The "new" old Straits Echo building

In the last few weeks, I've noticed that the old Straits Echo building at the junction of Penang Road and Dato Koyah Road has been undergoing restoration. I don't know who is behind it but the splendour of the building is back. After the newspaper closed in the 1980s, it was occupied by the Kayu Nasi Kandar group and for a while, I think there was even an outlet here but it folded rather quickly and the building was then left empty. 

To see the building in this sparkling shape today brings some satisfaction although back in the old days when I was working briefly in the Straits Echo, it was far, far from this pristine condition. But at least it was occupied and functioning as a newspaper office. The printing press was at the back of the building and at night, the place was busy with people working, the machines printing and folding the next day's edition, local newsvendors waiting for their supply of the Straits Echo newspaper and vans waiting to collect the newspapers for delivery to places like Taiping, Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

As I write about these newspaper vans, I remember that in the mid 1970s when I was studying in Petaling Jaya, these delivery vans were popular modes of transportation for students travelling between Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Come night time in KL, we would go to, if my memory serves me correctly, Jalan Walter Grenier somewhere in Ipoh Road, and wait for these vans to arrive with their newspapers. For a small fee, we'd hop into them for the journey home to Penang, sleeping in them and awaking to stretch our legs whenever the vans stop in the small towns along the way to offload the newspapers. Journey's end for me was at Butterworth where I would then catch the ferry to the island and take the bus back to my home in Seang Tek Road to surprise my folks. Those were the days of carefree living.

#goodolddays #memorylane #reminiscing #nostalgia #retrorides #newspaperdays #studentlife #yesteryear

First reunion of the year

I was invited to join some friends from the PFS Class of 1971 for dinner last night on the island. Had a whale of a time renewing my acquaintance with the whole lot of them! Made some new friends too. Plus, there was the bonus of meeting up with a few former colleagues from my Straits Echo and Ban Hin Lee Bank days. Khoo Boo Teik and Balakrishnan gave interesting reminiscences about their time at Penang Free School but the spotlight belonged to Lim Guan Eng. Of course, he mentioned the recent General Election but he also talked about the setting up of the Penang Digital Library during his tenure as the Chief Minister here. To cap the occasion, I was asked by the host, Cheah Cheng Hye, to lead the Old Farts, I mean, the Old Frees through singing the School Rally. No decent Old Free would want to be seen with a copy of the lyrics and thankfully, none was required. I must have had led the singing with a lot of gusto because soon afterwards, someone suggested that I take up the microphone for a bit of karaoke session. Horrors! Not my cup-of-tea.

Incidentally during the after-dinner camaraderie session, Cheng Hye was mentioning Boo Kooi's point about we all belonging to the May 13th era. I reminded him not to forget that two years earlier in 1967, there was this hartal in Penang. He hadn't forgotten it, Cheng Hye said. In fact, he opened up to say that he was almost killed during the curfew period. At the tender age of 13, he was selling pineapples near the Sia Boey market after school hours. At the height of the hartal, he was rounded up and jailed for violating curfew. Seeing that he was a mere boy, he was released the next morning and given a curfew pass to allow him to return home. "I was terrified and kept holding up the pass above my head until I reached home," he recalled. 

In my opinion, the hartal shook Penang far greater than the May 13th incident. Initially meant to be a peaceful attempt, led by the Labour Party under Lim Kean Siew, to protest the devaluation of the old Malayan dollar and the rising inflation, thugs and gangsters emerged in great force to create havoc on the island. The City Council buses were singled out for stoning and mobs attempted to overturn them. The Police were unprepared for the violence and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) were called in to maintain the curfew.  

Now, just a little explanation how I ended up with this bunch of fellas from the Class of 1971. Agewise, I should belong with most of them. We had started our Standard One in one of the various primary schools in 1961 - I was at Westlands Primary - but because I landed in an express class in Standard Two, meaning I jumped to Standard Four in 1963, I ended my education a year ahead of them. But as I said, we are all generally of the same age despite me being one year their senior in the Free School. The marvel of last night's dinner was that I met two persons who were with me in the same Standard 1E class and therefore they counted as among my oldest of friends. Can you imagine that?

Cheng Hye bought five copies of Let the Aisles Proclaim from me in 2016. I simply had to give him a copy of Ten Thousand Prosperities this time.

History of Penang, part four

From the Straits Echo of 27 August 1903, here is the fourth instalment of the newspaper's History of Penang. The first three parts of this story are available here: Part One | Part Two | Part Three.

HISTORY OF PENANG.
(Specially written for the Straits Echo.)

CONTINUED FROM LAST TUESDAY)

Arabs, and descendants of Arabs, form another part of the community. There are but few families; they have a great number of dependents, they are strict Mahomedans, proud and unwilling to yield to any au­thority, they trade with all countries, and among the Malays with particular privileges. They are good friends and dangerous enemies.

