masterwordsmith-unplugged

On Friday afternoon,together with my son and his best friend, I had a wonderful time feasting my eyes on the minute and unique details of architecture and lifestyle of the inner city area of Penang, particularly in the Armenian quarter. What I found unique to the area is the small streets and the way each wound its way around the place. The Armenian quarter is actually the area where the earliest of Penang settlers lived.

According to Streets of Georgetown, Penang, a map of the early 1800s showed that Armenian Street was formerly called Malay Lane, due to the Malay kampung settlement there. The name, Armenian Street, was given as a tribute to the Armenian merchants who played a key role in the development of Penang's economy. By mid-1800s, the neighbourhood was assumed by the Straits Chinese.

From my experience, the best way to savor this historic core of Georgetown is to survey it in a walkabout tour. Then only can we appreciate the old world enigma of the living heritage and old buildings such as old shops, pre-war houses and coffee-shops. If you merely drive by or sit in the comfort of a tour bus, you may miss the cultural diversity of the place and lose sight of the cultural and historical vibrancy of the area.

Take a look at the following photograph which is near to the junction of Armenian Street and Pitt Street. It is actually the home of a body tattoo artist. Click on the image to appreciate the creative and artistic skills of the owner who used the most nondescript material for his decor outside the home.

The next photograph is of yet another section of Armenian Street that is gaily lit by Chinese lanterns and streamers in preparation for the Chinese New Year celebrations on February 1st.

This photograph also exudes a mysterious air of mystery and history. I was drawn to the similarity in the style of this house known as Swatow Lodging House with the next photograph of a building in the Khoo Kongsi.

One of the major clan houses in Penang, the Khoo Kongsi was built in 1851. The Khoo's (my clan) arrived in Penang in the 17th century and built many houses, temples of which the Khoo Kongsi is the biggest, most important and also most majestic. Personally, I am always so fascinated whenever I visit Khoo Kongsi to take in the splendor of Chinese architecture in its element. To me, part of the appeal of the main building likes in the painstaking attention to details and even the splash of colors which seem to give the whole building an added dimension of its own. If one were to drink the beauty of the building, the spectacular and magnificent elements take on a character of its own that orbit around the building.
One needs to examine some of the ornamental designs of the building and one can be astounded to realize that the artisans actually used fragments of broken porcelain spoons and bowls to create the ornate designs embedded in the main frame of the detailed artistic works.

If you get a chance to visit the temple, you will find the name tablets of clan members on the altars. The clan house houses an association building as featured above, a traditional theatre with a granite-paved square in front of it and 19th century row houses (as seen in the following photograph) for clan members. Click here for a more detailed write-up/gallery of photographs of the place.

According to historical records in the clan house, Khoo Kongsi was burnt down n 1894, supposedly struck by lightning. Then, the Chinese believed that it was because the structure of the temple resembled the Emperor's palace and provoked the displeasure of the gods. Following that, the Khoo's rebuilt a scaled-down version of the place in 1902 and final works were completed in 1906. If you have never been to the place, you MUST pay a visit to appreciate the intricate carvings and richly ornamented beams of the finest wood bearing the mark of famous craftsmen from China who were brought in for the restoration works.

The following photograph is of a back lane just behind the row of houses above. This back lane, unlike any other that I have seen, has many bird cages hanging from different heights. Standing by the collapsible grill, one can enjoy the musical and melodious chirping of the birds.
Just outside Khoo Kongsi is the Anak-Anak Kota office. In fact, I found it by chance when I bumped into Fidel whom I got to know in the German class I attended last year. There, I had the opportunity to meet Janet and to see the ongoing projects that they were running for children and teenagers.

Anak-Anak Kota is a unique heritage education project run by artists-educators from the local university. It targets children between the ages of 10-16 from diverse communities and schools within the inner city area of Penang to empower them to explore and to understand how their identity is rooted in their heritage.

Here is my son and his buddy Dex in the front section of the Anak-Anak Kota office.
From there, we made our way to Galeri Seni Mutiara, an art gallery, where we savored the artistic works of Tan Kai Sheuan in his exhibition called "Bewilder". We also met Mr. Koay Soo Kau, artist and director of the gallery. The highlights of this first solo exhibition were the portrait paintings that ranged from super realism to expressionism. As a 24-year old artist, Mr. Tan is able to capture his restlessness in different types of experimentations in his artistic works on canvas.

Next stop was 120, Armenian Street - Sun Yat Sen's base in Penang, which is now owned by Khoo Su-Yin. Unfortunately, it was closed but we did not mind as we had been there two years ago during the Penang State Level Chinese New Year Celebrations. For more photographs and information of the place, click here

Just beside the Sun Yat Sen base is the Syed Alatas Mansion. Again, it was closed but we had taken many pics of the interior during our last trip two years ago so we went on our way to the flea market.

Please click here for more information on Syed Alatas Mansion.
It was the first time the boys had been to any flea market and they were quite horrified that old things could be put on sale. Surprisingly, there was a large crowd that had gathered by the time we arrived.
If you think our trip ended here, you are wrong. We walked to Masjid Jamek and that is a tale for another day. If you have never been on the heritage trail in Penang, please do so. It is truly an unforgettable experience! Have a nice day!


*Pic taken opposite Yap Kongsi. I wish I had remembered to bring along my camera. All the pics here were taken with my K800i Cybershot (Sony Ericsson).