Photos by ZHAFARAN NASIB

Historical: Magazine Road is one of the main access roads to Komtar.

IT IS still regarded as a rough, working class neighbourhood. The image of the iconic seven-street precinct has remained very much the same despite development in its vicinity.

The mainly Chinese-educated and Hokkien-speaking residents — who are mostly wage earners, traders and small businessmen — continue to make up the majority here.

According to one report, the houses along the streets were built in the late 19th century as a result of the “the spillover effect from the Francis Light Grid and Carnarvon Street/Prangin area.”

Thus, vegetable farms and wooden houses were soon replaced with brick houses, saw mills, foundries and cottage industries.

When Penang embarked on its massive urban renewal plan in the 1980s, which included the Komtar project that was right at the doorstep of this precinct, the area still remained somewhat of a no-man’s land, where triad activities thrived.

When I started out as a cub reporter at The Star office in Penang, I had to first earn my stripes on the crime beat.

Racing to crime scenes and visiting the mortuary in the middle of the night were part and parcel of work.

But there was also the routine morning press conference at the state police headquarters in Penang Road where the officers would brief us on the crime statistics.

It was common to see small-time thugs being made to squat in the room of an investigating officer attached to the anti-vice and gaming division while the officer chatted with us nonchalantly.

The gangsters, with their tattooed bodies, were more often than not, from one of the streets in the seven-street precinct.

Seventh street: Cecil Street is named after Straits Settlement goverrnor Sir
Cecil Clementi.

There was always much excitement in the area. We would occasionally get calls from our police sources who tipped us off on clashes that broke out between rival gangs.

If we were quick enough, we would be at the crime scene to actually witness street fights before the cops arrived.

But in all fairness, many of the children of the original residents have done well in their lives. Often, with good education, they were able to move up the social ladder and lead transformed lives when they moved out of the area.

On a trip to Penang two weeks ago, I took a drive around the area. It is really a safe area despite the tough neighbourhood image of its past.

It has emerged as a popular tourist spot with its many colonial pre-war homes and shophouses. Although they are not included in the Unesco World Heritage Zone, these houses can fetch the same prices as those in Chulia Street and other surrounding areas.

Apart from sightseeing, foodies can find great food here as well. The duck meat koay teow soup at the Cecil Street food court is easily one of the best in Penang.

All the streets here retain their original names but the fact of the matter is that the locals only know them by their numbers.

Cecil Street, for example, is the seventh street which the Hokkiens call chit tiau lor and I doubt if even the residents know the history behind the person it was named after.

Fortunately, many Penangites and history buffs have taken it upon themselves to write extensively about this iconic precinct on the Internet.

According to blogger Boon Raymond, the seven major streets within the triangular grid or block borders Magazine Road, Jalan CY Choy (formerly Bridge Street) and Jalan Gurdwara (formerly Brick Kiln Road).

The seven main streets are Magazine Road or first street, which was named after the government gunpowder depot formerly located at the present Gama Supermarket. In Hokkein, it is called thau tiau lor or the first road.

Then, there is Noordin Street or the second street, which is named after HM Nordin, an Indian Muslim merchant. He is said to be one of the founders of the Kapitan Keling mosque.

Still standing: Presgrave Street has retained its old signage.

The third street is Presgrave Street — named after Edward Presgrave who founded the law firm of Presgrave and Matthews at Beach Street in 1898.

Presgrave & Matthews is one of the oldest legal firms in the Straits Settlement. According to the firm’s website, Presgrave was educated at the Edinburgh Academy and University.

In Penang, he was the solicitor-general and the president of the Penang Municipal Commission.

Today, Presgrave Street has gained a name for its street food and is within walking distance from Traders Hotel.

The fourth street is Tye Sin Street, which is named after Foo Tye Sin, a commissioner into the 1867 Penang Riots, which saw clashes between the Hai San and Ghee Hin gangs.

Foo was an unusual man of his time. The Hakka tin miner and businessman could speak English fluently as he was schooled at St Xavier’s Institution and Penang Free School. He was even a Justice of Peace.

