Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Touring Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur West Malaysia
We spent three days in West Malaysia with Elder Richard and Sister Norma Smith. This couple has been in Asia since February. They are doing very well. The next blog tells more about them as we travelled to see humanitarian projects. Malaysia is divided into two major areas: the Malay Peninsula or West Malaysia and Northern Borneo or East Malaysia. They are separated by several hundred miles of water. West Malaysia is the most developed of the two areas though East Malaysia is larger in geographical area. The government is divided into 13 states with a member of royalty as the head in most states. 11 states are in West Malaysia; 2 are in East Malaysia. The government is described as a democratic royalty. The heads of the states who are royalty form a group from which the king is chosen for a 5 year period. When the 5 years is over, the next in line takes his turn. The English ruled this area for many years, so the active government is organized more like Great Britain with a Prime Minister at the head and legislative houses.
There are several ethnic groups reflective of the many different immigrants through the last 400 years. The leadership is mainly Malay, or Muslim, with Chinese also occupying leadership roles in business. Indian (India) and native tribes constitute the rest of the population. There are three independent federal territories, the most famous of which is Kuala Lumpur (KL), a separate entity of its own. This is a very modern city with tall buildings, a rapid transit system, and a bustling economy. It is surrounded by the State of Selangor, one of the largest in population of the 11 states in West Malaysia. Selangor is in about the middle of the Peninsula, about five hours by car from Singapore. Two new planned cities have been built in Selangor. One is where the government is centered and is called PutraJaya. (Jaya is a Malaysia word meaning "excellence". The other is CyberJaya where many new electronic businesses are housed. Surrounding Kuala Lumpur are many suburbs where most of the people live. We stayed in PetalingJaya or PJ, a large suburb south of KL Our hotel was the PJ Hilton. There are also many tall buildings in PJ.
West Malaysia is a land of many faces. The eastern states border the South China Sea and have some of the most beautiful reefs and places for scuba diving in the world. Tourist trade is a big part of their economy. The major crop is the Palm Tree, with palm oil being the major export. They also grow rice as a staple. We took a taxi from and to the airport and saw many suburban areas, acres of palm trees, and a very modern highway system. We hired a taxi and driver to take us back to the airport on our last day. The driver was the member of the church who took us to the humanitarian projects on Friday. We went early and he took us on a tour through Kuala Lumpur and PutraJaya on the way to the airport. Some of the following pictures came on that fast tour.
This is one of many groves of palm trees we saw on the way to the airport (20 km South of KL). The palm oil comes from the fruit of the trees.
One lunch time we had a picnic in a nearby park. While we were there, a nearby school let out and we were able to visit with several of the students. This girl took the picture of the four Smiths that started this blog. She spoke English. All students take Malay and English in school.
The students were very friendly and outgoing. We especially related to the young women.
Our Taxi driver, Anthony. He is an Indian and joined the Church a year ago. His wife is not a member. He was a real help to us.
This is a view from our hotel window. A lot of development over the past twenty years.
A beautiful city with well designed streets and park areas. Not many motorcycles. Lots of cars. Difficult for pedestrians in PJ. No cross walks. You just wait for a lull in traffic and sprint across the street. Pretty scary. The Smiths do it regularly as they walk to their church from their apartment on the 20th floor of a building next to a large mall. (The church is about 5 blocks away.)
One of the trademark buildings of KL is "The Towers". While we were there, another couple from our office in Hong Kong drove up with the District President to see the same thing. We knew they were going to be in the area conducting a career workshop, but they were going to be in KL and we were in PJ. We were pleased to meet in our 5 minute window and get this picture. Elder and Sister Gibbons from Centerville, Utah. Sister Gibbons is the "mission miracle" Sister that puts up Sister Smith's hair each week. They are a very special couple. They will be here until February. We will surely miss them when they go.
The towers have a walkway between the two buildings that apparently provides a beautiful view of the city. You can see the connection in this picture.