The Buggesses, though few, inhabit here at present, yet as they come annually to trade and remain two or three months on shore to the number of one or two thousand, they are, during their residence, a part of our society. They are Mahomedans, a proud, warlike, independent people, easily irritated, and prone to revenge. Their vessels are always well provided with arms, which they use with dexterity and vigor. They are the best merchants among the Eastern Islands. They are better governed by patient and mild exhortation than by force. If they commit a trespass they are easily made sensible, and may be persuaded to render satisfaction; but they reluctantly yield to stern authority. They require to be carefully watched, and cautiously ruled. The great value of their cargoes, either in bullion or goods, with quantities of opium and piece goods they export, make their arrival much wished for by all mercantile people.

The Malays, comprehending a great variety of people from Queda, through the Malay Peninsula, the Islands, Sumatra and Java, form another considerable part of our inhabitants. They are for the most part indigent, ignorant of arts, manufactures, or trade: they are employed in cutting down woods, at which they are both expert and laborious, and in cultivating paddy. They may be divided into two orders, the one of husbandmen, who are quiet and inoffensive, and easily ruled. They are capable of no great exertions, but content themselves with planting paddy, sugarcane and a few fruit trees, the cultivation of which does not require much labour. The other order is employed in navigating prows. They are, in general, almost without exception, a bad description of people, addicted to smoking opium, gaming, and other vices; to rob and assassinate is only shameful when they fail of success. Ten or fifteen men will live in a small prow (to all appearance not large enough for six men). For months they will skulk in bays and rivers, where there are no inhabitants, watching for the unwary traders; they spend their whole time in sloth, and indolence, subsisting upon roots, wild yams and fish, and are only roused by the appearance of plunder, which, when they have obtained it, they return home, or to some other port, to spend it. Here they are obliged to part with a share of their plunder to some chief, under whose protection they squander the remainder, and again proceed in quest of new adventure. The feudal government of the Malays encourage these pirates. Every chief is desirous of procuring many desperate fellows to bring him in plunder and execute his revengeful purposes.

The remainder of our people are composed of the Honorable Company's Servants, and their servants, with a few European settlers, which, with the people from the shipping, constitutes an assembly of about twenty-five thousand souls who are always here. 

To keep these several tribes in peace, settle their disputes, and prevent their destroying each other, it is necessary that a person should attend daily to receive and adjust their several complaints, which, if of a serious nature, or such as will admit of immediate relief, may be referred as follows:--

If of mercantile disputers, to a Court of Arbitration, composed of one of the Honorable Company's servants and four inhabi­tants.

If of territorial controversies, to the Board of Plantations. 

If of wilful trespass, breach of peace, or personal injury, to the General Court.

Where the parties are strangers, and on the point of leaving the island, a General Court, of any three of the officers, may be summoned to decide upon the complaint.

A regular form of administering Justice, is necessary, for the peace and welfare of the Society, and for the honour of the nation who granted them protection. It is likewise improper that the Superintendent should have it in his power to exercise an arbitrary judgment upon persons and things; whether this judgment is iniquitous or not the mode is still arbitrary and disagreeable to Society.

Begging that the subject of this letter may be taken into early consideration,

I have etc.,

(Sd.) Francis Light.

Fort Cornwallis, 25th January, 1794. 

The above is the last document in the records bearing the honoured signature of Francis Light. 

In response to this letter the Governor-General, Sir John Shore, (afterwards Lord Teignmouth) transmitted certain regulations some years later. 

When the settlement was founded, the Colonists were surprised at the general absence of fever, but in the year following the superintendent was struck down with a malarial attack, which never appears to have left him, for his correspondence shows that he was subject to these attacks, the last of which terminated fatally at one o'clock in the morning of the 21st October 1794, to the great grief of the whole Island. There is no record of the event to be found, nor do the records, as they now exist, offer any testimony to the energy and ability with which he grappled with all the difficulties attendant on the formation of a settlement on an almost uninhabited Island, overrun with thick jungly vegetation. 

In the middle of the Protestant Cemetery, Northam Road, may be seen a plain plastered brick tomb, into the top of which is let a cracked marble slab on which is the following weather-worn and almost illegible inscription:—

The word "British” appears to have been put in place of another, probably “English," which is the word used in the tablet in the memorial tablet let into the wall of the canopy in St. George's Church-yard erected many years later by Robert Grieve Scott, descendant of the first settler.

His loss was keenly felt by the native population, whom his well-known name and great popularity had attracted round him; and how well he knew the native character is shown in the foregoing letter wherein he describes that of each class of native soil the Island. It may have been that when writing this letter Capt. Light was sensible that his life was drawing to a close, as he was urgent for the  appointment of some individual qualified to succeed him by a knowledge of the people, their language, and their customs, and insists on the necessity of training up a few officers to the local duties of the island, and it cannot be doubted that had his suggestions been carried out his successors would not have had trouble in governing the island.

There were simplicity, efficiency, and economy in the plan briefly yet ably sketched by him in his memorable letter, but neither simplicity nor economy were much studied in subsequent years either by the ruling powers in India or by the local authorities, and the simple Superintendent and his two or three assistants became a Governor-in-Council, with a large Civil Establishment and a Recorder with a costly Judicial Establishment.