Colonel Sir Henry McCallum has a road named after him at the fifth street. The colonial engineer of the Straits Settlement also has a street named after him in Singapore. After his stint in Penang and Singapore, he went on to become the Governor of Lagos, Newfoundland, Natal and Ceylon.

The sixth street or lak tiau lor is named after the importing agents, Katz Brothers Ltd which was set up in 1864 by Hermann Katz and his brother.

The brothers supplied pepper and other goods to ships. They did so well that they opened branches in Penang, Sumatra and even London and Frankfurt, according to local historian and publisher Khoo Salma Nasution.

Landmark: Wisma Gama was once the site of the old police station and
gunpowder magazine. —Photo courtesy of Penang Public Library

The Katz Brothers brought in safe, locks and even sewing machines from Europe, among others, for sale in Penang.

The seventh street is named after another colonial officer, Sir Cecil Clementi, the Governor of the Straits Settlements between 1930 and 1934. He was a governor in Hong Kong prior to his posting in the Straits Settlement. In Singapore, Cecil Street is located near Raffles Singapore.

The Cantonese-speaking official was born in India to Colonel Montagu Clementi, a judge advocate general and his wife Isabel Collard. An Oxford graduate, he studied Sanskrit and classics to prepare himself for a role in the East.

Without doubt, there is plenty of history in the seven-street precinct and it is sad that they remain largely unknown to the residents and Penangites who pass by the area daily.

Just outside the precinct is the eighth street or Herriot Street — named after Stuart Herriot, a British merchant who stayed in Penang since the 1830s while ninth street — Sandilands Street — is named after another British businessman GM Sandilands.

According to Boon Raymond, the Ang Bin Hoey triad society had its headquarters at Sandilands Street.

At the end of December 1945, it was moved to 55, Maxwell Road. The triad society was dissolved in May 1946, but it continued its activities underground as a secret society.

According to an entry in Wikipedia, the Ang Bin Hoey, which is the Hokkien pronunciation of Hung Meng Hooi, was originally a society of the Ang people which was started during the Qing dynasty and was famed for its anti-Manchu activities.

In Penang, it evolved into local triads which gained notoriety for less noble pursuits.

Penang has become a magnet to many tourists because of its history and heritage. It is history that has made Penang such a unique tourist destination.

The federal and state governments should work together to ensure that this heritage is preserved to help Penangites keep history alive, and to remember those who have made the state what it is today.

Standing proud: The restored Suffolk House shines brightly in its restored grandeur.

AS A schoolboy taking the bus home, I would pass by the Methodist Boys School (MBS) in Jalan Air Itam almost every day.

I never knew about the existence of Suffolk House, where Captain Francis Light was said to have lived, nor understood its significance.

There was no mention of the mansion in my history textbooks. Furthermore, despite its granduer, it is off the main road, unlike the grand mansions along Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah or Northam Road. It didn’t help that I had no friends studying at MBS.

But over the past decade, the loud calls to restore Suffolk House and efforts by non-governmental organisations to educate Malaysians about its historical significance, got my attention to find out more.

I finally stepped into Suffolk House a few months ago during one of my regular trips home. An upscale restaurant is now operating at the historic mansion.

The architecture of the 200-year-old building is simply stunning. The ambience and charm of the restaurant was worth the hefty bill that I paid for a dinner for eight.

I had an important guest from Kuala Lumpur with me and there were plenty of reasons to show what Penang has to offer besides street food.

After the last course, I closed my eyes and let my imagination run wild, and a few glasses of wine earlier definitely helped.

It was easy. After all, Light used to hold social gatherings – dances and events — at his residence, so did the subsequent governors of Penang and the Straits Settlements in the 1800s.

But there are now reports that say Light actually lived in a smaller house at the estate. The present mansion was only built much later.

Suffolk House was so named because Light was born in Dallinghoo, Suffolk in East Anglia. The house actually stands on the estate that was originally owned by Light, and where many Europeans stayed on because of their love for Penang.

But that night my mind wasn’t fixed on Light. Until now, each time I think of Suffolk House, questions would cross my mind about his Thai-Eurasian wife, Martina Rozells.

Little has been written about her and yet she probably played a huge role in the life of Penang’s founder.

