Retracing Hakka splendour...

GEORGETOWN: There are plans to turn Balik Pulau into a Hakka landmark because of its significant heritage traits.

Federation of Malaysian Hakka Associations deputy president Datuk Dr Cheah See Kian said there was a proposal to build a museum in the area and the National Central University of Taiwan Hakka Research Centre was conducting research on the feasibility.

“We want to commemorate the Hakka community in Penang, especially those in Balik Pulau, as we discovered it was a pioneer Hakka settlement.

“It was truly a ‘Hakka village’ in the early days,” Dr Cheah said.

“Balik Pulau may have lost much of the Hakka splendour of the olden days but from the historical point of view, it’s still recognised as the first shelter for those who first migrated here.

“Through the passage of time, though, it’s no longer the realm of the Hakkas, but it remains a Hakka-speaking community,” he said during a workshop on studies of the Hakka community in South-East Asia at Han Chiang College yesterday.

Heritage researcher Tan Yeow Wooi, who was invited to speak on the architectural heritage of the Hakkas, said that the building of the clan’s associations, temples, clan houses and houses were integrated with other clan elements like the Cantonese and Teochew.

SOURCE: The Star - Balik Pulau to be a Hakka landmark