Captain Light left two sons and three daughters and a wife to mourn his loss. His will is interesting as showing the care he took to arrange his affairs. To his relict, Martina Rozells, he left in life-rent "the paddy fields situated in Nibbon plain and  containing one hundred orlongs of land or thereabouts, together with the houses, plantations, implements of husbandry and forty buffaloes ***** the pepper gardens with my garden house, plantations, and all the land by me cleared in that part of the  island called Suffolk, as also the pepper garden and plantation forming by Chee Hong in Orange valley **** I give and bequeath unto the said Martina Rozells my Bungalow in George Town, with remainder to the children." His Malay bonds he willed to be delivered to his executors “to be by them recovered, and the money given to Martina, but I request the debtors may not be distressed for payment if their circumstances below." He gave his Batta slaves the choice of freedom, on payment of fifty dollars: gave liberty to several, but “not Esan she remains with Martina,” and remembered his English friends and executors, William Fairlie, of Calcutta, the "Prince of Indian Merchants," who acted as guardian to his children at Calcutta: James Scott and Thomas Pegou, with a “gold gurglet and bason." a "silver gurglet and bason" and a "watch, "respectively.

His eldest son, William Light, was sent to England at an early age, to the care of George Doughty Esq., High Sheriff of Suffolk, and became afterwards Colonel Light, having distinguished himself greatly in the Peninsular War, where he was present in forty-three actions of the Campaign and ending in becoming Aide-de-Camp to Lord Wellington “the Great Duke." He was the first Surveyor-General of South Australia and founder of the City of Adelaide where a monument of freestone, at a cost of £466, was erected over his tomb by his grateful fellow-pioneer colo­nists. and in 1876 the following inscription was placed on it:

His memory, however, is not forgotten, for a picturesque ceremony takes place on the election of each Mayor of Adelaide when the "Memory of Colonel Light” is solemnly pledged in Colonial wine in a silver cup.

His second son Francis Lanoon Light afterwards became Resident of Muntok in Banka when the British held that Island, with Java and Sumatra. He married a Javanese lady Charlotte Arboni, and had two sons (1) William Light, and (2) Robert Rollo Light— a godson of Sir Robert Rollo Gillespie, one of the conquerors of Java.

The latter was father of Francis Light, now of Ayer Kuning, Perak, and of several daughters. Lanoon Light died at Penang October 5th 1823, and had a daughter, Sarah Martinah, who married at Penang June 29th 1835, to George Matthew Koenitz of Ceylon, with issue. 

Captain Light’s eldest daughter Sarah Light married at Calcutta December 28th 1794 General James Welsh of the Madras Army, a distinguished officer who died on January 24th 1861, having published his “Military Reminiscences” (2 vols.) 1830. She died at Waltair July 24th 1839, being described as “still lovely to the end.” They had one son (who died unmarried) and six daughters.

Mary Light, the second daughter of Francis Light, married at Calcutta, March the 9th 1805, George Boyd Esq., of Katulee and Pulma, Bengal, at one timea very wealthy indigo-planter, who died on May 15th, 1856, leaving issue (with two sons who died unmarried) and six daughters.

Anne (Lukey) Light, married on October, 1809, Charles Hunter, Esq., M.D., Hon. East India Co.’s service, who died, a member of the Calcutta Medical Board May 6th, 1831. He was a son of David Hunter, of Burnside N.B.

(To be continued) 

History of Penang, part three

From the Straits Echo of 25 August 1903, here is the third instalment of the newspaper's History of Penang. Click here for Part One and Part Two of this story.

HISTORY OF PENANG.
(Specially written for the Straits Echo.)

CONTINUED FROM 18TH AUGUST)

Capt. Light was so pleased with the success of his little expedition that he commemorated his victory by naming his second son, “Lanoon" Light,who afterwards became Resident of Muntok in Banka, when the British held that island, with Java and Sumatra.

On the 24th August, 1792, the Superintendent announced, in a despatch to the Government of Bengal, the discovery of tin at Bukit Timah. The island settlement continued to prosper very rapidly and its population increased by, leaps and bounds, the Chinese at this time numbering about 3,000.

On the 25th January, 1794, Capt. Light, always having the Settlement's interest at heart, penned an ever-memorable despatch to Sir John Shore, Governor-General of India, pointing out, interalia, that “a regular form of administering justice is necessary both for the peace and welfare of the society and for the honour of the nation who had granted them protection. It is likewise improper that the Superintendent should have it in his power to exercise an arbitrary judgment upon persons and things; whether this judgment is iniquitous or not, the mode is still arbitrary and disagreeable to society." This remarkable despatch, filling almost a ream of foolscap, showed at once the high character of the man, and the whole tone of it bore testimony to the singleness of purpose and administrative ability of a high order that characterized this great pioneer of Greater Britain.

