AT THE junction of Armenian Street and Cannon Street and just a stone throw’s away from the Khoo Kongsi lies the Lum Yeong Tong Yap Kongsi. It is the clan association of Hokkien Chinese in Penang with the Yap surname. The 10,056 sq ft piece of land on which it stands was donated by a local Yap clansman, the tycoon and philanthropist, Yeap Chor Ee.

The origins of the Yap clan can be traced back to 439 BC, when warrior Shen Zhu Liang helped the Chu Dynasty recoup power by defeating the troops of the Qin Dynasty. In honour and return for his service, Shen was awarded a title, the hand of a princess to marry and a piece of land which was called the Yap district. Shen then took on the Yap surname and thus the naissance of the Yap clan.

The association has two adjoining buildings, the 1924 Straits eclectic-style building which houses the ancestral tables of generations of Yap families, and the Choo Chay Keong temple dedicated to the Yap clan’s patron deities which was built in the 1950s. The temple was refurbished in the 1990s. The temple is a true work of art with intricately-carved designs adorning its front walls and the four pillars at the entrance. From afar, it is easily recognisable by its extensive ornament of dragons and pearls on its green roof.

References

• Penang Travel Tips
• Travel Malaysia Guide
• Asia Rediscovery

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