Do you know that Penang Asam Laksa is believed to be influenced by a traditional Burmese dish called Mohinga?

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BURMESE HERITAGE IN PENANG

Penang has always been a cosmopolitan city - blessed by its strategic geographical location - even before the founding of the modern Penang by Francis Light in 1786, the ‘Pearl of the Orient’ has attracted people from neighbouring regions and faraway lands to gather in this beautiful land. Some stopped for a short stay, many settled down and called it their home - but all brought their own unique culture and story to make Penang a colourful and complex place as it is today.

However, comparing to the stories of the Europeans and Eurasians, the Chinese, the Indians, the Siamese, and others, the story of the Burmese in Penang is one that is less spoken about and shared, despite signs a notable presence back in their days.

The Burmese Connection

Connection between Burma (Myanmar as it is called then) and the Malayan peninsular began as early as the fifteenth century, if not earlier, with people from both regions migrating around and between the land for various reasons. But with the rise of the global East-West trade, with several coastal towns, such as Rangoon in the Lower Burma region and Penang turning into important sea ports along the trade route, the moving of goods, and people, between these two regions accelerated greatly, and reaching its peak in the 1800s as both regions came under the British rule.

The records of the earliest arrivals were vague, but by then, there was already a sizeable Burmese population in Penang. They were mostly centred in the Burmese Village in Pulau Tikus, with smaller settlements in Teluk Bahang and Batu Maung.

Dr MacKinnon's Residence, near Burmah Village | 100pfs

The earliest Burmese settlers were most likely fishermen, but soon there were also traders, merchants, labourers, and workers in factories - some of which were set up by wealthy Burmese businessmen who reside in Penang.

Taking Root

Among the most prominent was probably Sin Yew Kyong and his cheroot (cigar) factory. Son of a Burmese merchant of Chinese origin, he migrated to Penang as a 16-year-old young man, and later establishing his own factory producing Burmese cheroot, at 8 Tavoy Road, in early twentieth century. Sin’s cheroot business grew - he would later open his own cigar store at 12 Perangin Lane - and he famously brought over hundreds of young ladies from his native Burma to Penang, to work in his factory. These young ladies soon began to be known as the ‘cheroot ladies’, who were said to be highly sought after by local lads as wives, and many of them settled down in Penang and other parts of Malaya. Indeed, many of the Malaysian Burmese today are the descendants of the cheroot ladies.

Conversely, young ladies from Penang, particularly of the Peranakan group, also known as ‘Nyonya’, were seen as highly desirable marriage candidates by the successful and wealthy among the Sino-Burmese, both locally and in Burma. This included the ‘Burmese Cheroot King’, as Sin was known, who had a Nyonya lady as wife. Some of the Penang Nyonyas were brought over to Burma and stayed, while some of the rich Burmese merchants who would frequently visit Penang during their business trips took the young ladies as wives and essentially had their “second home” here. One of which who did as such was Aw Boon Haw, of the Tiger Balm fame, who had a residence at Cantonment Road with his Penang wife/mistress. Incidentally, Aw’s principal wife, a Madam Tay, was also from Penang.

The Cheroot Ladies | Lost Footsteps

Today, there is a small group of Burmese Malays in Myanmar, known as the Pashu people. More specifically, Pashu is also referring to the particular group of Baba-Nyonya, the Peranakan Chinese people and their descendants who moved to Myanmar and stayed there.

The Legacy

The Penang today is left with ample evidence of this historical Burmese connection. The areas surrounding the Burmese settlement - also used to be known was Kampung Ava, said to be named after the Burmese city Ava (present day Inwa) - in Pulau Tikus provide us with the strongest hints of how significant the Burmese community was in its day. The road that runs through the village and connects it to the city centre was named Burmah Road (spelled with an ‘H’ to reflect the old British spelling), which name remains to this day and is one of the major and longest roads in Penang. Off this road is Rangoon Road - with Rangoon the old name for Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar. There are also Mandalay Road, Moulmein Road, and Tavoy Road, all named after major cities in Myanmar, as well as Irrawaddy Road, after the Irrawaddy Delta.

