Society proposes that council building be turned into Jawi-Peranakan Museum

GEORGE TOWN: The state government will ask the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) to review its decision to sell a Jawi-Peranakan heritage house in Hutton Lane.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said a request would be forwarded to the council to review the sale of the house.

The home belongs to the council, but there are legal implications and an appeal surrounding the sale of the pre-war unit here, Chow said.

He said this after chairing a closed-door meeting with several non- governmental organisations who called for a review of the sale.

Penang Jawi-Peranakan Heritage Society president Datuk Dr Wazir Jahan Karim said she was hopeful that the sale would eventually be rescinded.

“We are hoping that the property can be surrendered to the George Town World Heritage Incorporation. We will work together with them to convert the house into a Jawi-Peranakan Museum,” she said.

She said the proposed museum would be the first of its kind in the country.

“Students and visitors can view documented Jawi-Peranakan history comprising the merchants, leaders and philanthropists who helped build our heritage city.”

The house is for the public to appreciate the rich heritage of the Jawi-Peranakan, she said.

The Jawi-Peranakan community is part of a Malay-speaking Muslims of mixed Malay, Indian, Pakistani and Afghan ancestries.

The community was based mostly in Singapore and Penang during the colonial period.

According to Wazir, the building used to be the home of a patriarch and matriarch of a prominent Jawi-Peranakan family here.

It was subsequently left abandoned by the family before it was sealed off by the council as its structure was deemed to be unsafe for occupation. - The Star