The entrance into PutraJaya has several beautiful multi-spanned bridges across the artificial lake that has been created. This is a picture of the largest one.
A beautiful mosque in PutraJaya. The purple was very prominent.
The Administration Building for the Prime Minister and Federal bodies in Putra Jaya. The roof even has a mosque look to it.
Many different nationalities and dress at the airport waiting for planes. Both Singapore and Kuala Lumpor had beautiful new airports.
Our Malaysia Air plane to take us to Bintulu. A two hour plane ride across the sea.
There are several ethnic groups reflective of the many different immigrants through the last 400 years. The leadership is mainly Malay, or Muslim, with Chinese also occupying leadership roles in business. Indian (India) and native tribes constitute the rest of the population. There are three independent federal territories, the most famous of which is Kuala Lumpur (KL), a separate entity of its own. This is a very modern city with tall buildings, a rapid transit system, and a bustling economy. It is surrounded by the State of Selangor, one of the largest in population of the 11 states in West Malaysia. Selangor is in about the middle of the Peninsula, about five hours by car from Singapore. Two new planned cities have been built in Selangor. One is where the government is centered and is called PutraJaya. (Jaya is a Malaysia word meaning "excellence". The other is CyberJaya where many new electronic businesses are housed. Surrounding Kuala Lumpur are many suburbs where most of the people live. We stayed in PetalingJaya or PJ, a large suburb south of KL Our hotel was the PJ Hilton. There are also many tall buildings in PJ.
West Malaysia is a land of many faces. The eastern states border the South China Sea and have some of the most beautiful reefs and places for scuba diving in the world. Tourist trade is a big part of their economy. The major crop is the Palm Tree, with palm oil being the major export. They also grow rice as a staple. We took a taxi from and to the airport and saw many suburban areas, acres of palm trees, and a very modern highway system. We hired a taxi and driver to take us back to the airport on our last day. The driver was the member of the church who took us to the humanitarian projects on Friday. We went early and he took us on a tour through Kuala Lumpur and PutraJaya on the way to the airport. Some of the following pictures came on that fast tour.
The four Smiths enjoyed a wonderful three days together teaching and visiting humanitarian projects.
This is one of many groves of palm trees we saw on the way to the airport (20 km South of KL). The palm oil comes from the fruit of the trees.
One lunch time we had a picnic in a nearby park. While we were there, a nearby school let out and we were able to visit with several of the students. This girl took the picture of the four Smiths that started this blog. She spoke English. All students take Malay and English in school.
The students were very friendly and outgoing. We especially related to the young women.
Our Taxi driver, Anthony. He is an Indian and joined the Church a year ago. His wife is not a member. He was a real help to us. 
This is a view from our hotel window. A lot of development over the past twenty years.
A beautiful city with well designed streets and park areas. Not many motorcycles. Lots of cars. Difficult for pedestrians in PJ. No cross walks. You just wait for a lull in traffic and sprint across the street. Pretty scary. The Smiths do it regularly as they walk to their church from their apartment on the 20th floor of a building next to a large mall. (The church is about 5 blocks away.)
One of the trademark buildings of KL is "The Towers". While we were there, another couple from our office in Hong Kong drove up with the District President to see the same thing. We knew they were going to be in the area conducting a career workshop, but they were going to be in KL and we were in PJ. We were pleased to meet in our 5 minute window and get this picture. Elder and Sister Gibbons from Centerville, Utah. Sister Gibbons is the "mission miracle" Sister that puts up Sister Smith's hair each week. They are a very special couple. They will be here until February. We will surely miss them when they go.
The towers have a walkway between the two buildings that apparently provides a beautiful view of the city. You can see the connection in this picture.
The entrance into PutraJaya has several beautiful multi-spanned bridges across the artificial lake that has been created. This is a picture of the largest one.
A beautiful mosque in PutraJaya. The purple was very prominent.
