Restoring a piece of history

Tourist guide Hasneeda Hashnan (left) posing for the camera with tourists in front of the Francis Light statue at Fort Cornwallis in George Town, Penang. — Filepic

CONSERVATION works will be carried out to restore the bronze statue of Captain Francis Light, which was defaced by red paint.

Penang tourism and creative economy committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin said several actions will be taken by Penang Museum Board to restore the statue.

“The board will carry out cleaning and conservation work on the statue.

“We have taken into account the condition and the surrounding area for follow-up action to repair the monument.

“We have obtained views from experts from the Department of Museums Malaysia’s Conservation Centre on the appropriate methods and materials to be used for such works.

“Scaffolding will be installed around the monument to facilitate the conservation work, ” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The statue with red paint splashed on it. — Filepic

Yeoh, who is Penang Museum Board chairman, said the conservation work will be handled by the board for six months from Oct 26 to April 30 next year.

“The conservation work is carried out to restore the statue to its original condition.

“The act of splashing red paint on the monument was wrong and irresponsible.

“Historical artefacts should be respected and appreciated by all parties, ” he added.

The statue is a historical landmark in Penang, located within the grounds of Fort Cornwallis.

It was sculpted by FJ Wilcoxson and cast at Burton’s Foundry in Thames Ditton, England, in 1936. It was erected to celebrate the 150th anniversary of George Town.

According to history, Wilcoxson had to rely on the features of William Light, who was Capt Light’s son, because no picture of Light senior survived into the 20th century.

The bronze statue used to have a sword, which went missing during World War II.

It is believed that the sword was taken by the Japanese, who removed the statue during their occupation of Penang in 1942.