A LIFER'S ODYSSEY

(Testimony by Dr. Tow Siang Yeow)

This is an account of experience undergone by my wife and me during twenty-five years of service with the Malaysian Government, at the end of which we arrived, by the grace of God, at our "Promised Land." Quite obviously, our humble experience will not bear comparison with the epic journeyings of the Israelites through the wilderness of Sinai, ending in their entry into Canaan. But the reader will be able to perceive, in certain parts of my narration, shades of Christ­ian's adventures as he travelled from the "City of Destruc­tion" towards the "Celestial City."

January 1956 was a month etched deeply into my mind. That was the month in which I passed my Final M.B.B.S. Examinations at the University of Malaya in Singapore. I was greatly relieved at having got over this last difficult hurdle. Examination days were over and there was much to look forward to. Now was the time to enter into a brave new world of practising the noble art of healing coupled with pursuing personal advancement. The future looked rosy and, indeed, the opportunities seemed unlimited and were there just for me to grasp.

I reported, in an expectant mood, to the Chief Administra­tive Officer of the General Hospital, Singapore, for appoint­ment as a Houseman. Imagine my surprise and disappoint­ment when I was told, "You cannot work in Singapore but must return as soon as possible to Johor Bahru and report for duty at the General Hospital there. As a scholarship holder it is your duty and obligation to go back and serve your State." I protested that I had never signed any agreement to serve in Johor State as a condition tied to the award, but he was unmoved.

Having to depart from Singapore so soon after graduation came as a great shock. My hopes and aspirations were dashed.  It meant that I would be separated from my beloved fiancee Rosalind, loved ones, church friends and co-workers.  There was nothing that I could do to remedy  the  situation.  I  had no choice  but to  submit  my  resignation as Treasurer  of  the  Life  Bible-Presbyterian  Church  at  Prinsep  Street and discontinue  attendance at  the  Sunday School  Teachers' Training Course.  My mind was in a whirl. However, I collected my thoughts, packed up a few personal belongings, said a hurried "Good­-bye" to my dear Rosalind and made a beeline for Johor Bahru.

Armed with my credentials I reported to the Medical Superintendent of the Johor Bahru General Hospital on the morning of 1st February, 1956. Preliminaries over, I was ushered into the Outpatients Department to deal with the swelling crowd of patients. I was practically left lo myself to deal with the assorted illnesses that turned up. Indeed, housemanship was a drudgery in those days and the few housemen that were available had to work like Trojans!

Marriage followed and my wife, too, had to uproot herself, give up her post as Assistant Registrar of Life Church Sunday School and join me in Johor Bahru. Having settled down, we looked around for a church where we could worship. We opted for the Holy Light Presbyterian Church as we felt most at home with the Presbyterian form of worship. We had every intention of attending Sunday evening services regularly but much to our chagrin, oftentimes we were not able lo do so due to the call of duty lo attend to the sick and dying. There is no clear recollection of our taking part in the various church activities except for the attendances at the Sunday evening services. However, one of the things that we can still recollect is that the Pastor was an elderly, straitlaced English gentleman who spoke the Queen's English.

Housemanship over, we were in for the inevitable transfers. The Principal Medical Officer of Johor, a portly Malay gentleman with greying hair, called me to his office one day and told me that as Segamat District Hospital was without a doctor, I was being posted there as the Medical Officer-in-charge. "Not to worry; you can contact me if there are any problems," was his parting shot. I felt comforted by his words, not knowing what lay in store.

With our few belongings packed into our newly-acquired Morris Minor, my wife and I set out for Segamat, a railway town 115 miles from Johor Bahru on Merdeka (Independence) Day. This was during the "Emergency" and we had to drive through several "black areas" (areas largely controlled by armed Communists) before finally arriving at our destination. With a sigh of relief, we thanked the Lord that there were no untoward incidents along the way.

