The roads around Westlands

IN ONE of my earlier stories, A space called Westlands, I had included this map that I traced free-hand from the Kelly Maps that I originally found on the Internet. 

For those not in the know, the Kelly Maps is a collection of historic survey maps made of George Town, Penang Island and Province Wellesley. Between 1891 and 1893, FW Kelly supervised the block surveys of the entire of Penang and in the ensuing years until 1897, his block surveys were put together into a grid and thus forming sheets. These block surveys are now referred to collectively as the Kelly Maps. Thanks to FW Kelly, we now have a pretty good idea of what Penang must have looked like in the early 1890s.

Recently, I uncovered an undated map of George Town which I would place as maybe 1935 or 1936, basing this assumption on the fact that the Westlands School building was already on the map while the Anglo-Chinese School building (later to become the Pykett Methodist Primary School) was not. The ACS building was only constructed in 1937 and indeed, it was officially declared open by the Straits Settlements Governor, Sir Shenton Thomas, on the 11th of December that year.

What’s so fascinating about this meticulously-drawn map is that it still showed the four bungalows which were collectively known as the Westlands Bungalows as well as the Khaw Sim Bee Mansion (aka the Westlands House).

By 1936, there was already a through road that linked from the Westlands Bungalows to the Chinese Recreation Club. Although the CRC was established in 1892, their present grounds were only acquired sometime between 1903 and 1906. Their Victorian-style clubhouse saw light of  day in 1931 and until it was built, the club was using an old wooden bungalow called Eastbourne, located at the corner of Pangkor Road and Burmah Road, where the Queen Victoria memorial statue stands today. Westlands School was located on Victoria Green Road which was named after the Victoria Green of the Chinese Recreation Club. Skirting the southern boundary of the school grounds was Westlands Road. Maybe in 1936, it was still uncompleted or untarred but it was to connect Perak Road to Anson Road. Part of the road was later to be renamed as Khaw Sim Bee Road.

The renaming of roads in Penang probably began from 1941. The sharp-eyed scrutineer of the map would have noticed the presence of another road in the vicinity known as Westlands Avenue. That was indeed the original name of the present-day Pykett Avenue. In a tribute story carried by the Malaya Tribune of 9 Jan 1941, it read:

Westlands Avenue will henceforth be called Pykett Avenue in memory of the late Rev GF Pykett.

This change of name was made possible by an eloquent appeal by Dr Ong Huck Chye seconded by Mr HH Abdool Cader, before the Penang Municipal Commissioners at their first meeting of the year yesterday.

Dr Huck Chye declared that section 109 of the Municipal Ordinance which did not give the Commissioners any power to change the names of streets had been so amended by Ordinance 48 of 1940 that they now have the full discretion to do so as and when required.

He proceeded to give a concise history of the Anglo-Chinese School and the life of the late Rev Pykett, whose contribution to education in Malaya, he said, was by no means small.

Dr Huck Chye said:

“The Anglo-Chinese School Penang, one of the three leading English schools in this settlement, is celebrating its Golden Jubilee sometime in May this year. It is but befitting that such a memorable occasion be commemorated by the erection of a lasting monument in the form of a bust, or statue of its founder or pioneer worker or in the least by the naming of an important landmark or thoroughfare after him.”

© Quah Seng Sun 2018