Two circumstances appear to have been prominently brought forward in 1793 in support of the representations made to the Supreme Government, and thence to the Home authorities, for the establishment of a Court of Judicature of some kind in Prince of Wales Island. The first of these is of a civil nature, threatening to involve Captain Light in law proceedings before the Supreme Court in Calcutta. It is then described in a despatch from Bengal to the Court of Directors in May 1793, in which it is also stated that the Company's Advocate-General had been instructed to defend Captain Light. The Court,in reply, approved of the Advocate-General being so employed and stated that "the subject of a Court of Judicature of Prince of Wales' Island will be taken into early consideration." It does not appear whether the suit against Captain Light was prosecuted, nor is there any further notice of the matter to be found in available records.

Mr.Wright, father-in-law of the late Mrs. Wright, who died in 1883, aged 100 years, and who resided on the Island as a merchant, having died intestate, his effects were sold in the usual manner by Messrs. Gardyne and Lindsay, who were employed by Captain Light on that occasion, and the proceeds were divided proportionately among Mr. Wright's creditors on the island. After all the payments had been made Messrs Perreau and Palling, of Calcutta, stated to Captain Light in a letter dated 29th April, 1791, that they had taken out letters of administration from the Supreme Court for the estate of Wright, and they transmitted) to the Superintendent a Power of Attorney to act for them in recovering the property of the estate with the copy of a Bond for 20,000 rupees granted by Mr. Wright to them, observing that by virtue of their having become administrators they were entitled to payment before any of the other creditors. On receipt of the letter Capt. Light called upon Messrs Gardyne and Lindsay to send in their accounts, and he remitted the balance of cash to Messrs. Perreau and Palling. The subject then lay dormant for sometime, until, upon Mr. Gardyne going to Bengal, Messrs. Perreau and Palling claimed from him the property he had applied for according to Capt. Light's directions, and compelled him to give bail in an action to be brought against him during the next term--18th May,1793.

The other occurrence Is of a criminal nature, and relates to the murder of one European by another.It appears that a Mr. Smithers was owner of a small vessel called the Little Davy and that lie himself resided(whether permanently or temporarily is not stated) on one of the Nicobar Islands. The vessel appears to have been in charge of a man named Sudds and at anchor off Smitlfer’s place of residence. For some reason or other Smithers determined to take command of the vessel for himself,and after a few days he appears to have commenced a series of brutal severities on the man Sudds. He was about to have him tied up and flogged when Sudds seized a hammer and struck him with it on the head, causing instant death. Sudds then took command, but how the vessel was brought to Penang, or how Sudds was taken into custody, does not appear. The matter was duly enquired into on the 2nd July, 1793, at Fort Cornwallis by two military officers. Lieutenants Norman Macalister and Robert Duff, appointed for that purpose by Captain Light, and the man was found guilty of the offence. The prisoner was detained in custody until the 30th September 1793,whenhe was sent to Calcutta for trial, but was there discharged soon after, there being primarily no power in the Court to deal with him.The Advocate-General of Calcutta, who had been referred to for his opinion of the case, in a letter dated 26th September, 1793, informed the Secretary to Government of India that, apart from their regularity of the proceedings, there Was no evidence to support the charge and no law by which the well-meant directions of the Superin­tendent of Prince of Wales' Island could be supported, as far as they related to the trial or punishment of murder or any other crimes at that Island.

The full text of Captain Light's despatch, above referred to, is as follows.—

“To the Governor-General in Council, Bengal. 

“Honorable Sir—-From the present populousness of the Settlement and the daily increase of its inhabitants, circumstances repeatedly occur tending to show the necessity of establishing a more regular form of Government than that which exists at present under the sole administration of one person. From the great number of strangers, constantly coming and going, a strict police is essentially requisite. From the great diversity of inhabitants differing in religion, laws, language and customs, and constant and patient attention to their various complaints must be afforded and from the increasing acquisition of new settlers, to portion them out lands, to fix boundaries, and encourage their industry, by adminis­tering to their more urgent necessities, which of itself is a. sufficient employment for one person, a part of the Superintendent's time must be occupied.

"In the letter from your Honorable Board bearing the date 24th January 1787, in case of the removal of the Superintendent by death or otherwise it is directed that he be succeeded by the Commanding Officer of the Troops. This for a temporary relief may suffice, but as the power by this event both civil, military, or judicial, will be vested in the hands of one person, without any intermediate authority on the spot, either to control or to advise, it appears to me that if continued, especially in a commercial settlement like this, many cases would occur novel to a military officer, and disagreeable circumstances might soon arise which would; evince the absolute necessity of separating these powers. In consequence whereof if a Civil Servant be sent from the Residency he will for a considerable time be incapable of transacting the duties of this station except by means of an Interpreter, and as he must be unacquainted with the customs and manners of the people he is to govern, he will be liable to the imposition of designing people to the prejudice of the public. From these several reasons it appears to me necessary for Government to appoint a suc­cessor to the present Superintendent that he may acquire in due time a competent knowledge of the people, their language and their customs.

