Weld Quay Clan Jetties
PenangSentral.com » Penang Tourist Attractions » Weld Quay Clan Jetties
The houses used to have atap roofs but these have since been replaced with
zinc sheets. The 8 clan jetties may be located at the backwaters of George Town
but the 6ha area is home to a priceless piece of Penang’s history and a living
heritage that serves as a reminder of one of South East Asia’s most important
maritime ports.
In total, there are eight clan jetties along Weld Quay namely Chew Jetty, Koay
Jetty, Lee Jetty, Lim Jetty, Peng Aun Jetty, Tan Jetty, Yeoh Jetty and Mixed
Clans Jetty.
The birth place of many community leaders and successful merchants, Weld Quay is
a crime-free settlement – a claim several residents attest to.
Here, people consider their neighbours family and would bend over backwards to
help each other – a rarity in this modern day and age. The settlement’s oldest
resident is 91-year-old great-grandfather Chew Boon Cheang. The friendly old
chap doesn’t speak a word of English but will flash the warmest smile whenever
he sees a tourist visiting the settlement.
His parents were pioneer immigrants who came to seek their fortune here more
than a century ago. Lured by the promise of a better future for their poor
families back home, Chinese immigrants from the different clans settled here and
lived in groups according to their provinces. The five main clans at the jetties
are Lim, Chew, Tan, Lee and Yeoh. There other immigrants stayed together at the
Chap Seh Keo (Mixed Surname Jetty).
In the old days, traders from Myanmar (then Burma), Acheh and Medan in
Indonesia, and Kerabi and Phuket in Thailand would come to Penang, providing
opportunities for the Weld Quay settlers who were mainly boatmen, fishermen,
odd-job labourers and porters, to earn a good living.
Today, the young ones, who no longer depend on the sea for a living, have moved
out of the settlement while their elders continue to enjoy the wooden jetties’
laidback lifestyle.
During the Thee Kong Seh (Jade Emperor’s birthday), Phor Tor (Hungry Ghost
Festival) and Kew Ong Yeah (Nine Emperor Gods) Festivals, everyone comes home to
dutifully embrace their religion, culture and life at the settlement. Indeed,
these are the best opportunities for foreign tourists to observe some of the
most interesting local ceremonies in Malaysia!
Note
The Chew Jetty residents are particularly busy on the ninth day of Chinese New
Year. That is when they celebrate the Jade Emperor’s birthday by making
offerings on a 20 meter long altar decorated with huge sugarcanes and colourful
dragon and fish motive joss sticks. Roasted piglets, traditional cakes and
fruits are offered to the deity as fireworks are lit at the stroke of midnight.
Read more on Jade Emperor Festival.
At the Lim Jetty, elaborate floats take to the streets during the
Hungry Ghost
Festival while stage performances are held for the wandering spirits and
deities.
To mark the end of the annual Kew Ong Yeah (Nine Emperor Gods) Festivals,
devotees who follow a strict nine-day vegetarian diet are let by mediums to the
edge of the sea to “send off” the deities. Lost in a deep trance, these mediums
perform mind-boggling feats like bathing in hot oil, walking over hot coals and
piercing their bodies with long, sharp objects.
Getting There
Located about 200 meters walk distance from Penang Ferry Terminal or Pengkalan
Raja Tun Uda.
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