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03 July, 2024

  • SCULPTURE 1 : TOO SALTY

    ADDRESS : NO. 32, LEBUH LIGHT

     scuplture 1
     

    In `Too salty’, two Tamil labourers attribute their lack of hair to ingesting too much salt. Formerly, salt was important both for preserving food as well as a condiment. Sacks of salt were unloaded on jetty at the end of Jalan Green Hall then stored in its godowns.

    The Tamil name for this area was Uppuvearan Teni or “Salt Traders’ Street”, a reference to the salt trading activities carried out here at this area.

    URL: SCULPTURE 1 : TOO SALTY

  • SCULPTURE 2 : JIMMY CHOO

    ADDRESS : NO. 104 LEBUH MUNTRI

    scuplture 2.jpg
     

    Less background detail is evident in the famous shoe designer, for this piece is intended as a celebration of the young native of Penang who became an internationally know shoe designer. Jimmy Choo began learning his craft at the nearby Hong Kong Shoe Store, before leaving to study design in London.

    The figures portray a delighted customer, admiring her new shoes, the quite satisfaction of the master shoemaker and the unalloyed pride and happiness of the designer.

    URL: SCULPTURE 2 JIMMY CHOO

  • SCULPTURE 3 : WIN-WIN SITUATION

    ADDRESS :  NO. 165 LEBUH MUNTRI

    scuplture 3


    Muntri street, where this pieces is located, was named after the Orang Kaya Menteri of Larut, Perak Ngah Ibrahim, and records the inter-racial and commercial trading links between the Orang Kaya Menteri or Ruler of Larut, and the predominantly Chinese towkays (employer) of Penang who controlled the mining and smelting of tin ore.

    URL: SCULPTURE 3 WIN-WIN SITUATION

  • SCULPTURE 4 : MR. FIVE FOOT WAY

    ADDRESS : NO. 109 JALAN HUTTON

    scuplture 4


    In Hokkien, Goh Kah Kee means five foot way, the shaded walkways reputedly designed to shelter pedestrians from the tropical sun and torrential rains. `Mr Five Foot Way’ is a generic name for the many itinerant small traders and hawkers who set up their stalls in these five-foot ways.

    URL: SCULPTURE 4 MR. FIVE FOOT WAY

  • SCULPTURE 5 : ONE LEG KICKS ALL

    SCULPTURE 5 : ONE LEG KICKS ALL

    ADDRESS : NO. 52, LORONG LOVE

    scuplture 5
     

    An occupation that draws uni riots between rival secret societies. One of the most intriguing aspects of these riots is that both sides were multiracial, with the Muslim Red Flag association and the Hokkien Toa Peh Kong Society united against the Muslim White Flag and the Cantonese Ghee Hin.

    The most serious riots broke out in August 1867 at Lebuh Cannon area. In order to put down this unrest, the alarmed colonial authorities called in reinforcements from Singapore, and cannons were fired near the site of this sculpture, leading to today`s names of Lebuh Cannon and Medan Cannon. It is said bullet holes from this time can still be found in the walls of surrounding buildings.

    URL: SCULPTURE 5 ONE LEG KICKS ALL

  • SCULPTURE 6 : BULLOCK CART WHEEL

    ADDRESS : NO.101 LEBUH BISHOP

    scuplture 6
     

    The `Bullock Cart’ sculpture is located on Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, one of the four major streets in the original grid pattern laid out by Francis Light. The Bullock Cart Wheel sculpture captures two different historical insights of Penang. Firstly this stretch of road was used until recently for parking bullock carts, while the ½ - cent Straits Settlement coin is an allusion to a stingy person, who perceives the coin to be as big as the wheel of a bullock cart.

    URL: SCULPTURE 6 BULLOCK CART WHEEL

  • SCULPTURE 7 : NARROWEST FIVE FOOT WAY

    ADDRESS : NO. 35 LORONG LOVE

    scuplture 7.jpg
     

    This popular piece is composed of five separate figures occupying adjacent columns that support a `Five-Foot Way’ or shaded walkway, designed to provide shelter from the tropical sun. The figures represent an Indian dhoby wallah carrying a laundry basket, a Chinese amah, a young child, a coolie and an English planter, and provide a snapshot of early George Town`s multiracial composition.

