123 Macalister Road , Penang

Ganesh Kolandaveloo added photos to 123 Macalister Rd (by Ganesh).

 ·  ·  · Sunday at 12:49

• 3 people like this.
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    Ganesh Kolandaveloo This building has eluded me for far too long. I have passed by this building a zillion times but somehow I was never able to get close to it to photograph it. Today I set out in the morning to capture this building just as the sun rose above Georgetown. These picture clearly show the architectural splendor of this building. The artistic work is awesome and this is the only building that I have come across with the motif of the Durian fruit on the façade !
    
    People people people - please get over the Chowrasta market and the demolition of 177 Macalister Rd. Please reserve your strength, frustration, and determination on saving buildings that are still standing. Let us start with this building: 123 Macalister Rd. First and foremost is to get the council to give protection status to this building. To our foreign friends who are in love with this enchanted island, please do send this link to your friends back home in US & Europe. If there is a willing buyer for this building, it will pave the way to secure this piece of heritage. 
    
    We need all the help we can get. Penang needs all the help she can get. 
    
    May the sun never set on the building.

    Sunday at 13:15 ·  ·  1
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    Ganesh Kolandaveloo I have 51 photos of this building in this album. Pls do spend time to view them. The curves, arches, motifs, floor tiles speak volumes of this piece of heritage.

    Sunday at 13:22 · 
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    Yee Li Ong it is very beautiful and it shall be preserved. people people people, GTWHI, PHT, Badan Warisan, can you lend a hand?

    Sunday at 13:45 ·  ·  1
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    Diana Boon They are lovely and thank you for taking the time to take those pictures and sharing them. I can only dream about owning a Mansion like this.

    Sunday at 14:49 · 
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    Marion Olsen Who owns the building? Is there any way the Heritage Trust could join with other NGO's and/or even other Government organisations to collectively fund such an iconic building for the nation - there may not be any one person in a position to purchase for such a purpose, but donations from all over Malaysia, and donations from interested people all over the world could make it a reality. I love the juxtaposition of European influenced Architecture and Asian inspired design, and the way the building has been modeled to suit a Malaysian purpose and climate. These buildings were surely built to last, and some must last for posterity. Great photos. Can you do the same with some of the other buildings?

    Sunday at 16:32 · 
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    Gwynn Jenkins Members of the public can nominate a building to be listed on the National Heritage Register - under JWN

    Sunday at 16:37 · 
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    Marion Olsen Actually I see that you have already said something like this Ganesh Kolandaveloo. I would think it is something that needs to be organised on a national and international scale. If it was done so it could be used as a public building or as a Heritage Building that was open to the public you should have a very strong case for asking for preservation. I am not sure, as Ben Wismen said, that just getting someone to buy for their own purposes is the answer in this case. There are a lot of traditional skills required in the renovation of such a building, and a private buyer may not employ such skilled people to help. I wonder if writing to the National Trust in the UK, and showing a large collection of photos, and telling the whole story of what is happening to Heritage, good and bad, they may be helpful and encouraging to the PHT and give you the necessary boost to take up the enormous challenge?

    Sunday at 16:54 · 
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    Joann Khaw Ganesh, some years ago there were enquries to buy but owner not intersted to sell. Maybe he will sell now.

    Sunday at 17:33 · 
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    Gwynn Jenkins Marion please take a look the JWN website and find the form, its not that simple to do, but it would be good in some retired person with time on their hands would investigate further and then we can see what can be done from there.

    Sunday at 20:06 · 
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    Marion Olsen Can you tell me what JWN stands for Gwynn. I had another thought that as this was a colonial building, maybe the National Trust UK would be interested in some sort of joint venture. It might be 'pie in the sky' but stranger things have happened.

    Sunday at 22:01 · 
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    Ganesh Kolandaveloo Hi Joann - Do you know the owner of the building?

    Sunday at 22:34 · 
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    Lim Cheok Siang Jimmy Please read my earlier comments about the pictures taken by Ganesh. We need to save this building before it goes down.

    Monday at 08:18 · 
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    Joann Khaw Ganesh, will talk to you when I see you.

    Monday at 17:48 · 
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    Andrewong Wkit Should we have a side inspection on this weekend???

    Monday at 21:26 · 
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    Gwynn Jenkins Marion nice idea but from what I understand the National Trust UK is just that.. and if I am not mistaken one in ten of their properties supports the other nine their budget is very very tight - take a good read of their website its very interesting..... JWN stands for Jabatan Warisan Negara.

    Monday at 22:54 · 
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    Marion Olsen Can you send me the link to this Gwynn Jenkins (JWN) there are various possibilities. I have sent an enquiry email to Nat Trust UK. May be utterly pie in the sky! My thoughts are not necessarily for financial assistance, rather for collaboration, moral support and encouragement, or various possibilities I have not thought about. There is a thriving network of volunteers in the Nat Trust, and they work in many areas. Were this building to succumb to demolition it would be a tragedy if the decorative work were not preserved , particularly as it is such a fusion of different cultural decoration, and very beautiful. I was at a dinner in the Plaisterers Guildhall in London early in February where I saw the moulds for some traditional English decorative plasterwork. (That too may be an interesting connection! Perhaps even financial) I am working on the nothing ventured, nothing gained in this global world of ours - although my interest is artistic and sentimental, and of no other substance. My connection with Penang is through Musical exchange, initially as part of an Opera Company working with Penang singers and instrumentalists to put on an Opera in the late 1980s - a musical collaboration - which may give you an idea of where I am coming from.

    Yesterday at 00:50 ·  ·  1
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    Gwynn Jenkins www.heritage.gov.my/

    

    Jabatan Warisan Negara

    www.heritage.gov.my

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    15 hours ago ·