George Town walking tour

 George Town wlking tour 

The start of the walk was down on Beach Street, one of the first roads to be built in the new centre. I had walked through some of the area before but there was always something new to see coming from a different direction.

Even before I had reached the start, I passed a Hindu temple. The Sri Mahamariamman Temple. It was built by a wealty merchant as a private mausoleum. He had also built others in Mulcca and Singapore. This one was eventually opened to the public. This is the back entrance, the front entrance is on the far side and is much more ornate.

The city is also known for its many murals. When th port lost it free trade status, the government looked for ways to re-balance the local economy to provide jobs. One was manufacturing epecially high value electronics and computers. Another sector identified was tourism The murals were just one of several initiatives to encourage visitors. There are tours specificlly aimed at art lovers to visit a long string of murals. 

The old fire station, a beautiful, well preserved, period building, with a fire engine parked outside. It is now a museum and the fire engine is one of the exhibits.

And another grand building, built as a bank and still in use as a bank. This was the old commercial sector and there are many banks, merchants houses, and department stores in the area.

One end of the Whiteways Arcade. It was built as a department store. It originally had three storeys as per old photos but the top storey was deemed unsafe and was demolished. Later the remaining structure was refurbished. The ground floor is occupied by shops and cafes whilst the top floor houses offices of the tourism department. 

A plaque in a courtyard details everything you ever waned to know about spiral staircases as there is one inside the building. It also says that from a mathematical point of view, they ought to be called helix staircases, but that would confuse the public who have learnt to call them spiral staircases. I thought the plaque was pointless as the spiral srtaircase is inside the building and not available to view by the public. 

Another old building. It was built to be a bank by Chartered Bank, now part of the very successful Standard Chartered Bank. They have expanded and had to move to new premises.

The provincial flag of Palau Penang province is vertical strips of yellow, white and blue with a palm tree in the centre. It is a particular palm called the penang palm. There were several examples opposite growing in front of the former police building, another old and interesting building. 

Just around the corner and over looking Fort Cornwallis is the Hong Leung Bank. It is housed in a beautiful building but acess is only allowed to clients and like European private banks, new account holders must be avle to pass ahigh level of assets and income threshhold. 

There are many well preserved buildings but equally there are many that need attention. This is a typical colonial shop front. It had brick or stone walls on the groung floor covered in plaster. The upper level is built of wood and the roof is supported on brick columns. But the weather is harsh. Many buildigs have been abandoned, the owner unable to afford repairs or the ownership is not recorded. Hence they continue to deteriorate. Refrbishment is expensive. Grants are available but with so many buildings needing attention and only limited resources, only a few with a clear new commercial potential can be restored to their former glory. 

This is the Tsen Lung Fui Kon house. It is a beautifully preserved mid-19th century building. Fui Kon means 'society' and 'Tsen Lung' refers to two provinces in southern China.  At that time there wasan on going civil war in China and several crop failures or harvesting interrupted by fighting. Many people sort a better life and escaped overseas all over the world. 

The tin mines in Malaya as it was known at the time and the port required a lot of labour. It was a destination for migrant workers. The first immigrants created structures to help their fellow arrivees. This included areas for people from the same clan or area such as the Tsen Lung Kui Kon.

They provided connections, hostel accomadation, job contacts, friends from home and socal benefits. They also sold goods on credit and cheap opium. And some other sinister aspects of Chinese culture such as secret societies and tongs, also known as triads, operating criminal activities. 

There was another mural. It shows two Chinese men fighting. A European priest is observing the event and requesting restraint and quiet. From their pony tails and dress, they are clearly from rival clans and meant to depict rival tongs. The government had supported the creation of murals to boost the tourism industry. Their efforts had resulted in an explosion of paintings across the city. The UNESCO aithorities warned that this was inconsistent with the city retaining their coveted UNESCO status which could be withdrawn. 

A compromise was reached. Provided that the murals depicted an event within the criteria of the UNESCO accreditation, they could continue to be depicted. Thus the later murals all refer to local sites, events or places of historical or cultural significance. Therefore they fit the criteria and could continue to be developed.

More buildings in the Chinaton area. 

IN true BBC style of impartiality, all brands of religion should be represented. We visited the local Kapitan Keling mosque. Several different religions are represented along the renamed Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling street. It is also nick named the Harmony Street as there are so many different religions represented along the same road. 

There was another Chinese temple to see...

...and very different from the Tsen Lung Fui Kon style seen earlier.

Our last temple visi was to the Hock Teik Cheng Sin in Armenia Street.

The building at the opposite end of the courtyard. 

And just walking around the corner,there was another mural...

...and another depicting Chinese, Malay and Indian figures...

...and another depicting the narrowist street in the city. The actual street is nondescript and rather a disappointment so the mural is so much more interesting.