CHAPTER 2

THE STATE OFPAHANGThe Chinese word for “Pahang” is transliterated

from Malay. This name was first seen in The Book of

Tang and was known as “Po-Feng” in Chinese. In a

book, Zheng He's Missions of the Ming Dynasty, it

was named as “Pang Hang”.

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Pahang – Abode of Tranquility

Pahang, a land with dense forests and rich resources, is thelargest state in Peninsular Malaysia. Kuantan is the state capital. TheofficialnameofPahangisDarulMakmur,meaningaplaceof quietness and tranquility. The natural environment of the statetrulyreflectsthemeaningofitsname.75%ofthelandareaiscoveredbythicktropicalforests.TheTahanMountain,thehighestpeakofWestMalaysia,islocatedintheTahanMountainNationalParkinPahang,which is also the largest tropical forest in the peninsula. ThemainmountainrangeofMalaysia– theTitiwangsa–cutsacrossthestate.There are many holiday resorts in this area, notably CameronHighlands, Fraser’s Hill and Bukit Tinggi. All are famed for theircoolerclimateandbeautifulscenery. The longest river in the peninsula is the Pahang River. Theriver meanders through the towns and villages of Pahang beforeflowingouttotheseainPekan.Pahanghasplentifulsupplyofplainwater fishes like Jerawat and Badin. These delicious and expensivefishes used to be served only to royalties.However, they have beenbred successfully in rivers using nets, so now everyone has the chance to eat these delicacies. The Tioman Island, which is off the coast ofPahang,isoneofthetopTenMostFascinatingIslandsoftheworld.Theseabedthereiscoveredwithstrikinglybeautifulcoralreefs.Itswhite

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sandy beaches and clear blue sea attract hundreds of tourists eachyear. Pahang is blessed with bounteous natural resources. There aregoldminesinRaubandtinminesinSungaiLembing.Thetimberindustry was a great source of revenue in the early days. The longcoastline of the state is rich inmarine life. Oil palms, rubber trees,cocoa trees, paddyfields andvarious types of fruit trees are also inabundance. In Cameron Highlands, tea, vegetables and flowers aregrown for commercialpurposes.ThepeopleofPahang thusenjoyacomfortableandpeacefullife.

History

During thereignof theSungDynasty,Chinese traders fromthe southernprovinceofFujianhadalreadyset foot inPahang.Thestatewas known variously as Pong-Hong, Phe-Hang, Pang-Kang inChinese historical records. The prosperous state also attracted theattention of Srivijaya in Sumatra, which occupied it for about sixcenturies. Pahang was ruled by the Malacca Sultanate in the 15thcentury. Later on, Johor, Acheh, Holland and Portugal contendedwitheachothertopossessit.ItwasfinallyconqueredbyJohor,whichoccupied it for about 200 years. The control of the state was passed to

Cameron Highlands - the famous tea plantation in West Malaysia

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the British in the 19th century and then the Japanese in the 20thcentury.PahangjoinedtheFederationofMalayain1948,andbecamea member state when Malaya gained independence in 1957.

Culture

The royal house of Pahang uses a special cloth with latticeandfloraldesignsfortheirofficialoccasions.ItwasbroughtintothestatebyaBugis trader,KeraingAji, in1722.Hiseffortwonhimthehonourarytitleof“TukTuan”. TheMalaysarethemajoritygroupinPahang.Assuch,theirtraditional food is easily available in the local market. During theMuslim fastingmonth, delicacies of all shapes and colours are soldin the night markets. The seaside towns offer a variety of goodieslike salted fish, anchovies, dried shrimps, fish and prawn crackers.

