The Malay Heritage Trail: A Journey of Personal Discovery

MY JOURNEY BEGAN on sundrenched Acheen Street, not as a tourist, but as a participant in the Malay Heritage Trail organised by my team at Penang Hidden Gems in conjunction with the George Town Literary Festival. Guided by the insightful Fairus Saad, 20 of us—a diverse mix of local and international visitors—walked through Armenian and Acheen Street, a journey that revealed a microcosm of Malaysia’s rich and complex history.

Three kampung houses nestled within Acheen Street’s compound became our first lesson in the multifaceted nature of Malay identity. Fairus eloquently detailed the history of these buildings, highlighting Al-Mashoor, Penang’s first Islamic religious school, housed within one of them.