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THE Khoo Kongsi, one of the most majestic Chinese clan-association building complexes in Malaysia, has recently refurbished its museum which is located below its temple. Equipped with, among others, audio-visuals as well as light boxes and back-lit panels, it gives the visitor a quick glimpse into the various facets of the clan and its association.
The kongsi is located in the midst of narrow, winding lanes and quaint-looking pre-war houses in the heart of George Town in Cannon Square. The Khoo Kongsi is a clan association of the Leong San Tong (Dragon Mountain Hall) clan. The Khoo Kongsi, together with the Cheah, Yeoh, Lim and Tan kongsis, were known as the Five Big Clans that formed the backbone of the Hokkien community in early Penang.
The clan complex resembled a miniature clan village, with its own self-government as well as educational, financial, welfare and social organisations. It includes an association building, an elaborate temple, a traditional theatre and late 19th century rowhouses for clan members, all clustered around a granite-paved square.
Founded in 1835, it was formed to look after the welfare of Khoo clansmen in the Nanyang whose forefathers came from Sin Kang clan village in Fujian province. The association has an extensive record of clan ancestors and descendants that can be traced back 650 years ago. The ancestors of the Khoos can be traced to a common progenitor, Chan Chian Eng, who ironically was given away to a Khoo family of another village, and hence took on his adopted family name.
Known seafarers, the first Sin Kang emigrant, Khoo Se Phai, travelled to Borneo and died there in the early 16th century during the Ming Dynasty. Two centuries later, many Khoo immigrants began setting up roots and formed a closely-knit community Penang. Many were involved in trades and other careers, and were some of the wealthiest Straits Chinese of the time.
Ostentatiously, at the height of their prosperity in 1894, a new temple of such opulence that resembled and rivalled the palace of the Emperor of China was constructed to showcase their wealth. Mysteriously, the grandiose temple was razed to the ground 29 days after its completion. Legend has it that the extravagance of the temple was an affront to Heaven and incurred the wrath of the gods as it was regarded too exquisite for ancestor worship. A few years after it was destroyed, in order to appease the gods, a scaled-down version of the original temple was constructed. Nevertheless master craftsmen, artists, artisans, sculptors and materials were shipped in from China to complete the present masterpiece.
Like many such clan associations, Khoo Kongsi is no longer the centre of important social activities and functions that it once held in its heyday. The tradition theatre occasionally stages Chinese opera performances during the 7th Chinese Lunar month; the most recent was a re-enactment of an excerpt from “the Monkey King” by Ghaffar Pourazar and Chie Morimura. Currently, the rowhouses are undergoing renovation-cum-restoration. References:
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