I soon found out that I was not only the Medical Officer-in-charge but also the substitute for two other doctors whose posts had fallen vacant. Looking after a 240-bed hospital as the only available doctor is no laughing matter, to say the least. I put the blame squarely on the inordinate haste in which expatriate doctors' services were terminated as a result of "Malayanisation" of the Medical Services. But what could anyone do as that was a purely political decision?

Life in Segamat was hard. We had few friends and little Christian fellowship. We were like pieces of charcoal taken out of the fire to slowly but surely cool down. Furthermore, there was tension in the air. Armed Communists were lurking in the vicinity. And work had not abated. Frankly, I was near a nervous breakdown. But God is great! Just when things seemed bleakest, I received a transfer back to Johor Bahru.

On my return to Johor Bahru, I was appointed Registrar of the Medical Unit. Later, I was offered a year's study leave to do the Diploma in Public Health in Singapore. I was told that better things were in the offing. Once the D.P.H. was obtained, accelerated promotions, indeed, a rise to the top posts al State or Ministry level was a distinct possibility, barring mishaps. And so I accepted the offer and pursued the D.P.H. with diligence and singleness of purpose. With ambition to excel crowding out other priorities, service in the Lord's vineyard held little attraction for me. Weekly attendances of church services remained the only Christian duty faithfully performed, a habit ingrained in me since childhood days when father had set a good example.

Just at this time the Lord had to chastise and bring me down a peg or two by inflicting me with a detached retina necessitating treatment overseas. I was to be sent to London for treatment but I had my doubts whether that could save my eyesight. I lost my equanimity, felt miserable and wallowed in the "Slough of Despond."

But  God,  in  His  abundant  grace  and  mercy,  had ordained that,  on my arrival  in  London,  there  was  my  third elder brother  and sister-in-law to receive me at the airport and provide me brotherly love and support. The doctors at Moorfield Eye Hospital successfully treated me using laser beams. I thank God for not only restoring my eyesight but in providing me warm fellowship with my brother and sister-in­-law at their flat during the period of convalescence. I realized that good health including good eyesight is a gift from the Father of lights for which we should constantly be thankful.

Not long after returning to Malaya, (Malaysia was estab­lished on July 9, 1963) the Lord in His divine wisdom caused me to go on transfer to that "God-forsaken" place Temerloh, a small town in the interior of Pahang State. 'My doctor colleagues thought it silly of me to have agreed to go to such an "ulu" (remote, rural) place! Be that as it may, I accepted the move and was placed in charge of the Yaws Elimination Campaign. As a Medical Officer of Health, there was much field work to do. I had to lead in many a foray into the interior to root out foci of yaws still prevalent at that time. I thank God that He had protected me from all dangers during those riverine and overland trips throughout the length and breadth of the country. And you can be sure that it was always welcome respite at the end of an exhausting field trip to return home to my dear wife and three little children.

Meanwhile, we continued to assemble with believers at a small Methodist Church which we discovered in the neigh-bouring town of Mentakab, there being no church in Temerloh. The Sunday morning services were conducted by a young American preacher-cum-teacher from another town. There were about a dozen-believers but on many an occasion my family and I made up almost half the congregation! My zeal for serving the Lord waned and church attendance became merely a ritual. Spiritually I could be said to be "down in the dumps."

Rather like "Christian" in "Pilgrim's Progress," in God's good timing and through His grace, I was pulled out of the "Slough of Despond" by "Help," none other than the Pastor of Life Bible-Presbyterian Church who had come on a missionary journey to Temerloh with his brave band of young people, all burning with zeal for the Lord! The Spirit of the Lord filled me and my family, and we immediately offered our spacious quarters for the starting of a Sunday School. With the arrival of reinforcements in the persons of Dr. Ng Eng Kee a Government Medical Officer and his wife, Dr. Hooi Siew Hwa a Private Practitioner and Miss Teo Lee Hwa a Staff Nurse, we were further emboldened to form the Temerloh Gospel Centre. The long-term results are really amazing, but all glory must go to God for His leading. For, from that small gospel seed that was sown, today we have a vigorous, fully-constituted church housed in a beautiful sanctuary.

