A VISIT to the seven clan-jetties near Weld Quay, Penang is makes one feel as if one is walking back in time to the heydays of Penang when it was still a free port under the British rule.

Away from the hustle and bustle of city life, the houses on stilts which was built by the first few Chinese settlers in Penang in the 1880s provides a very relaxed and serene environment which is in total contrast of the busy city life that is just a step outside the village.

The seven jetties are divided according to different Hokkien clans with the surname Tan, Ong, Lim, Chew, Lee, Yeoh and Koay.

There are four other jetties in the area which consists of a mixture of Chinese with various surnames including the New Jetty, Gat Lebuh Noordin Jetty, Gat Lebuh Sandiland Jetty and Selamat Jetty.

There are now about 3,500 residents living in stilt houses built along the jetties.

An interesting point to note is despite their different surnames, all the Hokkien clans originated from the same Tong An district in the Fuchien province in China, albeit from different villages.

For example, the Tans ancestral village is Pia Chew, the Lees are from Tei Sua, while the Lims from Au Chan.

Their ancestral villages were situated by the sea and this explains partly why most of the immigrants prefered to settle down in the coastal area of Penang.

Tan jetty’s village chief Tan Bee Eng, 67, said back then in the 1880s, there was only one small wooden hut on each jetty which houses the Chinese immigrants of the same surname.

These Chinese young men, mostly still in their teens, came to Penang to earn a living as a port coolies.

They would work day and night at the Penang Port carrying goods on their bare back besides rowing sampans to fetch passengers to and fro from the big steam ships which dock at the port.

A large number of Chinese junks and steamships would dock everyday at the port carrying goods such as rice, tea, rubber and tin.

After making a considerable amount of money, these Chinese settlers will go home to China to bring their families down to settle in Penang as well.

They would also tell the great stories of their experiences working in a far off place to their country folks.

Eventually, more Chinese would be attracted to the promise of wealth in Southeast Asia and thus migrate here in a search for a better living for their families and themselves.

Soon, the number of stilt houses in each jetty increased rapidly in numbers thus forming a small village of people from the same hometown and surname.

"Unless one is a Hokkien with the surname Tan, he will not me allowed to stay or build a house on the Tan jetty," he explained.

The village rules still exist today. Although it has been more than a century since the village was built, only the Tans stay in the Tan Jetty, the Lims in the Lim jetty and so on.

There are about 120 villagers living on the each jetty. The residents of each jetty are all relatives sharing the same surname and they know each other very well.

The spirit of cooperation is deeply instilled in the heart of every villager as they work together in the building and repairing of the jetty and their stilt houses.

Meetings are held weekly at a small gathering area under a big shady tree where the villagers get to express and solve their problems together.

A notorious past also forms part of the village’s colourful history as it was once known as a haven for smuggling activities in the early 20^th century when Penang was still a free port.

Items such as wine and cigarettes would be smuggled across the Penang Straits, from the island’s free port to Seberang Perai to escape the heavy taxes imposed on these items.

During the night, petty thieves would steal rice and beans from the ships and junks.

These stolen items would later be sold in markets to the unsuspecting people.

In the 1970s, the jetties were rumored to be the secret hideouts of the `3.30am’ gangsters where illegal transactions and thefts became a common occurrence in the area.

The shady past of the jetties is bound to give visitors a sense of intrigue and suspense thus making the visit even more alluring and interesting.

After Penang was stripped of its free port status, the port business began to dwindle.

In addition, the emergence of modern port facilities and motorboats badly affected the sampan transportation business and the port coolies lost their jobs.

Thus, the residents were forced to opt for a different job. Many of them set up small sundry shops, coffee shops and hawker stalls.

Meanwhile, others got involved in sea cucumber processing which would later be exported to Japan, Taiwan and Europe.

A storage and tuna packing facility was also set up to cater to the needs of the Chinese and Taiwanese fishermen who would visit the jetties frequently, bringing in their catch from the oceans.

The barter trade of rubber, timber, beans and salty fish between Burmese, Indonesians and Penang traders, which began in the late 19th century, still takes place today.

Although the villagers had started enjoying the benefits of water and electricity facilities since the 1960s, sadly enough, there is still no proper sewerage system in the area till today.

Human excretions are just simply dumped into the sea, allowing the sea current to wash them away into the ocean.

The cost of building a sewerage system is simply to great thus making it not viable, said state assemblyman Lee Hack Teik.

Being steep in tradition, the vilagers are mostly followers of Taoism.

Chinese New Year, the Thni Kong Festival and the birthdays of their respective Taoist deities are celebrated on a grand scale.

Every year, during the Thni Kong Festival that falls on the ninth day of Chinese New Year, the villagers would burn gigantic joss sticks and lay out traditional offerings including sugar cane, fruits, roasted pork, `bee koh’ (glutinous rice) and lotus-shaped steamed cakes in the worship table.

The Hokkien festival is celebrated in conjunction with the `Thni Kong’ or the heaven emperor’s birthday during which the villagers would pray for deity’s blessings as well as for prosperity and good health.

Processions carrying golden statues of the Hokkien deity are held along the streets near the village too.

Each clan also pay respect to their respective ancestral deities annually asking for protection, harmony and prosperity.

In the front entrance to each jetty, a small temple is erected for their deity.

The Tans worship the `Kai Chiang Seng Ong’, the Chews pray to the `Tiao Guan Tiong’, the Lees to the `Kim An San Se’, the Lims to the `Jik Guat Tnua’, the Yeohs to the `Huei Tang Keong’ and the Koays to the `Hong San See, just to name a few.

The Koay clan also observe a very unique culture which is different from the other clans.

Coming from the Hui An village in the Fuchien province, their ancestrals are Muslims and thus, whenever they observe the age-old tradition of praying to their ancestors, the altar offering must be halal with absolutely no pork.

Despite being not so well-known to tourists and even to some Penangites themselves, the stilt houses are visited occasionally by adventurous tourists from Japan and Europe.

"We are the only offshore village-on-stilts’ community in the world who still live in clans based on the same surname," claims Tan proudly.

He appealed to the state government to take serious measures in preserving this floating village, as it is part of the colourful Penang history.

It is the villagers’ greatest fear that one day their village might have to be demolished to make way for urbanisation.

There was previously a plan to upgrade the village into a waterfront city but the plan was shelved due to the high cost involved to maintain the wooden houses.

If properly exploited and promoted, these unique clan jetties have a great potential in the tourism industry.