Zheng He never called at Penang Historian: No record of any stops

THERE is no indication that Admiral Zheng He ever made any stops in Penang, said historian Dr Geoff Wade. 

“On the other hand, Malacca was indicated in his voyages, as well as Kelantan and even Pahang,” said Dr Wade, who was on a lecture tour speaking on 'The Zheng He Anniversary: Reassessing, Commemorating and Utili-sing the Eunuch Voyages’ in Penang yesterday. 

He was replying to questions from the floor on Zheng He’s possible links to Penang, such as at the Sam Poh Foot-print Temple in Batu Maung which has an impression on the ground said to be Zheng He’s footprint. 

One of the questions came from Goh Mai Loon, who mentioned that Penang was indicated in one of Zheng He’s maps in the Chinese calligraphy style as Pin Lan Yue which is the same way the name of the island is written to this day. 

Dr Wade said many names in South-East Asia had existed for hundreds of years, and indigenous names were sometimes translated and used by the Chinese in their maps. 

During his talk, Dr Wade reiterated that Zheng He’s voyages were military in nature, and that he had led one of the largest armadas equipped with the best weapons in the world at that time. 

“You don’t need troops of 30,000 when you’re going on a voyage of friendship,” he said, adding that there were records of violence during Zheng He’s voyages to Palembang (Sumatra), Java, Sri Lanka, Samudera and Ayudhya. 

He ended his talk saying that he was not against promoting peace and friendship, but against people intentionally taking history and changing it into something that it was not. 

The talk was attended by about 200 people, among them Star Publications (M) Bhd group editorial and education adviser Datuk Ng Poh Tip and Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) president Dr Choong Sim Poey. 

It was the last of four talks in his lecture tour of Malaysia, which is part of a series of events to commemorate the 600th anniversary of Zheng He’s visit to Malacca in 1405. 

The lecture tour, organised by The Star and the Asian Centre for Media Studies, also covered Malacca, Kuala Lum-pur and Ipoh. The Penang event was co-organised by PHT. 

Dr Wade is a historian with interests in China and South-East Asian historical interactions and comparative historiography. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. 

The lecture moderator for the Penang talk was local author and former PHT secretary Khoo Salma Nasution.