The Chinese State of Malaysia

The entrance of the Khoo Kongsi, (Khoo family clanhouse), Georgetown, Penang

Not a very politically correct title maybe, but what the heck, Malaysia’s ruling party and media hyped this up so much in last year’s election, that it’s sort of ingrained into the minds of us citizens now. So here’s Penang, the only opposition, Chinese ruled state in Malaysia.




More views of the Khoo Kongsi, with its elaborate ornamented roofs, walls, windows, etc. It was said to be even more extravagant when they first built it, and it offended the gods so much, that they caused it to burn down. A toned-down version was rebuilt later on (I think that was what it said in the tourist brochure, hmmm, don't really remember as I've thrown the brochure away now).

Thought I’ll put some photos of Penang’s Chinese temples. Still in the mood of Chinese New Year actually …and reminiscing about the Pai Thni-Kong festival of my childhood years. Pai Thni-Kong was grand for us then, grander than the first day of CNY. The first day was only dressing up in new clothes, collecting angpows (red packets), and visiting relatives. I was not a very sociable kid, so the visiting the relatives part was a bore, and I didn’t really like new clothes, with its prickly tags and stiff-like-cardboard nature, so the only thing working for me then was counting how much money I get from the angpows.

Pai Thni-Kong (Prayers to the Sky God) was completely different. It’s a day of complete freedom, for us kids I mean. No bitching on going to bed early from the adults. We could gamble, heck, even drink, a little (we’re kids OK?), play firecrackers, do as we like basically. And because the altar and stuff used to be set up at my home, where granny stayed, we didn’t need to go anywhere. The relatives (plus all my cousins) came instead. And we had to put on new clothes only just before the prayers, which happened exactly at midnight, at the start of the 9th day of CNY.

I used to like the mysticism that goes with it, the pink pagodas, the joss paper which we folded to resemble Chinese gold ingots, the red strung firecrackers, the makeshift altar with its urn for joss sticks, the myriad types of weird Chinese cakes (none of which I like honestly, I just like their looks hehe). The pineapples, pomelos and sugarcane. The roast pig at the centre, or roast chicken sometimes, all decorated with red paper pattern cut-outs.

We’ve been chatting about Pai Thni-Kong these past few days (on whatsapp), yours truly and the cousins. It’s like a journey to the past, in the days when we were pseudo-Christians. We had to do a lot to prepare for it, spent days folding paper gold, sorting thru rice (to separate glutinous rice from normal rice), etc. There were no idols in our house, and we prayed only on that night, once per year. So I don’t really know who this god, Thni-Kong (Heaven God literally) is. (OK, now I know it’s actually the Jade Emperor, thanks to my cousin, niece hehe). It’s essentially a Hokkien festival. The Cantonese and Hakka in Ipoh don’t celebrate it, but for us Hokkiens, this is one big day.

I’ve never celebrated Pai Thni-Kong in Penang but it must be a grand affair there, being a primarily Hokkien state. Heck, Hokkien’s like the state language of Penang! That’s the language they speak to you when you arrive at Penang Airport, as long as you look Chinese.

OK, written too much. Now for the pictures. And for those who still celebrate this, Happy Pai Thni-Kong everyone!




The interior of Khoo Kongsi, with its ancestral altars. Also check out my old 2006 post of Khoo Kongsi




Two of the many other Chinese clanhouses in the area, no, I don't remember for what clans they are, and not being able to read Chinese doesn't help




The Kek Lok Si Buddhist Temple, Ayer Itam, Penang. We arrived just before closing time, so we only wondered around the unlocked areas (mainly for fear of being accidentally locked inside the temple, scary...)


The multi-cultural pagoda of the Kek Lok Si Temple - bottom tiers Chinese, middle tiers Thai, and pinnacle Burmese


A mosque for a change, the Acheh Street Mosque near Khoo Kongsi - built by Arab merchants from Acheh in Sumatra