But perhaps the most famous and prominent heritage of all is the Dhammikarama Temple in Burmah Lane, Pulau Tikus. This Burmese temple, built on a land donated by a female Burmese devotee, dates back to 1803, signifying the presence of a sizeable Burmese community as early as then. It is also the oldest Buddhist temple in the state. Originally a humble and modest place of worship, with the growing Burmese community, the British government at that time granted them some land for expansion to the temple to be made. The temple became the heart of the local community, not just as a religious centre, but with a well within the temple ground offering water supply before there was piped water in the area, it was an important community and social centre, not only to the Burmese but possibly the wider population nearby too. With continual support from the Burmese people, and later, the Penang government, the temple grew into the magnificent monument we have today - and two centuries later, it still stands strong to remind us of the Burmese Heritage in Penang.

Dhammikarama Temple | Wikimedia

The story of the Burmese Heritage in Penang might not be the most widely shared, and not something we learn about in the history textbooks. Indeed I as a Penang Lang am not aware of this before looking up this story, and we’re not left with a lot of reliable historical records. But it is no less interesting and significant - and the heritage is definitely as worthy to be preserved and the story to be told.

Main references: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

hi, i understand that people will say this isnt a good idea but my parents are forcing me and it's out of my hands so please help me if u can. i go to safety driving school and have finished all my classes my test is coming up and my parents want me to pay duit kopi. who do i contact for this? what do i say? please help if u can. thanks.

Lemmy have a spin with that app ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Doulos Hope is a floating bookfair/library which mission is to promote literacy and education, and share knowledge and hope around the world. There are over 2000 book titles on board, and visitors have a chance to interact with the international crew to know more about the ship and their work.

She is visiting the Penang currently, and is scheduled to stop at Kuching and KK in the following weeks.

Registration is required for visit, and a nominal entrance fee applies. Registration form can be found here.

GOOD NEWS: DOULOS HOPE IS EXTENDING HER STAY IN PENANG FOR ANOTHER 2 WEEKS. THE BOOKING HAS OPENED FOR THE SUBSEQUENT SLOTS.

Note: Doulos Hope is operated by an international Christian organisation, but the Bookfair is open to all.

Sales will start at 11am. Which category would you be buying? Heart says Fan Zone, purse says Cat 2.

For the life of me, I can't seem to find the unpin button. Do let me know how to do so. Also, I was told that I can schedule posts, but I haven't seen that option either. I'm currently using Lemmy via the browser.

Miss Supranational Malaysia's national costume is inspired by the Dayak people of Borneo Island. Borneo Island is a special Island that belongs to three countries. Rich with many indigenous traditions and cultures, the Dayaks are one of the largest groups living on Borneo. This national costume is designed to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the Dayak people. The headgear is made to imitate the shields of the Dayak people, which represent strength and protection to their owners. The beads detailing is to appreciate the unique accessories worn by the Dayak women. Where even some of the accessories are native to the Dayak people themselves. As we know, the Great Rhinoceros Hornbill has been close to the Dayak people; therefore, the imitation of the feathers is to honour the great bird as much as it is to symbolise the freedom and elegance of the bird. Each element of the national costume is custom-made in order to show more of the handicraft skills of the Dayak people. The costume took 6 months to produce

Last night I got a rare recommendation in my YouTube on one of my old subscription to Prof Steve Keen, am Australian economics professor. Not very well known because he is pushing a more niche view on the already unconventional idea of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).

To put simply what this is all about: CREDIT (LOAN) CREATION IS MONEY CREATION

I am not an econ major, and I am oversimplifying as hell here, but, its like this. With modern accounting practice, when you take out a RM1k loan from your neighbourhood bank branch, the branch is not giving you the loan by withdrawing from its reserves of savings deposits. They will simply add RM1k to their liabilities and credit RM1K into your account. Number flipping only. Easy peasy like roti canai.

