Back to the Beginning

Penang to me feels like an end stop. Like I’ve arrived at the train terminus. Or bus terminal. The journey’s end. But it’s never really the end, because with all terminals one can board again, retrace the route, or simply take another line altogether. Terminals give us choices.

Penang certainly did for the seafarers of old. For the merchantmen of the British East India Company, with London and Cape Town far behind them, Penang offered relative comfort and safety before they fixed their sights on greater prizes still — Singapore, Hong Kong, the East.

I like the analogies in all this.

We’ve all heard the saying, “the journey is the destination.” My own journey, which perhaps began in 1975 with a voyage from grey wet England to exotic Africa, set in motion a lifelong habit of escape — or if not escape, then at least the desire to keep moving toward somewhere that felt more vivid, more alive. What followed became a jumble of temporary homes and distinct chapters scattered across faraway places.

Far away from where?

England, I suppose. Just not exotic enough.

Many seafarers mutinied at the prospect of returning there. They preferred the idea of jumping ship entirely and washing up somewhere among jackfruit, papaya and half-naked girls in grass skirts swivelling their hips in hula hoops. I understand the instinct. I’ve carried some version of it most of my life. Oye, let’s jump ship. Escapism par excellence.

Penang still feels exotic to me. Distant. It represents a narrative thread tied to one of the great chapters of British history — adventurism, escapism, exploitation and greed stretching between London, Cape Town, Calcutta, Penang, Singapore and Cathay Hong Kong.

I’d like to think Penang might finally be the place to hang my hat, even while continuing to take occasional sojourns into the unknown. This feels like a place to think back from. A tropical island from which to retrace journeys, reconnect fragments and join dots.

I wish myself luck, because I still don’t entirely know what any of it means.