businesses, including banks, art and craft shops, watches and jewellery shops, toyshops, textile shops, fruit shops, restaurants, bookshops, pharmacy shops, shoe shops, bag shops, etc.
I was shopping at one of the shopping centres. It was full of people, quite a noisy shopping centre. There were many clothing, fashion stalls and food stalls. Most of the items you could buy at relative cheap prices. People did not go there to purchase the items straight away, they always bargained.
There were many bicycles, cars, trishaws and a few buses in Penang Road, close to this shopping centre. There were water drainages, next to this shopping area. Thinking about them now, I do not think they were very hygienic. This part of the town was very different from the beaches, which are located a little distance away from Georgetown of Penang. The beaches were marvellous, relaxing for the locals and the tourists.
Departure from Penang in 1969
Then, it was 15 January 1969 at Penang Airport. I was leaving Penang with my schoolmate, Hoe Gee (later known as Albert) and his elder brother, Hoe Sin (later known as Alex) to come to Melbourne to further my education. It was exciting, but also very sad. My parents, brothers and sisters, Hoe Gee’s relatives and many of our friends were farewelling us at the airport.
Leaving On the Jet Plane
While we were up in the sky, with the sight of the Australian continent, flying to Melbourne, we saw many green lands. I finally arrived in Melbourne after flying many hours (stopped at Perth and Sydney). I hated flying because I could not sleep in the plane.
Started New Life in Preston, Australia, 1969
When I arrived in Melbourne, I got many different feelings about this new country. The air was fresh. I didn’t see so many white people before, and the language they spoke was different from mine, despite learning English in Penang. I caught a taxi to this full accommodation of Mrs Keane in Dundas Street of Preston, where I started my new chapter of life. I was later known as Arthur Yong, rather Yong Boon Wah.”
Reference
Yong, 2002: Arthur Yong, Place and Memory, “Stories from the Hidden City”; the Place and Memory Project, Bagryana Popov and individual contributors.
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