|
Friday, 06 May 2011 18:01 |
|
AT THE inaugural Penang Story Lecture, held on November 20, 2010, Emeritus Professor Wang Gungwu shed light on the Chinese diaspora in Penang and the role that they played in the region.
Entitled “Sino-Western Penang Responses”, the lecture revealed that the first Chinese people settled in Penang before Macartney met Emperor Qianlong. The children from these early Chinese immigrants had begun to study Western ways long before Sun Yat-sen went to English schools in Hawaii and Hong Kong.
When Sun was just a baby, a boy born in Penang named Ku Hung-ming was sent to Britain to pursue his education. Later, Ku passed through Penang and never returned. In the meantime, Sun came to Penang 30 years later and was warmly received by those from whom Ku had turned away. The talk by Prof Wang discussed these early phases of globalisation.
The Penang Story inaugural lecture also coincided with the 22nd Joint Conference of the Sun Yat Sen and Soong Ching Ling Memorials. To download a PDF of the lecture, click through here. About Penang Story 2 Think City (www.thinkcity.com.my) in collaboration with Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) and knowledge partners the George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) & Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) re-launched Penang Story in 2010 – a cultural mapping project under the George Town Grants Programme (GTGP).
This new chapter of the Penang Story will have special emphasis on Penang as a place of “conjunctures, confluences and contestations” – highlighting the multi-ethnic, cosmopolitan society that contributed to local, regional and global histories.
With UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription in 2008 and the growing awareness about cultural heritage issues, this new chapter of the Penang Story not only continues “celebrating cultural diversity” but expands to include a “re-discovery” of Penang’s place in global history.
There will be a special emphasis on Penang as a place of “conjectures and confluences”; highlighting the cosmopolitan society that contributed to the making of Penang’s “spirit of place”; and all this by concentrating on Penang’s multi-ethnic community and their contribution to local, regional and global histories.
Penang Story is an open platform for all those with an interest in Penang from different parts of the world to contribute towards “deepening” the story. The project’s focus is not only on even ts and people but also other intangible heritage involving foodways, economic activities, values and beliefs, education and all other aspects related to George Town’s “Outstanding Universal Values”.
Ultimately, the Penang Story project hopes to build a greater sense of solidarity amongst locals particularly stakeholders in George Town, where communities will deepen their understanding and be proud of their own heritage whilst having great respect for the traditions and histories of other communities.
Associated partners in this project include academics from Cambridge and London Universities, and the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS).
 |
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