“Very few people residing here, excepting the Choolias were ever acquainted with European Governments. Brought  up under the Feudal Laws and customs they cannot at once change opinions that they have imbibed from their infancy. To endeavour to subject these people to our strict military law and discipline would soon depopulate the island of all the most wealthy and useful inhabitants. A mild, and at the same time, an active Government, is necessary. The inhabitants must at all times have recourse to the Chief, and as they are composed of many different nations, they are  jealous of each other, and will not submit their cause to the decision  of one whom they think is a partial administrator. The administration of Justice will therefore, for some years, continue to be a troublesome and fatiguing office, which makes it necessary that the person who is to execute the duties of it should be  acquainted with persons and circumstances before he enters upon it. Mr. Pegou has been here a long time, is well qualified as a successor in the Civil Department, but in order to have a regular train of succession and to have persons capable of executing the several trusts necessary to lie reposed in them by Government. I re­commend the following mode for your consideration.

“That the Superintendent may have three assistants, one as Assistant and Cash- keeper, one as Paymaster and Accountant, and one as Collector and Registrar of Lands and People.

“That each of these assistants should alternately act as Justice of the Peace monthly, and once a month a General Court should assemble, consisting of the Superintendent as President, two assistants, two military officers and two of the most responsible inhabitants, to try all criminal cases.

“The office of Collector may appear unnecessary where there is no landed revenue,  but the plantations, particularly pepper, are increasing so fast that it will afford employment for one person to examine and register them, previous to a tax being laid. A Board of Plantations might be established, to meet occasionally, at which this officer should preside to determine upon the making of  roads, division of the lands, the adjustment of boundaries, and the encouragement of agriculture; their determinations, when sanctioned by the Superintendent, to be carried into execution, unless  it should be so far creative of expense as to render it an object worthy to be previously reported to your Honourable Board. To execute the duties of all these departments with success and precision without more assistants I find impracticable.

“That you may be better enabled  to judge of our society I shall endeavour to give you an idea of the people who compose it.

“The Chinese constitute the most valuable part of our inhabitants. They are men, women, and children, about 3000, they possess the different trades of carpenters, masons, and smiths, are traders, shopkeepers and planters. They employ small vessels and prows and send adventurers to the surrounding countries. They are the only people of the East from whom a revenue may be raised without expense and extraordinary efforts of government.

“They are a valuable acquisition, but, speaking a language which no other people understand, they are able to form parties and combinations in the most secret manner against any regulations of Government which they disapprove, and were they as brave as intelligent, they would be dangerous subjects; but their want of courage will make them bear many impositions before they rebel. They are indefatigable in the pursuit of money, and like the Europeans they spend it in purchasing those articles which gratify their appetites. They don't wait until they have acquired a large fortune to return to their native country, but send annually a part of their profits to their families. This is so general that a poor labourer will work with double labour to acquire two or three dollars to remit to China. As soon as they acquire a little money, they obtain a wife and go on in a regular domestic mode to the end of their existence. They have every where people to teach their children, and sometimes they send males to China to complete their education. The females are always kept at home with the greatest strictness until they are married; they then enjoy greater liberty. They are excessively fond of gaming—there is no restraining them from it. This leads them into many distresses, and frequently ends  in their ruin.

“The second class of our. inhabitants consists of the Choolias, or people from the several ports on the Coast of Coromandel. The greater part of these have long been inhabitants of Queda and some of them were born there. They are all shopkeepers or coolies. About one thousand are settled here, some with families. The vessels from the Coast bring over annually 1,500 or 2,000 men, who, by traffic and various kinds of labour, obtain a few dollars with which they return to their homes and are succeeded by others.

“This is rather a drain upon the stock of the islands, but as they are subjects of the company it ultimately tends to the general good. The general, character of these people is too well-known to need any further comments excepting that those who have lived longer with the Malays are more vicious than those who come immediately, from the coast. Neither of them are worthy of much confidence or fear as subjects. 

“The Siamese and Burmans, the same in religion and customs but differing in language, form another part of our inhabitants. They are about one hundred in number. Many of them are converts to the Roman Church. They are moderately industrious and chiefly employed in cultivation.

(To be continued).

History of Penang, part two

From the Straits Echo of 18 August 1903, I shall continue with the second instalment of the newspaper's History of Penang. Click here for Part One of this story.

HISTORY OF PENANG.
(Specially written for the Straits Echo.)

CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAYS ISSUE. (Note: This referred to the Straits Echo of 17 August 1903)

On May 2nd 1786 Capt. Light received his letter of instructions for establishing a Settlement of Penang and immediately set sail for Malayan waters. The following information is gathered from Capt. Light's own diary.—

On June 29th 1786, Capt. Light anchored in the Quedah Roads near Alor Star, and landed the following morning under a salute from the fort and three volleys from the marines. He was received by the Rajah's “merchant,” (Financial Minister), an official who managed his commercial affairs. Information was sent to the Rajah of the Captain’s arrival with letters and presents from the Governor-General in Council. Light found that war was raging between Siam and Burma, that Quedah was threatened and that the Rajah had sent for marines to his residence to intimidate the Siamese. Capt. Light landed formally on the 1st July, with the letter and presents, amidst a salute from the ships, forts and marines. He was received by a guard of honor composed of Malays with colours (banners) and trumpets and conducted to the Laxamana's (admiral's,) house where the Rajah's representative, a Said, received the letter and presents, when apologies were made for the absence of the great men, who were at the seat of war. The Rajah's “merchant” considered the present too small and the Captain added 100 muskets which, in their present, situation, was of more consequence than the rest. On the 3rd July agreeably with a message from the Rajah, Capt. Light, with a sergeant of Artillery, a dozen marines, drum and fife, went up stream and arrived next morning. He was received, without any state, by the Rajah, who was much troubled at a passage in the Governor-General's letter, which he did not understand, for it seemed to threaten him with pains and penalties if he did not comply with the Governor-General’s request. Light pointed out that there must be some mistake in the translation of the document and the Rajah then appeared satisfied with regard to the difficult passage, and after reading the translation again to his visitor he obliged him to sign it. The treaty of cession was then only signed subject to the approval of the Board of Directors in Loudon. On the 10th of July Captain Light took leave of the Rajah of Quedah with the duly signed treaty and reached the Quala in the morning and spent the next three days embarking the people and provisions. On the 14th at 5p.m. the[y] sailed on the Eliza in company with the Prince Henry and Speedwell, and anchored off Pulo Tikus (an island) on the 15th, and with a flood tide and light breeze the little fleet ran into Penang harbour and anchored in 13 fathoms of water within nmusket shot of shore.

On July 17th Lieutenant Gray of the Speedwell landed with marines on Point Penaggar, a low sandy point which is stated to lie where the Esplanade now is: but con­sidering that up to a few years ago this was is under water after heavy rain, it is more probable the land near the Fort Point, between the end of Light St., and the iron wharf, opposite the Government buildings, was the landing place. The Europeans landed next day when the Marines and Lascars were employed in clearing the woods and pitching tents. From the 20th July till the beginning of August the island Settlement presented a busy aspect -- attap houses, with ataps from Quedah, were erected and wells were dug. The water in the wells was of a reddish hue owing to the Penaggar roots. The emigrants from Kedah were allowed to erect a small Bazaar near the Cantonment, and Nakodah Katchi, with a guard of marines, was put in charge to prevent impositions on either side. The artillery and stores were landed on August 11th, when the site of the new town was laid out, The spot occupied by the pioneers was about 200 yards broad and bounded on the N.E. and S.E. by the open sea. A good stretch of fine sand ran along the beach to Bagan Jermal, where a stream of excellent water ran into the sea. To the South of the clearing ran another fine beach as far as about Bukit Dunbar, and was interrupted by numerous creeks. That portion of the town which is bounded by Light, Pitt and  Market Streets was now laid out, and what was then the beach is now known as Beach Street. Different parts of the town were assigned to the various nationalities, and the Chulias, natives of India, still occupy the same locality as they did in the good old days.

THE HOISTING OF THE COLOURS.

On the 12th August H.M.S. Valentine arrived in the harbour and Capt. Light con­sidered it a good opportunity for taking formal possession of the Island. At noon Capt. Light, with several captains of His Majesty’s ships in the harbour, and gentlemen passengers of the ships with 100 newly-raised Marines—who knew nothing about their duties—15 Artillery men and 30 Lascars assembled under the Flag Staff. The act of possession having been read in presence of the assembled gentlemen, Marines, the Military and people, Capt. Light and the officers of His Majesty's ships hoisted the Union Jack, the artillery and ships firing a royal salute and the Marines three volleys. The new acquisition was named “Prince of Wales Island" in honour of the Prince of Wales (afterwards George IV), as it was formally occupied on the eve of his birthday, while the little township was called “George Town” after his father, George III. After the ceremony the company assembled adjourned to celebrate the great event. Penang was long thought to lie uninhabited, but when Capt. Light landed he found 58 men, women and children near the foot of the hills at Datu Kramat, and on the founding of the Settlement (George Town) they asked permission, which was granted, to come in and build houses in the little township. A French padre came over from Quedah bringing his flock and settled along the coast at Pulo Tikus, as they do to this day. The tide of emigration now flowed freely from Quedah to Penang and soon after the settlement was founded we find the “Chu­lias," natives of India, and British subjects  and long resident under the Rajah of Quedah, leaving that place and settling in Pinang. The word “Chulia” is now obsolete and has given place to the more modern “Kling.” Malays and their prows came in great numbers, the majority for trade, but not a few came on mischief and plunder bent. By October of the year of founding, we find that there was a’ stock of cattle and poultry on the Island, all imported from Quedah, which thrived exceedingly well and as time went on multiplied and increased, proving sufficient for the needs of the settlers. The ships in harbour, at the time, found their wants fully supplied by provisions imported from Quedah. The inhabitants increased very fast and were it not for the Dutch at Malacca, who kept a strict watch over and checked the Chinese emigrating to Prince of Wales’ Island, more would have left that place, but nevertheless they came in considerable numbers. A fort of nibongs was erected near the point for the defence of the Island during the absence of the warships. In spite of the contempt and derision with which the Dutch treated the new settlement it continued to increase to the great joy of Capt. Light.