Kuantan is famous for its salted fish Malaysian Batik

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Missions in Pahang

Intheearlydays,churchesinvolvedintheoutreachworkinPahang included the Anglican, Brethren, Presbyterian, Basel,Methodist and Assembly of God. These churches first establishedtheirbasesinthemainportsandimportantminingtownsinMalacca,Johor, Penang and Borneo before venturing to the east coast townsand villages of the peninsula. Atthebeginningofthe20thcentury,theMethodistsenteredPahang and set up schools in places like Bentung, Raub andKualaLipis before founding the Mentakab Church in 1950. The Brethrenmissionaries came to Pahang in 1925. In 1947, two Brethren churchmembers, Sung Chiw-Hoay and his wife Kwai-Fah, established aGospelHall inCameronHighlandswhiletheRaubGospelHallwasbuiltin1957. During the Emergency years of 1948 to 1963, the MalayangovernmentroundeduptheChineseandrelocatedthemtorestrictedzones called the new villages. Surrounded with barbed wires andsentry posts, these new villages were run like concentration campswith strict curfew hours. In 1951, encouraged by the Britishgovernment, manymissionaries, especially those sent by the ChinaInlandMission(CIM,knownastheOverseasMissionaryFellowshiplater) came to share the gospelwith the villagers. Themissionaries

The main exit for the Chinese villages during the Emergency period in 1948

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lived together with the villagers in insect infested shacks whichlacked basic amenities like water and electricity supply, whileconstantly threatenedwith instability, Communist disturbances andmilitarysuppression. In1954,theCIMSuperintendentofthesouthernregion,PeterMurray, and a few missionaries came to the Jerantut New Villagelooking for opportunity toworkwith the local believers to build achurch together and bring hope to the despairing hearts. More than ahundredCIMmissionariesflocked to thenewvillages likeKarak,Kemansur, Gambang, Ringlet, Sungai Ruan, Temerloh and Triang.SomeofthemissionarieswhoservedduringthistimewereRosemaryHill,MaudWilkinson,Martha Blair, Sadie Custer,AmyMoore andMargaretDyke. Since 1970, because of the revised ImmigrationActs, manywesternmissionariesweresentbacktotheirhomecountries.Thenewvillage churches were like shepherd-less flocks, some joined forceswithotherdenominationswhileothers retained their independence,lookingtoGodastheirprovider. Subsequently, other denominations such as the Anglicans,Assembly of God, Baptists, Presbyterians and Christian NationalEvangelism Commission came to build churches in Pahang.Compared to the other Malaysian states, the work of evangelismprogressesatamuchslowerpacehereandisoftenneglected.Indeed

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the harvest is plentiful but churches are few.

Gospel into Forest

IntheforestsofPahangdwellagoodnumberof indigenouspeople who are largely neglected by the developing society. There are about50,000(2004statistics)ofthem,andmostlivebelowthepovertyline.Facedwiththedepletionofarableland,insufficientfoodsupply,malnutrition and infectious diseases, their health is poor and lifeexpectancy is lower than thenorm.HasGod forgotten them?Whenwill the gospel penetrate the dense forests and rough terrains to reach them? The involvement of the Methodist Church in the OrangAsli (indigenous people) ministry began in the 1930’s. In 1932, theMethodist Church sent two Indonesian pastors to reach out to theSenoipeopleinCameronHighlands,Pahang.Theirworkstartedwitheducationandschoolswerebuilt.Gradually,someoftheindigenouspeople built churches and became independent. Meanwhile, theLutherans and Brethrens participated in theOrangAsliministry aswell.In1933,CecilJackson,anAssemblyofGodmissionaryfromtheUnitedStatescametoservetheSakaipeople. In1985,Rev.LeongMockChowtookupthemanagerialpostattheLutheranLakeViewChaletinCameronHighlands.Atthesame

Jungle- Home of the indigenous people

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time, he was responsible for church planting for the Orang Asliministry. Rev. LieowMeng Kuang started sharing the gospel withtheindigenouspeopleinTapahin1980.Eightyearslater,hewenttoMaranandBukitIbamtoassistSisterNgehoftheMethodistChurchtoservetheSemelaipeople.Later,Rev.LieowMengKuangfoundedJEKOA(JemaahKristenOrangAsli)toteachandtraintheindigenouspeople to live independently. In 1984, moved by compassion, a Christian businessmanboughtfoodandcollectedclothestobringtotheOrangAslivillages.Hiskindactssotouchedtheheartoftheindigenouspeoplethattheybecame Christians a few years later. He then started training theOrangAslileadersin1999toleadtheirchurchesaswellasequippingthemwithbasic knowledgeof farming and raising livestock so thattheycouldbeself-sufficient. Inthe1980’s, theBaptistsandmembersof NECF (National Evangelical Christian Fellowship) such as theAssembly of God, Full Gospel Church and Calvary Church beganreaching out to the Orang Asli in Raub, Bentung, Temerloh, BukitLancang,CameronHighlandsandotherplaces. In 1988, the founder ofGospel to the Poor, Rev.Moses Sooandagroupofco-workerstravelledfromGrik,Perakandallthewaydownsouth topreach thegospel inChinesenewvillagesandplantchurches.Rev.SooenteredtheforestsofPahangin1998toreachouttotheindigenouspeoplethere.Todate,theyhaveplanted42Orang

