The Pagar Tras church

Had quite an interesting Saturday over the weekend. In the morning, I attended a workshop at USM’s Centre for Global Archaeological Research on the history and heritage of Pagar Tras. Pagar Tras, where? Well, it’s a small, abandoned area along the Sungai Lembu road in Province Wellesley, one of the roads linking Bukit Mertajam to Kulim in Kedah. Today, the only visible evidence of its existence is a Catholic cemetery and the ruins of what was once a church.

Back in its heyday, the Sacred Heart Catholic Church was the centre of activity for the Hakka community in Pagar Tras. Built in 1888, it stood for decades until the post-Second World War period when the area became a hotspot for Communist insurgents. In 1952, the British administrators ordered the residents to relocate to the New Villages in Permatang Tinggi, Berapit and Machang Bubok. Some moved to Kulim and other nearby towns. With the community gone, the church fell into disrepair, though its valuable artefacts were salvaged and relocated to a new Sacred Heart Church in Kulim, built in 1957. Over time, the original building deteriorated further—today, all that remains are part of one bell tower, the apse and the sides. The roof has long since disappeared. However, the cemetery is still intact, and every All Souls’ Day, on the second of November, people continue to visit the Pagar Tras cemetery to pay their respects.

This history was shared with us at the workshop, the third organised by Universiti Sains Malaysia. I didn’t do a proper headcount, but there were about 25 participants. Like me, a few had driven in from the mainland. Some were from Machang Bubok and Kulim too, I believe. Other stakeholders included representatives from Penang Heritage Trust, ThinkCity, George Town World Heritage Incorporated and even Alliance Française de Penang. Why the Alliance Française? Likely because the Catholic movement in Penang was deeply tied to French priests, who began preaching here as early as 1787. Catholicism had already gained a foothold in Malacca through the Portuguese, and from there, it spread northwards into Siam, Kedah and eventually Penang.

On the mainland, the centre of Catholicism is St Anne’s Church, with smaller churches in the wider vicinity. I asked around—why weren’t the Pagar Tras artefacts moved to St Anne’s Church instead of across the state border to Kulim? The most plausible answer I received was that the Kulim church was built as a direct replacement for Pagar Tras, so they had first claim to the artefacts.

During the workshop, there was considerable discussion about the architectural influence on the Pagar Tras church. It was believed to have heavy French Gothic elements, inspired by Notre Dame in Paris. However, one participant raised an interesting interpretation—French Gothic architecture typically featured pointed arches, while photos of Pagar Tras showed rounded arches instead. When we visited the ruins later, we could see for ourselves—the windows and arches were all rounded, not pointed. This was an eye-opener. Perhaps the church wasn’t as French Gothic as previously thought. Could it have been more Romanesque instead? This might be something for researchers to ponder.

From Pagar Tras, our final stop was the Kulim Catholic Church, where we were met by the parish priest, Father Henry Rajoo. He gave us a tour of the church, and mounted high on the walls around us were the salvaged artefacts from Pagar Tras, including two stained glass and a massive wooden cross that now occupies pride of place at the altar. We were also shown other priceless artefacts, such as a wooden signboard with the Chinese characters 信望愛 (faith, hope and love), liturgical items and a baptism record book that dates back to the early days of Pagar Tras.