The Administration Building for the Prime Minister and Federal bodies in Putra Jaya. The roof even has a mosque look to it.
Many different nationalities and dress at the airport waiting for planes. Both Singapore and Kuala Lumpor had beautiful new airports.
Our Malaysia Air plane to take us to Bintulu. A two hour plane ride across the sea.Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Humanitarian Projects in West Malaysia
Our trip to West Malaysia was to meet and train our new welfare mission couple, Richard and Norma Smith. We also spent a day visiting some of the places where the LDSCharities have participated in providing material and services to the poor, needy and disabled. This blog will highlight some of the projects LDSC has done over the past year with the previous couple, Elder and Sister Walton
There are several ethnic groups of people living in Malaysia. Over the centuries many groups settled in the geograpical area. The people known as the Malays (Muslim) were among early settlers and they are currently the leaders of the government. The Chinese came with business skills and are the economic leaders. Indians are another group, with the majority being known as Tamils. They are generally have greater need of humanitarian help. The Tamil schools are provided buildings and teachers, but little help with furniture and supplies. The LDSC has helped several schools throughout Malaysia with strong sturdy furniture. This elementary school we visited was provided furniture for their library.
Sister Smith met some of the children in one of their classrooms. The furniture in this room was not provided by LDSC. Each room tends to have a varied type of desk and chairs according to what could be obtained through donations. The children were happy to welcome us.
The assistant principal told us how proud they were of the nicely furnished library. She was willing to have her picture taken in her beautiful purple outfit.
The library furniture was sometimes assembled by members of local branches. This furniture was very sturdy as can be seen with this chair. The tables were covered to protect them as the students studied. We told the teachers that the money to purchase this furniture came from church members throughout the world who gave liberally for humanitarian work in distant lands.
A group of children were studying in the library as we visited. See person on right of picture.
Henry Sandeman is the director of the Gomback District in Northern Selangor State that surrounds the city-state of Kuala Lumpur. He was trained in the ministry, but left that to help the youth and needy in this District. He provides a place for youth to learn computer skills, and a library to help youth practice their reading skills. The LDSC have helped provide sewing machines for needy women or single mothers to learn sewing skills and then use those skills to make clothing which helps make them more self-reliant. Henry is passionate about his work, and goes regularly into the schools to teach the students moral values. He has great faith and welcomes groups such as LDSC who help provide the materials to carry out his work. We enjoyed meeting such a dedicated man.
The table to the left is stacked with shirts that have been produced in this sewing center by needy women with help from LDSC sewing machines.
We paused in our journey to have lunch at an Indian (India) restaurant recommended by Anthony. The plates are banana leaves. The utensil used by the Indians is the right hand. The food is placed directly on the banana leaves. The rice has been placed on the banana leaves. The missionaries used a provided fork, but Anthony enjoyed his in the traditional Indian way. The food was very good. Meat, sauces, vegetables all mixed with the rice.
The last stop of the day was to the Cheshire Home of Selangor. Cheshire Homes is an international organization that provides living facilities for seriously disabled and handicapped persons. LDSC has partnered with this organization in both West and East Malaysia to provide wheelchairs for the disabled, including those in their group homes. The President of the Malaysia homes is Khatijah Sulieman, a widow who has dedicated her fortune and life to lifting up her fellowmen and women who are disabled, some from birth. She is well known throughout Malaysia and a great friend of LDSC. This complex of buildings was acquired from a wealthy citizen and turned into a very comfortable facility for the disabled. They hosted us and greeted us as we arrived with a welcome sign.
We felt special being greeted with our name on the big board out in front of the Cheshire Group Home!
This wheelchair was provided by the LDSC. They are currently delivering another order of 250 wheelchairs through different NGO groups in Malaysia.
The facility included a full bakery where residents who can learn cooking skills and provide some of the food for the home. We enjoyed some delicious pastries from the bakery during our visit, even though it was too late in the day to observe the "bakers" in action.