The period of revival in Temerloh could be said to be one of the high points in my Christian life. How I wished that we could tarry awhile and serve the Lord in feeding the young flock that we had come to love. But that was not to be! A massive outbreak of cholera in Malacca necessitated my immediate transfer to that state to help control the outbreak. Perforce I had to hand over the chairmanship of the Temerloh Gospel Centre to Dr. Ng Eng Kee who, by then,  had  set  up his own practice. We departed  knowing  that it was in good hands.

Shortly  after  our arrival  in  Malacca,  the  pastor  of  the  Evangelical Free Church came to see us and persuaded us to help in his fledgeling church, then housed in a ramshackle old Government Officers' Club House which was borrowed for the Church's use on Sundays. The fires of revival were still glowing, and without hesitation, we immersed ourselves in serving the Lord in Sunday School teaching, evangelism, and other activities. At about this time, we started having family worship every evening with our three children, teaching them simple Bible lessons, chorus singing and prayer. This became a regular practice in our home, following the Bible's injunction to `"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Prov. 22:6).

Three years of meaningful service for the Lord with the Evangelical Free Church came to an end when I received yet another transfer order. We were told to go to lpoh, "the town that tin built." The reason given for this transfer was that I was needed in a more responsible post, but it would not he a promotion. An unkind cut, surely, to give us all this inconvenience! I had half a mind to lodge a protest, but "discretion being the better part of valour," I submitted.

A search for a place of worship in Ipoh led us to a stately Gothic church with stained glass windows and a largely expatriate membership. After attending a few services, we saw a prominent notice put up one Sunday at the church entrance informing worshippers that as the following Sunday was Holy Communion Sunday, all gentlemen must come wearing dark lounge suits and ties in order to be admitted. We felt that this ruling must have been framed to preserve the "upper crust" character of the membership. We decided not to return to this church again.

Next, we attended a friendlier church not far from our home. All went well until one day the Pastor invited us to be church members on one condition: we must be re-baptized by immersion as our previous baptism by sprinkling was not recognized by his church! In order that our faith be not shaken, we declined and joined the Canning Garden Methodist Church instead. Together with some like-minded brethren, we put our heart and soul into building-up the Sunday School which we found to be weak and lacking in spirit. We thanked the Lord for this opportunity to sent Him and our hearts were warmed by the wonderful response of young hearts to the Gospel message.

Two years had passed since our posting to Ipoh when another addition to our family came, our youngest daughter Grace. There was joy in the family, but barely two months later, another directive was received from the Ministry of Health telling me to proceed on transfer to Trengganu. I had no choice but to comply. All our things were packed up, and we lodged at the Station Hotel, Ipoh for the night intending to leave early the next morning for the long journey ahead. Unfortunately, communal riots broke out that same night in Kuala Lumpur. It was May 13, 1969 a fateful day in the nation's history. The tension had spread to Ipoh. And the authorities were not taking any chances. Road blocks were everywhere and troops patrolled the streets night and day. Our transfer was inevitably delayed.

When things were quieter we left for Trengganu with a prayer on our lips but fear and trepidation in our hearts. There was no way by which we could avoid driving through areas where Malay villages were located. However, God was gracious and merciful to us. We were surely protected by His guardian angels all the way when we arrived safely at Kuala Trengganu at dusk the same day.

Once we were settled, we wasted no time in searching for God's children so that we might have Christian fellowship. We discovered a plank building off the beaten track which served as a church. The congregation was made up of a floating population of government servants and their families. This multi-racial congregation of about 15 families was pastored by a young, newly- graduated Chinese pastor. As there was none who could play the organ, my little daughter, Julie, had to stand-in as organist despite her inexperience. However, we were thankful to the Lord for the opportunity to worship with fellow-believers although the church was only a humble plank building.