Simple living environment of the indigenous people

Sweet smile on the face of a indigenous child

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Asli churches in the forests (half each in the states of Pahang andKelantan). They are training the indigenous people to be self-sufficientaswell. In the 1990’s, SIB (Sidang Injil Borneo) church began theirinvolvement in the Orang Asli ministry, planting churches inBentung, Jerantut and Temerloh. In 2004, the local authoritydestroyed a newly built Orang Asli church in Sungai Pasu. Thegovernmentcompensatedthechurchlaterwhenitwasproventhatthe church was built on aboriginal reserve land.

Conclusion

Before Jesus’ ascension, He commanded the disciples to preach the gospel to all nations. His disciples obeyed His call andbrought the gospel to theEast. TheChinesehad the opportunity tohearthegospelabout200yearsago,andyettherearestill2.6billionpeoplewhohavenotheardthegospelintheworldtoday.99%ofthepeopleinPahangdonotknowtheLord,mayChristianscontinuetoproclaimthegospeltoallcornersoftheworld.

Christians attending to the needs of the indigenous people

Gathering at an Orang Asli church

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A Brief Introduction of Bumiputera and Orang Asli

InMalaysia,therearetwocategoriesofBumiputeras:theMalays,who are born Muslims according to Malaysian law; and thePribumis or natives of Sabah and Sarawak. The earliestinhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia are not granted the bumiputera status constitutionally. Only the 1954 AboriginalPeoples Act provides for their protection, well-being andadvancement.Between the 13th and 14th centuries, with the development ofmarinenavigation, Islamcame to thestatesofKedah,KelantanandTerengganu.Intheearly15thcentury,MalaccawasfoundedbyaSumatranprinceandbecameasultanatelater.ThismarkedtheriseofIslaminthepeninsula.Thesehistoricalfactorshelpedshaped the status and identity of the Malay people today.Inappearanceandskincolour, the indigenouspeopleareoftenmistakenfortheMalays.At present, the Orang Asli can be classified into three majortribes and 19 ethnic groups. The threemajor tribes include theNegrito and Senoi whose origin could be traced back to theStone Age, and the Aboriginal Malay or Proto Malay whoseorigincouldbedatedbacktoabout4,000yearsago.Amongthe19groups,Temoqisnotrecognisedbythegovernmentbecauseof their small number. According to the official statisticsof 2010, there are about 140,000 Orang Asli in PeninsularMalaysia.Most of them live near rivers,mountains, lakes, seasand deep in the interior. They are largely hunters and gatherersaswell as seafarers.Theypractise tribal religionsandanimisticworship,andharbourallkindsof fear in theirhearts.Haveweeverthoughtofsharingthegospelwiththem?

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The indigenous people sell things collected from jungle

Living in harmony with nature The indigenous people capture their prey by blowing pipe

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Prayer for Pahang

1. Pray for the Pahang state government and related authorities torespect Orang Asli’s constitutional rights and freedom in terms ofland, religious beliefs and customs.May the Lord revive theOrangAslitopreachthegospeltotheirown.

2. Pray that the urban churches will see the need for pastors in theruralchurches.MayGodraisemorepeopletodedicatethemselvestoshareHislovewiththeruralfolks.

3. Pray for the many who are yet to hear the gospel in Pahang;believersmakeupamere1%of thestatepopulation.May thegoodnewsofGodflourishinPahang.

Profile of Pahang

Area: around 35,965 square kilometers

Capital: Kuantan

Total population: more than 1.5 millionMalays (68.8%), Orang Asli (4.8%), Chinese (16.8%), Indians (4.8%) and others (4.8%)

Religions: Islam (73.8%), Buddhism or Taoism (16.2%), Hinduism (4.4%), traditional tribal religions (3.4%), Christianity and Catholicism (1.2%), others (1%).

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