Exploring the daylight-saving state

Around Old Georgetown

Penang is nearly the western-most state of Malaysia.  So with the whole country in one timezone, the sun rises late and sets late too.  Just like daylight-saving time in some parts of the world.  Perfect for early morning exploration and also sightseeing at dusk.

I started early by taking the free bus down to the Padang (field) to start my own walking tour of the World Heritage historic area.  The status was given to Georgetown (the capital of Penang) and Malacca jointly in recognition of its historic areas which exemplified coexistence of various cultures in harmony … the local Malays, the immigrant Chinese and Indians, and also the Europeans and Eurasians.

What surprised me most was that old Georgetown is still functioning as per the old days … tyre shops, food hawkers, coffee shops and restaurants of various ethnicities, coffin shops, goldsmiths, Indian garland shops, temples.

I guess my surprise comes from two reason:

• In Singapore, so many old shophouses have been demolished to make way for skyscrapers.
• In Kuching, the historic areas are small and somehow or other many trades have relocated to newer parts of town.

I felt that I was moving between different countries just by moving from one block to another …  it only takes minutes to walk from the European-styled cathedral to the Chinese shophouses to the Mosque and to Little India.

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If my mother hadn’t been a Christian …

I come from an old Chinese family who made it to Malaysia (or Sarawak then) in the 1800s, somewhat in contrast to the Chinese who immigrated to South East Asia later.  The line of women in my family were Nyonyas … while ethnically Chinese, they spoke Malay and adopted a fusion of Malay and Chinese customs, beliefs and cuisine.

When my Dad married my Mum (a Christian), there was concern on my paternal grandmother that my Mum would not keep up with the ancestor worship (a Chinese tradition) of the ancestors (including my paternal grandmother herself).

As a result, inheritance of various ancestral property and heirloom were re-assigned to my uncle, despite my Dad being the oldest son (a very privileged position in the Chinese and Nyonya culture).

The visit to the Peranakan Mansion reminds me of the various things I’ve seen in my family as a child … a reflection of what my brothers and I would have today if history had taken a different course.

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Khoo Clanhouse

I continued to the Khoo Kongsi (or clanhouse) which had southern Chinese architecture, complete with stunning detail.