MANY establishments in the heart of Pulau Tikus, near the Jalan Burma-Cantonment junction, have resorted to strong colours to signal their presence.  Shades of purple, green, yellow and brown embrace the walls of businesses and organisations, giving the suburb a youthful and vibrant veneer that belies its heritage past.

 

Literally “Rat Island” in Malay, Pulau Tikus is neither an island nor infested with rats. It is named after a small offshore rocky island shaped like a mouse, located about 2km away from the north-eastern coast of Penang Island.

 

The town was once home to several minority communities, especially the Eurasian and Burmese, who were its earliest settlers. Today, their villages have disappeared, and only their temples, churches and some street names (such as Leandro’s Lane Jalan Brother James) remain.

 

Pre-war shophouses still line the main artery of Pulau Tikus, Burma Road, which also boasts heritage buildings like the 200-year (Roman Catholic) Church of the Immaculate Conception. In sharp contrast to these are high-end commercial buildings such as Burmah House and Bellisa Row; a clear divide between old and new, up market and everyday grit.

 

Pulau Tikus has been a “high end” neighbourhood since the 1920s when it became a choice resort suburb for the town elite to build their second homes. Art-deco architecture can be found in 40 beautiful link houses which flank Bangkok Lane. Built in 1928, they make the road one of the most visually aesthetic in Penang.

 

Today, Pulau Tikus still has its fair share of mansions, bungalows and colonial buildings contrasted with many modern high-end condominiums, such as those along Gurney Drive, where some of the most expensive properties on the island are available. The once scenic driveway has been replaced with traffic fumes from congestion, and the idyllic beachside with mudflats. Nevertheless, Gurney Drive is still famous for its hawker food and lively evening street life.

 

Leslie AK James of Penang Heritage Trust writes:

 

Pulau Tikus is the scene of a contest between the old and the new, the old infinitely more interesting and appealing, the new brash and boring represented by towering condo blocks along Gurney Drive each vying to be taller and emptier than the next. These are what the property market pundits tout as the future of Pulau Tikus. Despite their over-weaning size, however, they pale in comparison to what was here before, elegant villas like the Loke Mansion built in 1924 and standing proudly if somewhat forlornly in the shadow of the ugly towers going up around it. Read more here.

 

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