Huichew Hakka - Balik Pulau( 浮罗山背) & Luofu Mountain(罗浮山)

Talking about Balik Pulau, recently attended a Taiwan Hakka song presentation in Han Chiang school, Penang. The Taiwanese Hakka presented a song called " pu-lou-vok-teu"(浮罗鍋頭), which means Pot and Wok.

Pu-lou-vok-teu"(浮罗鍋頭)

Pu-lou-vok-teu"(浮罗鍋頭), my aunty was so excited, pu-lou, the Hakka name for pot, can it be the name of Balik Pulau?...

Pu-lou is Chinese cooking pot(煲) is a cooker to cook Soup(汤), it is called "pu-lou" by the Huichew Hakka. Pu-lou(浮罗) is Hakka word for Chinese cooking pot, for soup.

"Vok teu"(鍋頭) means wok(鍋子) in Hakka, teu(头,頭) means head, vok-teu literally means wok head, it is normal for Hakka or even other Chinese dialects to add a word "head" to describe some living tools or things in their words. Like wood or muk(木) is muk-teu(木頭). But pu-lou as pot is something new to me.

Hakka of Balik Pulau are mainly from Huichew or Huizhou. Pu-lou is a very common word for Huichew Hakka family, as they need pot to cook soup in their daily food preparation. Can Balik Pulau be named after pu-lou, the Huichew name for cooking pot? The name for Balik Pulau?....

So pu-lou-vok-teu, pu-lou is the name of Pulou(浮罗)or Balik Pulau. What a amazing find!...

Balik Pulau, Penang


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The following was what I wrote on June 25, 2009 in my blog, about the possibility of the derivation of the name of Balik Pulau town:

The town people from Georgetown called it Pulo(浮罗)in their popular Hokkian dialect, which in Malay language it literally means island but to Penang Chinese it is the name of the Balik Pulau town. The local Hakka called it Pu-lo-san-puai, which mean the back of the hill at the place called Pulo(the island). Hokkian will called hill location sua-tau(山头/山頭) or sua-bui(山尾). The Hakka called san-puai(山背). Pulo-san-pei(浮罗山背), the Chinese(Mandarin) name was the name given by Hakka. The word for hill in Malay is Bukit, not Pulau; it may said Belakang Bukit or Sebalik Bukit for place behind the hill. The Malay word Balik Pulau, is literally means going back to the island or at the back of island. Balik Pulau may be the contaminated Malay or Pasar Malay word by the Hakka, when translating the wording pulo-san-puai. Pulo is the island in Malay, but it was the name of the place(not island) for the Hakka, pulo-san means pulo hill. pilo-san-puai means the back of the hill called pulo-hill. They may not able to say behind the hill in Malay, so they say it balik pulo(balik is behind, pulo is the place). This may indicate that the name Balik Pulau was derived from Hakka's pasar Malay. (Balik Pulau town (浮罗山背市区), Thursday, June 25, 2009,http://teochiewkia.blogspot.com/2009/06/balik-pulau-town.html)

Now what I understand Pulou is the Huichew Hakka word for "Chinese Cooking Pot". The name for Balik Pulau(浮罗).

Let us now know something of Hakka people....

Hakka(客家人)

The Hakka (客家, 客家人), sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China. There are Hakka in Taiwan. In Taiwan, Hakka people comprise about 15 to 20% of the population and are descended largely from Guangdong immigrants: they form the second-largest ethnic group on the island. According to German historian Ludwig Riess (December 1, 1861 - December 27, 1928), when the Dutch East Indian Company come to Taiwan, they employed the help of Hakka in Taiwan to translate native language for them.(臺灣客家人來台相當早，德國史學家Riess研究荷蘭史料發現：荷蘭人來台與原住民溝通時，多由客家人居中翻譯). This revealed Hakka had been in Taiwan for a long time.