Work was relatively light in Trengganu as it had a small population and hence less problems. There was a golf course next to our quarters and I was attracted to take up the game. I became so engrossed with improving my game that most afternoons I could be seen teeing-off on the golf course.

Imperceptibly, golf had become the centre of my affections, my "idol." How Satan is able to distract us even through golf!

Hardly a year had passed, when with annoying regularity, we received yet another "marching orders" to go on transfer back to my home state, Johor. Another step up the superscale and gravitation to the church that we had been attending before followed in seemingly logical sequence. But this time, the church was under a pastor with liberal leanings. He did not believe in Hell, and was blatantly modernistic in his preaching. But why was there no opposition to his liberal theology? This question plagued our minds, but we were not bold enough to find out. And because of those unedifying sermons, we found it difficult to bring ourselves to attend church. As a result our spiritual life sank to a low ebb.

One day, I happened to meet the then Minister of Health, Tan Sri Sardon, and he told me that 1 was wanted up at the Ministry of Health, to fill a more responsible post. Rosalind was aghast ! "What, another transfer when we have just moved into our own house?" she remonstrated. "But that is part and parcel of my job, dear! Besides, it is a promotion," I replied. That seemed to pacify her, and I felt safe to proceed.

Arriving in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, we had to adjust ourselves to big city life. Choosing a place of worship was not easy, as there were churches and churches and we knew nobody whom we could consult. Finally, we decided to attend Wesley Methodist Church for the simple reason that my son Anthony was a student of Methodist Boys' School, situated within the large compound of the church.

I felt some stirrings to serve God in a meaningful way but underestimated the power of Satan and the effect of a sudden change of lifestyle. I was now a senior official at Ministry level, and as part of my duties, I had to attend many a convention, conference and seminar abroad. I felt important and self-­sufficient. I was rather like "Mr. Worldly-Wiseman" going through Vanity  fair." Quite obviously, Satan was having a field day.

Just then, when my spiritual life had sunk to a new low, God in His wisdom and boundless mercy taught me a second lesson. One day, whilst on duty at the ministry of Health, He inflicted upon me a severe attack of vertigo and vomiting. With the ambulance dashing at top speed and with sirens blaring, I was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit of the General Hospital. Everything seemed to be in a whirl. I felt that this might be the end, and I could only silently pray God to forgive and to save me.

By the grace of God, I survived the critical stage. The treatment was prolonged, and I felt giddy whenever I got up. But during the six weeks of incarceration in hospital, I realized my shortcomings and how easy it was to backslide if there was no vigilance and constant communion with God. I prayed for forgiveness and spent time reading the Bible.

Seventh of September, 1975 saw us all packed up for yet another transfer back to my home state Johor. Another of the vagaries of the Ministry of Health, 1 conjectured. But there was no point objecting for I was being offered the Directorship of the Medical and Health Department of Johor State. Besides, Rosalind had given me her full support for various personal reasons, not least of which was the fact that she would be closer to her loved ones in Singapore.

On moving to Johor Bahru I settled down to work, meeting the challenges of greater responsibilities with grit and gusto. As the first Chinese to fill this post, I felt I could not let the community down, and worked harder than ever to see the "machinery" of the Department was "well-oiled" and running smoothly.

Having been chastened by the Lord twice, I decided that I must balance my priorities and make time to be of service to Him. And so we joined a church of one of the mainstream denominations and took an active part in church activities. I taught in Sunday School again. I was elected to various positions in the Church, including the chairmanship of the Church Board. There was good fellowship with the other Church members. We felt complacent and decided to let the status quo remain.

Twenty-five years had slipped by since that fateful year when we had to leave the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore. We had not failed to assemble with believers in all the places that we were posted to. We had also participated actively in various church activities. A creditable perform­ance, one might think! But viewing it in retrospect, we now realize what we had missed.

