Six days in Penang

Penang Island was the first place I visited on my first trip to Malaysia over 30 years ago. What I remember best from that trip was the time we spent snorkeling on the Perhentian Islands. Those islands are much more popular and developed now, and I knew I didn’t want to go back there. But after reading The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng, I was excited to go back to Penang.

Penang has a lot to offer: Indian, Chinese, and Malay cultures, Thai and Burmese Buddhist temples, British colonial architecture. It’s quite the variety in a small, accessible area. Where to start? With the Indians, because, well, their food was the best! Heavy, rich north Indian curries in the equatorial heat? Yes! and loved them. The bread was fantastic.

This Tamil meal reminded me a bit of Sri Lanka, still my favorite country for eating. There’s even bitter gourd and moringa on the plate here.

Around the corner from that restaurant was the Sri Maha Mariammam (Hindu) Temple, sort of a tame, mini version of what you might see in Tamil Nadu.

It was Ramadan while we were in Penang which is perhaps why it was a bit harder to find Malay food. This lunch was billed as traditional Malay cuisine.

Ramadan definitely made it more difficult to visit mosques. We could see the domes and minaret of Masjid Kapitan Keling from our hotel (Hong Ping), but it was closed to visitors every time I tried to get inside.

Ferda and I got on the bicycles one day with the goal (among other things) of visiting Masjid Terapung Pulau Pinang (aka the floating mosque). Oops, we arrived right at Friday noon prayers. The place was packed. Even all the worshipers couldn’t get inside.

On the way there we stopped at (Thai) Wat Chaiyamangkalaram.

Across the street was the Dhammikarama Burmese Temple, also Buddhist.

Shall we look at some non-religious buildings? Newer housing looks like this

while the streets of the historic center look more like this.

I promised some colonial architecture.

That building (above) is probably not really colonial as it was built by a Chinese tycoon, though in European style. That’s not the last Chinese tycoon-built mansion we’re going to see in Penang. First, a little Chinese Straits history.

Chinese started coming to the Straits of Malacca from Fujian/Hokkien in the 14th century. Some became very rich — tin and rubber are frequently mentioned — and Chinese Straits culture is readily evident (economically dominant?) in Penang, Malacca, and Singapore.

Successful immigrants started clan houses (kongsi) to help immigrants from their village/region get settled in their new lives. Ferda and I visited two of these clan houses, now sort of museums, where we learned some of this. The first one we saw was Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi. It takes up a whole city block with an open courtyard at the center and housing and shops around the edges. On one side of the large courtyard is the administrative building.

On another side is the temple which also houses the museum.

Ancestors are worshiped because their spirits are still around and influence our lives presently. Here’s one book of a 25-volume set documenting 1000 years of genealogy for the Khoo clan. Worshiping all those ancestors could keep you busy.

If this place looks familiar, maybe you remember it from the Hollywood film Anna and the King?

The second clan house we visited was Seh Tek Tong Cheah Kongsi.

In addition to clan houses there are also clan jetties, housing built out over the water, associated with a particular clan/village/region. I don’t know if some clan houses have a jetty associated with them or if the jetties are for completely different clans. The three jetties we visited were Chew, Tan, and Yeoh.

Not surprisingly we saw a lot of Chinese influence — art, architecture, food — while wandering around Penang.

There are temples too, of course. Here’s Thean Hou Temple.

And I promised mansions, didn’t I? Peranakan Mansion has been turned into a museum. Peranakan seems to be another word for Chinese Straits culture. When the first settlers came from Fujian, it was men only. They married local Malay women, and their kids were referred to as baba (for the boys) or nyonya (for the girls). The Peranakan Mansion was built in 1895 — money from tin, I think they said. This impressive building was used both as housing and to run the business.

The blue on this jewelry is from kingfisher feathers.

I was interested to see the Scottish metalwork, a worldwide fad at that time. Think Bradbury building in Los Angeles or Palacio de Hierro in Orizaba or (to go straight to the source!) the National Museum in Edinburgh if you want a few examples.

The second mansion that we visited in Penang was built by industrialist Cheong Fatt Tza, “Rockefeller of the East” (New York Times), known by others as “China’s first capitalist”. Cheong Fatt Tza was Hakka from Guangdong, the only non-Fujian Chinese immigrant we heard about in Penang. The mansion is now a hotel with limited visiting slots available for non-residents. We got lucky and got same days tickets. Many others were turned away.

Recognize that from Crazy Rich Asians (or Indochine or The Red Kebaya or The Blue Mansion or Road to Dawn or Ghost Bride or Within Indigo Walls)?

I’ll end with a couple bicycle photos.