Penang, Malaysia

 We visited The island of Penang 47 years ago, when it was a charming fishing town with nice beaches, and  lots of old colonial British buildings. Malaysia was a British colony from the late 1700's  until 1957. It is now  a busy, booming city full of expensive high rises, with little of the old character that we remember. The population of Penang has many people of Chinese descent. The religions include Muslim which is the majority of Malaysian people, as well as Buddhist, Hindu, and Christian.  Penang has become an important location for microchip production.

We took a tour of some of the city sights. Our first stop was the Chew Jetty. This area developed in the early 1800's when Chinese workers who worked at the harbor to unload ships had to be available 24 hours a day. They began to build small huts on stilts near the water, then eventually brought their families to live in these homes. There are still a few of these communities on stilts at he edge of the harbor. The one that we visited is now a world heritage site.

The jetty community built on stilts with lots of modern high rise buildings behind.



A small Chinese Taoist Temple at the entrance to the jetty community.


One of the Gods in the little temple. Three cups of tea have been offered to him. Apparently the Gods are always offered tea!

We next visited another Chinese landmark. It was a clan house built in 1835, and consisted of a large temple surrounded by clan dwellings. The people were all members of the Khoo Clan who originally came from the Hai Teng area of Chang Chew in the Hokein Province of China. They maintained their family connections in Penang by creating this clan community. The clan houses are now empty, and there are plans to convert them to a hotel. The clan still uses the temple and meeting areas.

The Khoo Clan Temple 

A row of Pedicabs with umbrellas near the Khoo Clan Temple. The driver pedals the cab from the back.

A pedicab driver waiting for a customer


A tree lined street with some of the nice old colonial buildings that used to be everywhere in Penang.



Our next stop was the Chung Keng Koo Mansion . It was formerly a private home owned by a Chinese Kapitan who was the head of the Hai Sen secret society in the 1800's. It is now a beautifully restored museum filled with antiques and beautiful woodwork. This was the entry sitting room.


The formal dining room.


Another sitting area.



An elaborately carved bed.

Our last stop was this Thai Buddhist Temple.
It was fairly modest compared to many in Thailand.

 A small side shrine.



The interior had a very large reclining Buddha.


Worshippers will often pray  to specific Gods for specific needs. This God is petitioned for healing, and worshippers will paste gold leaf on the area of the statue where they have pain. For example the head for headaches or leg for leg pain. This statue looks quite ragged from all the layers of gold leaf.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

Image
 Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the French Colony of Cochin china and later the Independent Republic of South Vietnam from 1955-1975. On July 2, 1976, Saigon merged with the surrounding province and was officially named Ho  Chi Minh City.   In the years since the Vietnam War, the city has prospered. We have been very impressed with the cleanliness of the city, and all the modern amenities. There are now 100 million people in Vietnam, and ten million living in Ho Chi Minh City. The lovely view of downtown  Ho Chi Min City from the fifth floor outdoor dining deck area of our cruise ship. There are several passengers on the boat who were here serving in the military during the Vietnam War (known locally as the American War). There are many sights and museums dedicated to that period of  history. We have been told by other passengers that sadly, many of these  museums highlight the atrocities t...
Read more

Koh Ma Island, Thailand

Image
 We returned to drop anchor in the waters just outside Ko Samui Island again, but went by speedboat to a nearby island, Koh Ma Island to snorkel. There was some colorful coral and about a dozen species of colorful tropical fish. It was not good as snorkeling in the Maldives, bur was still a very fun day.  Ko Mah Island is pretty but quite hilly, with a lot of steep rugged rocks going down to the shoreline. We parked our boat on the beach and had a nice Thai curry lunch in a casual restaurant on  the beach. There were several small resorts on the sandy bay where we had lunch. Looks like a nice place to relax and look out over the bay. We are now headed to Cambodia.
Read more

Richard's Bay and Hluhluwe Game Reserve, South Arica

Image
 We arrived at the pretty harbor port of Richard's Bay, then immediately took an hour and a half bus ride to the Hluhluwe Game Reserve for our game drive. Richard's Bay is primarily an industrial shipping  port since it has a very deep harbor. Pulp and paper processing and metal smelting is done here, but there are not sightseeing city tours. The modern port just opened in the 1970's. Approaching Richard's Bay harbor. Our drive to the  reserve was pleasant, and the homes by the highway were much nicer in the countryside than those that we have seen in other African countries.  Most had sturdy modern construction and glass windows, with neat yards surrounding them.  The game reserve is very mountainous, and because it is the wet summer season, the vegetation was very pretty and green. We were lucky to see a good variety of animals up close, including the rare white rhino which is not actually white.  A herd of Cape Buffalo. These are very dangerous when the ...
Read more