๐๐ข๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ค๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐๐จ๐จ๐ง?
Drone shot of the mansion. Credit: The Eclectic Peranakans (https://www.facebook.com/.../relau-villa.../417632112480259/)
๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ฆ-๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ก๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ข ๐ป๐๐ข๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ โ๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐.
Relau, once an agricultural area in the south-western district of Penang Island, is today a large modern residential estate. Vestiges of its past linger on though, most notably in the century-old Sino-Venetian-style mansion named Relau House, located on Lebuh Relau 4, near Taman Metropolitan.
The Relau House is the site of the longest-surviving Penang ghost story that has been faithfully handed down generation after generation to wide-eyed, impressionable kids. It is said a maiden drowned herself in the pool after her family did not approve of a man she loved. In another version, a couple and their son drowned there.
Front view of Relau House. Credit: https://penangmonthly.com/article.aspx?pageid=15609...
Side view of the house showing the fish pond and garden. Credit: Arkib Negara Malaysia via Penang Monthly
The swimming pool. Credit: Arkib Negara Malaysia via Penang Monthly
However, there was never any official record of tragedy in Relau House.
The truth is, the villa was built by Chung Thye Phin (้ญๅคงๅนณ), a tin mining and planting tycoon. At that time, one of the lavish ways for the rich in colonial Penang to spend their money was to build holiday bungalows in their estates or on a hill. So, in the 1920s, Thye Phin commissioned the firm of Stark and McNeil to build a holiday home in his Sungei Relau Estate in Relau.
It was told that Thye Pin lived the life of a bon vivant with lavish mansions in Penang, Taiping and Ipoh. He built the first swimming pool on the island in Relau and by its side, a summer house where he entertained his friends and associates.
๐๐๐ค ๐๐จ ๐พ๐๐ช๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ? Chung Thye Phin was a wealthy tin miner Chung Thye Phin, the last Chinese Kapitan of Perak. Chung Thye Pin Road in Ipoh, Perak, is named after him.
Thye Pin was the fourth son of Kapitan Chung Keng Kwee, Penangโs famous Chinese leader whose memory is now kept alive by every cendol-loving tourist who drops by Lebuh Keng Kwee (named after him).
Born in Taiping in 1879, Thye Pin went to St Xavierโs Institution in Penang.
Chung Thye Phin. Credit: Tan Yeow Wooi via Penang Monthly
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ While lack of care and maintenance has left the manor in a dilapidated state, the structural remnants reveal the signs of the original beauty and grandeur of the house, which once stood imposingly on a small hill.
The most striking feature is the swimming pool, around which the house was built. The pool is surrounded by a series of columns resembling a Roman-style bathhouse, and its opulence and exoticism were perhaps unrivalled in Penang โ and maybe even Malaya โ at that time. The mansion has been cordoned off by the Penang Island City Council and the grounds surrounding it have been beautified.
Relau House today is overgrown with shrubs and trees. Credit: Penang Monthly
The once-magnificent swimming pool. Credit: Penang Monthly ๐ณ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐? ๐ฏ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐!
Sources: [1] https://penangmonthly.com/article.aspx?pageid=15609... [2] https://www.thestar.com.my/.../ghoulish-tales-of-ghost...
Books to Buy: - Tan Yeow Wooi, Kapitan Chung Keng Kweeโs Shen Zhi Jia Shu and Hai Ji Zhan, Penang: Pinang Peranakan Mansion Sdn. Bhd., 2013 - Jeffery Seow, โChung Keng Queeโ, in Low Wei Leng et al., Biographical Dictionary of Mercantile Personalities of Penang, Penang: Think City and MBRAS, 2013