Penang Chinese Town Hall

Last updated
Penang Chinese Town Hall
檳州華人大會堂 (Traditional Chinese)
Predecessor Goddess of Mercy Temple
Formation1881;143 years ago (1881)
Official language
Mandarin
Building details
Penang Malaysia Wisma-PCTH-01.jpg
George Town proper location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location in George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site (purple)
General information
Address Pitt Street,
10200 George Town,
Penang, Malaysia
Town or city George Town, Penang
Country Malaysia
Coordinates 5°25′08″N100°20′20″E / 5.4189°N 100.3390°E / 5.4189; 100.3390
Construction started1975 [1]
Completed1978 [1]
Inaugurated1983 [1]
Technical details
Floor count10 [1]

The Penang Chinese Town Hall was established in 1881. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Chung Keng Quee was the single largest individual donor towards the founding of the town hall and was a prominent president serving from 1881 to 1883. [7] [8] [9] [10]

The main donors for the inauguration of the Penang Chinese Town Hall were the British Colonial Office (10,000 yuan), the Fukien Association (2,000 yuan), Ch'ao-chou Prefecture (1,800 yuan), Ch'iu Lineage Association (1,000 yuan), Hsieh Lineage Association (800 yuan), Cheng Ssu-wen (the fancy name of Chung Keng Quee) (600 yuan), and the Yang Clan of Ying-yuan kung (500 yuan). Two hundred and seventeen more donors contributed between 480 yuan to 10 yuan; a total of about 26,000 yuan was collected. [11]

In June 1905, Chinese merchants in Penang gathered in the Penang Chinese Town Hall, in support of the boycott on American goods, joining Singapore and China in putting pressure on the American government to improve its immigration policy towards the Chinese. [12] [13]

In the election of the office bearer on 9 September 1906, Leong Lok Hing was made General President, Foo Choo Choon, Cheah Meng Chi, Chung Thye Phin and Lim Kek Chuan were made president, and Ng See Sin, Oon Boon Tan, Khaw Joo Tok, Quah Beng, Ong Hun Chong, Koh Leap Teng and Gnoh Lean Tuck were elected vice president. [2] [14]

On 22 June 2008 Penang Chinese Town Hall chairman, Tan Sri Lim Gait Tong said it was relevant to set up a special committee to establish the actual date it was founded because their records showed conflicting years in which the organisation was set up. He said that although the organisation's constitution stated that it was established in 1875, certain members had claimed that it was set up in 1881 and 1883. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tongmenghui</span> Chinese revolutionary group (1905–12)

The Tongmenghui of China was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, on 20 August 1905, with the goal of overthrowing China's Qing dynasty. It was formed from the merger of multiple late-Qing dynasty Chinese revolutionary groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chen (surname)</span> Surname list

Chen ( ) is a common Chinese-language surname and one of the most common surnames in Asia. It is the most common surname in Taiwan (2010) and Singapore (2000). Chen is also the most common family name in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian, Macau, and Hong Kong. It is the most common surname in Xiamen, the ancestral hometown of many overseas Hoklo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penang Free School</span> National secondary school in George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Penang Free School (PFS), located at Green Lane in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, is the oldest English-medium school in Southeast Asia. Founded in 1816, its academic achievements lead to its inclusion in the Malaysian Ministry of Education's Cluster School and High Performance School systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia</span> Political party in Malaysia

The Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia is a liberal political party in Malaysia.Formed in 1968, Gerakan gained prominence in the 1969 general election when it defeated the ruling Alliance Party in Penang and won the majority of seats in Penang's state legislature. In 1972, Gerakan joined the Alliance Party, which later became Barisan Nasional (BN), the ruling coalition of Malaysia until 2018. It has been a member of Perikatan Nasional (PN) since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chung Thye Phin</span>

Chung Thye PhinMSC, JP was a Chinese Malayan business magnate, planter, miner, bureaucrat, and philanthropist who served as the last Kapitan Cina of Perak and Malaya. He was reported to be the richest man in Penang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chung Keng Quee</span> Malaysian businessman

Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping in Perak, Malaysia. Appointed "Capitan China" by the British in 1877, he was a millionaire philanthropist and known as an innovator in the mining of tin. He was involved in many other industries including farming, pawnbroking and logging. He was respected by both Chinese and European communities in the early colonial settlement. His survival in the chaotic era owes much to his standing as leader of the Hai San, a Chinese secret society in British Malaya during the time of the Larut Wars (1862–73). a position he is said to have held till early 1884 although in all probability he continued to remain a leading member. The old fort at Teluk Batu was built by him to safeguard the mine that he opened there. He was a member of the Commission for the Pacification of Larut and sat as one of six members of the Advisory Perak State Council appointed by the British. Commenting on the role of the Perak Council, Richard James Wilkinson wrote,

