Jalan Dr Wu Lien Teh

Somehow, you would begin to realise that your contributions may be starting to bear some fruit when you see positive changes around you.

For example, I've been in the committee of the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society for quite a while - since its inception, actually - and one of our objectives is to reconnect Penangites with this doctor who had been largely forgotten with the passage of time.

After all, it has been 140 years since Dr Wu Lien-Teh was born and 109 years since he fought and won against the dreaded plague. Next January would mark the 60th anniversary of his death.

I've written about him several times on my blog too; click here to read.

Recently, I was alerted that there was a new road in George Town, which connected Jalan Kampong Jawa Baru with Jalan SP Chelliah, and it was called Jalan Dr Wu Lien Teh. That got me pretty excited and I made it a point to track it down.

So now, in addition to Taman Wu Lien Teh (mind you, this is the name of a road and not a garden) in a residential area opposite his alma mater, Penang Free School, and a Jalan Wu Lean Teh (a misspelling, no doubt) in Ipoh, there is a new Jalan Dr Wu Lien Teh in Penang.

Apparently, the Penang Government must have listened closely to all the noise that we in the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society have been generating since 2012 and decided that it was time to remember this great man again. A real-life Penang-born hero.

And I can tell you that we, the Old Frees around the world, are feeling pretty chuffed as well, ever since I broke the news on facebook and in my whatsapp postings.

Or maybe, the fact that the bust of Dr Wu Lien-Teh is now displayed prominently on the grounds of the Penang Institute in Brown Road had something to do with it. The bust, which is a gift from the University of Harbin in China, is an irresistible attraction. Standing in the front of the Penang Institute for a few years now - it used to be located at the Penang Medical College - it can hardly be missed by visitors.