    URL: SCULPTURE 7 NARROWEST FIVE FOOT WAY

  • SCULPTURE 8 : ROTAN

    ADDRESS : NO. 37OE LEBUH CHULIA

     scuplture 8
     

    Continuing with the theme of cane or `Rotan’, this sculpture is attached to the wall of a cane furnishings shop, and poses an interesting question of preferences for the schoolboy returning home to ponder, as his mother snaps, `Thick, Medium or Thin?’

    URL: SCULPTURE 8 ROTAN

  • SCULPTURE 9 : BECA

    ADDRESS : NO. 57 LORONG STEWARD

    scuplture 9

    Today, `Cannon Hole’ is one of the most photographed of the `Making George Town’ sculptures, possibly due to the humour of the piece, though few will be aware of the history of this location.

    By contrast, in `Beca’ (trishaw) shows that a modern day trishaw rider is being burdened with an endless list of famous sights to be visited, by an overweight pair of tourists. `Beca’ is another example of a later sculpture, this piece including a real trishaw. Explore yourself by taking a trishaw for sightseeing in George Town World Heritage Site.

    URL: SCULPTURE 9 BECA

  • SCULPTURE 10 : GOLD TEETH

    ADDRESS : NO. 47 LEBUH GEREJA

     scuplture 10
     

    `Gold Teeth’ celebrates possibly the traditional goldsmith in the heritage area. Here we see, a customer point to her gold tooth and ask,” Can you turn this into a ring?”

    The Goldsmith continues to create intricate jewellery using the most basic tools with his skills. Using a burner, he firstly melts a small amount of gold which is poured into a mould; once cooled, he cuts and shape the desired design, a time consuming process. As each of his pieces is hand, rather than machine made, and often is made to order, each is unique in its design.

    URL: SCULPTURE 10 GOLD TEETH

  • SCULPTURE 11 : SPY

    ADDRESS : NO. 34 LEBUH CINTRA

    scuplture 11
     

    It is commonly believed that prior to World War II, the Japanese owners of camera shop in this area were engaged in photographing and recording military information that would later prove invaluable during the invasion of Malaya. A Japanese `dance hostess’ is also shown in this piece.

    URL: SCULPTURE 11 SPY

  • SCULPTURE 12 : BUDGET HOTEL

    ADDRESS : NO. 320 LEBUH CHULIA

    scuplture 12
     

    Most of the shophouses were turned into the budget hotels since last century. `Budget Hotels’ on Love Lane pokes fun at a heavily laden backpacker, a common sight in this area, checking into his `5 Star Budget Hotel’.

    The proprietor is happily ringing up various charge on his cash register, while offering a ranger of other services, all of which are available at a `special price’. It is all proving a little too much for the bewildered youth, clutching his soap, towel and room key.

    While formerly Love Lane had a sleazy reputation, today its old shophouses are increasingly being remodelled as boutique hotels, `heritage’ cafes aimed and pubs.

    URL: SCULPTURE 12 BUDGET HOTEL

  • SCULPTURE 13 : CHEATING HUSBAND

    ADDRESS : NO. 318 LEBUH CHULIA

    scuplture 13
     

    `Cheating husband’ is a sculpture with an amusing cartoon caricature in an embarrassing situation. It is more likely to laugh at the character and his situation. It has been suggested that in this piece on Love Lane, an errant husband is making a rapid retreat from his lover`s bedroom to prevent his wife from discovering them. The origin of the name, Love Lane is uncertain: certainly it is a very old road, being marked on a map of George Town dated 1801.

    One explanation for its unusual name is that it refers to the practice in the nineteenth century of wealthy men (of all races) keeping multiple wives and or mistresses. A towkay`s (employer) principal home might have been on the neighbouring Lebuh Muntri, while the problem of how to house and spend time with each of his consorts, not to mention avoid conflict in thr home was solved with house such as those in Love Lane.

    URL: SCULPTURE 13 CHEATING HUSBAND

  • SCULPTURE 14 : QUIET PLEASE

    ADDRESS : NO. 11 LEBUH KING

    scuplture 14
     

    `Quiet Please’ also know as `Street Fighters’, in Lebuh Gereja (formerly Church Street) references the fact this street was not only home to a Portuguese church, but also to the Ghee Hin Society, in those days notorious for their feuds with the Tua Peh Kong.