Even so, the funds that you get can then be spent just like regular cash. No shops are going to differentiate between it and your paid-in-cash salary.

It is essentially fresh money, added to the economy, simply at the discretion of your local branch manager. No involvement from Bank Negara or the state whatsoever.

And consider the amount of loans we Malaysians took over the decades, people buying multiple cars and houses. How much of of the Ringgit in circulation today is from the gov issue, and how many are generated from credit? How far has the Ringgit been watered down by this?

What Prof Steve Keen, based on Hyman Minsky's work, is working on are what effect this phenomenon can have on the wider system. He cautioned that economies with too much credit circulating will get very fragile by being very sensitive to interest rate fluctuations.

MMT get a lot of flak in mainstream media for being "crazy", but as a theory, it's a powerful concept. On one hand it allows government to create money without indiscriminately printing cash through "quantitative easing", a power which can easily be abused. But it also reveals the extent of power individual banks actually have on the national economy. Scary stuff.

I mean, at least housing properties have this ever present cultural pressure to keep fueling it for some time. Bussiness however are more realistic. If the location got too expensive they will simply close or move. Maybe even just do their bussines 100% online.

But all these are just my guess. Outsiders like me have no chance to see what's behind the shop front, and bussiness, especially one in crisis, will always keep up a business as usual everything is fine façade.

When I showed this page to an ang moh friend she went like,, "this seems exaggerated". 🤔

I was like neh this is the simplified version 🤣

From the book "Has the West lost it?" by 😔Kishore Mahbubani

I gave up on Project Hail Mary for now (as I said, I generally don’t like sci-fi and when aliens appeared, I gave up altogether), and went back to fantasy. Finally got to readingThe Grace of Kings by Ken Liu. Am about a quarter in, and can’t believe it took me so long to recognize that the story is based on Liu Bang and XiangYu!

Offer period from 1st August to 16th September

Individual Ticket

This sounds like a good deal, anyone going?

cross-posted from: https://monyet.cc/post/148424

• Time: Friday 28th July, 7.30pm-Midnight (last Friday of each month)
• Place: Vivae Board Games Cafe Ampang , 383c-2, 4th Mile, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - FB , Google
• Cost: We’ve negotiated a special RM20 for an all night pass! Please tell them you are with reddit and pay on entry.
• Food: They serve pizza+drinks, but plenty of outside food close by if that's not for you.
• RSVP: RSVP here. The cafe tends to be busier on Fridays so they want to know how much space they need to reserve.

Looking forward to seeing you there and getting our game on! Photos from past sessions (We used to do it at a different cafe.

• Time: Friday 28th July, 7.30pm-Midnight (last Friday of each month)
• Place: Vivae Board Games Cafe Ampang , 383c-2, 4th Mile, Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - FB , Google
• Cost: We’ve negotiated a special RM20 for an all night pass! Please tell them you are with reddit and pay on entry.
• Food: They serve pizza+drinks, but plenty of outside food close by if that's not for you.
• RSVP: RSVP here. The cafe tends to be busier on Fridays so they want to know how much space they need to reserve.

Looking forward to seeing you there and getting our game on! Photos from past sessions (We used to do it at a different cafe.

FAQ

Aren't board games kind of lame?	No.
Is this beginner friendly?	Totally! Every game gets explained to the group before starting. A few new players come for every session and have a great time!
What games will we be playing?	The board game cafe has a huge library to choose from; check out their FB page for photos. The cafe staff have been quite good at recommending fun games as well.
Can I BYO?	The venue has asked that we don't bring our own food and drink.
How do we get in touch on the night?	PM me your number if you'd like to be added to the WhatsApp group.
Is there dinner beforehand?	We're leaving it to the group to self-organise on this as it's hard to coordinate the whole group plus a big booking etc.
How many people attend?	We generally have 12-24 people per session. Attendance varies widely and it's hard to predict!
When do events happen?	Twice every month! Once on the 2nd friday at Vivae PJ, Once on the last Friday at Vivae Ampang.