GEORGE TOWN, Dec 21 — A centuries-old Malay village in Air Itam, home to one of Penang’s earliest Islamic scholars, may soon be gazetted as a heritage village — preserving a key piece of the state’s cultural history.
At the heart of the 'Kampung Melayu', stands the white-walled Makam Sheikh Omar, a grand mausoleum with a square tower rising 35 feet (10.7 metres) high, long described as the largest and ‘most handsome’ Muslim tomb in Penang.
The mausoleum is the resting place of Sheikh Omar Basheer Al-Khalidy, one of the early imams of Masjid Jamek in Acheen Street — also known as the Lebuh Acheh Mosque — in George Town in the 1800s.
According to an article in the Penang Heritage Trust’s November 1988 newsletter, Sheikh Omar introduced his own form of mysticism — a special meditation practice known as sulok.
Early records show that Sheikh Omar lived in a house in Kampung Melayu built by Nathaniel Bacon in 1840.
Bacon, who was the secretary of Captain Francis Light, bequeathed the house and land to his friend Syed Hassan Baharom. The latter, a disciple of Sheikh Omar, presented the house to his mentor in 1870.
It is believed that Sheikh Omar lived there and held religious classes in one of the wooden houses in the village until his death in 1881.
His son, Sheikh Zachariah, later hired Muslim builders from India to construct the mausoleum where his father was laid to rest.
The structure features a square tower with Moorish architectural influences, including intricate arabesque plasterwork on the dome topping the tower.
Today, the small village — surrounded by traditional Malay houses — is designated as wakaf land under the Penang Islamic Religious Council (MAINPP).
It is believed that the building where Sheikh Omar once held religious classes and practised sulok — known by villagers as Rumah Sulok — still stands near the mausoleum.
Sheikh Omar was also known to be trusted by the British authorities of his time.
Records from the Penang Museum show that following the Penang Riots of 1867, Sheikh Omar persuaded the heads of many Malay families in Penang to swear to him that they did not belong to either of the two Malay societies — the ‘Red Flag’ or Che Long People, and the ‘White Flag’ or Tuan Chee People.
These two Malay groups were linked to Chinese secret societies at the time — the Ghee Hin and the Tua Peh Kong.
Tensions between the Ghee Hin (mostly Cantonese) and the Tua Peh Kong (mostly Hokkien) groups were believed to have sparked the Penang Riots of 1867. The ‘White Flag’ group was allied with the Ghee Hin, while the ‘Red Flag’ group was aligned with the Tua Peh Kong.
The Mausoleum of Sheikh Omar — also known as Makam Sheikh Omar — is regarded by villagers as a keramat or saint’s grave, and some of his descendants are believed to still live in the village today.
Sheikh Omar and the early residents of the area likely witnessed the beginnings of Kampung Melayu as one of the oldest Malay settlements in Penang.
His grandson, Fathil Zachariah Basheer, was among a four-member committee that drew up rules for settlers in Kampung Melayu in 1931.
At that time, Kampung Melayu was planned solely for Muslim Malays born in the Straits Settlements. It was envisioned as a village for lower-income families to build traditional Malay houses while preserving the natural surroundings with minimal tree cutting.
The British later gazetted Kampung Melayu as a Malay settlement after the Second World War.
Today, Kampung Melayu spans more than 55.56 hectares and includes low-cost flats as well as mixed residential and commercial areas.
Air Itam assemblyman Joseph Ng said he is in discussions with Sheikh Omar’s descendants, MAINPP and other stakeholders to gazette Kampung Melayu as a ‘kampung warisan’.
“We will need to have dialogue sessions with the residents on this first, but I will be meeting with them and the state heritage commissioner on this,” he said.
Ng said the rich history of the Malay settlement would make it another attractive tourism spot in Air Itam besides Penang Hill, especially for Muslim and Malay travellers.
The Makam Sheikh Omar is currently gazetted as a heritage site under the National Heritage Act 2005, and will soon also be gazetted under the Penang Heritage Enactment 2011, Ng said.
