A Visit to Teluk Kumbar & Gertak Sanggul

Teluk Kumbar is a small Malay fishing village located just between Bayan Lepas and Balik Pulau on the southern part of Penang Island, Malaysia. The main attractions around the village are the various kinds of fresh fish for seafood & a good view of the setting sun basking off Gertak Sanggul.

Another popular fare from Teluk Kumbar is 'mee udang', a spicy noodle dish cooked with big-sized prawns sold mostly at the Malay stalls and patronised by the many office workers from the Bayan Lepas Industrial Zone during lunch.

The idyllic life of the villagers has been interrupted by the rapid urbanisation of Penang & the impending completion of the second link at nearby Batu Maung. Teluk Kumbar has also seen some recent property development & among these are the housing estates in Sungai Batu & Sunway’s Aspera at the 'New Gurney Drive' for the high-end buyers.

In contrast, Gertak Sanggul is a predominantly Chinese village, located on the southwest promontory of the island. The Chinese name of this village is ‘MeiHu’ (美湖) which means beautiful lake. It boasts a picturesque setting of a Malaysian fishing village with a white sandy beach frequented by picnickers & surrounding hill slopes that 'come alive' with hikers & bikers who go there for exercise on weekends.

One of the residents, Mr Lai who is also a retired fisherman, was kind enough to invite us into his orchard & share with us his knowledge about pit-vipers & rose apples or ‘jambu mawar’ which are known to have curative properties.

A Visit to Teluk Kumbar & Gertak Sanggul (Pt 1)


A Visit to Teluk Kumbar & Gertak Sanggul (Pt 2)

Penang CNY Cultural & Heritage Celebration 2012

The Penang Chinese New Year Cultural & Heritage celebration, organised by the Penang State Government, the Penang Chinese Clan Council & the Penang Clan Associations Youth Committee to usher in the Year of the Dragon was held on 29th January 2012 which coincided with the 7th day of the Chinese New Year 2012.

The highlight of the programs include:
1) 6 ‘Chinese Traditional Livelihood Zone’, ‘Clan Area’, ‘Chinese Native Area’ featuring Chinese virtue, traditional Chinese cuisine, Dragon calligraphy, photo exhibition, 12 Lunar seasonal festivals exhibition, other traditional Chinese cultural exhibition, performances and demonstrations.

2) Down Memory Lane with traditional games, handicraft trails, traditional Chinese cultural dance, opera shows, lion dance, Wushu performance at Khoo Kongsi, Cheah Kongsi, Lim Kongsi, Yap Kongsi and Penang Youth Centre.

3) Local Penang delights and hotel food stalls decoration.

Some of the streets such as Armenian St, Ah Quee St, Acheh St, Canon St, Chulia St, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Soo Hong Lane and Kampong Kolam located within the UNESCO World Heritage enclave were closed to traffic to accommodate this grand cultural event which started as early as 3.00 pm and ended at 12 midnight.

Penang has been promoting its living heritage in the recent years by organising cultural events during major celebrations & this colourful & fun filled event was held in conjunction with the Chinese New Year which fell on 23rd & 24th of January this year. This annual event is always greeted with a sizeable turnout estimated to be around 100,000 people both locals & foreigners merrily jostling, squeezing & winding their way through the crowd to get to the various exhibition booths & food stalls. The lucky ones also got to shake hands with the Chief Minister as he made his way around the site, heavily escorted by his entourage & squad of volunteers.

It was most heartwarming & reassuring to note that the majority of the participants were both young & extremely energetic as evidenced by their enthusiastic demeanour & well-rehearsed dance routines. No danger of their own culture going the way of the dinosaurs there. Particular mention must be made of one lion dance troupe which saw the performers doing multiple leaps on raised stilts that took the audience’s breath away while another dragon dance performance started off with three dragons performing at the beginning & then morphed into a single & very long dragon towards the end of the show without the audience even realising how it was done!

For those witnessing all the activities for the first time, it was indeed an audio & visual feast for the senses. And for those who gave it a miss, what a waste. So, put this event on your itinerary when you visit Penang again next year.

Penang CNY Cultural & Heritage Celebration 2012


Lion Dance


Cultural Dance


Dragon Dance