Flowy script: A letter signed by Light.

Light had met Rozells in Phuket, Thailand because it was his base for over a decade after he failed to convince the British of the importance of opening up Penang, which was an afterthought, in 1786.

Reading up about her life, I could not help but feel a strong sense of sympathy for her. Given her mixed ethnic background, she was probably a beauty but I am not sure she was given a fair deal by the British snobs.

Rozells has been referred to as Light’s wife but it was not clear whether she was his lawful wife or he simply regarded her as his wife. She had five children — three girls, Sarah, Mary and Ann and two sons, William and Francis Lanoon — with him.

When Light passed away in 1794 after suffering from malaria, his business partners, James Scott and William Fairlie, were the executors of his will.

According to some history books, the two transferred Light’s properties, including Suffolk Estate, to their own names and left Rozells in a lurch. In short, they cheated her.

She had to seek justice from the courts. But in the Victorian age, the fact that she was part Portuguese, part Thai and part French, was of no help. There have been suggestions by some writers that she was linked to Kedah royalty then, but this has never been substantiated.

She was a Roman Catholic while Light was an Anglican. In old Penang, the Anglicans reigned supreme. In their eyes, the marriage was not possible nor accepted, if indeed, there was a proper marriage.

In the book, Malaya’s First British Pioneer: The Life of Francis Light, HP Clodd wrote that Light “co-habited” with Rozells at least 22 years before his death in 1794 — as pointed out by historian Ooi Kee Beng in an article.

Interestingly enough, Light did leave Rozells a bungalow on the site next to the St Xavier’s Institution field.

In the book, Streets of George Town, a portion of Light’s will about this bungalow was reproduced:

“I give and bequeath unto the said Martina Rozells my bungalow in George Town with one set of mahogany tables, two card cables, two couches, two bedstead large and two small with bedding…. a dressing table and 18 chairs, two silver candle sticks, one silver teapot, two sugar dishes, twelve table spoons, twelve tea spoons, one soup spoon and all the utensils not under the stewards charge to be disposed of as she thinks proper without any limitation. I also give Martina Rozells four of my best cows and one bull….”

Ooi pointed out from Clodd’s book, “with little known about her, a shroud of mystery had grown around her over time”.

We do know that she bore him two sons and three daughters, the most famous of the children being William, who was the founder of Adelaide.

The book also mentioned, “Only two years after his death, Light’s estates were fast running into jungle to the certain loss of his heirs and the Company (British East India Company). His son-in-law, a General Welsh who married Sarah Light, would lament in 1818 that his wife’s siblings had lived to see every inch of ground and even his [Light’s] houses alienated from them. Rozells reportedly lived for several years on the land and in the bungalow bequeathed her by her common-law husband, and may have later married one John Timmer.”

Rozells was said to have held his wedding ceremony at the chapel in Fort Cornwallis in 1799. It was also said that after the service, the chapel was sealed off until now. No explanations had been found.

We can conclude that Rozells did not live an easy life in Penang. She failed to get her justice in the British-run court.

To keep her mouth shut, the British East India Company reportedly paid her a pension but kept the jewel in the crown.

In the eyes of British officials, Light did not marry Rozells but among the Eurasians and Thai community, she was regarded as his official wife.

It is sad that detailed and reliable information about her is almost non-existent even though she was the closest person to Light.

More information has surfaced over the past months — thanks to the work of Australian historian Marcus Langdon, who wrote that Suffolk House was built by (acting governor of Prince of Wales’ Island) William Edward Phillips. Philips was also the owner of Strawberry Hill on Penang Hill and not David Brown — Light’s partner.

Langdon had also written that Philips was the one who took over the pepper estate belonging to Light, on which stands Suffolk House, believed to have been built by Philips, who was acting governor of Penang in 1817.

In short – Light stayed at the Suffolk Estate but not at Suffolk House. Still, as I sipped my glass of wine at the restaurant on that rainy night, I could feel the presence of these iconic British figures who played a major role in making Penang what it is today.

Blame it on my imagination, the wet weather or simply the wine, but I could feel the many voices telling me to return to Suffolk House. I will, soon.