October 2010

Newsletter Issue 98 /October 2010 Support Conservation Efforts in Your Community! 26 Church Street, City of George Town, 10200 Penang, Malaysia Tel: 604-2642631 | Fax: 604-2628421 Email: [email protected] | Website: www.pht.org.my Editorial Plus ça change... the Botanic Gardens, Balik Pulau, Ayer Itam, the historic cemeteries (Muslim, Christian, Chinese and Returning to Penang after a n a b sence of even a few Jewish), the shoreline and the harbour as well as Se- months reveals how much things have changed but barang Prai. All are integral to Penang’s unique herit- also how much they remain the same.T he completed ageand an in ventoryis needed f orthe documen tation restoration of the imposingWhi teaways Arcade and and protection of heritage assets beyond the George Logan Heritage Building on Beach Street not only re- TownW orld Heritage Site. Moreover, in support of opensan hist oricand elegant str eetscapebut pr omises increased heritage awareness, advocacy and conser- to reinvigorate the city’s o l d banking and commercial vation there is a requirement for improved access to district. A short distance away, however, the slowly relevantmuseum and libr aryres ourcesby r esearchers disintegratingstruc tureof the f ormerlygra nd“ Chinese as well as members of the public. Residency”( andsometime Shih Chung Branch S chool) on Northam Road greets visitors as a conspicuous Talks organized by PHT this year – on the 1914 and embarrassing reminder that heritage conserva- Emden raid and on the 19th century defence of tion cannot be taken for granted d e spite the UNESCO Penang -- have reminded us that Penang’s strategic listing. Similar sorry reminders are the two dilapidated location was a s igni" cant aspect of its history.T hus, villas opposite the E&O Hotel on Farquhar S t reet, one there are stories to be told not only by Fort Cornwallis formerly the pre-war Mission House and Chapel, and but also by Fort Auchry, Batu Maung, Pulau Aman, next door to the E & O another crumbling mansion the Cenotaph and other war memorials, as well as the once home to St. George’s Girls’ School, this year cel- numerousSec ondW orldWar p i ll-boxesdotted about ebrating its 125th anniversary. E l sewhere, sad to say, the landscape. wreckingcr ewscon tinuet odemolish ir replaceableher- itage houses -- as on Pykett Avenue (illegally), Brook Determined public campaigns have registered wel- Road (with MPPP approval) and Argus Lane.. come successes on two important fronts in recent months.T he " rst was the reversal by the authorities of In July Penang marked the second anniversary of theill- conceiveda n dinappr opriatebuilding pr ojectat GeorgeT o wn’s inscription as a World Heritage Site the Botanic Gardens.T he second was the announce- with the month-long GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL ment at last of Federal Government guidelines requir- 2010, a celebration through art, music, opera, theatre, ing the removal of swiftlet breeding from theWor ld dance, " lm, food, photography, s p ort and much more. Heritage Site within three years. Vested i n terests Wecon gratulatethe or ganisersand sponsors of the F es- continuet o baulk at this sensible decision and George tival.W ith the success of this year’s event it is planned Town residents will have to remain vigilant and insist- that the George Town Festival will held annually. ent that the guidelines be rigorously implemented. (Full details of the swiftlet issue are contained in this Following the second anniversary of GeorgeTow n’s year’s PHT Annual Report.) World Heritage listing it is timely to recall that concern for P e nang’s heritage does not end at the boundary of Guest Editor the core and bu# er z o nes of theWor ld Heritage Site. The r e mit of the Penang HeritageT rust extends to the NOTE: We apologise for the late publication of this wholeof P enang,encompassing the hist oric,social and issue of the Newsletter which was caused by the pressure of so many events on the workload of the geographic fabric of the former p o rt settlement that is PHT office staff. the present State of Penang.Thi s includes Penang Hill, CHEONG FATT TZE MANSION PAGE 2 A Landmark Judgement for All After fourteen years and much angst and grief for the conservators and owners, the courts have finally made Hotel Continental liable for the damages caused at the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion in 1996. It is a landmark decision much like the one made by the late High Court Judge Vincent Ng, who found that the injunction given to the Mansion in 1996, to stop works at Hotel Continental, was rightfully done. In 1996, Justice Vincent Ng deemed that the “act of conservation was in itself an act of development.” insurance policy mean that development