Peace Corps Training Group 76 - Teluk Cempedak 1975

Teluk Cempedak, Malaysia, 1975

Peace Corps Training Group 76

In July of 1975 I was working as a trainer, arranging language training classes for an incoming group of American Peace Corps Volunteers in Pahang, Malaysia.   I had come to Malaysia in 1971 (age 22) as a high school physics teacher and I liked the excitement and freedom of these short term Peace Corps training projects.  Our team was four Americans (including me) and two Malaysians for language.  We were scrambling to set up a 10 week intensive language training program for 26 new volunteers.  They were all recent college college graduates, mostly health education teachers and agriculture development experts.

Teluk Cempedak bay is on the east coast of Malaysia, about 10 miles outside of Kuantan.  It has a beautiful sandy beach and in 1975 there was only one small hotel, Sri Pantai, with an outdoor coffee shop and handful of vacation rental cottages, mostly empty.  (Now there is a glorious Hyatt Regency, a MacDonalds, Starbucks and a KFC).  Here is the Google Map.

I don't want to bore you with all the details of the training program -- I just want to tell you some interesting stories.

Three weeks before the new volunteers arrived, the training staff was working very hard, spending long hours.  We had to interview and hire 4 new Malaysian language teachers, design the daily curriculum, schedules, logistics, transport bicycles, books, printing equipment, projectors, set up classrooms, arrange practice teaching in local schools, and arrange home "kampung" family stays with local Malaysian families.

The amazing beauty of Teluk Cempedak bay made it all seem like paradise.  Here are some photos taken before the trainees arrived.

Our secretary Celia Wong and language instructor Roslan bin Shariff
at the Sri Pantai Hotel coffee shop, July 1975

Training staff Celia Wong, Nanette Brey, Al Kordesch
July, 1975

Training Staff Meeting at the Hotel Sri Pantai coffee shop.
Roslan, Mary, Nanette, Zubairi, Mohd Kassim, Celia, Endon, Radziah, Jack.

When they first arrived, the language teachers all got RM50 (USD $20.00) as an advance, recorded in my notebook.  Somehow Md. Mansor got RM100 ringgit.

Language Staff Meeting at the hotel coffee shop.
Cikgu Zubairi, Celia, Roslan, Mohd Kassim, Endon, Radziah.

Al Kordesch, deep in thought

On our free days we went to the beach.

Language instructors Roslan, Radziah, Endon, Md. Mansor at the beach. 
We bought inflatable plastic arm floats because none of the instructors knew how to swim.
Even today only a very small percentage of Malaysians can swim.  
.

Part of our job was training the new language staff.  Md. Mansor and Cikgu Zubairi were experienced  Peace Corps language teachers, so they coached the 3 new beginners.

 Language instructors Md. Mansor, Endon, Roslan and Radziah at the beach

Malaysia is a conservative Muslim country, especially in the rural east coast states.  So you might find it surprising that these young Muslim teachers are not wearing the modern head and body coverings that are common today.   It's because the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia became powerful in the late 1970's, supported by the Sunni International Muslim Brotherhood movement from Egypt, financed by Saudi Arabia.  This movement created an increasingly strong incentive for Muslim women to be covered.

Language Teachers Endon Mohammed Zin and
Radziah bte Ashari on the beach

Instructors Radziah, Endon, Roslan and Md. Mansor at the beach

We had a typewriter for Celia, and our lesson plans and teaching materials were "mimeographed" on a "cyclostyle" machine using ink and wax stencils.  We didn't have any cell phones or internet, but the hotel had a telephone.  I had a Pentax camera (after losing my Nikon SLR in Japan) and these photos were shot on Kodachrome, developed and printed in Penang.  We had no TV.  We read about the latest news from Vietnam in the newspapers.  The 20-year long Indochina war ended in mid-1975.

Secretary Celia Wong, Cikgu Zubairi Tajuddin PJK, Head Language Teacher,
"Jack" Hautaluoma Group 76 Program Director, and Endon Mohammed Zin, Language Teacher

Al Kordesch, Radziah, Endon and Md. Mansor

In the evening after a long day of work a few of us would go for a sunset dip in the Pacific ocean.
The tropical ocean water is clear and wonderfully warm, 85F (29C). 
It melts away all your troubles!

Group Photo of the language training staff.
Md. Kassim, Endon, Md. Mansor, Roslan, Radziah, Zubairi, and Jack Hautaluoma

I went for a daily morning jog to the end the beach to keep in shape.  Before dawn the morning air is still cool and refreshing.  The ocean is calm.  I learned to always carry a stick to fend off aggressive monkeys and stray wild dogs.

Jogging before dawn at the seaside at Teluk Cempedak.
Early mornings are cool and delightful!  

