Penang, Malaysia
“The Pearl of the Orient “was the name
given to Penang, an island just off the
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| Coming Into the Penang Habour |
Peninsula of Malaysia with a good
harbor for large vessels. We booked a tour around the island to give us an idea
why this spot was so popular in colonial days. The main town, Georgetown, has a
UNESCO city center and it is impressive. Many elaborate colonial homes, in the
European or Chinese style, are still in use today. If it were not for the cars
and scooters, one could make believe this was the year 1850 to 1898. Even on the
outskirts of the downtown area, large mansions with large properties are kept
in good repair, the whole of it oozing old style wealth. There were polo
grounds, race tracks, golf clubs, tennis courts, prestigious schools, houses of
worship, parks, arboretums, and everywhere signs of opulence and wealth abound.
Definitely this was and still is an island of the rich. Old style mansions and
office buildings are now used as government buildings. The area was well-to-do,
no doubt about it.
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| Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee |
The money came from the sale of spices, rubber,
tin, rice and opium. Opium was a large part of the trade then. It commanded nice
profits and made the dealers rich. In colonial days it was a legal, respectable
business. Almost all business in colonial days was done by the Europeans using
Chinese business connections. The Chinese connections only helped the British
in Georgetown. Even today, Penang is almost 60% Chinese, 32% are Malay and only
7% are of Indian descent. The one percent left are the Europeans. Business in colonial
days was done with the help of the Chinese Kapitans who were leaders of clans
that commanded the larger Chinese community. Those Kapitans were the kingpins
behind most trades in Asia at the time. Secret societies were formed by those
Kapitans and all business flowed through their hands. Their wealth was
legendary, their mansions and business offices, opulent.
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| Pinang Peranakan Mansion |
We visited the restored house of one of
those men, the house of the Kaptain Chung Keng Kwee. His house, the Pinang Peranakan Mansion, today holds over 1000 antiques and is a museum right in downtown
Georgetown. There are other such houses such as the Cheong Fatt Tze mansion
which received a UNESCO award in 2000. Another is the Khoo Kongsi. Chinese
societies were plentiful and made lots of
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| Pinang Peranakan Mansion Dining Room |
money. British businessmen had no
problems with the Chinese workers or even the Malay or Indian worker. All the
dirty work, all the labor issues, all the punitive actions were handled by
those Kapitans, those Baba-Nyongas. The British dealt exclusively with their Kapitans.
Finding the right secret society among the Chinese was the key to a successful
British business. The clubs, golf, polo, tennis, etc were very helpful in
making contacts. Deals were struck at those and other places.
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| Pinang Peranakan Mansion |
Naturally there
was some infighting among the Chinese clans to secure British contacts, but
that is another story. For me to see the display of colonial wealth, the greed
and business acumen of years gone by, was mind blowing. I liked this part of our
tour. I was intrigued by the concept and wonder if those practices of doing
business in Asia have really been abandoned today. Why do I say Asia? Societies
like these could still exist for some businesses and could even be
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| Pinang Peranakan Mansion |
applied
world wide. I think I am still very naive. Or I can not think in those terms
well enough, especially with today's internet connections so freely available.
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She Spoke No English But Was Happy
To Show Me Around |
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| Golden Sands Resort |
All this walking and climbing made me
hungry. So luckily it was time for our buffet luncheon at the Golden Sands
Resort along with other passengers on excursions today. This modern and impressive
place was perfect for us; we ate the delicious food in a large dining room with
a view of the beach. Driving up to the northern part of this island where all
the hotels and new, expensive buildings are, made me realize that this part of
Penang is the tourist area today.
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| Golden Sands Resort |
Beautiful hidden beaches, hotels at the water’s
edge, the latest designer looks from around the world, make this an
international destination. Here among the newest posh, the latest fashion is
the new Penang. Proximity to Kuala Lumpur via a new bridge makes Penang a great
get-away today, a get-away from urbanization and a retreat into history. The
drive to Kuala Lumpur is about 90 minutes without traffic, if such a thing
exists in crowded Penang. Still people travel like this, even work in KL and
live in Penang.
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| Butterfly Farm |
Then off again to a butterfly farm.
Thousands of flopping, winged creatures amid flowering bushes and trees greeted
us. So active was this place with all the butterflies feeding all at once that
it felt almost like frenzy. None of the insects would hold still for a good photo.
All were busy fluttering about, searching for food. I am not an entomologist so
I can not write much about the butterflies. For the right person this place
however could be a
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| Walking Stick Insect at the Butterfly Farm |
goldmine in their search for the right species. The museum
attached has a huge display of pinned butterflies in groups and assorted sizes and
colors.
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| Butterfly Farm |
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| Beautiful Gardens |
The final stop on the way back to the ship was a “fruit” stand. Its specialty was Nutmeg oil. We were given a small
demonstration of the use of this oil for our health. Yet the smell alone would not
be acceptable to most European or American noses. Even other oils, like clove
oil or camphor did little to entice anybody to buy.
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| Durian |
Durians were for sale, too. This fruit is
an acquired taste. I tried a small piece of the durian and could not manage to
like it. It is sweet but also stinks like rotten cheese. The saying here is
that the sweet taste is like heaven and the stink of the fruit is like hell. To
my taste it tasted like Limburger Cheese with a slight sweet flavor. Yuck!
I guess I like history, the Chinese Kaptain’s
house was my best experience for the day.
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| Hey Buddy, Nice Tie |
Penang is so large and so diverse; it would
take serious study to understand all of Penang.
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