History 3
Clan jetties
Dr Chan Lean Heng
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History 3
Clan jetties
Dr Chan Lean Heng |
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Part 1 The Vanishing history THIS COMMUNAL SITE is a waterfront settlement created over a century ago by Chinese immmigrants sharing common historical, geographical and lineage origin. Currently there are eight surviving clusters of residential jetties and seven clans - the Seh Lim Keo, Seh Chew Keo, Seh Tan Keo, Seh Lee Keo, Chap Seh Keo, Seh Yeoh Keo and Seh Koay Keo. Except for the Chap Seh Keo (mixed surname jetty), each jetty used to be exclusively inhabited by its respective clansmen. In fact this is the distinctive identity of the clan jetties and differentiates them from other jetty communities like the Noordin Ghaut Jetty, Peng Arn Jetty, and Ban Liaw Jetty, which are located further south, along the Jelutong seafront. Collectively, they constitute Penang's foreshore floating population. In the past, there were more jetties along the Weld Quay waterfront - like the Poh Lan/Lallang Jetty, the Hup Choon Jetty, old Lee Jetty and the old Ong Jetty. As a communal site there is interesting homogeneity and diversity, as well as differences and conflict amongst and within the clan jetties. From the outside, the jetties are a maze of dilapidated planks, resembling an old deteriorating neighbourhood. The area was once (and still is, though far less) reputed as dangerous and unsafe, a haven for thugs and underground activities. In the past, government officials have declared it a hotbed of secret society gangsters, smuggling and drug addiction. For many, the place abounds with awe and mystery. But it is actually not different from any other low-income community. Perhaps exceptional is that they were once closely knit clan communities, which shared a common lineage and settlement history, which stood out as an isolated and distinct ethnic enclave. |
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Hokkiens Occupants of the clan jetties are descendants from Fukien Province in China. The Chews, for example originated from the south-eastern coast of China - from Heng Nar Sia of Tung Arn, in the Perfecture of Chuanchou. They were also maritime clan communities in China. Thus when they emigrated, they also tended to ‘chiam hie kau' (literally situate themselves at the waterfront) when establishing their overseas economic settlements and pursuits. Possessing little skill or capital, they were immediately drawn into the pool of port coolies much needed to service the flourishing entreport trade then. The Weld Quay waterfront provided ample work opportunities. The clan coolies became the ‘muscles' and ‘lifebelt' of the port's entrepot trade. Subsequently the waterfront clan communities became very dependent on the port activities, and were directly affected by changes in the entreport trade and the changing port policies. Some of the jetty clansmen like the Koays, Tans and Yeohs were also involved in the charcoal and firewood business. As typical of early Chinese immigration and settlement patterns, fellow provincials tended to band together. They emigrated as bachelors with their ‘hia lee' (clansmen). They helped each other to find employment and accommodation. They also utilized clan ties for mutual help and protection. Like most pioneer immigrants, many of them only intended to work hard for a few years, and return to China with their accumulated savings. However, attracted by the abundance of work in the flourishing port, most of them settled and began to arrange for the immigration of their kinsmen and later their families. This increase in immigration was encouraged by the expansion in the volume of trade in the 19th and early 20th century. The upsurge in trade with Asian countries towards the end of the 19th and early 20th century and from 1933 onwards increased the demand for port labourers, especially for the coastal barter trade. The historic recognition of this communal site comes from its legacy of lineage (clan) organization (and settlement) and from the fact that they have survived the threat of modernity for over a hundred years. What is often forgotten is the people's history and contribution to the growth and prosperity of Penang as the center of maritime trade in the 19th and early 20th century. In fact the formation and transformation of the clan jetties are closely intertwined with the development of the Penang port. The demise of the Penang free port status also marked the breakdown of the communities' communal (clan) organization although there have been various attempts of reconstitution to maintain its survival (see Chan 1980). |
| Clan
coolies It is not possible to talk about the historic significance of the clan jetties without mentioning the historical and economic importance of Weld Quay, even though the Chinese multi-clan settlement is the historic landmark of Weld Quay. In fact their existence was symbiotic - the clan jetties could not have been established without the entreport trade of Weld Quay and Weld Quay's entrepot trade would not have thrived without the coolie labour from the clan jetties who supplied almost all the labour of the quay as cargo handlers, boatman, sampan (small boat) rowers and related casual odd job workers. Together with their counterparts from India, the Chinese clan coolies were the lifebelt of the port's entrepot trade in Weld Quay. Weld Quay was also the age-old harbour front of bustling maritime activities big European trading companies like Boustead, Behn Meyer and Peterson Simons. (This why in the second part of this