The characters "客家"(Hakka) come from words indicating "visitors" or "travelers" and distinguish the Hakka from the Tujia ("natives"). The Hakka's ancestors were often said to have arrived from what is today's central China centuries ago. In a series of migrations, the Hakkas moved, settled in their present locations in southern China, and then often migrated overseas to various countries throughout the world

Early Penang Hakka
The early Penang Chinese who come earlier than Capt Francis Light was also Hakka.Penang people called the three Hakka Chinese Tua Pek kong in Hokkien, or in Hakka, tai-pak-kung(大伯公). Tue Pek is Hokkien for elder uncle. Tua Pek Kong was a man named Zhang Li (张理) from the Taipu Hakka clan. His Sumatra-bound boat was struck by wind and accidentally landed on Penang island of Malaysia in 1745, which at that time had only 50 inhabitants. Zhang and other 2 clan man landed at Penang island, they were Khoo Zhao Siang(丘兆祥) from Daipu Hakka，Ma Fu Choon(马福春) from Yongding(永定)Hakka. Zhang passed away before Francis Light arrived. Khoo and Ma should had met Capt Francis Light among the early 58 villagers from the island. After his death, the local people began worshipping him and built the Tua Pek Kong temple in Haichu-yu (Sea Pearl) Tua Pek Kong Temple(海珠屿大伯公庙)in Tanjung Tokong, Penang. Only until 1799(清代嘉庆四年) after founding of Penang, did a temple built for them. In 1801， a Hakka Chinses Chen Choon San(陈春生)，with the approval of the British East India Company, was granted a piece of land to built a temple(福德祠大伯公庙) at King Street(大伯公街). The Hokkien people alos built “建德堂” in 1890, after the secret societies were banned by the British government. Today Tua Pek Kong is worshiped by Malaysian Chinese throughout the country.

However Hakka in Balik Pulau may arrived later, after Taiping Rebellion, even some Chinese planters and fishermen may have lived there earlier....

Teochew influence

As Huichew or Huizhoa, the ancenstry land of Huichew Hakka is located between Teochew linguistic region and Cantonese linguistic region, the interaction of the different dialect people with Huichew Hakka at Huizhoa, produced a distinctive type of culture and linguistic in the area. Let us look at the places called Shantou(汕頭)and Shanwei(汕尾), the Teochew sphere of influence. Shantou is typical Teochew area, but Shanwei is the area where there are cultural fusion of Teochew & Hakka.


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Shantou City(汕頭市)

Suátao or Swatow is today Shantou City(汕頭市), literally means head of the hill(山头/山頭)or beginning of the hill, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. Shantou, a port city significant in 19th-century Chinese history as one of the treaty ports established for Western trade and contact,commonly know as Swatow. This was the port that most of oversea Hakka and Teochew Chinese departed for Nanyang. Most residents are linguistically Teochew. There are also Hakka, popularly known as Half-Hakka (半山客), living mainly in Chaoyang District (潮陽區) and Chaonan District (潮南區), although they speak Teochew on a daily basis and practise Teochew culture.

Shanwei(汕尾市)
Shanwei(汕尾市),shanwei literally means the tail of the hill(山尾) or the end of the hill. Shanwei (汕尾) is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province of Southern China, People's Republic of China. It borders Jieyang to the east, Meizhou and Heyuan to the north, Huizhou to the west, and looks out to the South China Sea to the south. It lies approximately 120 km from Shenzhen and the locals speak the Haifeng dialect(海陆丰). The common linguistic is Shanwei Ho̍h-ló dialect(汕尾鶴佬話), a sub-group of Teochew or Chaozhou dialect, which belong to Mingnan dialect or Southern Min languages(閩南方言), which is commonly known as Hokkien dialect(福建話). The area of Hailufeng sub-group (海陆丰片)of Teochew dialect ： including Shanwei (汕尾), Lufeng (陆丰) and Haifeng (海丰), which are all in Shanwei city.

Hailufeng(海陸豐)

In Manchu Dynasty, the two districts of Haifeng and Lufeng were under Huizhou-fu(清帝國時海豐、陸豐兩縣同屬惠州府). Together they were called Hailufeng in old time. Now, both Haifeng county and Lufeng city, together with Luhe County(陸河縣)are under Shanwei prefecture-level city. So sometime broadly Hailufeng is now refereed to Shanwei city.(陸豐縣及陸河縣的汕尾地級市，所以海陸豐亦泛指汕尾).

In Haifeng County (海豐)the people there speak a Teochew dialect related to Hoklo and Hakka, call Haifeng dialect(海丰话).

Lufeng City(陸豐) situated next to the county of Haifeng, the area is sometimes conjointly referred to as Hailufeng(海陸豐). People from east of Lufeng city speak mainly Teochew dialect, but local Hakka speak Hakka dialect( 陆丰市东部说潮州话，當地客家人則使用客家話（主要分布在陸河縣). The majority of residents are of Hoklo heritage; the rest are Hakka. Therefore both Min Nan and Hakka dialects are spoken.