"It is for the reader, in the light of subsequent events, to judge how far the Councillors were right or wrong, and to see for himself who really did the pioneer work of building up the prosperity of Perak. In the published accounts of British rule in Malaya, sufficient prominence has not always been given to the efforts of these early pioneers; the reaper, intent on his own work, is apt to forget the man who sowed. These Council Minutes are the record of the work of the sowers. A study of that record will show how much the State owes to Sir Hugh Low and to his fellow-Councillors, especially Raja Dris, Sir William Maxwell, and the Chinese towkays, Ah Kwi [Chung Keng Quee] and Ah Yam."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Larut Wars</span> Series of wars from 1861–1874

The Larut Wars were a series of four wars that began in July 1861 and ended with the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. The conflicts were fought among local Chinese secret societies over the control of mining areas in Perak which later involved a rivalry between Raja Abdullah and Ngah Ibrahim, making it a war of succession.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tan Kim Ching</span> Singaporean businessman

Tan Kim Ching, also known as Tan Kim Cheng, was a Chinese politician and businessman. He was the eldest of the three sons of Tan Tock Seng, the founder and financier of Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was consul for Japan, Thailand and Russia, and was a member of the Royal Court of Siam. He was one of Singapore's leading Chinese merchants and was one of its richest men in Singapore at that time. He was also the first Asian member of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. After his father's death, he became the Kapitan Cina of the Straits Chinese community. He is believed to have been the head of the Triad in Malaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chung Ling High School</span> Private school (1917–1955) school in Air Itam, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

Chung Ling High School is a secondary school in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It was initially established in 1917 as a primary school, and later became a junior high school in 1923, becoming the oldest extant Chinese high school in Malaysia. Following the merger of The Chinese High School in Singapore in 2005, Chung Ling High School became the oldest surviving Chinese high school in Southeast Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Foo Tye Sin</span>

Foo Tye Sin was a Justice of the Peace and an influential community leader of 19th century. Penang born Foo Tye Sin, a British subject, was a Hakka tin miner who could trace his ancestry to the Yong Ting District, Ting Chou Prefecture, Fujian. He was educated at St. Xavier's Institution and the Penang Free School. Tye Sin Street (四条路), or Lebuh Tye Sin as it is now known as, is named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khoo Thean Teik</span>

Khoo Thean Teik was one of the most powerful and notorious Hokkien leaders of 19th-century Penang. His name, "Thean Teik", means "Heavenly Virtue". He was the leader of the Tokong or Khian Teik society that was involved in the Penang Riots of 1867 and through its connection with the Hai San, the internecine Larut Wars of 1861 to 1874. He traded through the companies Khoon Ho and Chin Bee. He was a towkay, trading in immigrant labour and had interests in the Opium Farms in Penang and Hong Kong. Thean Teik Estate, a residential neighbourhood in Penang, and Jalan Thean Teik are named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Chen</span> Chinese-born, Singaporean linguist, writer

Linda Chen was a Chinese-born, Singaporean linguist, writer, feminist and businesswoman. Having immigrated from China as a young child, Chen learned Chinese, English, and Malay and used her linguistic talent to write a Malay-Chinese dictionary that became widely used to teach Malay in the 1950s and 1960s. During her student days, she became active in the anti-colonial and women's rights movement. Because of her activism and heritage, she was seen as a threat and a ring-leader of communist infiltration into the country. Despite her denying that she was a communist, she was arrested in 1956 and jailed for 20 months, detained and kept under surveillance for four years between 1959 and 1963, and rearrested in 1963 as part of Operation Coldstore. After her release from prison, she lived in London for four years and then returned to Singapore, where she managed her family's multi-national book store until her death.

