A reminder of the colonial days

Indeed, Northam Road, the city’s first residential suburb, is still known to many locals as Millionaire’s Row, where stately and majestic European-style bungalows were once home to the rich sons of the island.

Local Chinese referred to it as Ang Mor Lor (European Road) because of the many ang mor lau (European-style bungalows) standing amidst lush gardens complete with tennis courts, stables and elaborate driveways, said a report in the New Straits Times.

Here too is the final resting place of many of Penang’s founding fathers. In use from 1789 to 1892, the cemetery houses both Protestant and Roman Catholic graves.

Those of Captain Francis Light, James Scott (Light’s trading partner), Reverend R.S. Hutchings (founder of Penang Free School) and Quintin Dick Thompson (brother-in-law of Stamford Raffles) are in the Protestant cemetery. The last burial was that of Cornelia Van Someran in 1892.

You can also find the grave of James Richardson Logan, the editor, writer and publisher of the 27 volumes of the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, which were also called Logan’s Journals, from 1847-1859.

Together with his elder brother, Abraham, they took over the Pinang Gazette and encouraged public opinion to end Indian rule in the Straits Settlements.

This resulted in the historic Transfer of 1867 by which the Settlements obtained self-rule. Transfer Road thus was named to commemorate the event.

Among the European graves are 12 Chinese graves dating from the 1860s to the 1880s.

These are the graves of Christian Hakkas who escaped to Penang after the failed Taiping Revolution in China.

Army officer Thomas Leonowens, whose widow, Anna of Anna and the King fame, was also buried here after succumbing to apoplexy.

From the cemetery, you can see the few reminders of Penang’s early suburban villas. One imposing building, a unique Anglo-Chinese mansion, was once the Shih Chung Branch School. When fully constructed in the 1880s, it was Cheah Tek Soon’s residence. It was the toast of the town as it was the first five-storey residence and local Hokkiens called it goh chan lau (five storey bungalow).

Subsequently, it was named the Chinese Residency when Tek Soon’s brother lived there in the 1900s. Later, the Tye brothers turned it into a hotel, Raffles-by-the-Sea in the 1910s.

Much later, it was converted into the P’i Joo Girls’ School, the Government Girls’ School and finally, the Shih Chung Branch School.

Nearby is the house of the late Loh Boon Siew, a tycoon who made his fortune by importing and selling Honda motorcycles in the 1960s, and two unassuming hotels with a rather notorious past.

According to Penang Heritage Trust guide Theresa Capol, 55, the infamous striptease dancer Rose Chan used to perform at one of the hotels, called Hotel Gallant.

"Across the road is Waldorf Hotel, where American soldiers stayed when on leave during the Vietnam War. At that time the number of servicemen ‘tourists’ were numerous and the hotel had to add on an additional wing," she says.

From here, walk towards Farquhar Street and you’d be greeted by the famous Eastern and Oriental (E&O) Hotel.

In 1927, this "Premier Hotel East of The Suez" boasted of 100 rooms, 40 of them with adjoining bathrooms, hot and cold running water, individual telephones and 842-foot seafront, the longest at that time.

It’s located strategically at the intersection of Farquhar Street and Penang Road.

The imposing building transports visitors back to the old world grandeur of the East India Company and one can almost expect to see colonial planters sipping their stengahs and enjoying their tiffin curry under high ceiling fans.

In the past, it was well patronized by colonial administrators, planters and wealthy locals as well as personalities like Noel Coward, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham. Elegant suites have been named after these great writers.

Even now, the elegant E&O, with its Moorish minarets, spacious domed lobby and sweeping seafront, has managed to retain much of its grace and charm.

It was first built in 1885 and underwent massive renovations just before the turn of the millennium which turned it into a unique and elegant five-star property complete with 101 British India-styled suites and a diverse range of exquisite dining facilities.

The Sarkies Brothers – Martin, Tigran and Arshak – from Isfahan in Persia, became the foremost hoteliers of the East by operating the Strand in Rangoon, the Raffles in Singapore and the E&O and Craig Hotel in Penang.

It was Tigran who first leased a large compound house at 1A, Light Street. On April 15, 1884 it opened as the Eastern Hotel.

Later, the Sarkies Brothers acquired the adjacent Hotel de l’Europe which they subsequently renamed as the Oriental Hotel.

But running two separate hotels within a short distance of each other proved uneconomical, so the brothers decided to merge the two. However, they realized that travelers were already familiar with the names, so they renamed it Eastern and Oriental Hotel.

The hotel is 20 kilometres from the Bayan Lepas International Airport and a stone’s throw from the ferry terminal that connects the island to the mainland. From the hotel, you can take a short walk to Fort Cornwallis, the City Hall and the Penang State Museum. A small upmarket mall called The Garage is located right across the road while a row of shophouses close by sells reasonably priced antiques.

Dining outlets at E&O include the Sarkies Corner which has a colonial, Straits-style coffeeshop setting and serves a local-international buffet or a la-carte. Farquhar’s Bar, a surviving sample of the colonial era with its dark woods and leathers, serves great pub fare. The bakery is a little nook specializing in breads, pies, pastries and great coffee.