A resident sitting in her wheelchair and making a beautiful quilt. They seem very happy to be busy doing something worthwhile.
This man is hemming hot pads with a sewing machine. Sister Norma Smith is admiring his work.
In the evening, the four Smiths were hosted by Khatijah and a member of the governing board, Ghazali Yusoff. We presented Khatijah with a lovely acrylic desk memento with LDSC imprinted on the recognition. She was touched and seemed grateful to receive it.
Our new missionary couple is from Provo, Utah. Elder Smith was a dentist in Southern California. He was a missionary companion of my brother, Gordon, in the Eastern States Mission and later a roommate at BYU. Gordon introduced Norma Doane, whom he knew in Boise, to Richard and the match clicked. Gordon has kept in contact with them through the years. This is their 2nd mission to Asia. They were humanitarian missionaries in Indonesia in 2002 when the terrorists struck New York. For safety reasons, they were reassigned to Cambodia where they completed their mission. They are happy to be back in Asia again. So, four Smiths toured part of the state of Selangor, West Malaysia on Friday.April 24, 2009. We travelled by taxi driven by a member of the Church, Anthony. Elder Richard Smith in front, and Elder Jay Smith in the rear between the two Sister Smiths. A tight squeeze, especially on a hot humid day without air conditioning. But it was worthwhile to see some of the impact of our humanitarian projects and the people involved.
Our first stop was to a family clinic that serves some of the poorer residents in the area. Some of them are refugees from countries such as Myanmar. The LDSC helped with a Family Enrichment Program that taught their patients the importance of families and how to strengthen them through family home evenings. They may work with LDSC on other projects in the coming months. Dora and Vivien hosted us and explained their program to us.
There are several ethnic groups of people living in Malaysia. Over the centuries many groups settled in the geograpical area. The people known as the Malays (Muslim) were among early settlers and they are currently the leaders of the government. The Chinese came with business skills and are the economic leaders. Indians are another group, with the majority being known as Tamils. They are generally have greater need of humanitarian help. The Tamil schools are provided buildings and teachers, but little help with furniture and supplies. The LDSC has helped several schools throughout Malaysia with strong sturdy furniture. This elementary school we visited was provided furniture for their library.
Sister Smith met some of the children in one of their classrooms. The furniture in this room was not provided by LDSC. Each room tends to have a varied type of desk and chairs according to what could be obtained through donations. The children were happy to welcome us.
The assistant principal told us how proud they were of the nicely furnished library. She was willing to have her picture taken in her beautiful purple outfit.
The library furniture was sometimes assembled by members of local branches. This furniture was very sturdy as can be seen with this chair. The tables were covered to protect them as the students studied. We told the teachers that the money to purchase this furniture came from church members throughout the world who gave liberally for humanitarian work in distant lands.
A group of children were studying in the library as we visited. See person on right of picture.
Henry Sandeman is the director of the Gomback District in Northern Selangor State that surrounds the city-state of Kuala Lumpur. He was trained in the ministry, but left that to help the youth and needy in this District. He provides a place for youth to learn computer skills, and a library to help youth practice their reading skills. The LDSC have helped provide sewing machines for needy women or single mothers to learn sewing skills and then use those skills to make clothing which helps make them more self-reliant. Henry is passionate about his work, and goes regularly into the schools to teach the students moral values. He has great faith and welcomes groups such as LDSC who help provide the materials to carry out his work. We enjoyed meeting such a dedicated man.
The table to the left is stacked with shirts that have been produced in this sewing center by needy women with help from LDSC sewing machines. 
We paused in our journey to have lunch at an Indian (India) restaurant recommended by Anthony. The plates are banana leaves. The utensil used by the Indians is the right hand. The food is placed directly on the banana leaves. The rice has been placed on the banana leaves. The missionaries used a provided fork, but Anthony enjoyed his in the traditional Indian way. The food was very good. Meat, sauces, vegetables all mixed with the rice.
