Angela
Wesson
1972-1973, 1976-1979 Class 10.1
Email: angelacrotty@optusnet.com.au
My first memories of arrival at RAAF Base Butterworth was the heat and the cream cakes on plates in air movements, then the bus trip in the dark to Penang, with all the weird and wonderful smells.
Life in Malaysia was totally different to anything that I had ever experienced before, most of my memories are from my second trip there as a teenager. The wonderful friends I made and then sadly lost contact with.
I remember teachers such as Mr Granland, Mr Crittenden ( I am sure that Denise Parkin must have been his most favourite student), and Mr Ang just to name a few. I Good friends such as Penny and Michael Oliver (sadly Michael is no longer with us), Cindy Morris, and Denise Parkin.
I loved the trips to Ayer Itam temple and our holiday in Bangkok, and the food men that used to come to our street, and rambutans, still can't stand the smell of durians though.
I was lucky enough to have a third trip to Malaysia with my husband, my son was actually born there, and although I still enjoyed the trip, it was not the same as those carefree days from my teenage years.
I am married, I did not initially marry a raafie, but he later joined, spurred on by my father and brother, I have two children, 16 and 18, and we have been back to Penang on holiday about four years ago, to show my son where he was born. We had a ball going to all the old haunts, and seeing how much the place had changed.
I think that my time in Malaysia has given me a perspective on the world that I would never have had, and I would not have missed the years that I spent there for the world.