A space called Westlands

UNTIL 1957, there was only the Westlands School. In that year, another block of school buildings opened in Khaw Sim Bee Road and that became the Westlands Secondary School. The original Westlands School in Victoria Green Road thus became known as the Westlands Primary School to differentiate it from the secondary school.

But Westlands. What was Westlands back in the past before the Westlands School was constructed? Until the early 1930s, the area was reported to be a wide open space belonging to Khaw Joo Chie, one of the eminent sons of Khaw Sim Bee who, in turn, was the most eminent and illustrious scion of Khaw Soo Cheang. The Khaw family had their business empire in Thailand.

In 1919, the President of the Penang Municipal Commission stated at a meeting that Joo Chie had “placed 25 acres of land at Westlands for Municipal coolies to plant foodstuffs and had also given $200 as prizes to the coolies who grew the most foodstuffs on the land.” (Malaya Tribune, 16th May, 1919)

Logan Road, Perak Road, Pangkor Road and Burmah Road made up much of the perimeter of the Westlands open space. To the south-east of this land was a road known as Westlands Avenue. It was only in this south-eastern corner that several spacious bungalows had been erected.

There were four detached bungalows which together were known as the Westlands Bungalows, inhabited mainly by the Europeans. One of the former headmasters of Penang Free School, Ralph Henry Pinhorn, was known to have stayed in one of these bungalows. Another well-known occupant of the Westlands Bungalows was the Revd George F Pykett who was very closely associated with the growth of the Anglo-Chinese School in Penang. The Anglo-Chinese School later became known as the Methodist Boys' School. Directly opposite the Westlands Bungalows but facing Westlands Avenue was a mansion belonging to the Khaw Sim Bee family, known as Westlands House.

In the 1930s, these were the only references to Westlands that I knew of: the four units making up Westlands Bungalows, Westlands House, Westlands Avenue and the vast tract of open space called Westlands bordered by the five roads named above. Sadly, all five landmarks have disappeared from the maps.

The 18th December 1931 edition of The Straits Times had a one-line mention of Westlands as a “large open space” that had been marked out for road construction. Then on 20th February 1932, the Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser reported that “a block of land about 7½ acres in Burmah Road, Penang, known as ‘Westlands’, belonging to Mr Khaw Joo Chie, has just been acquired by Government for a sum of $115,000, which works out approximately to $15,500 per acre. The site is intended for the new buildings of the Government English School at present in Northam Road.”

So there we have it, the first mention of a school going up in a large open space known as Westlands. But also interesting is the news of an existing Government English School in Northam Road which I shall write more about that in a later post.

© Quah Seng Sun 2018