Historical Leith Street | George town heritage city walk
Historical Leith Street | George town heritage city walk | ||||
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A number of budget hotels are found along Lebuh Leith. The medium-budget Cathay Hotel is a favourite among visiting artists and writers because it is housed in a heritage mansion with a lovely inner courtyard. The hotel rates are probably subsidised by its "health centre". Leith Street has been somewhat revitalised, thanks to the restoration of the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion and the servant's quarters opposite which were converted into 20 Leith Street and Jaipur Court, a North Indian restaurant with a Moghul setting. In the last three years, both the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion and the Benggali Mosque further down the street were allegedly affected by piling works for neighbouring hotel developments. The story of Cheong Fatt Tze is a typical rags-to-riches story of a Chinese immigrant who made it good in the Nanyang or South Seas. Cheong was a Hakka from Teochew district who migrated to Java to seek his fortune in the 1850s. He rose steadily in business and prospered from government contracts given out by the Dutch. His steamships plied between Penang and Medan. When made Vice-Consul of China, he moved to Penang, where he built his principal home. Cheong Fatt Tze went on to become the Consul General of China in Singapore, continuing to build a trading empire throughout the South Seas, before reaching the height of his career as China's foremost industrialist and advisor to the Empress Dowager. The fabulous turn-of-the-century mansion has 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 windows. Laid out like a Chinese courtyard mansion according to geomantic principles, it displays an electic combination of Art Nouveau-style stained glass, Venetian shutters, Victorian iron work and decorative ceilings as well as Chinese ceramic shard decoration, gilded timber lattice work and carved capitals. The mansion was lovingly restored by its present owners. Artisans from China were brought in for the job. Guided tours of the premises are conducted thrice weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11am. Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, now open for viewing. Beautifully restored, but surrounded by unsympathetic, even unfriendly, high rise developments. The "blue mansion", as it is casually called, was used as the location for the Academy Award-winning French film, Indo-Chine. | ||||
