Every year we publish a selection of our readers’ accounts of the everyday people whose friendliness and humour make Penang such an exceptionally nice place to live. They do ordinary jobs with grace and integrity that is an inspiration to us all. Actually, they are all really extraordinary people and so make sure you meet them if you can.

Kenny and Alvin Wong – guardians of George Town’s Heritage

Museums are more than a collection of old stuff about dead people. They really benefit from having a friendly, sunny element that helps bring history to life. As the in-house guides at the Sun Yat Sen Museum, Penang (www.sunyatsenpenang.com), cheery brothers Kenny and Alvin Wong welcome guests to the atmospheric shophouse in the heritage zone each day, seven days a week. They love visitors, and between them can guide tourists in Mandarin, Bahasa, English, Hokkien, Cantonese, basic Hakka and Thai.

Alvin started working at the museum three years on his own, but when he had to go into hospital, Kenny took over his duties. “Then we formed a partnership,” Alvin says.

“It showed the pair of us get results.” Kenny tends to the plants, keeps the drinks flowing and photographs guests while Alvin does the paperwork. They are infi nitely courteous and patient, whether explaining the significance of tortoise-shaped cake moulds, or that the house was once the base for the secret society and underground resistance movement Tongmenghui, and a centre of revolutionary activity.

Dr Sun Yat Sen was the first president and founding father of modern China. The museum at 120 Armenian Street has a permanent exhibition on his time in Penang, when he planned the historic uprising of the Chinese Revolution of 1911, and is open from 9am to 5pm each day. Admission is RM5, including drinks.

-Carolyn O’Donnell-

William Ong – Creative Entrepreneur and Landlord

When “living the expat life”, circumstances sometimes allow you to meet fascinating people that you might not otherwise have encountered. My landlord is a perfect example. “Aquaponics” is William Ong’s current passion. He arrived at my house one day on fire with enthusiasm for a unique circulating system he is designing. It’s that “green” and he has a plan to transform the concrete spaces around this little house into a tropical jungle filled with fresh fruits and vegetables.

I’m thinking, wouldn’t I love to be able to pick organic vegetables, fruit and herbs right off the vine from the comfort of home? Over coffee, we brainstorm ideas for a “coffee table version” of the system and another that can be rolled out on a cart to grow on a balcony. William thinks bigger – he envisions whole acres of organic vegetables and ways that the customer could sell back their extra supplies. I imagine building an arbour around the house, draped with hanging vines from which I pick large ripe fruit as fountains play… I urge William to continue his R & D of this unique product.

A lifelong Penangite, William’s family has a long established history here. His mother purchased land in Tanjung Bunga back in the sixties and designed her own little 2-bedroom house where I now stay. It’s a peaceful place but the neighbours are all close by. I can’t wait to be surrounded by greenery – and to taste the fi rst fruits of William’s latest creative project!

-Teviot Fairservis-

Liang – Hawker Stall owner

I have been visiting Penang for more years than I can remember. On most visits I drop in to Liang’s hawker stall cum basic outdoor restaurant. It’s located in the alleyway between the Golden Sands Hotel and the Lone Pine and is defi nitely worth a visit. Called Tan Sam Guan Seafood, it’s in the middle of a row of three stalls. The outlet was originally run by Liang’s father and when he retired she took over with her husband, Loon. She’s very friendly and speaks excellent English and this has resulted in a regular flow of customers beyond the tourists who find it as they stroll down the lane which is also home to various local, low cost shops.

The food is all freshly cooked, without any MSG, which my wife regards as very important, and its one meal where we are guaranteed to see all the children eating without saying they don’t like the taste. “I love cooking. I make a big wok of veggie stock first thing in the morning,” she tells me. “It’s tasty enough with that – you don’t need to put MSG.” Her sizzling dishes, with choice of chicken, prawns, seafood, or beef, and her fried rice certainly testify to that.

As they have a young family, they only work from 9am to 5pm so they can spend some time with their kids. It’s just the place for breakfast, a relaxed lunch, or anytime during the day when you feel hunger pangs!

-Andy Davison-

Mr Lee – the Joss Stick Maker

Mr Lee’s shop at 1 Lorong Muda, bears no name but is instantly recognisable as a colourful emporium devoted to joss, those incense sticks of varying sizes which are burnt at temples all over Penang.

He makes the joss sticks by hand, as he has done for the last sixty years, using sandalwood power, sawdust, and a binding agent, which he calls sticky powder. The mixture is then kneaded like bread and the resulting “dough” is wrapped around a bamboo stick or formed into cone shapes. They are then allowed to dry in the sun. Sometimes he makes small cone-shaped joss and here he is with a tray of them that have been put in the sun to dry. Some of his creations are huge, though, and can burn for days, scenting the air around Taoist deities with the aroma of fragrant sandalwood.

Although Mr Lee is 86 years old, and can remember many of the major events of the 20th century, such as the Japanese occupation of Penang, he has the demeanour of a much younger man. Passionate about his craft and keen to share it with people, he is truly part of the living heritage of George Town.

-Frances Wilks-

Choong Yoon Kean – philanthropist and teacher

Her students come from as far as Kuala Lumpur to take her popular courses in Finance and Accounting at College PTPL Penang but they come away with something more – a sense of responsibility and an understanding of the importance of kindness and charity.

Passionate about teaching, while guiding students to pass their ACCA exams, she also encourages them to get involved in charity work. Her love of animals – especially cats (she has fi ve) – led her to get involved with 4PAWS, the Penang Animal Welfare Society and it’s just one of several projects she currently supports. Using the power of Facebook and the internet, she tells touching stories of animals in need and her 4PAWS writing now reaches 30,000 people.

She says, “When I reached a certain level of stability in my career, a certain level of comfort in my earnings, I started to reach out… but it is all also thanks to a very close childhood friend, whom I have known for over 30 years. She is also involved in many kind deeds and we inspire each other.”

Her motto? “A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives roses…”

-Teviot Fariservis-

Andrew – purveyor of Delicacies

One of my local heroes is Andrew who owns and runs (with his family) the Straits Mini Market here in Hillside, Tanjung Bunga. When I fi rst came across his shop three years ago I felt that I had stumbled across an Aladdin’s cave of food wonders. He stocks items that are hard to find anywhere else, delights such as tahini, English mustard, Branston’s Pickle, Roses Lime juice, and a variety of home-made comestibles such as chocolates, pork sausages, fresh bread, and cakes. Foods that an English person probably doesn’t miss until she or he sees them on the shelves.

And apart from selling great stuff in his shop, he is a delight to talk to. He has a great sense of humour, and is generous, as well as putting up with my dog, Chuti, not the most popular animal in the world! Andrew has been running the shop since 1968. His customers back then were the Australian and British Royal Air Forces.

-Kathy Roper-

Source: Penang International December 2013/January 2014

Read more:

• Ordinary People who Make Penang Extraordinary
• Ten Richest People in Malaysia 2013
• The People Who Make Malaysia a Multicultural Haven

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