The last stop of the day was to the Cheshire Home of Selangor. Cheshire Homes is an international organization that provides living facilities for seriously disabled and handicapped persons. LDSC has partnered with this organization in both West and East Malaysia to provide wheelchairs for the disabled, including those in their group homes. The President of the Malaysia homes is Khatijah Sulieman, a widow who has dedicated her fortune and life to lifting up her fellowmen and women who are disabled, some from birth. She is well known throughout Malaysia and a great friend of LDSC. This complex of buildings was acquired from a wealthy citizen and turned into a very comfortable facility for the disabled. They hosted us and greeted us as we arrived with a welcome sign.
We felt special being greeted with our name on the big board out in front of the Cheshire Group Home!
This wheelchair was provided by the LDSC. They are currently delivering another order of 250 wheelchairs through different NGO groups in Malaysia.
The facility included a full bakery where residents who can learn cooking skills and provide some of the food for the home. We enjoyed some delicious pastries from the bakery during our visit, even though it was too late in the day to observe the "bakers" in action.
A resident sitting in her wheelchair and making a beautiful quilt. They seem very happy to be busy doing something worthwhile.
This man is hemming hot pads with a sewing machine. Sister Norma Smith is admiring his work.
In the evening, the four Smiths were hosted by Khatijah and a member of the governing board, Ghazali Yusoff. We presented Khatijah with a lovely acrylic desk memento with LDSC imprinted on the recognition. She was touched and seemed grateful to receive it. The next morning we said goodbye to our new friends and fellow missionaries and Anthony took us to the Airport to catch our plane to Bintulu, East Malaysia.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Visit to Bintulu, East Malaysia
After spending three days in West Malaysia, we flew East 2 hours to the northern part of Borneo Island. Borneo was settled by Portugese settlers and then Dutch settlers during the colonial expansion of the 1700 and 1800's. The native tribes of Borneo were known for their fierce battles with each other, and included the practice of taking the heads of their victims, thus the title of "head hunters". Of course, that practice no longer exists.
The northern part of this huge island is now part of Malaysia. The rest of the island is part of Indonesia. There are two states in East Malaysia: Sarawak and Sabah. The country of Brunei sets in between these states and is independent of them. East Malaysia has a long northern coastal area bordering the South China Sea where most of the development has occured. The rest of the area consists of vast jungle areas still mostly unexplored with exotic animals such as the orangutangs and the hornbill birds. Here many members of the ancient tribes still live. Some come into the North to take jobs working for large oil and gas companies and other manufacturing firms.
Our East Malaysia missionary couple is now stationed in Sarawak State in the city of Bintulu. It is a smaller city with large numbers of the Iban tribe living in huts on the river or in government built homes. Many of the middle and upper class residents are of Malay or Chinese ancestry. The Iban settlers are hired by the industrial firms. They usually work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day in order to make enough to live in the city. Some return to the forests and live in communal long houses that accommodate 50-60 people in one big room with mats for beds. There is much poverty among the Iban people. Hopefully our missionary couple, Elder Bill and Sister Ellen Davis will find ways to help them. They arrived about ten days ago replacing Elder and Sister Currie who returned to the United States in February.
There are three branches of our church here with most of the members coming from the Iban tribe. Two other couples, the Budges and McKellars are here working with the other two branches and six young elders are here to assist each branch as well. The branches are run by the local members with the missionaries serving as shadow leaders. Because of the work conditions for the men, the attendance at church consists mainly of women and children. The branch president for the branch the Davises were assigned to, works nights and comes to Church Sunday morning directly from work. He presently serves with one counselor. What a faithful man he is.
Our hotel in Bintulu was the Park City Everley Hotel. It is located near the beach and looks out over the South China Sea with a Western exposure. The city is building a beautiful board walk along the water front. We enjoyed a wonderful morning stroll before it got too hot. The weather was dry for our trip. No rain. That is unusual since this area is really part of a rain forest. The temperature was in the high 80s with no breeze and high humidity. As with the rest of this trip, Jay shed his coat and enjoyed short sleeve white shirts. We were asked not to wear our missionary name tags by the mission president, President Skeleton.
