Early Days of Motor Buses in Penang
9 min read
It is often thought that the first motor buses, four Thornycrofts, were introduced in Penang in 1921 by the municipality. While Ric Francis and Colin Ganley cov...
Penang Hill: A Natural Resource That Shaped The Settlement
9 min read
BESIDE THE HANDSOME George Town Dispensary building on Beach Street is a neat white shop house which today is occupied by an upscale artisanal retail store. On...
Foo Hong Tatt's Poetry in Paint
5 min read
FOO HONG TATT was born on 9 April 1940, several months before World War II descended upon Malaya. He recalls hiding with his family at their estate in the hills...
The Benevolent Madam Tan Say Seang: Penang philanthropist par excellence
9 min read
ON SATURDAY, 14 December 1907, at 12.30pm, the sentry on duty at the police station in the rustic village of Tanjung Tokong “noticed that one of the buildings i...
The Spout: The Little Victorian Hill Resort
7 min read
ONE FINE MORNING last July, I went with my intrepid friend, James Wong, to explore the hills behind the Vale of Tempe in Tanjung Bungah. As we reached the end o...
James Dollery Fettes of Penang Waterworks: A Life of Civil Engineering and Service (Part Two)
9 min read
DURING A MEETING on 30 April 1909, the President of the Penang Municipal Commission, James Wilson Hallifax, asked Leonard Moore Bell how long “the new engineer”...
Mount Palmer and Pulau Betong: Penang’s Forgotten Southern Flagstaff and Watering Place
7 min read
AS ONE VENTURES further southward of Paya Terubong, the mountain pass brings one onto a winding hill road. This road climbs to a height of 316m, offering breath...
General on the Great Hill: US Civil War Hero Visits Penang – Part Two
7 min read
IN PART ONE, the 18th President of the United States of America, Ulysses S. Grant, arrived at Penang and was hosted to a dinner at Government House on Flagstaff...
Seeing the World in a Plate of Mee Goreng
7 min read
MEE GORENG MAMAK is the perfect metaphor for cosmopolitan Penang, the undeniable love child of unfettered multiculturalism. Penang, as an entrepôt, had always b...
When Einstein Cruised into Penang
8 min read
THE CRUISE SHIP, Spectrum of the Seas, a behemoth 18-storeys high and a third of a kilometre long, sailed into Penang’s Swettenham Pier on 2 July 2022 guided by...
Pepper Estate: The Untold Story
11 min read
RESIDENTS OF Tanjung Bungah would sometimes use, as a shortcut, the well-shaded and narrow winding hill road that snakes around the Guillemard Service Reservoir...
FUN on Mount Pleasure: The Life and Times of Uncle Templeton
8 min read
ON THE MORNING of 9 September 1940, a Friday, Police Constable (PC) Ahmad bin Haji Abdul Rahman was on duty in front of the Penang Swimming Club. It was the sec...