When I checked in I was given a leaflet - “Historic George Town Trails”, published by the Penang Heritage Trust, an NGO formed in 1986 to help preserve and restore the old parts of the city. It is excellent - and although I have walked around Georgetown many times in the past, it still took me into several places that I had either overlooked, or were not open to the public when I was last here.
I didn’t expect to find so much of Georgetown substantially the same as it was 12 years ago. A lot of effort must have been put in to maintaining the facades of the old buildings, even where the interiors have been modernised.
Founded by Cantonese carpenters and builders that came to Malaya in the last century, The Carpenters’ Guild on Love Lane is a peaceful Chinese temple. Called Loo Pun Hong and dedicated to Lo Pan, the patron deity of carpenters and building artisans, it was where new immigrants called in before heading out into the rest of Asia to find work. Many of the older buildings in Georgetown were built by members of the guild and its decedents continue to dominate the building industry in Penang today.
Ta Kam Hong, the Goldsmiths Guild, is the largest temple of its kind in Malaysia. The goldsmiths must hold onto their money tightly, because the interior of the temple is quite simple and gives no suggestion of great wealth, unlike the Hainan Temple round the corner.
The Hainan Temple or Thean Ho Keong - was founded over a hundred and thirty years ago. The Hainanese were relatively late comers to Malaysia, and finding many of the professions already monopolised by other Chinese groups, they became cooks and sailors. The temple is spectacular, having been fully restored in 1995, intricate stone carvings being imported from Mainland China. The temple is dedicated to Mar Chor, the patron saint of sea farers.
Amongst all the spleandour, the new paint and the fresh stone work, a large plastic tarpaulin is stretched over the part of the floor, held down by coloured candles and covered in small droppings. Its incongruity fascinated me, and expecting that it was the result of a temporary invasion by house martins that they hadn’t had time to move on, looked above for the nest. The roof was in perfect condition, glowing in the reflected light, the beams red and looking as splendid as they must have done a hundred years ago. Only the end of one beam, a small section perhaps 50cm long, was rotting away. It appeared strange, the rotting beam had obviously being carefully avoided during the restoration. Nestling deep inside the cracks of the beam there were too small, black and brown bats, sleeping contentedly. Bats are considered good look by the Chinese, harbingers of wealth and good fortune.
The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was a tatty, decrepit building when I was last here. It has now been restored completely, wining an UNESCO award in 2000. The mansion, once the favourite home of the Chinese tycoon Cheong Fatt Tze, fell into disrepair during the post independence years. It was only in 1989 when his last son died, that the mansion could be sold. The restoration of the fabric of the building is superb and, sitting in the main courtyard (there are 5 in all!) felt wonderful, a place of peace and well being. Sadly, when the villa was sold the decedents of Cheong Fatt raided the mansion, taking away anything they could carry. None of the original furniture remains. The mansion was used in the Oscar winning film Indo-Chine - the only French film David and I have ever been to see together. I remember the film well. We saw it in London and it seemed as though the whole audience spoke French apart from David and me. At times they all laughed, where we would see nothing funny. A moment later, when the subtitles had allowed us to catch up, we would laugh too, embarassingly out of synch with the crowd.
Unlike Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion is both fully restored and re-furnished, in spectacular Baba Chinese style. It is a superb place, an airy museum packed with fascinating antiques. After spending an hour wondering around its period rooms, I found myself looking at the run down houses around town in a completely new way. Just walking past these old houses, the area looks poor and a rundown, but at one time, there was considerable wealth here and the town has treasures to offer.
Further down the road another, smaller mansion has been converted into an art gallery. It too is built around a central courtyard, where I sat reading the paper and drinking coffee. The design of all these mansions follows the principles of feng shui. It is an idea at which I have always smiled, but the extraordinary feeling of well-being and happiness that I have experienced whilst visiting these places has led me to alter that view. There must be something in it after all.
I didn’t expect to find so much of Georgetown substantially the same as it was 12 years ago. A lot of effort must have been put in to maintaining the facades of the old buildings, even where the interiors have been modernised.
Founded by Cantonese carpenters and builders that came to Malaya in the last century, The Carpenters’ Guild on Love Lane is a peaceful Chinese temple. Called Loo Pun Hong and dedicated to Lo Pan, the patron deity of carpenters and building artisans, it was where new immigrants called in before heading out into the rest of Asia to find work. Many of the older buildings in Georgetown were built by members of the guild and its decedents continue to dominate the building industry in Penang today.
Ta Kam Hong, the Goldsmiths Guild, is the largest temple of its kind in Malaysia. The goldsmiths must hold onto their money tightly, because the interior of the temple is quite simple and gives no suggestion of great wealth, unlike the Hainan Temple round the corner.
The Hainan Temple or Thean Ho Keong - was founded over a hundred and thirty years ago. The Hainanese were relatively late comers to Malaysia, and finding many of the professions already monopolised by other Chinese groups, they became cooks and sailors. The temple is spectacular, having been fully restored in 1995, intricate stone carvings being imported from Mainland China. The temple is dedicated to Mar Chor, the patron saint of sea farers.
Amongst all the spleandour, the new paint and the fresh stone work, a large plastic tarpaulin is stretched over the part of the floor, held down by coloured candles and covered in small droppings. Its incongruity fascinated me, and expecting that it was the result of a temporary invasion by house martins that they hadn’t had time to move on, looked above for the nest. The roof was in perfect condition, glowing in the reflected light, the beams red and looking as splendid as they must have done a hundred years ago. Only the end of one beam, a small section perhaps 50cm long, was rotting away. It appeared strange, the rotting beam had obviously being carefully avoided during the restoration. Nestling deep inside the cracks of the beam there were too small, black and brown bats, sleeping contentedly. Bats are considered good look by the Chinese, harbingers of wealth and good fortune.
The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion was a tatty, decrepit building when I was last here. It has now been restored completely, wining an UNESCO award in 2000. The mansion, once the favourite home of the Chinese tycoon Cheong Fatt Tze, fell into disrepair during the post independence years. It was only in 1989 when his last son died, that the mansion could be sold. The restoration of the fabric of the building is superb and, sitting in the main courtyard (there are 5 in all!) felt wonderful, a place of peace and well being. Sadly, when the villa was sold the decedents of Cheong Fatt raided the mansion, taking away anything they could carry. None of the original furniture remains. The mansion was used in the Oscar winning film Indo-Chine - the only French film David and I have ever been to see together. I remember the film well. We saw it in London and it seemed as though the whole audience spoke French apart from David and me. At times they all laughed, where we would see nothing funny. A moment later, when the subtitles had allowed us to catch up, we would laugh too, embarassingly out of synch with the crowd.
Unlike Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion is both fully restored and re-furnished, in spectacular Baba Chinese style. It is a superb place, an airy museum packed with fascinating antiques. After spending an hour wondering around its period rooms, I found myself looking at the run down houses around town in a completely new way. Just walking past these old houses, the area looks poor and a rundown, but at one time, there was considerable wealth here and the town has treasures to offer.
Further down the road another, smaller mansion has been converted into an art gallery. It too is built around a central courtyard, where I sat reading the paper and drinking coffee. The design of all these mansions follows the principles of feng shui. It is an idea at which I have always smiled, but the extraordinary feeling of well-being and happiness that I have experienced whilst visiting these places has led me to alter that view. There must be something in it after all.
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