GEORGE TOWN, July 20 — Standing recessed from the busy main road of Chulia Street is an unobtrusive, grey and tired-looking structure that is in fact an early 19th century clan association building.

Despite its worn exterior, with pillars sagging to one side as though nearing collapse, the carved figurines and decorative filigree on the columns, pillars and skirting on the roof and the whole frontage of the building are a reminder of this building’s beautiful architecture when it was first built 119 years ago.

The inner hall where the ancestral tablets are with the elaborately carved red and gold altar.

Inside, similar to most clan houses from the past, is a main hall behind a pair of red wooden doors that serve as a screen between the main entrance and the inner sanctum.

The main hall is where the resident deity is located and similar to its elaborate exterior, with intricately carved columns and pillars. The upper corners of the walls were colourfully painted with depictions of birds, scenery and deities.

Within the inner hall is where the ancestral tablets are located and here, the main altar is an enormous and painstakingly-carved masterpiece painted red-and-gold.

The 200-years-old ancestral tablets inside the Ng Fook Thong Cantonese Districts Association building.

It is flanked by ancient ancestral tablets, hundreds of which are almost 200-years-old, with the names too faded to see anymore.

Signs of decay are also apparent inside; parts of the altar were riddled with holes made by termites and the pillars holding up the roof also showing signs of rot.

The interiors of the Ng Fook Thong Cantonese Districts Association.

Five Prosperity School

This is the Ng Fook Thong Cantonese Districts Association clan temple. It was built in 1898 by the Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee for the first Chinese school in Malaysia.

The Chinese school, called the Five Prosperity School that taught in Cantonese at that time, was first established in 1819 in a building in Church Street.

Kapitan Chung wanted the building in Church Street as his residence so he bought another piece of land in Chulia Street in 1895, and in three years, constructed a new building for the school.

This was the beginnings of the Ng Fook Thong building that came to house not only the school but also accommodations, a place of worship, an ancestral hall and as a gathering place for clan members.

The elaborately carved altar at the Ng Fook Thong Cantonese Districts Association building.

Restoration works

The building was given a facelift back in 1901, the last time it was renovated.

Association secretary Loke Hon Wah said the 119-years-old building was falling apart and its carved wooden finishings and altars were infested with termites.

"The building is in a very bad condition, the ground is caving in, the main pillars holding up the roof are rotting, there are holes in the floor, in the walls and we are so worried the whole building might just collapse on us,” he said.

The association currently has about 400 members but only about 100 are active and it did not have enough funds to fully restore the building.

So, Loke said he decided to do something on his own to repair the building with what little funds they had, which was only around RM100,000.

"We can’t just stand by and watch it fall to pieces so we started repairing the walls and floor in May,” he said.

These colourful murals were painted on the walls in 1978 but the association wants to preserve it too.

Stop work order

In late June, George Town World Heritage Inc (GTWHI) approached the association committee and informed them that their repair methods were not in accordance with the heritage guidelines and on July 3, the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) issued a notice to the association to stop work immediately.

"We immediately complied as we do not know we have to apply for permits to do internal repair works and we don’t know there are so many procedures to adhere to fulfil the heritage guidelines,” Loke said.

By that time, they have already hacked out a portion of the floors at the main hall and cemented the wall.

"We didn’t know we are not allowed to use cement, what we were concerned about was to prevent the building from collapsing so we do what we can,” he said.

Loke is willing to cooperate fully with GTWHI to restore the building in accordance with heritage guidelines but is still worried about the costs.

"We don’t have money. Even the measured drawing for the building costs RM30,000, the full restoration could cost millions,” he said.

He said he will apply for an allocation from the Penang state government to restore the clan building.

"We are willing to work with GTWHI and the Penang state government in a pilot project on a more sustainable way of restoring heritage buildings,” he said.

As the custodians of a culture that has been around since the late 1800s, Loke said the association has the responsibility to restore the building and maintain it for the future generations.

"I’m not a conservationist but I want to protect and preserve our culture and heritage for our future generations too, so maybe I was going about it wrong but I am willing to learn,” he said.

The building is falling into disrepair over the years.

He lamented that some heritage activists did not bother to offer him help or advice on how to restore the building, and instead publicly berated the association for doing it wrongly in social media.

"Don’t criticise us without talking to us. If they are heritage experts, they should offer advice and help us instead of criticising us and blaming us for destroying the building when that was never our intention,” he said.

The association’s initial repair works in May and June was highlighted by the George Town Heritage Action Group on its Facebook page yesterday.

The post, that claimed the association had started illegal renovation works on the building, had appealed to the city council and GTWHI to intervene.

GTWHI General Manager Ang Ming Chee said they have been in contact with the association since June and the committee has been very cooperative.

"They have stopped work since July 3 so it is not true that they are still doing illegal works now,” she said.

She said they are also assisting the association to apply for permits from the authorities and looking at a more sustainable way to restore the building.

"We are also looking at several options to obtain funding for the restoration works that is estimated to cost around RM2.5 million,” she said.