    URL: SCULPTURE 14 QUIET PLEASE

  • SCULPTURE 15 : TOO HOT

    ADDRESS : GUDANG NO. 90 PENGKALAN WELD

    scuplture 15

    `Too Hot’ is included here with the other food related sculptures. It`s easy to miss, being installed well above head height on a warehouse wall near Swettenham Pier, on Pengkalan Weld, but contains as good deal of detail that deserves a longer look. See the hawker`s charcoal cookers and wicker basket, the small traditional stools as well as the customer’s head literally bursting into flame after eating `Kelinga mee’.

    URL: SCULPTURE 15 TOO HOT


  • SCULPTURE 16 : HIGH COUNTER

    ADDRESS : NO. 313 LEBUH CHULIA

    scuplture 16
     

    This cartoon plays on the high counter found in a traditional pawn shop. We can see, through a small window, that the broker is examining a ring with his magnifying glass. Today in Malaysia, while pawnbroking, or `pajak gadai’ is strictly regulated by government, it remains a traditional occupation, passed down from one generation to the next.

    Anything could be pawned during those years. Due to different demands back then, ways of handling this business was also different. During tougher times, people would send in anything pawnable to our shop. There was someone who even pawned his favourite sarong in order to by some durian. Today, pawnshops take only jewellery and branded watches, and no longer would accept things like antigues…’ 

    URL: SCULPTURE 16 HIGH COUNTER

  • SCULPTURE 17 : GEDUNG RUMPIT

    ADDRESS : NO. 91 LEBUH CHINA

    scuplture 17
     

    In`Gedung Rumpit’ sculpture shows that a cow is trying to pole vault over a wall because the grass is – of course- always greener on the other side. The connection between a cow and Lebuh Queen, or Queen Street may appear somewhat tenuous. However, the Malay name for this street, `Gedung Rumpit’ translates as `grass godown’ and it is believed that in former times the street was lined with sheds used to store the hay for feeding livestock, such as bullocks.

    URL: SCULPTURE 17 GEDUNG RUMPIT

  • SCULPTURE 18 : WRONG TREE

    ADDRESS : KEDAI TUAK LORONG PASAR

    scuplture 18
     

    Toddy or tuak was a popular alcoholic drink amongst Indian labourers, being prepared from the fermented sap of the flowers of the coconut palm. Here, the point of the joke is that the man climbing the tree will be disappointed for it is a pinang, or betel nut palm not a coconut.

    URL: SCULPTURE 18 WRONG TREE

  • SCULPTURE 19 : UNTRAINED PARAKET

    ADDRESS : NO. 54 LEBUH CHINA

    sculpture 19
     

    Birds also feature in `Untrained Parakeet’. Indian fortune-tellers used caged green parakeets trained to select one from a series of twenty-seven divination cards to tell fortunes when their cage door was opened.

    URL: SCULPTURE 19 UNTRAINED PARAKET

  • SCULPTURE 20 : NO MORE RED TAPE

    ADDRESS : NO. 10 JALAN BURMA

    sculpture 20


    The `Straits Settlements of Malacca, Singapore and Penang’ was created as an administrative unit by the Honourable East India Company in 1826. The rationale was to have string of bases along the Malacca Straits to protect the lucrative trade route of China, and combat local piracy. Penang was briefly the `capital’ of these Settlement, while the administration of the Settlements was direction from India.

    `Happy Hour’ sculpture is on Transfer Road, so named for the transfer of the administration of the Straits Settlements from India, to the Colonial Office in Singapore in 1867. This change in overseers resulted in a more efficient administration and an era increased prosperity for all the Settlement.

    URL: SCULPTURE 20 NO MORE RED TAPE

  • SCULPTURE 21 : TING TING THONG

    ADDRESS : NO. 235 LEBUH CHULIA

    sculpture 20


    The principal subject of `Ting Ting Thong’ is an elderly but genial hawker preparing to hammer away at a slab of home made rock candy.

    In the background, there are several hawker selling traditional foods; nasi kandar hawker is – no doubt – describing how tasty are his dishes and the pau seller has a winning smile. See also one lady in a sarong with her tiffin carrier, tempted by rock candy while another housewife hurries home with her basket of purchases.

