A Penang Comprador: “There Was Always Carlsberg beer in the House”

By Anne Tan

May 2024 FEATURE
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With his family, the Penang comprador is formally framed in front of the colonial-style villa located at No.1, Ayer Rajah Road. The family was likely photographed during celebrations for the Lunar New Year and the photo dates from around c.1940-1941. (I can accurately date this because my future husband, the small boy standing in front of his father, was around four or five at the time). All the children were wearing Western-style clothes unlike the parents, she in a sarong and blouse and he, in merchant attire. His grandmother, Yeoh Hung Neo (originally from Fujian province in China), wore a recognisably traditional Chinese garb and with distinctive bound feet. Even though her feet were bound, she still chased after them as children, though rather unsuccessfully according to my husband! Their clothing reveals a subtle shift in cultural norms.
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TAN HENG SOON (1894-1962), a Straits-born Baba, was a comprador for the Danish East Asiatic Company, a prestigious European company established in 1897 by H.N. Andersen with extensive operations in Southeast Asia. The company, where Tan served from 1930 to 1953, operated at No.3, Weld Quay in George Town, Penang.The word “comprador” is derived from the Portuguese word for “buyer”, i.e., employed as an agent by European houses. A comprador was characterised by a proficiency in English, possessing of business...

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References
  • [1] Tan, A. (2021) Travels in Siam and Laos: a lost photo album. ScandAsia, November 9,2021.
  • [2] Tan, A. (2023) Travels in Siam: Teak Exploration and Photography.
  • [3] ScandAsia, July 20, 2023.
  • [4] Thitibordin, A.(2016) Control and Prosperity: The Teak Business in Siam 1880’s -1932. Unpublished thesis.
Anne Tan

is a retired academic (Deakin University, Melbourne) with a publishing history both internal and external. She has published articles on East Asiatic Company’s teak explorations in Siam and Laos at the beginning of the 20th century and has recently completed documenting a photo album recording an intrepid teak journey conducted by both East Asiatic Company personnel and an affiliated company, L’Est Asiatique Francaise. Anne has travelled to Penang from Australia more times than she can count and considers Penang her second home.

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