22– Penang Corps – its beginnings
The Officer Commanding Lieut. Colonel Herbert Lord set his sights on the Malay Peninsular. Adjutant and Mrs. Harvey were appointed to commence the Army’s work on the island of Penang in 1938.
At their farewell meeting in Singapore they were presented with an Army flag on an eight-foot pole, made in one piece, to take with them to Penang! They were accompanied by their only son Arthur to pioneer the work of the Army. They arrived in Penang and immediately began work.
For a whole month the Harveys distributed handbills printed in Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and visited the neighbourhood, talking to the inhabitants in the Malay language. I recall him telling me that one day he forgot what he had learned in Malay and went from house to house greeting them “ayer panas.” (“hot water”). He received polite smiles from the people in response. He got his Malay phrases mixed up; he meant “selamat pagi” or good morning. Later he became very fluent in Malay and was able to preach in that language. To my knowledge, there were only three officers who became proficient in Malay – Adjutant Harvey, Captain Frank Bainbridge and Major Margaret Burns. For many years Frank Bainbridge used to write an article in Malay in our War Cry.
Harvey started to conduct open-air meetings with just his wife supporting him. And his concertina, of course! Their six year old son Arthur handed out invitations to the meetings. Arthur and I became very good friends in later years and when we were in Balestier Corps he used to fetch us home in his car after the Sunday night meeting. He was a very faithful soldier of Balestier Corps for many years.
For a hall and quarters Adjutant Harvey acquired a former YWCA building. The ground floor housed the hall, with quarters upstairs. Opening day arrived, when the doors were opened one old European gentleman walked in. The Harveys had their first congregation! They gave him a drink and prayed with him, then waited to see what the evening meeting would bring. That night 12 came – the Army’s first corps (church) in Penang was established.
Many children in Penang were unable to attend school, so the Harveys commenced their own. Within a few days there were 150 pupils, and the school was recognised by the Education Department. Years later in 1959 when we were appointed to Penang there was a Salvation Army Primary School.
Adjutant Harvey decided to expand the work to a poorer area where the need was greater. He found an old rubber factory in Jelutong. This had been turned into flats, occupied by Chinese folk. One day one of the residents there hanged himself and the building acquired the reputation of being haunted. Adjutant Harvey, undaunted by the tale, rented the entire building for just one dollar a year and started his second Corps! Lieutenant Foo Kia Pang was appointed to assist the Harveys and he ran this second Corps.
War came and thousands of people in Penang were killed or made homeless by the bombing raids. Two thousand refugees were housed in an evacuation camp provided by the Government and run by The Salvation Army.
Suddenly an order was issued for all overseas women to leave the island. Mrs. Harvey, accompanied by her son Arthur, left for Singapore. From there they were evacuated to Australia. Adjutant Harvey could have fled the island, but chose to remain in Penang. He gave permission for Lieutenant Foo Kia Pang to leave Penang, but the Lieutenant’s response was clear and resolute “If you stay, I stay! We are together to serve the people” Both remained in Penang to share the baptism of fire. (At the time of writing 92 year old Mrs. Foo lives alone at Lengkok Marian in Changi, Singapore. She is frail but very alert)
Bombs began falling in the crowded streets of Georgetown destroying buildings, leaving half the city in flames and hundreds killed or injured. The two men did much to help the suffering people of Penang. They thought nothing about their own safety and worked selflessly to bring relief to the suffering. Harvey and Foo used the Army vehicle to pick up the wounded in the streets and transported them to hospital.
One day while doing their rescue operations a bomb fell near their car. Harvey and Foo jumped out of the vehicle and lay on the side of the road. Though the car was hit the two officers escape unharmed. God had protected His servants.
The enterprising Lieutenant Foo still in his uniform commandeered a rickshaw and pulled this vehicle himself!! In those days all officers had to wear full uniform everyday – white drill tunic with long sleeves, high stand up collar and long trousers! He pulled this rickshaw all over the city of Georgetown picking up the wounded and took them to hospital. He worked day and night, stopping to eat only when Harvey ordered him to do so. When he saw crying children who had been separated from their parents he ferried them to safer places.
Hundreds of refugees flocked to the Paya Terubong camp under the supervision of Fred Harvey. Both men worked selflessly to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, nurse the sick, heal the wounded, and bury the dead.
Penang fell to the Japanese on 15 December 1941. Harvey was arrested by the Japanese invaders and sent to Penang Prison where he endured severe ill treatment for 13 months prior to his transfer to Changi Prison in Singapore.
These saints of God are now with the Lord. We thank God for their lives, their commitment to the Lord, and their service to humanity.
“For all the saints who from their labours rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blessed, Hallelujah!
Thou wast their rock, their fortress and their might
Thou, Lord, their captain in the well fought fight;
Thou in the darkness drear their one true light, Hallelujah!
William Wahlsham How (SASB 876)
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