Endon and Zubairi

Language training in the Peace corps was by "Immersion."  We spoke in Malay as much as possible, night and day.  But rules can be obnoxious.  

Training coordinators Mary Judd and Nanette Brey Magnani at the Sri Pantai Hotel coffee shop
in Teluk Cempedak. 
The coffee shop breakfast was RM 3.00 (about US $1.00)
Malaysian coffee is wonderful - thick with lots of sweetened condensed milk.

The hotel breakfast menu from my "555" notebook.
One Malaysian Ringgit was about US$ 30 cents in 1975.

On Thursday nights we often went dancing at the night club at the Merlin Hotel (Royal Pahang Golf Club) in Kuantan -- because  the weekend is Friday and Saturday there. The club had a small dance floor and a local band that played blues and rock and roll.  Malaysians stay up very late, but I usually walked home early.  Of course the staff couldn't get involved with any trainees or other staff members, but dancing was OK.  Anyway I already had a girlfriend at the time - the lovely miss Sharon Chee from Penang.  

My girlfriend Sharon Chee, from Penang. 
We were married a year later in June,1976 in Los Angeles.

One of the health education trainees teaching about kenching" (urine).

Al Kordesch, Susan Von Bergen, Johnny Powell (dark suit), Inge Otterspur, Victor LaPuma,
David Wayne Hoptar (white suit), Van Shipley, Joy Shipley.
Dressed for the graduation ceremony,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 29, 1975

Our secretary Celia Wong visiting the Fauzi Stable Assakaf Horse Ranch, Kuantan

Cikgu Zubairi Tajuddin PJK, Head Language Teacher
Ready for our graduation ceremony, September 25 1975

Group visit to Istana Abu Bakar Palace.
Van, Celia, Inge, Nanette, Jack, Mary, Roslan, Radziah, Zubairi, Mansor, Kassim
Pekan, Pahang, July 1975

Looking back after 46 years, I have a few important observations.  Volunteerism in the U.S. Peace Corps or some similar international organization is a wonderful thing for young people - to discover the world and discover themselves.  It's low pay but high gain.  It changes your perspective for the rest of your life.

I certainly think the US Department of State gets more return, both financial and in terms of foreign good will by sending out teachers, agricultural experts and health workers, not soldiers, bombs and warships.

After serving as teachers or health workers in a foreign country, these people come back with a new appreciation for life in America, and new personal skills like communicating and adapting to chaotic situations, surviving ambiguous job demands, and somehow dealing with impossible people successfully.  I didn't always get along with my boss Jack or the rest of the staff, but somehow we made it work.  

More photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/7AfvuCGTdYbQ5g6F6

Training Group 76 Staff:

Jack Hautaluoma Group 76 Kuantan Program Director

Nanette Brey Magnani, Training Coordinator

Mary Judd, Training Coordinator

Al Kordesch, Training Coordinator

Cikgu Zubairi Tajuddin PJK, Head Language Teacher

Endon Mohammed Zin, Language Teacher

Radziah bte Ashari, Language Teacher

Mohd Kassim bin Jain, Language Teacher

Roslan bin Shariff, Language Teacher

Md. Mansor bin Yaacub, Language Teacher

Celia Wong, secretary

Kuala Lumpur (Jalan Broaderick Office) Support Staff:

Stu Kearns, Kuala Lumpur staff

Ri, Kuala Lumpur Staff

John Shybut, Kuala Lumpur Staff

Ron and Tonda Gillespie, Kuala Lumpur Staff

Chet Bolay, Kuala Lumpur Staff

Bob Graulich, Kuala Lumpur Staff

Ezra, Kuala Lumpur Staff

Trainees:

Linda, Margarita, Joy & Van, Mary, Becky, Terry, Johnny, Randy, Dan, Rob, Paul, Cathy, Stuart, Eric, Susan, Martha.

Where are they now?

Nanette Brey joined University of Massachusetts, worked for 23 years at the NYS AIDS Institute.   Amhersthttps://www.umass.edu/cie/nanette-brey-magnani-edd-1986  

Jacob "Jack" Hautaluoma worked in Afghanistan, was at Colorado State University, Psychology Dept., Retired in 2005. https://m.facebook.com/jacob.hautaluoma  https://static.colostate.edu/client-files/provost/sss-newsletter-vol4-num1.pdf

I heard rumors that Endon eventually married Johnny, but I have no more details.

Radziah bte Ashari left her address:  47, Rumah Murah Telok Kemang, Port Dickson Negeri Sembilan atau Kampung Padang Lalang, Kati, Kuala Kangsar Perak.

Roslan Shariff's address was No. 19 Lorong Melati Gombak Setia, Kuala Lumpur.

Sally Tan Kooi Lee lived at 83, Jalan Tembaga, Green Lane, Penang