Luhe County(陸河縣) mainly speak Hakka fusion of Hailufeng dialect(客家方言海陸片)

(Note: 清朝以前的居民以客家人為主，在明清的移民潮中，不斷從福建莆田仙遊一帶移民過來的[河洛人]很快帶來河洛文化，慢慢地當地原來的客家文化受到[河洛文化]很大的影響，到民國初年，已經有部份客家人只使用河洛話了，有些已經不使用客家話的客家人不再有客家認同感[來源請求]，而認為自己是陸豐鶴佬人、河洛人或潮汕人、潮州人，但又有些人認為自己不是潮汕人，是海陸豐人).

Hoklo people 河洛文化

The Hoklo people (endonym Hok-ló, Hō-ló, or Ho̍h-ló) are Han people whose traditional Ancestral homes are in southern Fujian(福建)of South China. They are also known by various endonym as Hok-ló, Hō-ló, or Ho̍h-ló, or other related terms such as Min-nan people (閩南人) or Hokkiens (福建人). The Hoklo people refers mainly to people who speak and use the Hokkien dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in southern Fujian, Taiwan, and by many overseas Chinese throughout Southeast Asia.In wider scope, the Hoklo people can include speakers of other Min Nan languages, such as Zhongshan Min, Zhenan Min, Teochew dialect, and Hainanese.

河洛話：海陸豐常用河洛 (Hô-lo̍k; lit. "Yellow River and Luo River") – emphasizes their purported long history originating from the area south of the Yellow River. This Han-character reading does not reflect the actual pronunciation in the southern-Chinese languages but only in Mandarin. It is likely a result of folk etymology.

福佬話：粵閩客家人常用。福佬 (Hok-ló; lit. "Fujian person") – emphasizes their ancestry connection to Fujian province(福建省), normally used by Hakka .

鹤佬话：广府人用。鶴佬 (Ho̍h-ló; lit. "crane person", crane(鶴)is the name of bird) – emphasizes the modern pronunciation of the characters (without regard to the meaning of the Chinese characters). Normally used by Cantonese.

Now from Shanwei, we go further south, we are going to another linguistic fusion of Hakka and Cantonese in Huizhou. The Teochew influence weaken along the way as we go south toward Canton or Guangzhou, the sphere of Cantonese influence begin.

Huizhou/Huichew/Feizou/Waichow(惠州)



Huizhou (惠州) , historically known as Waichow, is a city located in central Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. Part of the Pearl River Delta, Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shaoguan to the north, Heyuan to the northeast, Shanwei to the east, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, and looks out to the South China Sea to the south. Its southern part made of Huiyang district is now part off guangzhou-Shenzhen built up area, the biggest built up area in the world with more than 40 million inhabitants encompassing the whole Shenzhen, Dongguan cities and main part of Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhongsghan and small parts of Jiangmen and Huizhou cities.


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The prefecture-level city of Huizhou administers 5 county-level divisions, including 2 districts and 3 counties. Huicheng District(惠城区) and Huiyang District(惠阳区); Boluo County(博罗县), Huidong County(惠东县) ,Longmen County(龙门县).

There are two main dialects spoken by local people in Huizhou: A Cantonese dialect which is Huizhouhua (惠州话/惠州話) and Hakka (客家话/客家話).



The population in Huizhou are mainly Han people(惠州汉族), most are Huizhou Hakka(客家人) and Huizhou people(惠州人/本地人)， there is some Ho̍h-ló(鹤佬人) and Guangfu(广府人)。

Hakka are mainly in the city but also spread to other districts and county(客家人在市内各市辖区、县都有分布). Ho̍h-ló(鹤佬人)is mainly concentrated in Huiyang District(惠阳区)、Boluo County(博罗县)and Huidong County(惠东县). Guangfu(广府人)or Cantonese are in Longmen County(龙门县)、Boluo County(博罗县)。

Huizhou prefecture-level city(惠州市) is the linguistic fusion city with three dialects(三大方言的交汇区), Hakka(客家话)、Guangfu or Cantonese(粤语)、 and Teochew(潮汕话). Currently, Mandarin as official language is popular, especially among young generation. But the influence of Hakka is the most significant(客家话是影响最大的方言). 在下属县区里，客家话是影响最大的方言。

In Huicheng District(惠城区) and Boluo County(博罗县), Huizho dialect is still popular. Huizho dialect is a local dialect which is heavily influenced by Hakka and Guangful/Cantonese. The dialect is also called Dongjiang dialect(东江本地话)，which is slowly dying in the area. The local people are able to speak Cantonese, Mandarin is the official language.