    URL: SCULPTURE 21 TING TING THONG

  • SCULPTURE 22 : LABOURER TO TRADER

    ADDRESS : CHOWRASTA  MARKET

    sculpture 22


    Note the change of expression in the transition from convict to `trade’, in the sculpture, `Labourer to Trader’. For India’s colonial rulers in the nineteenth century, simply imprisoning someone was considered insufficient punishment, something with more `bite’ was called for. The thinking was, transportation – separating prisoners from their home culture and shipping them overseas-made their confinement more severe.

    Immediately after the founding of Penang, Francis Light requested Indian convict labour to help develop the colony, and by 1805 there were over 700 of these convict labourers in Penang, a number that doubled by 1824. Once here, these convict worked on major government buildings including Fort Cornwallis, and were also used in clearing swamps and forest. According to Governor Blundell of the Straits Settlements, these prisoners deserved credit for building the whole of the existing the roads throughout the island…. every bridge on both town and country, all the existing canals, sea walls, jetties, piers, etc’.

    Despite being prisoners, they were considered better workers than the regular or local work force. Many of these convicts were allowed to live relatively freely, not confined behind bars, and many were released well before the expiry of their sentences. By the 1860s `very few’ prisoners returned to their home in India, with the majority preferring to remain in Penang

    URL: SCULPTURE 22 LABOURER TO TRADER

  • SCULPTURE 23 : KOPI ‘O’

    ADDRESS : NO. 443 JALAN PENANG

    sculpture 23

    One Tall, Double Shot, Decaf Espresso

    URL: SCULPTURE 23 KOPI ‘O’

  • SCULPTURE 24 : RETAIL PARADISE

    ADDRESS : NO. 73, LEBUH CAMPBELL

     sculpture 24

    Penang today prides itself on being a shopping paradise, and aspects of this are featured in these two sculptures. `Retail Paradise’ is on Lebuh Campbell, popular shopping area. 

    URL: SCULPTURE 24 RETAIL PARADISE

  • SCULPTURE 25 : ROTI BENGGALI

    ADDRESS : NO. 58 LEBUH PASAR

     sculpture 25


    The subject of this design is the bread produced by a long established bakery at  Jalan Transfer. In this sculpture, we see the hawker cutting off the crust, or `unwanted skin’ from a loaf of bread, and incidentally threatening his customer`s safety.

    Roti Benggali is an unusual name for a loaf of white bread, but there is an interesting history to its origin. Originally, there was a British Malaya Bakery, but during the Second World War supplies of basics such as wheat flour became increasingly bakery disappeared at that time.

    URL: SCULPTURE 25 ROTI BENGGALI

  • SCULPTURE 26 : MAIN STREET

    ADDRESS : NO. 71A JALAN MASJID KAPITAN KELING

     sculpture 26

    `Main Street’ bring together the figure of Francis Light, founder of the colony, and responsible for laying out the early street of George Town, with modern day backpacker. Light is shown bewigged, with a cravat and buckled shoes, while our young backpacker is also `correctly outfitted’ with rucksack and thongs, and a guide book in hand. Also shown are the typical modes of transport from their respective times – a bullock cart and a bus.

    URL: SCULPTURE 26 MAIN STREET

  • SCULPTURE 27 : SAME TASTE SAME LOOK

    ADDRESS : NO. 96 LEBUH CAMPBELL

     sculpture 27

    In the superbly politically incorrect `Same taste, same look’ sculpture we can notice there are two old men enjoying their morning plate of dim sum, a traditional Cantonese snack and meals, while insulting their server, who appears able to give as good as she receives.

    URL: SCULPTURE 27 SAME TASTE SAME LOOK

  • SCULPTURE 28 : DUCK

    ADDRESS : NO. 68 LEBUH PANTAI

     sculpture 28

    Looking somewhat incongruous in a narrow alley in George Town’s business district, `Duck’ sculpture mark an area where formerly poultry was sold. It is a typical example of the final sculpture that explored the use of colour, as well as other materials beyond the initial black metal rods.

    URL: SCULPTURE 28 DUCK

  • SCULPTURE 29 : 3 GENERATIONS

    ADDRESS : NO. 143 LEBUH KIMBERLY

     sculpture 29

    A plate of steaming noodles and a hawker`s stall might not be the easiest of subjects to capture in black metal rod, catches superbly the look of a recent convert to the joys of hawker food, and to char kway teow in particular, as he approaches a hawker stall. Finely observed detail in this piece include the flames under the work, a cabbage, bottles of sauce on the stall, and the infant mimicking his father`s actions by adding milk from his bottle to a second wok.

