The Sarkies Brothers and Their Hotel Empire
13 min read
The E&O was founded by the Sarkies brothers. Who were they and what brought them to Penang?
The Forgotten Travails of Indentured Indian Women in Malaya
5 min read
Women coolies drying rubber. Photo: Arabis.orgTHE MIGRATION OF indentured labourers from India to Malaya – via the kangani or independent hiring sys...
The Japanese Conquest of Penang: Part Two
9 min read
[IN DECEMBER 2021, Penang Monthly published Part One of The Japanese Conquest of Penang. This issue covers the remainder of the campaign and what came after].Th...
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...
The Coming and Going of Penang’s Trams
7 min read
From Steam to HorseThe first tramway introduced in Penang was the steam tram operated by one Mr.Gardiner with concessions from the government. Commencing oper...
Vestiges of Penang’s Entrepot Days
7 min read
As the last surviving Chinese surname jetties in Penang today, the beginnings of the Clan Jetties are intertwined with the island’s once-bustling entrepot...
Relau House: A Sino-Venetian Bungalow That Still Exudes Pride of Its Time and Place
9 min read
Relau, once an agricultural area in the south-western district of Penang Island, is today a large modern residential estate. Vestiges of its past linger on though, most notably in the almost century-old Relau House.
The Holiday Home of the Last King of Setul
6 min read
Segara Ninda, the centuries-old Anglo-Malay mansion at the corner of Jalan Penang and Lebuh Farquhar, is a poignant reminder that a Malay king once ruled southe...
The Deep Legacy of Indian Immigration to the Malay Peninsula
7 min read
The ties between India and Malaya go back millennia. Silappadikaram, 1 a second-century Tamil epic, highlighted that Tamil merchants were operating from a Mal...
Railways – The Iron Spine of Malaya
7 min read
The formation of the very first railway system in the Malay Peninsula in the late nineteenth century revolutionised the way economic commodities were transporte...
James Dollery Fettes and Penang Waterworks: A Legacy of Public Service (Part 1)
8 min read
JALAN TANJONG TOKONG, the main thoroughfare leading to the tourist beaches of Batu Ferringhi, is often clogged with traffic during public holidays. Torrents of...
General on the Great Hill: US Civil War Hero Visits Penang – Part 1
9 min read
Enter the GeneralON FRIDAY, March 28, 1879, the 1,615-tonne schooner, S.S. Simla[1] of the British-India Navigation Company (B.I.S.N. Co) – a swift, “pleas...