<i>V-Focus</i> Taiwanese TV series or program

V-Focus is a 2016 Taiwanese television series starring Melvin Sia, Ling Hung, Huang Wei Ting and Yorke Sun. Filming began on September 21, 2016, and is filmed as it airs. The original broadcast began on October 26, 2016, on SET Metro, airing weekdays at 8:00 pm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinang Peranakan Mansion</span> Historic house museum in Penang, Malaysia

The Pinang Peranakan Mansion in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, is a museum dedicated to Penang's Peranakan heritage. The museum itself is housed within a distinctive green-hued mansion at Church Street, George Town, which once served as the residence and office of a 19th-century Chinese tycoon, Chung Keng Quee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penangite Chinese</span> Ethnic group

Penangite Chinese are ethnic Chinese Malaysians of full or partial Chinese ancestry who either hail from or live within the State of Penang. As of 2020, 45% of Penang's population belonged to the Chinese ethnic group, making ethnic Chinese the largest ethnic community within the state.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "History". www.pcth.org.my. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  2. 1 2 Re-examination of the “Chinese nationalism” and Categorization of the Chinese in Malaya: The Case of the Chinese in Penang, 1890s-1910s by SHINOZAKI Kaori, Ph.D. student, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences University of Tokyo kaoris@pd.jaring.my presented at The Penang Story – International Conference 2002, 18-21 April 2002, The City Bayview Hotel, Penang, Malaysia (Organisers: The Penang Heritage Trust & STAR Publications)
  3. Rites of Belonging: Memory, Modernity, and Identity in a Malaysian Chinese Community By Jean DeBernardi, Jean Elizabeth DeBernardi, Published by Stanford University Press, 2004 ISBN   0-8047-4486-6, ISBN   978-0-8047-4486-7 p.
  4. 华侨华人大观 By Xinghan Zhang Compiled by 张兴汉 Published by 暨南大学出版社, 1990 ISBN   7-81029-000-2, ISBN   978-7-81029-000-5
  5. A HISTORICAL SKETCH OF KONG HOCK KEONG by Tan Kim Hong published by Xiao En E-Magazine, Xiao En Cultural Foundation Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
  6. Tan Kim Hong(陳劍虹)1987, The Chinese in Penang, a pictorial documentation(檳城華族歷史圖片輯).Penang: Penang Chinese Town Hall(檳州華人大會堂)
  7. Chung Keng Quee, using his "fancy name" Cheng Ssu-wen is recorded to have donated 600 yuan according to the inscription on a memorial stone dated 1886 kept within the town hall.
  8. Historical Personalities of Penang By Historical Personalities of Penang Committee, Published by Historical Personalities of Penang Committee, 1986; p. 47
  9. Pioneer Businessman by Clarence Y K Ngui, published by Malaysian Business, Oct 16, 2003
  10. Records and Recollections (1889-1934): Chinese Women, Prostitution & a Welfare Organisation By Neil Jin Keong Khor, Keat Siew Khoo, Izrin Muaz Md. Adnan Published by Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2004; p. 57
  11. Chinese Epigraphic Materials in Malaysia: Collected, Annotated, and Edited by Wolfgang Franke and Chen Tieh Fan Published by University of Malaysia Press, 1982 (v.1-2), pp. 799, 802, 803
  12. U.S. National Archives 1833-1906: June 23, 1905, July 4, 1905.
  13. The Chinese Boycott: A Social Movement in Singapore and Malaya in the Early Twentieth Century by WONG Sin Kiong published in Southeast Asian Studies, Vo1.36, No.2, September 1998
  14. Chen Jian Hong, “An Outline of Historical Development of the Chinese Town Hall” (陳劍虹,〈平章會館的歷史發展輪廓〉) in Committee for the Special Publication of the Penang Chinese Town Hall, op.cit., p142. Other office bears were Lim Hoa Chiam(林花鐕), general president; Qiu You Yong (邱有用), Luo Rong Guang (羅榮光), Xie Zi You (謝自友), Wu She Wang (伍社旺), Khoo Hun Yeang (邱漢陽), Chen Jin Long (陳錦隆), Yang Zhang Cai (楊章才), president; Heah SweeLee (連瑞利), Ooi Huck Boon (黃學文), Chen Zi Rong (陳子榮), Xie Wu Hu (謝五湖), Chen Zong Zhao (陳宗趙), Chee Si Teong (徐時忠), Lim Chum (林參), Wang Tian Xing (王天星), Cai Qi Feng (蔡奇逢), Cao Chi Fa (曹遲發), Zhao Qing Yun (趙慶雲), Teoh Soon Keng(張舜卿), Cai Shui Yi (蔡水義), Huang Zi Jing (黃子經), vice-president.
  15. When was Town Hall founded? By : Lee Keng Fatt published on 23 June 2008 in the New Straits Times