    URL: SCULPTURE 29: 3 GENERATIONS

  • SCULPTURE 30 : ROPE STYLE

    ADDRESS : NO. 66, LEBUH KIMBERLY

     sculpture 30
     
    Rope walk was named after the rope-making activities the street.

    URL: SCULPTURE 30 ROPE STYLE


  • SCULPTURE 31 : KANDAR

    ADDRESS : NO. 48 LEBUH AH QUEE

     sculpture 31

    `Nasi kandar is a popular Malaysia dish, available twenty-four hours a day, that originated with Tamil Muslims hawking home-cooked curries from containers carried on a ‘kandar’ or wooden yoke across their shoulders. Originally this `food on the go’ was carried to manual labourers, working outdoors, but it has become widely recognised as a staple choice for all. Today the rice is typically served with several dishes such as fried chicken, mutton and seafood, and a selection of curry gravies.
     
    This sculpture shows a hawker striking the same poses as a modern weight lifter, to indicate the weight of the dished the hawker carried, before triumphantly hoisting his ‘kandar’ and carrying it away.

    URL: SCULPTURE 31 KANDAR

  • SCULPTURE 32 : SHORN HAIR

    ADDRESS : NO. 194 JALAN SUNGAI UJONG

    sculpture 32

    `Shorn Hair’ is another sculpture shows in the case using yellow chin to `moor’ the customer`s boat to the fire hydrant. The barber`s tolls of the trade are faithfully rendered while the hair being cut is shown being thrown into the adjoining canal.

    URL: SCULPTURE 32 SHORN HAIR

  • SCULPTURE 33 : THEN & NOW

    ADDRESS : NO. 89 LEBUH ARMENIAN

    sculpture 33

    This sculpture is more related to some traditional occupations, all currently under threat. `Then & Now’ traces the changes in local occupation on Lebuh Armenian, formerly a centre for copper smithing, to today`s less glamorous recycling of old newspapers and assorted containers.
     
    On the left of the sculpture shows a Malay worker, surrounded by a hanging array of the pots and pans he has already made, is busily fashioning yet another brass pot, while at the same time being distracted by the guni man. Our `guni’ (a type of bag), or rubbish collector is collecting bottles, tin cans and old newspaper, but appears to have his own problems.

    URL: SCULPTURE 33 THEN & NOW

  • SCULPTURE 34 : AH QUEE?

    ADDRESS : NO. 224 LEBUH PANTAI

     sculpture 34


    `Ah Quee’ typifies the story of the penniless immigrant who made good. Ah Quee, aka Chung Keng Kwee, was born into a peasant Hakka family in Guangdong, China in 1841. In his aged of 20, was sent by his mother to Malaya to search for his father, who had travelled there previously.

    Chung Keng Kwee’s home and his Ancestral Temple, which he built for the worship of his ancestors both are located on Church Street, Penang.

    In this piece was see a European businessman struggle to pronounce Ah Quee`s name while greeting him ; notice too the traditional kampong houses in the background of this sculpture.

    URL: SCULPTURE 34 AH QUEE?

  • SCULPTURE 35 : PROCESSION

    ADDRESS : NO. 149 JALAN MASJID KAPITAN KELING

     sculpture 35


    `Procession’, was one of the metal sculptures to appear and celebration both a person and event.

    Zhang Li, a mid-18th century scholar of Hakka descent, while sailing to Sumatra with two companions, was blown off course, and forced to land in Penang. After their deaths, Zhang Li and his companions were buried in graves at what is now the Tua Pek Kong Temple in Tanjong Tokong, built in 1799.

    Over a period of time the local Chinese began to venerate Zhang Li as a god of prosperity, bestowing on him the title, Tua Pek Kong. During the procession, that is carried on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year from Lebuh Armenian to the Tanjung Tokong temple.

    URL: SCULPTURE 35 PROCESSION

  • SCULPTURE 36 : LIMOUSINE

    ADDRESS : NO. 153 LEBUH CARNARVON

    Sculpture36

    Today, this area remains a centre both for the production of these items as well as diverse paper product, and coffins too. This sculpture shows that all of the pleasures of the material world can be reproduced on paper for burning.

