THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SUN YAT SEN MUSEUM PENANG
SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG YAB TUAN CHOW KON YEOW FOR THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SUN YAT SEN MUSEUM PENANG
26 November 2023
120, Lebuh Armenian
Her Excellency Madam Li Bin,
Chairperson of China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and Vice Chairperson of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)
Mr Zhang Jiming
Secretary-General of the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation
Mr Li An-Jin
Director of the Soong Ching Ling Residence Management Centre
His Excellency Mr. Zhou Youbin
The Consul-General of China in Penang
Ms Khoo Salma Nasution,
Director of the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang
Ms Lim Gaik Siang,
President, Penang Heritage Trust
Media Friends, Ladies & Gentlemen
A very good morning to all of you.
It is a great honour for Penang to receive our distinguished guests from the China Soong Ching Ling Foundation and to witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Soong Ching Ling Former Residence Management Centre and the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang.
I understand that this house is a popular site to visit by many VIPs from China due to its historical significance and connection to Dr Sun Yat Sen.
So, it is most timely that this house is turned into a museum with proper conservation efforts to protect and care for this historic relic in the heart of George Town.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
From what I understand, although Dr Sun Yat Sen only stayed in Penang for a few months between July and December in 1910, he inspired a local movement among the Malaysian Chinese in education and social improvement.
I still remember the 2007 Chinese historical movie Road to Dawn [夜。明] which depicted Dr Sun Yat Sen’s life in Penang during those several months in 1910. It was filmed in Penang and the whole vicinity of Armenian Street including this house was featured in the movie.
Dr Sun’s supporters started schools such as Chung Ling and Peng Hua which are Penang’s most important Chinese schools today, as well as associations such as Hu Yew Seah, Min Sin Seah and Li Teik Seah, which has its own schools.
But more than anything else, Sun Yat Sen inspired patriotism and the need for one to be firm and to do the right thing against all forms of aggression. In fact, Dr Sun was at one time even banned from Penang due to his criticism against British colonial rule.
Ladies & Gentlemen,
I would like to commend Ms Khoo Salma for preserving this important house in the George Town World Heritage Site. In fact, Ms Khoo and Ms Lim Gaik Siang, in their own capacities and through the Penang Heritage Trust, both played key roles in getting George Town listed as a World Heritage Site.
We hope there are more people like them in Malaysia who are truly committed to history and heritage.
The George Town World Heritage Site has huge potential for cultural tourism, and people from all over the world will come here to see tropical architecture and sites with unique history and authenticity like this museum.
Seeing all the effort that has been put into the heritage conservation of this site, the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang deserves every support to make sure it is a success, locally, nationally and internationally. With this, I am delighted to launch the reopening of the Sun Yat Sen Museum Penang.
Thank you.