Walking among Penang's late icons

The Star

06-05-2025

GEORGE TOWN: If you take a stroll through the 139-year-old Batu Gantung cemetery, you will discover the final resting place of many prominent figures who had brought pride and honour to Penang.
Established in 1886, the cemetery also has a columbarium which houses the ashes of prominent personalities such as Dr Wu Lien-Teh (1879-1960), who is best known for his work in controlling the Manchurian plague of 1910-11.
Dr Wu, who was the first medical student of Chinese descent to graduate from the University of Cambridge, had introduced ground­­breaking quarantine measures and designed the ­modern medical face mask.
He later became the first Chinese person nominated for the Nobel Prize in medicine.
Another public figure buried at the cemetery is former Penang chief minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, who once helmed Penang for 21 years from 1969 to 1990, ­making him the longest-serving leader in the state's history.
Born in 1919, he is widely recog­nised as the 'architect of modern Penang' and was among the few ethnic Chinese to have received the prestigious title of 'Tun'.
Iconic projects that emerged during his tenure include the 60-storey Komtar building and the 13.5km-long Penang Bridge. Chong Eu passed away at the age of 91 in 2010.
His wife, Goh Sing Yeng, who passed away two years later at the age of 93, was buried in the same grave.
Next to Chong Eu's grave lies the grave of his father Dr Lim Chwee Leong, a distinguished medical practitioner and paediatrician in Penang, who passed away at the age of 66 in 1957.
Chwee Leong founded the Soo Beng Dispensary at the junction of Carnarvon Street and what was formerly Prangin Road, which was later renamed Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong in the 1980s to ­honour his contributions to the community.
Near the entrance of the cemetery stands a grand family vault belonging to businessman and prominent community leader Lim Kek Chuan (1858-1907), where his remains and his first three wives were buried.
The graveyard is decorated with carved granite motifs and sculptures of horsemen, servants, handmaidens and warriors.
Kek Chuan, who was a successful businessman, was born in Penang and studied at Penang Free School before he went on to develop properties and own shops, including both rows of houses at the Kek Chuan Road named after him.
He founded and was also the president of both the Penang Chamber of Commerce and Penang Chinese Recreation Club.
He was also a trustee of Penang Chinese Town Hall and Kew Leong Tong Lim Lim Kongsi, and was among the major benefactors who had contributed to the construction of Kek Lok Si Temple and Tua Pek Kong Temple in Tanjung Tokong, Penang.
Kek Chuan had four wives, namely Oh Kee Neo, Oh Jim Neo, Ong Cheow Bee and Eng Khim.
Other notable public figures buried at the cemetery include merchants and entrepreneurs who had contributed to Penang's founding in its early days such as Oon Boon Tan (1864-1930), Chee Si Teong (1860-1938), Saw Soon Choo (1858-1941), Lim Seng Hooi (1872-1942), Choong Lye Hock (1882-1960), Lim Cheng Teik (1884-1978), Saw Choo Teng (1900-1988), as well as Ong Boon Tek and Quah Beng Hoe.
Their graves are among over 20,000 at the cemetery, which had been identified and marked under a project undertaken by the Penang United Hokkien Ceme­teries (UHC), to promote the ­cemetery's historical significance.
Its chairman, Datuk Cheah Cheng Ean, said about RM200,000 was spent to develop the project dubbed the 'Batu Gantung Memo­rial & Heritage Park'.
'It took two years of planning with the state Heritage Depart­ment to identify and construct walking paths and signboards.
'We have identified a total of 13 historical personalities under phase one of the project that was launched in March this year, with about 10 more to come in the next phase.
'Visitors are allowed to ride their bicycles along the designa­ted trails, or walk to visit and pay their respects at the graves.'
Apart from having mapped out the cemetery for ease of identification, the cemetery has also documented its history and heritage.
UHC, established in 1923, currently manages five cemeteries, namely Batu Lanchang (1805), Lau Khau Tiam Cemetery in Mount Erskine (1842), Batu Gantung (1886), Paya Terubong (1941) and Teluk Bahang (1965), covering about 215ha with about 88,000 graves in total.
It holds a one-quarter share in the 26 Company Burial Grounds.
In Batu Gantung, the Centenary Pavilion, which has stood for 138 years, is featured as its main architectural structure, oriented west-to-east and consists of four interconnected rectangular buil­d­ings.
Featuring a fusion of Eastern and Western architecture, both the main and secondary pavilions are built on stone foundations with a covered corridor connecting them.
The cemetery is open from 8.30am to 4.30pm daily.