Is heritage losing its charm as development takes the lead in Penang?

GEORGE TOWN – The moment Louise Goss-Custard and Thomas Arnold Schmidt entered the dilapidated two-storey home at 31, Chow Thye Road, during their Christmas holiday here in 2007, they knew it was going to be their forever home.

Of course, the friends they went with thought they were crazy. With wooden ceilings darkened by decades of joss stick smoke rising from religious ancestral worship, weather-worn crumbling shutters, non-existent plumbing and a roof that looked like it could cave in at any moment, they believed they were doing their friends a service.

Well, the couple considered their advice and went to look at other properties the next time they visited in 2008. But none captured their hearts the way the badly maintained home did.

“When we first visited, it was one of those holidays where you think this place is rather nice and you start poking around the property market.

“And we thought we can't possibly move here at that time because we were still based in Shanghai. But we did want a holiday home where we could escape from the pollution and be at someplace more laidback and Penang was it.

“After not-very-successful price negotiations, we still decided to get it because it was so lovely and we could see the potential this house could bring,” Goss-Custard told The Vibes.

With the purchase down, the bulk of the work starts. It took six months of renovation before they could move in.

History behind the facade

The bungalow at 31, Chow Thye Road was commissioned in 1935 by Yeoh Siew Hooi, a traditional Nyonya lady who by then was widowed for almost 30 years. She was the official wife of Khoo Chong Hock and her son-in-law, Tan Ghee Poh, was the manager of the Straits Echo, one of the few English language newspapers at the time.

A widow purchasing a bungalow may not turn heads today, but at that time, the transaction was made when women were unable to own properties.

Yeoh acted independently after her husband's death and appointed famous Penang architect Chew Eng Eam, who built the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Sien Ewe Theatre (now called Majestic Theatre), to design a home fashioned in the style of the grand houses on Northam Road, otherwise known as the Millionaire’s Row.

The house was (when compared to the ones on Northam Road) humble, but stunning in its own right. Though illiterate, Yeoh approved the architect's plan with her thumbprint and instructed that no trees were to be cut during the construction of the house.

The original layout featured a motor garage, a grand living room and a driveway with a turning circle. However, after a series of setbacks that were probably financial, they had to give some of the land to the government, to which they lost their grand turning circle.

Goss-Custard and Schmidt bought the home from Yeoh’s grandchildren, Tan Eng Jin and his sister, Tan Keow Choon, who decided to sell the house so they could move into a more comfortable place with air conditioning and plumbing as they were advanced in years.

Restoring the home

“When we met Yeoh’s grandchildren who sold the house to us, they told us that her ghost was still residing here and that she is nice.

“After we moved in, I must say I don’t know if I really saw her ghost but I think she liked what we did to the place, after we tried to bring it back to its former glory,” Schmidt said.

Even before George Town was inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, the couple had already met with the people from Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) to inquire about the types of paint needed to protect the aged walls.

They also did a deep dive into its history and did their best to preserve as much of the original structure and trimmings as they could.

They placed glass over the ventilation panels with pineapple motives which the Chinese believe could usher in wealth and prosperity, repainted the ceiling that was ash-black from incense burning and added red linear trimmings along the walls after drawing inspiration from the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) building in George Town.

Behind the grand living room was the non-formal section of the house with two entrances flanked on both sides. On the right was where concrete tanks to keep fish were placed. The couple then turned it into a swimming pool.

On the left was what used to be the motor garage which was turned into a spare room by its previous owners. It now serves as her flute practice room and a guest room. Instead of replacing broken or worn trimmings and furnishings with modern ones, they sourced for old-fashioned pieces to complement the home’s heritage.

Even in the kitchen, working in harmony with their modern, steely appliances, the charcoal burners were kept in their original condition. Behind the home was the original outdoor toilet that has now been enclosed for their ducks, but much had to be done to introduce plumbing to the home.

With a half-bath added to the ground floor and a whole room upstairs turned into a super-spacious bathroom overlooking its terracotta roof tiles, the once-crumbling home now sees a new lease on life.

Private house tours

Once it was ready and liveable, Schmidt relocated from Shanghai to Penang while Goss-Custard still commuted from Singapore to Penang over weekends. However, it was not long before she decided to stay on and invest her time in the Penang scene.

What they did not expect, however, were curious visitors who came knocking, asking to view their home.

“There were aunties in their 70s who came and asked if they could come to look at the house. 

“They told us later that when they were little children, they would come over using the back door to learn English; however because they were never allowed in from the grand living room.

“These ladies were those living on Transfer Road and around the vicinity as children,” Schmidt told The Vibes.

Others also came over to thank them for trying to restore it to as close to what it was when it was first built.

Risks from possible mega-development

In December 2021, the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) ordered tenants of 34 units along Chow Thye Road, to evacuate in one month. However, the plan was called off after an uproar. PDC then decided to explore other options for development.

Unfortunately, the worst is not over as the 1920s pre-war government quarters turned into shop-lots will see more than half its number bulldozed and replaced by a 42-storey building. According to Schmidt who also runs a business at Burmah Square, the eviction plan has just been postponed from January 1, 2022, to December 2023.

Goss-Custard said the pre-war developments in this area were not built on foundations as they were meant to sit on soil. It is confirmed by the architectural plan they inherited from the original owners of the house. It is believed that the soil is also “swampy” as there are many underground water streams that lead to the sea located only 500 metres away.

“We do have a little underground stream that crosses our kitchen, but the problem is we do not know how many there are in this area where they are going to erect this massive development.

“When you take up such a big area for development and you square it out with your foundation, the water will find other directions to flow into the ocean.

“It will affect the houses here and over at Service Road. Then the ground will start to shift and there will be cracks on the buildings around it,” Schmidt explained.

In 1980, Northam Court, a 16-storey luxurious condominium that was almost complete had to be halted and later demolished because it was tilting and was at risk of collapse. There was no report on the reason behind the tilt.

The couple believes that the ground beneath it was not strong enough to withhold its weight. A 21-storey MBF tower was then built on the same site in 1990 and is located is approximately 100m away from Chow Thye Road.

Traffic congestion is also an issue Goss-Custard is worried about. She said that when the people from PDC came to show them the traffic simulation, it looked like traffic flow was going to be smooth.

However, after living here for more than a decade, she knows that Chow Thye Road will experience heavy traffic as cars head out to an even busier Burmah Road. What's more when there is a high-rise development with a retail and living space attached to it.

“It would be five to 10 times the congestion we are experiencing now, no matter how much you widen the road.”

Engaging the community

When the couple heard about the plans by PDC, they began to speak to the homeowners along Chow Thye Road and Service Road and tenants of Burmah Square. However, they said that though many are upset, they didn’t see any point in fighting because "if the government wants to do it, it will happen."

“Many are worried that it will cost money. There are also many elderlies who are not highly educated, hence, they do not understand the paperwork and are often frightened of doing anything against the government.

“But we love Penang and we love our neighbourhood, so we are prepared to fight for this.

“We feel it is better than saying ‘it’s going to happen anyway’ and selling this house over to another developer who probably will build another 42-storey building,” Goss-Custard said. 

The couple is suing the Penang state government, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and PDC on March 29 and has requested copies of relevant reports including traffic flow, environmental impact assessment (EIA), geological studies, feasibility studies and possible pollution for the proposed project from the High Court. – The Vibes, April 10, 2022