The members of the Bintulu 2nd branch live in these apartments. They are all 5 stories high with no elevators. I am taking this picture in front of the church door, so members do not have far to walk. The church is part of a commercial building with shops on both sides.
Elder and Sister Davis live about 15 minutes away from Church in a middle class neighborhood. It is 5 minutes from our hotel. They live in a two story twin home with lots of space. The car is a rental car they furnish themselves as part of their contribution to their mission. Our Hong Kong apartment is about the size of their first floor. They have three bedrooms on the 2nd floor.
Bill and Ellen Davis are from the State of Washington. He owned his own insurance agency until just before he sold it so they could go on their mission.. About five years ago he returned to school to earn a Master's degree in marriage counseling. He worked for LDS Social Services before turning in his missionary papers. Ellen is a registered nurse. Their skills will be very useful to the people of Bintulu.
One of the other couples here in Bintulu are the McKellars from Driggs, Idaho. He was ranch real estate broker for Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. They have a home on 250 acres in west Teton Valley. Since Sister Smith was born in Driggs, she immediately connected with this couple. They have been here for two months. He remembers Sister Smith's uncle, Leigh Fullmer, and knows other family members.
One of the NGOs we have worked with in Bintulu is the Salvation Army. Captain Tan operates a Youth Development Center and an Orphanage home. He and his wife have been in Bintulu for two years.
The orphanage, Lovehaven, is a large leased home for 15-20 children. They also have some day care children. Our humanitarian efforts here are conducted under the name LDSC, or Latter Day Saints Charities. We are partnering with Rotarian Club to provide playground equipment for this home.
This is the room used as a chapel. Sister Davis is at the piano teaching a young member how to play. Two young Aaronic Priesthood boys are having their pictures taken with and by the Elders.
The children of the branch are very enthusiastic. While I visited with the Branch President, she and Sister Davis attended Primary. The teacher was just 16 years old, but had them all singing Primary songs in English with great fervor. It was fun. Elder Smith got them to sing "I Am A Child of God" with him. They are very loving and enthusiastic. It was wonderful to be with them. We watched a session from 2009 April General Conference.
The ocean in front of the hotel has a large river flowing into it. That makes the water near the shore more roily and keeps the wave action down. Boats go up and down the river and out to the sea to fish.
We were told by the coupled missionaries to not miss the sunsets. We had a beautiful 30 minute experience. Here are two of the thirty pictures we took.
What a beautiful night it was. There is a fishing boat at about 3 o'clock in the picture.
The northern part of this huge island is now part of Malaysia. The rest of the island is part of Indonesia. There are two states in East Malaysia: Sarawak and Sabah. The country of Brunei sets in between these states and is independent of them. East Malaysia has a long northern coastal area bordering the South China Sea where most of the development has occured. The rest of the area consists of vast jungle areas still mostly unexplored with exotic animals such as the orangutangs and the hornbill birds. Here many members of the ancient tribes still live. Some come into the North to take jobs working for large oil and gas companies and other manufacturing firms.
Our East Malaysia missionary couple is now stationed in Sarawak State in the city of Bintulu. It is a smaller city with large numbers of the Iban tribe living in huts on the river or in government built homes. Many of the middle and upper class residents are of Malay or Chinese ancestry. The Iban settlers are hired by the industrial firms. They usually work 7 days a week, 12 hours a day in order to make enough to live in the city. Some return to the forests and live in communal long houses that accommodate 50-60 people in one big room with mats for beds. There is much poverty among the Iban people. Hopefully our missionary couple, Elder Bill and Sister Ellen Davis will find ways to help them. They arrived about ten days ago replacing Elder and Sister Currie who returned to the United States in February.