    URL: SCULPTURE 36 LIMOUSINE

  • SCULPTURE 37 : CHINGAY

    ADDRESS : NO. 53 GAT JALAN PRANGIN

     sculpture 37
     

    Celebrating of Penang`s communities, known `Chingay’. It has been claimed that Chingay processions, teams balancing and tossing large flags, as well as lion and dragon dances originated in Penang, Malaysia. This piece, celebrating Chingay is a light hearted, confident and glorious celebration of the multiracial nature of Penang, both in terms of the figures used and the nature of Chingay itself.

    Among the figures on these five-foot way pillars who leads the procession with a Chingay flag balanced on his head. Behind him a rather anxious Chinese father balances on a high unicycle followed by his more confident son. The sequence is complete by an embarrassed man, caught in the realisation that doing a handstand is not advisable while wearing a sarong, and a stilt walker who lags behind the main procession, while arranging a date with his beloved, at an open window.

    URL: SCULPTURE 37 CHINGAY

  • SCULPTURE 38 : MAHJONG

    ADDRESS : NO. 37A LORONG STEWARD

    sculpture 38

    `Mahjong’, a representative portrayal of the popular game, instead alluding to the game`s name with a flock (or `quarrelling’) of sparrows. The mahjong’s a `game of sparrows’ which favourite pastime for the elderly.

    URL: SCULPTURE 38 MAHJONG

  • SCULPTURE 39 : CANNON HOLE

    ADDRESS : NO. 64 LEBUH ACHEH

    sculpture 39

    Trishaw riders are commemorated in two different sculptures, `Cannon Hole’ and Beca. `Cannon Hole’ marks the 1867 riots between rival secret societies. One of the most intriguing aspects of these riots is that both sides were multiracial, with the Muslim Red Flag association and the Hokkien Tua Peh Kong Society united against the Muslim White Flag and the Cantonese Ghee Hin.

    The most serious riots broke out in August that year 1867 of Lebuh Cannon area. In order to put down this unrest, the alarmed colonial authorities called in reinforcements from Singapore, and cannons were fired near the site of this sculpture, leading to today`s Lebuh Cannon. It is said bullet holes from this time can still be found in the walls of surrounding buildings.

    URL: SCULPTURE 39 CANNON HOLE

  • SCULPTURE 40 : TEMPLE DAY

    ADDRESS : NO. 11 LORONG STEWARD

    sculpture 40

    At the centre of `Temple Day’ is a tourist, suitably armed with a camera and copy of guidebook, surrounded by stall keepers selling a bewildering array of temple goods from incense to giant joss sticks, as seen at the stalls alongside the nearby Goddess of Mercy Temple.

    URL: SCULPTURE 40 TEMPLE DAY

  • SCULPTURE 41 : FOR YEOH ONLY

    ADDRESS : YEOH KONGSI

    sculpture 41

    This particular sculpture is mounted on the wall of the Yeoh Kongsi, established in 1836 as a benevolent foundation for newly arrived immigrant members of the Yeoh clan. Here we can see a line of new immigrants, each loaded down with all their possessions being scrutinised by an official `with a list’.

    URL: SCULPTURE 41 FOR YEOH ONLY

  • SCULPTURE 42 : TOK TOK MEE

    ADDRESS : NO. 103 LEBUH CHINA

    sculpture 42

    Here we see an itinerant hawker serving up bowls of wanton,  or `tok tok’ mee (noodles), so called because hawkers announce their presence by tapping on a piece of hollow bamboo. The contents of a hawker`s trolley – extra bowls, the pile of uncooked noodles and a sieve – are faithfully detailed in this sculpture.

    URL: SCULPTURE 42 TOK TOK MEE

  • SCULPTURE 43 : BORN NOVELIST

     ADDRESS : LORONG LUMUT

    sculpture 43

    `Born Novelist is one the few sculptures to celebrate a specific person, in the case Ahmad Rashid Talu, the first to write an original Malay Novel with local setting and local characters.

    URL: SCULPTURE 43 BORN NOVELIST

  • SCULPTURE 44 : PROPERTY

    ADDRESS: NO. 33 GAT LEBUH CHULIA

    sculpture 44

    `Property’ celebrates the reclamation of land and the resulting building boom in new godowns and shops along the coast near Victoria Street of Weld Quay. With the pushing out this shoreline, a deep water port was created, allowing larger vessels to dock on the quayside, making loading and unloading cargoes simpler. Trans-shipment into lighters was no longer necessary.

