• Malaysia
    1993 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • Branch Location Moves and Expands

      The Society does not own the Bethel Home facilities in Malaysia but has rented suitable properties over the years. When the branch began operating in 1972, the Penang Congregation had recently purchased their own Kingdom Hall. The hall occupied the lower floor of a fine two-story semidetached building at the end of a row of duplex houses. In addition to the spacious hall on the ground floor, there was a room at the rear suitable for literature storage, while the upstairs could serve as living quarters. The Society had rented these sections of the building from the Penang Congregation for use as a missionary home and literature depot. So when the new branch was established, the missionary home and literature depot became the Bethel Home and office. This worked out very well, and things went along smoothly for several years. But, for a number of reasons, it became necessary to move the branch office away from the Penang Kingdom Hall. Actually, two such moves became necessary over the next few years, but each move was to another location not far away, so the Bethel headquarters still remained on the pleasant island of Penang.

      By the early 1980’s, however, it was felt that a more central location for the branch office would be beneficial and could provide more efficient oversight of the Kingdom work. So efforts got under way to locate suitable premises in the area of Kuala Lumpur​—the nation’s capital.

      Suitable places were not easy to rent. But in 1982, two nearly completed two-story duplexes were located at Klang, about 20 miles [30 km] from Kuala Lumpur. Only one section of each duplex was available for rent at the time, but one section was ideal for a Bethel Home and branch office, and the other could be used for shipping and storage. As is often the case with new buildings, there were several construction delays, but finally, on July 1, 1983, the transfer was made from Penang to Klang. Then, in February 1986, another section of the first duplex became available for rent. This now gave the branch one complete duplex and the adjacent section of the second building. Then, in early 1989, the final section of the second duplex also became available for rent. So now the branch has two fine two-story duplexes adjacent to each other, providing extra space for offices, shipping, and storage, as well as accommodations for additional Bethel staff.