Not long after my retirement from Government service, I received a joint letter from the Pastor of New Life Bible-­Presbyterian Church and the Moderator of the Presbytery, inviting me to sit on the Interim Committee of the Church, then in the final stages of construction. We were caught by surprise! We were faced with a dilemma. To pull our roots and transfer to New Life or to continue with the status quo was a difficult decision to make. For we had been associated with the Wesley Methodist Church, Johor Bahru for well-nigh seven years by then. We deferred making a decision until one day we were led by the Spirit to cross over to Woodlands where New Life is situated.

And so the die was cast. It was a home-coming of sorts. We attended our first Sunday service in the month of August, 1983. There we met a few believers whom we had known a quarter of a century ago, and many others whom we had come to know for the first time. And gauging from the vigour of New Life we could discern that the Bible-Presbyterian Church in Singapore had grown from strength to strength, and quite beyond recognition since Prinsep Street days. I must have felt like Rip Van Winkle, waking up after being asleep for many years! I was challenged to be of greater service in the Lord's vineyard but there was much catching-up to do.

I joined the Sunday School Teachers' Training Course at New Life in order to better equip myself. I found the course, which was ably conducted by the Pastor, to be helpful and enlightening. And so I tied the "loose ends" of what I had started to do 25 years ago by completing my training as a Sunday School teacher.

I was greatly impressed and edified by the Pastor's preaching of the Word of God with power and conviction and undiluted by worldly philosophies, week after week. It was like a shower of refreshing rain after having gone through a parched, desert land! I started taking down notes of the sermons, something I had never done before.

I attended the weekly Wednesday night prayer meetings whenever I could. These were Spirit-filled sessions and God's mighty hand could be seen in answered prayers. In reply to a brother's query as to whether I thought the meetings needed improvement, I told him frankly that I could not suggest any as they were the best I had attended so far!

I found the young people enthusiastic and burning with zeal in serving the Lord. On Sundays, they could be found in various departments of the Church carrying out their allotted tasks with cheerful and willing hearts. Young people had also ably organized themselves in the Nikao (Youth) Fellowship and Young Adults Fellowship. A smaller group sacrificed much time and energy in evangelistic work, distributing tracts and inviting nearby flat dwellers to come to Church. It certainly put to shame even an old B-P founder-member like myself, what we Chinese would call "Mr. Old Pickled-in-­honey."

Come September, 1985 and I was constrained to attend my fist Annual Bible-Presbyterian Pastors and Leaders Confer­ence. We were indeed privileged to have as our guest speaker, Dr. Peter Masters, Minister of London Metropolitan Tabernacle. It was an exquisitely uplifting experience, be­cause there was so much good spiritual food to be partaken of. And there was the warmth of Christian fellowship with the saints, many of whom I was meeting for the very first time. It was, indeed, an unique spiritual experience for me!

I was revived, but humbled. I realized that all high honours, positions, wealth and the trappings thereof, good deeds done, if not sanctified by the Lord and used for His glory, were worthless. The Lord Jesus Himself said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37).

Our wandering days are over. We have found our "Prom­ised Land." We are happy to be members of New Life Bible-Presbyterian Church where, God willing, we will serve the Lord with gladness till the end of our days.

EPILOGUE

I was once asked as to what extent Dr. John Sung had influenced my life. To that question I answered, "Not a little," although most of it has been in an indirect manner.

Barely eight years old at the time of the John Sung Evangelistic Campaign in Singapore, I can recall only a few of the meetings where this great evangelist expounded the Word of God to a rapt audience in his inimitable manner. But the one in my family most greatly influenced by Dr. John Sung's preaching and brought to his knees in repentance was my father. Ever since his conversion, he had never failed to gather the whole family together for family worship. And during the period that I stayed with him, he constantly drummed into us, the children, great themes of the Bible including "honesty", "truthfulness", "pride", "humility", and "honour thy father and thy mother" which were some of his favourites.

 The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6).  How very true this is, in the case of one family: for truly, God has blessed the Tow children because of father’s faithfulness, this father who had, earlier, been so greatly blessed by the ministry of Dr. John Sung.