Pioneering in Kuala Lumpur

I walked into the Officer Commanding’s office one morning in 1966 wondering why Colonel George Engel had sent for me. I was not trembling, for the Colonel was a very gracious, godly and approachable person, and made everyone feel at east in his presence. That can be said of Mrs Colonel Florence Engel as well. They never stood on ceremony. In fact it was not uncommon to see the Colonel fixing the plumbing or putting on curtain rods or doing minor repairs in officers’ quarters, particularly for the single women officers! Mrs Engel offered, and was responsible for the flowers every Sunday when we were Corps Officers of Central Corps. Once she even babysat Poh Chin for us. They were a very humble couple.

After the usual exchange of courtesies he went straight to the point. “Captain, I have specially handpicked you and your wife to start the work of the Army in Kuala Lumpur.” That was a bit of a shock for me as I thought of the awesome responsibility. He went on to reveal his concern that the Army did not have a presence in the capital city of Malaya. I was told to make my own arrangements to visit Kuala Lumpur, scout around for a suitable place to start a corps. Then he added, “Keep us informed. We will be praying for you.”

In actual fact the Salvation Army did have a presence in Kuala Lumpur way back in 1941 when Adjutant and Mrs. Harold King were sent to be the Army’s representatives there. He worked as the Court Probation Officer.  Captain George Tan Koon Hoe was sent to assist him in establishing a Boys Home at Cheras Road, Kuala Lumpur. The Kings later resigned from officership and worked for the Government. The Army never got off the ground. War came and Captain George Tan returned to Singapore.

In early 1965 an English Salvationist couple, Mr and Mrs Don Morrish transferred from Penang to Kuala Lumpur. They met another Salvationist, Neoh Ah How, also from Penang, working at the Kuala Lumpur YMCA Jalan Brickfields. They held children’s and adult meetings using the YMCA premises. With the return of the Morrishes to England and the demolition of the old YMCA building, the work of the Army was discontinued.

My wife and I were in charge of the Penang Boys Home and Primary School at that time when I was asked to scout around Kuala Lumpur, a city I knew very little about. It was a most challenging task. I had to travel everywhere by bus or walk. Thank God I had a good pair of strong legs and was quite used to walking. My only problem was my poor sense of direction, which meant adding more miles to the distances travelled.

I had visited Kuala Lumpur once before, and that was during our honeymoon in June 1958. On that occasion, I was too preoccupied with my newly wed to notice street names, buildings and landmarks! Had I known then, that eight years later I would be assigned the task of restarting the Army, I would have paid more attention to the surroundings, taken down notes and made a special effort to identify places! Just as well I did not or that would have spoilt our honeymoon, once in a lifetime!

I made my visits alone as my wife had to run the Home and the School in my absence and at the same time look after our two small children, ages five and three. We were blessed with good fellow officers at the Penang Corps where we soldiered – the late Brigadier Ivy Wilson and Lieutenant Esther Rengasamy,( now living in retirement with her husband Stephen in Banting) They were good friends and gave tremendous support to us, especially during my absence visiting Kuala Lumpur.

I trekked for miles and miles in the hot humid climate of Kuala Lumpur. Every evening I went back to the small Chinese hotel at Campbell Street absolutely flat out. It was cheap and cost only six ringgit per night! Chau Chin Lye, another Salvationist from Penang would take me on his scooter when he could find the time to do so. This was much appreciated.

Eventually I found what I felt was the right place and claimed it for the Lord!   It was a new housing estate called Taman Lee Yan Lian or United Garden. There was this row of terraced two-storey shophouses, and we had the end one. Downstairs (the shop part) could be used as the corps, and upstairs for quarters. A report was made to Colonel Engel.

On my next visit, Lieut-Colonel Thelma Watson, the General Secretary, met me in Kuala Lumpur. Together we went to see the place and owner, then after some bargaining we leased the property for $380 (Malayan ringgit) per month.

I returned to Penang to finalise matters and was farewelled from our appointment and the Penang Corps where my wife and I were also local officers. She was the Home League Secretary and I was responsible for the band and songsters. On 16 August 1966 we took a taxi and the whole family moved to our new home to plant the new corps. Everything was new, we had no records, no predecessors to blame when things were not right, nothing save the assurance of the presence of God Almighty who had chosen us for this new challenge.

Suddenly a telegram arrived from Colonel Engel. (Sorry no telephone, let alone mobile phone) He and Mrs. Colonel Engel would come the next weekend to officially open the Corps! I was not prepared for this, as I thought we should be there for at least six months or a year to sort things out and get some people first. No, the Officer Commanding wanted to open the hall and to quote him “get this over and done with” so that you can get on with the job.

We rallied the soldiers, Neoh Ah How and Chau Chin Lye (both from Penang) and Jimmy Lim (from Balestier Corps). The trio plus our family of four and Colonel and Mrs Engel, met outside the hall that Saturday afternoon and our leaders cut the ribbon!
  
The next day we had our first meeting of nine people in the congregation. We wasted no time in going out door to door visitation. I accompanied the congregation on my concertina the only instrument available!   In October we welcomed the newly commissioned Cadet Lieutenant Tan Thean Seng. (that was the rank he possessed at that time)  Together we worked extremely hard, struggled with our Cantonese (people in Kuala Lumpur speak Cantonese), contacted the people in the neighbourhood. Yes, every house in the area was visited. We tramped for miles, visiting the people, telling them about The Salvation Army, and the gospel of Christ.

Before Sunday School, I would stand by the hall door and played my concertina. This attracted many children for the Y.P. meetings. That was not difficult at all.

My wife was engaged in ‘market evangelism.’. Every morning, she would be in the market in her uniform talking to the ladies and many accepted the invitation to attend the Home League. By the end of the first year, Kuala Lumpur Corps was awarded the Command Home League Banner of Progress! We had a good league whose members, not only attended meetings, but also engaged in community service, like visiting the Sisters of the Poor Home for the Elderly. ( I wonder what has happened to that Banner, it must be in the Archives)

The work was hard, but we did get some response from the people in the community and many attended the meetings. In fact, our hall was packed full to capacity, and we had to borrow chairs from a nearby coffee shop to seat the people who came to the corps’ first anniversary! Among them were Dr. David Muttu and his wife of Reddy Clinic! They were Methodists.

My next task was to look for a permanent building to house the Corps. After much prayer, I chose Overseas Union Garden. At that time the whole area was vacant. Advertisements were up indicating that there would be a new housing estate on this land. I contacted the developers and the present for the Corps building was identified. Before we left the appointment on 4th July 1969, we had everything sealed and signed.

The building was not ready till in 1972 when Captain and Mrs Lim Teck Fung became the corps officers. They had the privilege of seeing to the official opening. Since then the Army has acquired the next door building as well. The work goes on and the Army continues to meet the needs of the community.