Light Street & Pitt Street Walking Tour - Part 1

The Penang Light & Pitt Streets Walking Tour is a free self-guided tour which visitors to Penang can do on their own, guided by the information provided on this website. It takes you through two significant streets in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of George Town. These two streets give enormous insight into the development of the early British settlement in George Town. The distance covered is just 3400 feet (1km) and can be completed on foot in about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. I recommend doing it in the early part of the day which is cooler. Doing it on a Sunday morning is even better, as the place will be devoid of traffic. This tour comprises two parts, One and Two.

In Part One, we start our walking tour at the sidewalk in front of the Light Street - Beach Street roundabout (the same place as the Upper Beach Street Walking Tour). On our left side is the the Immigration Department building. On our right is Fort Cornwallis.

Light Street, or Lebuh Light as it is now called, was the first street in George Town that was laid out. Francis Light, the founder of the settlement, named it after himself as Superintendent. When the street was first laid out, it was lined with European residences. The grounds of these European residences were gradually bought over by wealthy Chinese tycoons, from the second half of the 19th century. The eastern end of Light Street used to end at a pier used by the East India Company as a jetty until such time that that part of George Town was reclaimed. The site where the jetty stood is where you find the Penang Port Commission building, along King Edward's Place (Pesara King Edward).

Light Street was known as Po Le Khau in Hokkien, meaning "entrance to the Police Courts". This refers to the Magistrate's Courts and Recorder's Courts building, a 19th century Anglo-Indian structure which today houses the State Assembly (Dewan Undangan Negeri). It was build like a Greek temple to represent "temples of justice". The Central Police Station of George Town occupied a much bigger area than it does today. Both the Immigration Department building and the State Assembly building were part of the police office complex. Today, the police station is reduced to a small building facing Beach Street, with quarters behind it.

On the opposite site of Light Street is Fort Cornwallis (3). From the very beginning of the settlement until late in the 19th century, the fort was functioning as the military and administrative center for the East India Company. The Padang, or field, next to the fort was used for military parades and exercise. This whole area, known today as the Esplanade, was originally called North Beach.

At the junction of Light Street and Penang Street is the first of several mansions belonging to wealthy 19th century Chinese tycoons. It is the Foo Tye Sin Mansion, built by a man whose name remains on Tye Sin Street (Lebuh Tye Sin) today. A pillar in the Chinese community, Tye Sin acted as a commissioner to investigate the causes of the Penang Riots of 1867. English educated at Penang Free School, Tye Sin built his mansion in the Neo-Classical style some time between 1870-80. His decision to build in a European style was emulated by other Chinese tycoons in Penang. Today, Foo Tye Sin Mansion is restored and houses a bank.

Across Penang Street from Foo Tye Sin Mansion is the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Building, designed by Penang architect Chew Eng Eam in 1926. Compare it with the Loke Thye Kee Restaurant building, also designed by Chew in 1919. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce Building has a colonnaded five foot way. At the top of the building is the Open Hall. It is a place where the Chinese businessmen came to entertain, as it has a good view of the Esplanade across the street.

Linked to the Chinese Chamber of Commerce building is a 1950's style Chinese-run hotel building. It continues the five-foot way from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Building, right up to the junction with King Street (Lebuh King).

On the other side of King Street is Wisma Great Eastern, a recent development around a mansion called Chung Siew Yin Mansion (or Chung Siew in Building). The double-storey Chung Siew Yin Building was originally constructed in the 19th century, and was renovated in the late Art Deco style in 1952. It housed the New Straits Times in the 1980's before being left unoccupied for many years. Today it has been restored and annexed by a local insurance company.

Immediately after is the Bank Negara Malaysia building. It occupies the land which was previously Gan Goh Bee Mansion. Gan Goh Bee (also written Gan Ngoh Bee) is a wealthy Chinese merchant in the late 1880's, trading in pepper, rice, tin, opium and spirits. He had businesses extending to Calcutta, Rangoon and Singapore, and was a trustee of the Penang Free School. The Bank Negara Malaysia building was built in the 1970's to house the Penang branch of the central bank. So here ends Part One of this walking tour.

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