The Feisty History of Penang SCBA
By Koay Su Lyn, Pan Yi Chieh
July 2019 FEATURE
During British Malaya, the creolized Chinese in Penang, Melaka and Singapore (conjoined to form the Straits Settlements in 1826) were known as the Straits Chinese. Being elite locals who enjoyed the patronage of the Empire, the Straits Chinese proudly distinguished themselves as the King’s or Queen’s Chinese.Old photos of SCBA.Despite their privileged identity, an organized platform to safeguard their rights as British subjects remained non-existent apart from the more commercially inclined Chinese Town Hall and Chinese Chamber of Commerce.It was not until the formation of the Straits...
Koay Su Lyn
reads and writes of the past to make sense of the present. She is a research analyst in the History and Heritage Programme of Penang Institute.
Pan Yi Chieh
is a research analyst at Penang Institute who was born in Taiwan but now lives in Penang. She is proud to be nurtured by the two beautiful islands she regards as home.