There are three branches of our church here with most of the members coming from the Iban tribe. Two other couples, the Budges and McKellars are here working with the other two branches and six young elders are here to assist each branch as well. The branches are run by the local members with the missionaries serving as shadow leaders. Because of the work conditions for the men, the attendance at church consists mainly of women and children. The branch president for the branch the Davises were assigned to, works nights and comes to Church Sunday morning directly from work. He presently serves with one counselor. What a faithful man he is.
Our hotel in Bintulu was the Park City Everley Hotel. It is located near the beach and looks out over the South China Sea with a Western exposure. The city is building a beautiful board walk along the water front. We enjoyed a wonderful morning stroll before it got too hot. The weather was dry for our trip. No rain. That is unusual since this area is really part of a rain forest. The temperature was in the high 80s with no breeze and high humidity. As with the rest of this trip, Jay shed his coat and enjoyed short sleeve white shirts. We were asked not to wear our missionary name tags by the mission president, President Skeleton.
The members of the Bintulu 2nd branch live in these apartments. They are all 5 stories high with no elevators. I am taking this picture in front of the church door, so members do not have far to walk. The church is part of a commercial building with shops on both sides.
Elder and Sister Davis live about 15 minutes away from Church in a middle class neighborhood. It is 5 minutes from our hotel. They live in a two story twin home with lots of space. The car is a rental car they furnish themselves as part of their contribution to their mission. Our Hong Kong apartment is about the size of their first floor. They have three bedrooms on the 2nd floor.
Bill and Ellen Davis are from the State of Washington. He owned his own insurance agency until just before he sold it so they could go on their mission.. About five years ago he returned to school to earn a Master's degree in marriage counseling. He worked for LDS Social Services before turning in his missionary papers. Ellen is a registered nurse. Their skills will be very useful to the people of Bintulu.
One of the other couples here in Bintulu are the McKellars from Driggs, Idaho. He was ranch real estate broker for Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. They have a home on 250 acres in west Teton Valley. Since Sister Smith was born in Driggs, she immediately connected with this couple. They have been here for two months. He remembers Sister Smith's uncle, Leigh Fullmer, and knows other family members.
One of the NGOs we have worked with in Bintulu is the Salvation Army. Captain Tan operates a Youth Development Center and an Orphanage home. He and his wife have been in Bintulu for two years.
The orphanage, Lovehaven, is a large leased home for 15-20 children. They also have some day care children. Our humanitarian efforts here are conducted under the name LDSC, or Latter Day Saints Charities. We are partnering with Rotarian Club to provide playground equipment for this home.
This is the room used as a chapel. Sister Davis is at the piano teaching a young member how to play. Two young Aaronic Priesthood boys are having their pictures taken with and by the Elders.
The children of the branch are very enthusiastic. While I visited with the Branch President, she and Sister Davis attended Primary. The teacher was just 16 years old, but had them all singing Primary songs in English with great fervor. It was fun. Elder Smith got them to sing "I Am A Child of God" with him. They are very loving and enthusiastic. It was wonderful to be with them. We watched a session from 2009 April General Conference.
The ocean in front of the hotel has a large river flowing into it. That makes the water near the shore more roily and keeps the wave action down. Boats go up and down the river and out to the sea to fish.
We were told by the coupled missionaries to not miss the sunsets. We had a beautiful 30 minute experience. Here are two of the thirty pictures we took.
