Penang goldsmith association to restore its century-old building

GEORGE TOWN, Nov 1 — Penang Goldsmith Association, known here as Penang Ta Kam Hong, will work to restore its 114-year-old building along Muntri Street.

The building, best known for Ernest Zacharevic’s “little girl in blue” mural on the wall next to it, was built in 1904 and houses the Wu Chin Temple.

The association signed an agreement today with George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) to launch a conservation project of the heritage building.

The Penang Ta Kam Hong building is one of 82 Category 1 heritage buildings in George Town.

Penang tourism development, heritage, culture and arts committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said the structure is one of the earliest occupational guild halls established in George Town.

“It carries the history of goldsmith businesses, the stories of goldsmiths across generations and holds a collection of artefacts that are still being preserved, and serving as the evidence of cultural heritage,” he said at the signing ceremony today.

He said the Penang state government will fund the conservation work for the association’s building.

GTWHI general manager Ang Ming Chee said her organisation will supervise the conservation efforts starting with an investigation of the building structure, development of measured drawings, soil investigation, dilapidation reports, inventory of artefacts and a masterplan for the whole project.

“It will cost around RM160,000 for these initial investigation works and development of measured drawings and masterplan,” she said.

For now, she said the state government is funding the amount and that the preliminary steps will take about a year to complete. The reports are needed to determine the extent of the restoration required.

The entire restoration will cost at least RM3 million, she added.

She said GTWHI will build a case study on Penang Ta Kam Hong, with plans to include a gallery and interpretive centre in the building after restoration.

Ang said the state could not yet commit to the full RM3 million as this is an estimate pending the full report.

Earlier, association chairman Ang Choon King showed Yeoh and Ming Chee the damaged parts of the building such as a sunken floor at the entrance and cracks running down the walls and pillars.

“We need to start restoring this building from now since it is over a century old so that its condition doesn’t worsen,” he said.

The association has about 200 members and houses a number of artefacts in its premises.

* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.