George Town in Penang has come a long way from the bustling port city that blossomed in the 19th century, leaning on its strategic location along the Malacca Straits.
From a high-tech industrial zone to a crucial centre of commerce and agriculture, the country’s second smallest state clocks in among the top five states in terms of GDP. However, unlike many other economic centres that have urbanised across the decades, George Town has managed to hold on to large portions of its heritage.
Where should you shop in George Town, one might ask?
For a different insight, forgo the big malls and air-conditioned shopping complexes and dive into the real places locals go for provisions, medicine, snacks and secondhand goods.
Located in the heart of George Town, Chowrasta Market is the state’s oldest market.
Built in 1890, the site was first a single-storey building located within a settlement of South Indian migrants.
Its name meaning the “intersection of roads”, Chowrasta was converted into a three-storey complex in the early 1960s, which still stands today.
From pickled nutmeg to tau sar peah to handmade popiah skins made right in front of you, Chowrasta is a feast for the senses and offers everything and anything one might need for daily life.
The outside stalls offer patrons everything from clothes to shoes to pretty potted plants while the food court settles breakfast for hungry (and not hungry) visitors.
The inside of the building houses a bustling wet market where cuts of beef, chicken and pork can be found along with an array of fresh seafood and vegetables.
While its size, variety and quality of goods would be enough to attract people in the area, Chowrasta has another ace in its sleeve on the second floor – a row of well-known secondhand book sellers.
Here, books are stacked from floor to ceiling in systems of organised chaos.
Bibles can be seen wedged in between action thrillers while everything from the classics to Spiderman comics can be discovered and brought home, for a price.
Indeed, Chowrasta’s history and impact to local society are unmatched and is even set to be the basis of an upcoming board game called Bansan, set to be launched in the middle of this year.
Generally, to survive and compete with hypermarkets and grocery stores, markets in George Town must offer a minimum staple of goods; a good selection of raw meat is essential while a fresh array of fruit, vegetables and basic kitchen seasonings and spices at reasonable prices is also a must.
But to really stand out in George Town, a site needs a little something extra, or in the case of the Cecil Street Market, a really large thing.
Cecil Street is known as “chit tiau lor” among locals, which literally means “seventh street” in the local dialect of Hokkien, indicating the road sequence from Komtar.
Occupying one of two sections inside the market is what is believed to be the biggest hawker food court in all of inner George Town.
Food stalls and tables as far as the eye can see and smells that both assault and seduce your senses greet you upon your arrival.
From its famous duck meat koay teow and sweet Chinese-style pasember to the delicate, mouth-watering nyonya kuih and charcoal char koay teow brimming with wok hei, the Cecil Street Market Food Court offers some of the most popular hawker fare on the island.
And with the state’s reputation of being a national food haven, that’s saying quite a bit.
It has often been said that one could find almost anything in Lorong Kulit.
From an old, half-size violin in a battered-up case (only one string left unbroken) to three-inch, fur-lined ankle boots (definitely used) to a dated, vintage Canon 35mm camera (good luck finding film), the daily flea market located next to the historic City Stadium contains trash and treasures alike.
Believed to have emerged around 1992 after local council authorities cleared out many secondhand dealers from Jalan Pintal Tali in the inner city, Lorong Kulit has both charm and a slightly unsavoury reputation.
In its early history, it gained the notoriety of being a sizable thieves market with everything from ‘preloved’ shoes to watches to jewellery being unceremoniously spread out on large pieces of cloth on the road.
In fact, it was joked that if you had the misfortune of being robbed or lost your shoes at the mosque, you could go and buy them back at Lorong Kulit.
Much has changed over the years and the majority of the sellers at Lorong Kulit today sell the standard market offerings of affordable clothes, shoes and fresh seasonal fruits.
However, the layout of the market remains maze-like and here, more than anywhere else in the state, is where one might stumble across a precious hidden treasure, long separated from its original owner.
Literally meaning “end of town” in Hokkien, Sia Boey emerged as a trading hub around the Prangin Canal that was built in the early 1800s.
The important wholesale market grew and thrived as the canal was crucial in transporting goods from the nearby pier into the inner city and vice versa.
Everything from chicken eggs, fresh fruit and produce to wood for coffins would pass through the waterway, providing much-needed basic ingredients and materials for food sellers and businesses that sprouted up in every direction.
In 2004, Sia Boey made way for Phase 5 of the Komtar development project with the relocation of the market and traders.
After several turns of events, it was decided in 2012 that the area would be turned into a heritage enclave and the canal rehabilitated.
The Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park now stands in its place, with the original market hall still there, connected to an adjoining community park and playground.
It was after the Second World War and Penang was healing and rebuilding.
The British were back in charge after the island spent four devastatingly long years under the Japanese occupation.
It was time to get up and move forward and an effective transportation network was vital to this effort.
It was in this setting that the Hin Bus Depot (HBD) was built on Brick Kiln Road in Penang’s capital of George Town.
The 1947 repository housed and maintained the famous Hin Company Ltd blue buses that plied the roads from George Town to Tanjung Bungah up in the north and Teluk Bahang on the island’s west coast.
After a good run and half a century later, the depot shuttered in 1999 with the bus service closing down in the years soon after.
It took over a decade, a mural artist and the gracious hand of fate for attentions to turn back to HBD and the now bustling, indie-inspired art hub has hardly looked back since.
It now houses a gallery, artist studios, retail outlets and several F&B spaces.
Although any day is a good day to sit and let your mind wonder at HBD, weekends provide the most action with a weekly creative market held that offers quirky and different wares from small businesses in the community.
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