What a beautiful night it was. There is a fishing boat at about 3 o'clock in the picture.Monday, May 4, 2009
Visit to Singapore
We took our 9 day visit to Singapore and Malaysia to train two new couples who just arrived as humanitarian missionaries. They are Elder and Sister Richard Smith from Provo, Utah and Elder and Sister Davis from the Vancouver, Washington area. They both will be great. We stopped in Singapore for two days before moving to Kuala Lumpur, West Malaysia for three days and then to Bintulu, East Malaysia for another three days. We will prepare a blog for these two visits in a few days. The Service Center and Mission Headquarters for these countries is in Singapore, so we needed to stop in Singapore to do some training and meet some of the leaders here. Singapore is an interesting city-state. It is a separate island on the tip of the Malaysian peninsula, similiar to Hong Kong Island. It has been independent of Malaysia since 1965. It has one of the busiest ports in the world, with hundreds of thousands of large containers arriving each year. It is also a financial hub with many banks and businesses headquartered here. A definite competition exists with Hong Kong as to which is the economic leader in Southeast Asias. The city has many beautiful buildings. English is the major language spoken because of the long British rule. We were able to take a tour of some of the City highlights on one day and also a dragon boat ride in the harbor. We stayed in a lovely hotel in downtown Singapore. The following pictures highlighted some of the things we saw on these two tours.
View from the 26th floor of our hotel. Many beautiful buildings on the skyline.
Flower ropes used by taxi drivers and others to bring good luck. They hang them from their rear views mirrors.
The bus we took on the City Tour. Anthony was our driver/guide. About 35 on the tour.
We stopped at Little India and visited an Indian mosque. This sect believes that God can take many forms. The statues on the roof are reprsentative of some of the forms he can appear in. All sides of the building had similar displays of statues.
One of our stops was the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Tens of acres. One of the 
highlights is the orchid gardens. Our pictures cannot begin to depict the thousands of orchids in the gardens. They were beautiful.
.Our harbor cruise was on this dragon boat. It was sunny and hot. The hat is to protect my head, but the bill wasn't big enough to protect my nose. It was red the next day.
Hundreds of ships come in each day loaded with containers that have goods from all over the world.
We stopped on one of the many small islands surrounding Singapore. It is called the Kusu Island, or turtle island. Many of the islands are artificial islands created to build apartments and skyscrapers on. There is even a complex of three large buildings being built for the gambling industry
.Kusu Island is a sanctuary for turtles and houses a religious shrine where people come once a year to celebrate their holy day.
They even have a marble monument dedicated to the turtles. We had a relaxing trip back to our hotel
The "mascot" or symbol of Singapore is the "Merlion" guarding the Singapore harbor. It is intended to mirror the mermaid of Denmark harbor fame. The lion head with the body of a fish comes from a mythical lion that guards the Singapore river that flows through the city. The name Singapore means "City of the lion".
A great attraction is the world's largest ferris wheel. It moves slowly to allow riders to view the city from a great height. It takes over twenty minutes to make a loop. We didn't have time to take the ride. Maybe next time.
We stayed at the Royal Plaza on Scott in Singapore. The lobby had many candles burning to welcome us.
View from the 26th floor of our hotel. Many beautiful buildings on the skyline.
Flower ropes used by taxi drivers and others to bring good luck. They hang them from their rear views mirrors.
The bus we took on the City Tour. Anthony was our driver/guide. About 35 on the tour.
We stopped at Little India and visited an Indian mosque. This sect believes that God can take many forms. The statues on the roof are reprsentative of some of the forms he can appear in. All sides of the building had similar displays of statues.
One of our stops was the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Tens of acres. One of the 
highlights is the orchid gardens. Our pictures cannot begin to depict the thousands of orchids in the gardens. They were beautiful.
.Our harbor cruise was on this dragon boat. It was sunny and hot. The hat is to protect my head, but the bill wasn't big enough to protect my nose. It was red the next day.
Hundreds of ships come in each day loaded with containers that have goods from all over the world.
We stopped on one of the many small islands surrounding Singapore. It is called the Kusu Island, or turtle island. Many of the islands are artificial islands created to build apartments and skyscrapers on. There is even a complex of three large buildings being built for the gambling industry
.Kusu Island is a sanctuary for turtles and houses a religious shrine where people come once a year to celebrate their holy day.
They even have a marble monument dedicated to the turtles. We had a relaxing trip back to our hotel
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