paper it is proposed that the conservation and commemoration of the clan jetties be integrated into a revitalization of the whole milieu of Weld Quay which will then include the contributions and hiSTORIES of other communal groups in the cultural and economic landscape of Weld Quay.) In a description of the congested and busy waterfront, Courtenay (1962: 88-89) wrote: ".. At all times the basins are crowded with lighters and junks, which unload their cargoes directly onto lorries at the wharf side. Chinese labourers in an endless chain, perhaps consisting of 20 or more men, carry sacks or bundles along a gangplank to the shore, pass a tally clerk who checks the number, and leave their burdens onto the lorries drawn up at the very edge of the wharf, where they are weighed and stacked. Operations are often directed by the Chinese merchant or his foremen." This paper presents an overview of all the clan jetties but does not deliberate on the nuances of each. However the case of Chew Jetty is often referred to as illustration. |
How they lived Although the jetty settlements became a place of residence only in the late 19th century, a community of sorts had existed among the clan labourers much earlier. Prior to 1882, there were references that waterfront coolies lived in attap roofed, stilt houses immediately behind the original seafront. This is well supported by some elderly jetty residents who remembered their fathers' accounts of their earlier residence in places like Tok Aka Lane, Acheen St and Armenian St., which are all located in the vicinity of the Weld Quay waterfront and are Penang's first set of roads, immediately behind the original coastline. The earliest available account of the jetty dwellers was by Mohammed Naurgh (Weld Quay committee, 1927) who noted that he had known the foreshore since 1917: .. At the end of a great many of these piers are a lot of people living in houses there .. The people living there are Chinese. They have temporary licences renewed annually .. According to some of the residents, ".. these jetties were built during the ‘lau eng chiu' (old British administration). We used them to berth our twakows and sampans. After a while, some gangs began monopolizing certain jetties. As each gang usually comprised of people of the same clan, soon certain clan laid claim to their sole use. Only sampans belonging to that clan and coolies of that surname used that particular jetty." It was only after the construction of the Quay, which linked the ends of the ghauts and the reclamation of the city's seafront in 1882 that physical construction at the waterfront was possible. Over time settlements grew on the foundation of the short public landing stages provided by the colonial government to help ease the entrepot trade traffic further north. These jetties were first used and then became identified and dominated by the respective clan members for the loading and unloading of goods and for the mooring of their sampans. Later a shed was built to provide shelter and rest for those waiting the arrival of the cargo sampans. Soon the shed was converted into a communal house for residence and from then, the number of houses increased. |
| Personal
story The following is a personal account of this development by an elderly first generation immigrant who is no longer alive: ".. My father told me that when he first landed here, there were no houses along the foreshore. The place was a char hionh (wood yard) littered with planks and firewood. The foreshore was always filled with sacks of cargo, interspersed with bullock carts and firewood dumps. There were only short stone jetties which were constantly surrounded by sampans and which were a hive of activity. According to my grandfather, at first there was only a kongsi choo (communal house) occupied by the bachelor labourer who had traveled here with their clansmen to seek their fortune, like my grandfather. If they earned enough, they would arrange for their families to emigrate and would then move out to a separate room. These rooms were erected as the need arouse. Soon the kongsi house looked like a long house with numerous adjoining rooms. After accumulating sufficient money, they would build their own house and move out." Over time more huts sprung up and fulfilled the dual functions of work place and residence. Soon the jetty also expanded as more immigrants came and brought their families over. A map dated 1928, by Mitchell and Vaghan Lee shows that the Lim, Chew, Tan and Yeoh jetties were already clearly established with sheds lining one side of each jetty. This was probably encouraged by Francis Light's policy of allowing settlers to occupy the land and promising them future title to it. Though assured by the British of legal recognition of their houses, these squatters were only given temporary occupation licenses following the Independence of Malaya. The TOLs have to be renewed annually and fees vary according to the size of the house. The jetty settlements expanded in the early 20th century at the peak of the Nanyang immigration in the 1910s and later in the 1920s, with the immigration and settlement of the womenfolk. However, as squatters, the jetties did not have basic amenities like water and electricity. Ah Lee Poh remembered that: ".. We only got our water and electricity after the Penang municipal election in 1957. Khoo Yat See asked us to vote for him, promising us these two favours in return. We, the Chews, got the water and electricity first. Then other jetties also benefited .. Before the water came we had to carry the water in kerosene tins from the main road. For those who were lazy to go and bathe there, they used the seawater during high tide and washed themselves later with some clear tap water. There were also some who tried to earn something out of this by transporting the tap water to the respective houses and selling it at 15 cents for two kerosene tins or 25 cents for four." |
