The Kwangtung and Tengchow Association in George Town: From managing cemeteries to keeping cultural heritage alive for more than 200 years

Malay Mail

9 hours ago

GEORGE TOWN, July 4 — Originally established to manage communal cemeteries for Chinese immigrants from Guangdong and Fujian provinces in China, the Kwangtung and Tengchow Association's beginnings here can be traced back to 1795.
Today, the association is more than just an organisation that manages five large cemeteries. It actively organises cultural events to encourage more ethnic Chinese youths to take an interest in their cultural heritage.
'It is an umbrella body of 18 other organisations so our members consist of representatives from these organisations,' said association president Datuk Lio Chee Yeong.
He said the association has 66 members on the board of directors consisting of members from these organisations.
The 18 organisations are associations for the Hakka, Cantonese, Hainanese and Teochew from different areas of Guangdong and Fujian.
'Originally we had 19 member associations but one does not have any members to take over the leadership so it is no longer active,' he said.
Getting young members to join and continue on the legacy of the associations is a tough challenge, he added.
'This is why we are now focused on organising more cultural events and activities to attract more new members to join our members' associations,' he said.
'We do not want more of these associations to become inactive or disappear.'
They allocate annual funds to their member associations for general upkeep of their buildings and additional funds to hold activities such as for Cheng Beng and Hungry Ghost Festival.
He said the association will be 230 years old this year and they have organised numerous talks and seminars on Chinese culture in collaboration with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR).
'We also organised some of these forums in English to attract Malaysian Chinese youths who don't read or speak Mandarin and at the same time for other races to attend and understand our culture,' he said.
Aside from that, the association also organised other events such as the Best Char Koay Teow competition for hawkers recently and other cultural programmes.
The association originally did not have its own office when it was first formed.
'Our records show that we received a site for an office at Penang Street in 1919,' he said.
Representatives from the Guangdong General Goods Association had transferred ownership of four shoplots including number 50 Penang Street to the association.
'A building was only constructed in 1938 and it was completed in 1941,' he said.
The building, an imposing structure, was built in an Art Deco architectural style with a fortress-like design and two towers flanking the entrance.
It was designed by London-born architect Charles Geoffrey and its architectural style was according to the trend of most Art Deco buildings constructed in the early 20th century.
'Inside, we have a prayer hall dedicated to Lie Sheng Gong, Guan Yu and Confucius,' Lio said.
Upstairs the conference room has been upgraded so now they can organise workshops and seminars at the office.
Lio said the association continues to manage five cemeteries located at Mount Erskine and Teluk Bahang.
'We have plans to build a new columbarium in Mount Erskine due to high demand,' he said.
The association office will be open for tours during the Historic Building Open House programme in conjunction with Penang heritage celebrations on July 7.
Lio hopes this will cultivate an interest in the association and its many cultural and religious activities.