    In the background we see a junk and an Indian coolie erecting a sign, `Proposed Reclamation Project’, while in the foreground a merchant and his lawyer anticipate the profits to be made while standing on the existing jetty.

    URL: SCULPTURE 44 PROPERTY

  • SCULPTURE 45 : ESCAPE

    ADDRESS : NO. 322 LEBUH PANTAI

    sculpture 45

    `Escape’ is confident, and bold minimalist representation showing a makeshift rope hanging from a berred window. This piece is located on a (warehouse) Gudang along Acheen Street, or the Achehnese Warehouse, one of the oldest building on Lebuh Pantai, Penang.

    URL: SCULPTURE 45 ESCAPE


  • SCULPTURE 46 : IRONSMITH

    ADDRESS : NO. 356 LEBUH PANTAI

    sculpture 46

    `Ironsmith’ on Lorong Toh Aka telling the modern youth on the striking of the iron with still can be heard along the street where the tools to be fashiered instered of machine.

    URL: SCULPTURE 46 IRONSMITH

  • SCULPTURE 47 : TOO NARROW

    ADDRESS : NO. 78 LEBUH ARMENIAN

    sculpture 47

    The hand pulled trickshaw was the most popular former of transportation in early Penang

    URL: SCULPTURE 47 TOO NARROW

  • SCULPTURE 48 : COW & FISH

    ADDRESS : NO. 17 LEBUH MELAYU

    sculpture 48

    Cow & Fish’ is at the corner of Lorong Ikan (Fish Lane) and Lebuh Melayu. Before the extensive land reclamation. In those days this area was much closer to the sea, as well as to the Prangin Canal, making it an ideal place to land catches of fish and squid.

    Land reclamation towards the end of the nineteenth century `pushed’ Lorong Ikan further inland, but many wholesalers of eggs, rice, dried fish and squid remain in this area, as tangible proof of the area`s earlier role.

    URL: SCULPTURE 48 COW & FISH

  • SCULPTURE 49 : PILGRIMS

    ADDRESS : NO. 18 GAT LEBUH ACHEH

    sculpture 49

    `Pilgrims’ contains an expansive collection of well-observed caricatures, and captures the atmosphere as Haj pilgrims prepare to leave on their momentous journey. The standard metal rod construction is augmented by solid ship’s hull, while there is a wealth of detailing in the women’s sarongs, the assorted bundles and packages of luggage and the onlooker’s faces.

    In former times Lebuh Acheh, the site of this installation, was know as a `second Jeddah’ , for Haj pilgrims from all over Malay, as well as Sumatra and Thailand converged here to join ship sailing for Mecca.

    URL: SCULPTURE 49 PILGRIMS

  • SCULPTURE 50 : NO PLASTIC BAG

    ADDRESS: NO. 484 LEBUH PANTAI

    sculpture 50

    `No Plastic Bag’ is on the wall of a shop selling the wicker baskets featured in the cartoon, and celebrates no plastic bag campaign which introduced in Penang in the year 2011.

    URL: SCULPTURE 50 NO PLASTIC BAG

  • SCULPTURE 51 : WATERWAY

    ADDRESS : NO. 527 LEBUH PANTAI

    sculpture 51

    `Waterway’ utilises a popular theme in these metal sculptures, showing a suitor wooing his sweetheart – in this case from his boat on the Prangin Canal, once a significant waterway, used for bringing goods from the dock area to the Prangin, or Sia Boey Market in those days.

    We can see clearly that our suitor is a fruit vendor from the bananas and durians in his boat, and that thanks to watchful parent, his chances of romance are limited.

    URL: SCULPTURE 51 WATERWAY

  • SCULPTURE 52 : DOUBLE ROLE

    ADDRESS : NO. 105 LEBUH PANTAI

    sculpture 52

    While Sikh are commonly associated with the police force, the earliest Sikh settle down in Penang were amongst the convicts transported from India and the Bengali sepoys, the first Sikh police officers not arriving until 1881. Some of these Sikh policemen also formed the fire brigade. The Central Fire Station, built ends, and completed in 1909 marks the beginning of a true or `dedicated’ fire service in Penang.

    URL: SCULPTURE 52 DOUBLE ROLE