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The first jetties The first residential jetties were the Lim, Chew, Tan and Yeoh, though the Ongs and Lees already had their work jetties at the northern section of Weld Quay much earlier. These have remained at their original location, though each of them has undergone major changes. The Lim jetty with its original 42 houses were burnt during the Japanese bombing of Penang in December 1941 (Land Office File, Penang). After the war, 26 of the houses were rebuilt. The Yeoh Jetty was also ill fated. According to the residents, their bridge, once the longest, was wrecked by a ship and has not been rebuilt. The damage became permanent with the laying of underground water pipes. The Koay Jetty was only built in the 1950s, followed by the Lee and the Mixed Surname Jetty in the 1960s. According to the Chews, the Mixed Surname Jetty was an extension of their jetty. As a result of over-population, many of them squatted in the vicinity of the Chew Jetty. Through the leadership of a Chew, they agitated for a new jetty. Since there were also squatters from other clans, the new jetty was called the Mixed Surname Jetty. The Lee Jetty was a replacement of the old Lee Jetty that was demolished to make way for the new ferry terminal. Sampan men In the past, practically all the men were sampan rowers or cargo handlers. The sampan men ferried passengers from and to the coastal trading vessels. Another regular group of passengers were the sinkeh from the Chinese sailing junks, which brought in hundreds of immigrants with each arrival. The following description by an elderly immigrant provides some insights into this sampan ferry service: ".. When I first arrived as an inexperienced sinkeh, I worked as a sampan man ferrying passengers with a small sampan at a fee of five or ten cents per person, depending on how far out the vessel was in mid-stream. I worked independently, ferrying passengers to and from the Chew jetty only. We were restricted to business to and from our jetty only. We had to hire out our sampans in turn so that access to passengers was a "first come first get" basis. We could carry a maximum of eight passengers per trip. Remaining passengers would be ferried by the next sampan in line. If, however, there was only one passenger I had to make do with it, if it was my turn. When passengers alight from their ships, we lined our sampans against the side of the ships and waited. Most of us Chews served passengers from the small sailing boats as these were anchored nearer to our jetty. The Lees served mainly the big ships from China which could only be anchored at the deep water nearer the Lee Jetty." |
| Competition As the coastal barter trade increased significantly in the 1930s, transportation of goods became more important than transportation of passengers. Generally there was no restriction as to which jetty should transport which country's goods, though a monopoly developed over time. For example, the Lees monopolized the China trade while the Chews monopolized the Indonesian entrepot trade. Transportation of goods was allotted to various import-export agents who contracted the labour and boats to the respective ships. Competition between clansmen from the different jetties over this often led to bitter feuds and rivalries. The fights were usually over access and monopoly of work consignments. One such feud during which the present petrol kiosk site by the Lim Jetty served as the battleground could still be recalled vividly by many chews. This fight in which a Chew clansman was killed, resulted in a long and bitter rivalry. In another fight, the Chews teamed up with the Lims against the Lees, who wanted a monopoly of China's trade. The Lims were ousted straight away as the Lees attacked from under the jetty and removed all the jetty's floor planks. During these fights, crates of empty bottles were sometimes thrown at rival sampans.The Lee gang was then the largest and strongest, and was notoriously known as the ‘Hai Teh Ong' (Sea King). Because of their constant rivalry, relationships between the jetties were very antagonistic. All activities were inward looking and clan focused, imbued with a strong sense of competition with other clans. Those who did not have the initial capital for a sampan, were engaged as cargo handlers carrying the ‘pau tau' gunny sacks from or to the sampans through the jetty thoroughfare to be transported by bullock carts, and later to lorries waiting by the roadside. Cargo handling during this period was carried out on a profit sharing system. Under this system, each group organized itself into gangs of 15-35 clansmen headed by a ‘kepala' (leader), who acted as the representative in all dealings with consignees and in attending to other matters connected. # (to be continued) __________________________________ from a paper by Dr Chan Lean Heng of the School of Social Sciences, Universsiti Sains Malaysia read at The Penang Story International Conference 2002 held a Penang 18-21 April 2002 Rediscovering Historic Communal Sites and Commemorating their hiStories - The Case of the Clan Jetties Ms. Chan Lean Heng, Phd. School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia |
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| _____________________ The Penang File Issue 23 |