“Teaching Them Correct Principles”
Beginning in the 1960s, Latter-day Saint expatriates from Australia and the United States who were working in Malaysia began holding worship services in small groups. In the 1970s, a few Malaysians who had joined the Church in other parts of the world returned to Malaysia and met with the expatriate groups in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.
Thee See Bah lived on a rubber plantation in a simple wood and thatch dwelling in Penang. His room was part of the family chicken coop. His friend Peter, who had joined the Church in Australia, asked him if he could invite a few friends to his home to share the gospel. See Bah rearranged his room so Peter’s friends could meet together. Peter wrote the words of hymns on a chalkboard, and his friends followed along as he sang the melody. Later, expatriates in Penang organized sacrament services, and See Bah and Peter attended.
“I do not remember if there was anyone else there other than the three families and Peter. I did not understand what was going on. I did not understand English or the [Latter-day Saint] vocabulary very well. But I do remember the feeling I had,” See Bah remembered. “I later learned that what I felt was the Spirit.” He was baptized on July 26, 1971.
In 1972, Ivan Bee Ho joined the Church in Taiwan and returned to Malaysia shortly thereafter. He brought his sister Siew Yin Ho to small group meetings in Kuala Lumpur. For four years, Siew faithfully attended meetings while she learned more about the Church. At a special youth conference in Singapore in 1977, she listened to a woman bear testimony and felt the witness of the Spirit. She returned to Kuala Lumpur and requested baptism. A difficulty arose because she was 20 years old, not yet the “legal age” of 21, and therefore required written parental consent. Her hometown was far away, and the trip would take time and resources she did not have. Unexpectedly, her father, who had never visited her before, turned up in Kuala Lumpur. He gave his consent for her baptism. “The Lord made the way for me,” she said. She later served a full-time mission, assigned to Kuala Lumpur.
Ivan and Siew’s sister Susan Look Cheng Ho joined the Church in 1980 and was immediately called as a Primary teacher. She taught in almost every primary age-group. As district Primary president, she was determined to establish a functioning Primary in the Ipoh branch. She flew to Ipoh throughout the year to help teachers and children prepare for their first sacrament meeting presentations. On the day of the presentations, she was very pleased with the children’s efforts and dispensed rewards of candy. These experiences, along with her experiences as district Relief Society president, gave her faith in “teaching them correct principles and allowing them to govern themselves” as the Saints flourished.