For some reason, which is not known, interested parties in Bengal did their utmost to injure the new settlement, but little harm was done: for in 1788, two years after the acquisition of the Island, we find that 400 acres were put under cultivation, while the next year the population of the settlement figured at 10,000, all self-supporting. Trade increased so much that the total exports were valued at 600,000 Sp. dollars, while the value of imports was about the same. The following year (1790) Che Kay, a Chinaman, introduced the pepper vine in the island from Acheen under the patronage of the Superintendent, who advanced him money for that purpose. 

Capt. Light in the same year pointed out that his duties as Superintendent and his position as merchant were opposed to each other, while a salary of Rupees 1,000 was too small an income to admit of his giving up his partnership with his friend James Scott, a merchant. [The firm of Light and Scott, afterwards Brown & Co., was established in 1795 and came to grief about 100 years later.] His position as Superintendent and principal merchant gave him ample opportunity of enriching himself, but such was the character of the man that he did not attempt to do so. 

Prince of Wales’ Island increased in prosperity at such a rate that what Capt. Light dreaded most came to pass. The Rajah of Quedah became extremely jealous of its prosperity, and on the plea that tin revenues were considerably diminished, demanded an addition of $4000 to his annual stipend to compensate him for the loss. Capt. Light had no power to grant it and therefore refused: so the Rajah made preparations for seizing the Island for which purpose he assembled a large force, of about 10,000 men, and a fleet of 20 war prows manned by “lanoons" (pirates) at Prye, where a stockade was erected. Everything was ready for an attack on the island and the Malay Prince was waiting for a certain propitious day for the attack, when Capt. Light, with four hundred well-armed men, captured the fort at Prye (on the 12th April) and completely routed the fleet of pirate prows. A few days later (April 16th), the Rajah sued for peace and a new treaty, afterwards confirmed by the Supreme Government, was concluded. The new treaty provided for the exclusion of all other Europeans not trading or settling in Quedah, the mutual exchange of slaves, debtors and murderers, and the importation of foodstuffs and last, but not least, an annual grant of $10,000 to the Rajah.

(To be continued).

History of Penang, part one

My thanks to my fellow facebooker, Jeffery Seow, for highlighting this story which had appeared initially in the Straits Echo in 1903. It was about the early history of Penang, something that many of us today are not aware of as these were events that had happened more than two centuries ago. Just as the story then was serialised over several weeks, I too shall reproduce them here over several posts. Here is the first one which appeared on 17 August 1903.

HISTORY OF PENANG.
(Specially written for the Straits Echo.)

The first mention of Penang in the history of Malaya is in the year of grace 1592. We find after searching the records at the India Office that Captain Lancaster, afterwards Sir James Lancaster, was one of the first English voyagers in these waters, in his ship, the Edward Bonaventure, having come for purposes of trade. But to Francis Drake belonged the honour of living the first Englishman to bring his ship to the East Indies, for he made his memorable trip round the world twelve years previously. 

The Edward Bonaventure was one of three ships sent out from England in 1591 to the East to trade with the natives for pepper and other spices, in which Malaya abounded. The expedition reached Zanzibar at the close of 1591, and leaving it in February of the following year did not cast anchor again till June, when the commander found a harbour off Pulau Rimau to the south  of the Island of Penang, or Pulau Pinang. Scurvy seems to have been raging on board the ships at the time, as Capt. Lancaster remained at his anchorage till the end of August, losing no less than 26 of the crew from the ravages of scurvy. It is a singular fact that the very first English trader of Malaya should have found his way direct to this little out-of-the-way and then uninhabited island, which  destiny has shown was to become such a famous and prosperous port of call in our time. Capt. Lancaster loaded his ships chiefly with pepper taken from Portuguese and Peguan vessels which he plundered off Perak, where three of them are said to have "laden a cargo of pepper.” His own ship and its two companions were, however, lost. The notes of Lancaster's voyage, and still more the instructive and interesting accounts of the profits to be made, first convinced Englishmen of the great advantages that were to be derived from Malayan trade. Eight years after Lancaster's voyage to Malaya, the famous East India Company was formed with a charter for fifteen years (afterwards extended) chiefly with the object of trading with Malaya: and this Company sent out in 1601 the same captain (afterwards Sir James) Lancaster as "admiral of four vessels,” with the celebrated Davis as Pilot. Lancaster first made for the Nicobars and afterwards, when loaded with pepper, sent home two of his ships from Achin (1602), where he was well received. 

