Penang’s Gelugor transforms from coconut groves to residential area

GEORGE TOWN (Sept 7): Gelugor is a district named after the assam gelugor (tamarind) tree, in the southern part of George Town comprising Malay-majority neighbourhoods such as Bukit Gelugor, Kampung Kastam, Minden Heights, Sungai Gelugor, Taman Brown, and Taman Tun Sardon.

The area’s postal code also encompasses Pantai Jerejak, Sungai Dua, Sungai Nibong, and parts of Bukit Jambul.

It was first cleared for agriculture by David Brown, the largest land owner in Penang in the 1800s.

The Brown Estate covered most of Gelugor and Minden. The inhabitants were mostly Brown’s south Indian estate workers from Tamil Nadu, and the native Malays from the traditional kampungs along Sungai Gelugor. The oldest Malay school in the country, Sekolah Kebangsaan Sungai Gelugor, was established in 1826.

The Indian settlement in Gelugor used to extend from Bukit Dumbar to Batu Uban. The vast cattle and coconut estate earned its moniker ‘Perrya Thottam’, meaning Large Estate.

The estate then made way for housing development. Taman Brown, for example, was one of Brown’s estates.

Adjacent to Taman Brown was Kampung Buah Pala, a traditional Indian village in Penang named after the nutmeg plant Brown cultivated. The village was the last remaining settlement of the descendants of Brown’s estate workers, before it was demolished in 2009.

Traces of the early Indian settlements in Gelugor can be seen from the Hindu shrines along Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah. The largest of these is the Sri Veerama Kaliamman Devasthanam temple, built in 1886 on a piece of land allocated by the Brown Estate.

Gelugor gradually developed in the late 1960s. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia’s second university, was founded in 1969 in Minden, Gelugor, which was previously part of a military camp.

In the 1970s, Gelugor used to be the home of the Penang Aquarium, operated by the State Fisheries Department. It was closed down after cracks were discovered and re-opened in Batu Maung.

Today, the only sign of the old aquarium that remains is the street name Jalan Akuarium.

According to the president of Koperasi Sungai Gelugor Pulau Pinang, Haji Salleh bin Haji Hashim, the Gelugor co-operative bought the 68.9-acre Brown Estate for RM270,000 between 1964 and 1965.

“We divided the estate to 500 lots. Today, each lot is worth around RM900,000,” he said.

The most drastic change in Gelugor he saw was residential development. What used to be an extensive estate with coconut groves became houses.

This was echoed by sundry shop employee S.C. Saraswathy, 61, who moved from Madurai, Tamil Nadu, to Gelugor in 1974. She said her house used to be surrounded by fruit trees and vegetation.

“Back then, we could get everything for free. We never had to buy bananas or vegetables. However, transportation was poor. There was only one Bas Kuning (Penang Yellow Bus Co Ltd operated by Boon Siew) every hour,” she said.

USM lecturer Dr Chai Ming Hock, 37, recalled there used to be a bus terminal in the area until the early 2000s.

“Gelugor used to be livelier because the intercity express bus stopped here, before it relocated to Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal.

“My friends and I used to go there to eat at Nasi Kandar Shariff, but the stall has now moved elsewhere,” he said.

Saraswathy also recalled that businesses used to thrive due to the passing trade the buses brought.

“Shops in Kampungku area, like Anikawan, were really thriving because of the bus terminal. Now that we have more shophouses in Sungai Dua and the bus terminal has gone to Sungai Nibong, Gelugor has become a quieter place,” she said.