can move fullsteam ahead in an unrepentant and Today in 2010, Judicial Commissioner Chew recalcitrant fashion. Soo Ho ruled that the Hotel had “failed to exer- cise reasonable skill and care in piling and earth- The developers of the carpark block at Hotel works…resulting in damage to the 19th century Con nental : heritage building which is located nearby.” • did not conduct a dilipida o n survey of neighbouring proper es The defendants attempted to allege that as the • ignored warnings given before the start of pil building was old, it was bound to have cracks ing works, of possible damage to neighbour- and failing that, nearby traffic on Farquhar Street could have caused the cracks rather than the ing proper e s pounding hammer-driven piling works. They • did not submit earthworks plans to the MPPP chose to ignore totally the facts that the Mansion • did not conduct soil tests of their own devel had been fully restored at the end of 1995, fully opment site repainted and, having just won the PAM Conser- • ignored an earlier “stop work” order by MPPP vation Award, was highly unlikely to have been • refused to visit Cheong Fa Tze Mansion be left with huge cracks in walls, terraces and roofs fore or during the piling works three months later. • refused to adapt/change the hammerdriven piling system A clear message has been sent to all developers that no longer can development works ignore The defendants have never once in fourteen the rights of neighbouring properties, no longer can the safety of lives and buildings be compro- years ever expressed regret to their neighbours mised, and no longer can it be accepted that “re- or a empted to seek a way to solve the situa pair” works means slapping some cement over o n. They remain, to this day, unapologe c and cracks after the damage is done. No longer can unremorseful and have submi ed an inten o n to arguments that “old” means “already damaged” appeal. be allowed and no longer can an all-risks by L.L.LohLim Issue No. 98 | October 2010 ST. GEORGE’S CHURCH PAGE 3 Restoration of St George’s Anglican Church As we look forward to the completion of the restora- Engineers. ! e Bishop of Calcutta, whose dio- tion of St. George’s Church, it is timely to contem- cese covered all the territories of the East India plate some of what has been lost in times of war and Company including Penang, had consecrated peace at this historic church, the oldest Anglican the church in May 1819. Moreover, two what we church in South East Asia and, with the exception might call “high society” marriages were held in of Fort Cornwallis, perhaps Penang’s oldest building the church on 30th July when W.E. Phillips, mem- still in use. In the article that follows, PHT member Andrew Hwang relates the story of the two church ber of the Council, wed Janet, eldest daughter pipe organs, the last one destroyed by enemy of the Governor, Col. Bannerman, and Lieut. H. bombing in December 1941. Burney, 20th Bengal Native Infantry, Acting Town Major and Military Secretary, wed the Governor’s Also destroyed in the wartime bombing was an niece Jane Bannerman. **Phillips was later to extraordinary sculpture by the English sculptor John succeed his father-in-law as Governor. Flaxman (1755-1826), a monument to Lord Charles Cornwallis, Governor General of India who died in Notes: 1805. Commissioned for St. George’s Church, this * Barbara S. Groseclose, British Sculpture and the iconographic relief sculpture exhibited at the Royal Company Raj: Church Monuments and Public Academy in 1812 and on which Flaxman began Statuary in Madras, Calcutta and Bombay to 1858, work in 1807 depicted a female personi" cation of London, Associated University Presses, 1995. India with the " gure of Britannia presenting an In- dian youth to Cornwallis, the whole imagery seen as **Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British representing the British subjugation of India*. The India and its Dependencies, Vol. VIII, July to Decem- sculpture stood at the east end of the south aisle of ber 1819. the church, its place now marked by an engraved stone in the wall. By Leslie A.K.James Photograph by Goh Hun Meng After the war remnants of this and other damaged monuments were buried in the churchyard while other memorials have reportedly been deliberately removed in recent years. According to the East India Company’s Asiatic Journal for 1819, “The new church at Penang was. opened for the " rst time for the performance of divine service on Christmas day” of that year. The Asiatic Journal also reported that the church was said to be built on the model of St. George’s church at Madras, and was constructed under the superintendence of Captain Smith of the Royal Issue No.

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