In a little country place in Suffolk there was born in the year 1740 a little boy who was to play a most important part in his after life. That boy's name was Francis Light and he received his name at his baptism on December 15th 1740. Nothing is known of young Light's parents. They probably died when he was quite young, as he was adopted and educated by a certain William Negus, a relative of Milton, and son of Colonel Francis Negus, who held a high position at the Court of George I and who acquired the large estates of Dallingho, (Light's birthplace) and Milton by his  marriage with Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of William Churchill Esq., M.P. of Woodbridge, Patent Printer to the King. Young Light, after his adoption, was sent, like other sons of Suffolk squires, to the Woodbridge Grammar School, but he left early in life, joining the Navy as a midshipman of H.M.S. Arrogant in 1761. He left the Navy four years after, and we then find him a passenger on board the East Indiaman Clive bound for the East,  where he seems to have been before. He arrived at Calcutta in 1765 and was immediately given the command of an East Indiaman, the Country Ship, trading between  India, Lower Siam and Malaya. That Capt Light was a linguist of no mean order is evidenced by the fact that shortly after his arrival in the East he became conversant with the Siamese and Malay languages, on account of which he was held in high esteem by the Siamese and Malay chiefs with whom  he traded, the former conferring on him the rank and title of nobility. Capt. Light traded chiefly with Junk Ceylon, or Salang, a large island occupying a conspicuous position in 8°N. lat: at the north-west elbow of the Peninsula which he eventually made his headquarters till 1785, living mainly among the Malays and adapting himself to their ways and customs. In 1772, at Junk Ceylon, he married Martina Rozells, a lady whose parentage has been the Subject of much controversy, but owing to her Portuguese name she is generally considered to have been a Eurasian of Siam, a Portuguese, or Malay of Portuguese descent. There were Portuguese missionaries in these parts at that time and it may be that she was not Portuguese at all, but simply a Siamese or Malay who was baptized with a Portuguese name much in the  same way as is done to this day by English missionaries and others in Africa and elsewhere.

It was in 1771 that Captain Light, having as his headquarters Salang, saw the necessity of establishing an emporium for the English in these parts, a need which had not escaped the notice of Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India. Other European nations had established factories and Settlements in Malaya, the Dutch in particular maintaining an ascendancy on Sumatra and other parts of the Archipelago. Light made a suggestion to the Governor-General of India for securing Penang as “a convenient magazine for eastern trade.” but it appears not, to have met with approval at the time. But Light continued to press the matter as may be seen from his correspondence.

In 1780 he went to Bengal to see Warren Hastings and this time proposed the alternative of an English Settlement on Junk Ceylon as it was a flourishing trading emporium of some 50,000 people. In this he was supported by James Scott who modestly describes himself as “struggling to pay off some incumbrances incurred in the war, and formerly a trading master but otherwise little known." Light was well received by the Governor-General, but arrangements were interrupted by the French and Dutch wars, when a joint settlement would have come to pass had not the widow, sons and nephews of Phya Simons, Governor of Salang, refused to assume the Government, and died just at that time -- 1785.

Numerous expeditions came out to Malaya and trade generally increased until the time came when the East India Company found that with the opposition with the Dutch and Portuguese who had settlements on the Peninsula, and Sumatra a trading centre was necessary for the company to maintain its position in Malaya. In 1784 Mr. Kinloch was sent by the Bengal Government to found a Settlement in Acheen, but owing to the hostility of the natives he had to return without effecting his mission. Captain Light, who was in Calcutta on the return of the Kinloch mission, immediately, in a letter dated 15th February 1786, pointed out the aggression and encroachment of the Dutch, which now extended from Point Romania to the Krian River, and that they had settlements and factories on the Sumatra side of the Straits and so there was no place left to choose from but Junk Ceylon. Acheen and Quedah (Kedah). Mr. Light, in his letter, goes on to point out that before he could form a Settlement in Acheen it would be necessary to subdue all  the Chiefs. Junk Ceylon, which belonged to Siam, was, he added, a place which would take some six or seven years before it would be sufficiently cleared and cultivated to supply a fleet with provisions, but it was, in his opinion, rich in tin ore and easily fortified. As the East India Company had already been successful in its application to the Rajah of Quedah for a cession of Penang he made use of his influence and was now able to report that the Rajah was prepared to cede the Island of Penang for 6,000 Spanish dollars per annum. On the 23rd February 1786 the Governor-General in Council approved of the settlement of Penang and a correspondence ensued between the Indian Government and the Rajah of Quedah as to the terms  of the treaty. It was finally arranged, subject to the approval of the Board of Directors in London, that Penang should be ceded for $6.000 per annum to the East India Company, who agreed to station an armed vessel in the Straits to guard Penang Island and the Quedah coasts. Free trade was to be allowed, and anyone would be at liberty to trade on the Kedah Coast without any restrictions from the company. 

The Dutch and Portuguese only allowed trading to be done at their own settlements and nowhere else.

(To be continued).