惠州客 (Huizhou Hakka/Huichiew Hakka)

惠州話是指台湾本省籍族群之中，客家族群使用的一种語言，也叫海陸話（Hoiliuk），使用人口不下150萬。雖然也叫海陸話，但台湾海陸客家人的原籍，不僅是原來惠州府的海豐縣、陸豐縣兩个縣，還有來自龍川縣、河源縣、永安縣、長寜縣、歸善縣、博羅縣、和平縣、連平縣等地。海陸話習稱為講海陸（Gong-Hoi-Liuk）；在祖籍認同上，又並不單單指海豐縣、陸豐縣，而是指整個惠州府。换句話説，講海陸的客家人，一般自稱惠州人。而稱海陸話为惠州話，更是相當平常的事。大陸的海陸客，特指海豐縣、陸豐縣附近的客家話；大陸的惠州話，一般是指廣東省惠州市惠城區特有的客家話口音，那是吸收了不少香港、澳門、廣州等粤中地區粤語（Cantonese）特點的客家話

广东惠州客家人，有狭义的范围，即现今惠州市的行政地域，包括惠城区、惠阳区、惠东县、博罗县、龙门县、大亚湾经济技术开发区、仲凯高新开发区；有中义的范围，即开放改革前的惠阳地区，除现惠州市所辖区域外，还包括深圳市的前身宝安县，东莞市的前身东莞县，汕尾市下属的城区、陆丰市、海丰县、陆河县、红海湾开发区、华侨管理区，河源市下属的源城区、东源县、龙川县、连平县、和平县、紫金县。有广义的范围，在中义的范围的基础上，再加上广州市的增城市、从化市，韶关市的新丰县、翁源县，梅州市的兴宁市、五华县，江西省的寻乌县、定南县，香港地区，乃至海外如马来西亚吉隆坡等

Huizhou Hakka's mother river - Dongjiang(广东惠州客家人的母亲河——东江)


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广东惠州客家人生活的母亲河是东江。珠江上游的三大水系为西江、北江、东江。西江是广府语系的族群生活的地方，也可说西江是珠江最大的主流，是广府人的母亲河，而北江则是广府人和客家人共同生活的一条河流，岸边的城市多为广府人，而流域及支流上游则多为客家人。东江，在广东省的东中部。发源于江西省寻乌县、定南县、安远县，其上游源头东称寻邬水，源头为寻乌县三标乡东江源村桠髻钵山；其上游源头西称定南水，源头为安远县的三百山。南流进入广东省，经龙川县、东源县、源城区、紫金县，至惠阳县、惠城区折向西，过博罗县、东莞市流入珠江，在狮子洋出虎门，经伶仃洋出珠江口入南海。东江全长约562公里，总落差约440公尺，主要支流有寻乌水、定南水、浰江、新丰江、秋香江、公庄水、西枝江、石马河和增江等，流域面积32,200平方公里。龙川县城以下可通航。东江取名于它在珠江所处东边的位置。古时，东江全线并不统称为东江，各段有各自的名字。在江西段，因古时寻乌属安远县，统称为安远水；在贝岭水下游，称浰水；在龙川老隆佗城段，称雷江（也有雷水、浰江之称）；在河源段，称二合水；在博罗段，称罗浮水；在惠州段，称惠州河；在东莞段，称东江（也称石龙河）。这些名字在各个朝代也曾有所变化。正是这一条东江，哺育了无数的客家人成长。



Luofushan, the mountain of Huizhou Hakka (广东惠州客家人世代生活的山——博罗的罗浮山)


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Noted: place marked A is Luofusan(罗浮山)

广东惠州客家人生活的重要山脉为罗浮山。罗浮山又名东樵山，是中国十大道教名山之一，为道教十大洞天之第七洞天，七十二福地之第三十四福地，岭南第一山。汉朝史学家司马迁曾把罗浮山比作为“粤岳”。它拥有九观，十八寺，三十二庵，位于中国广东省惠州博罗县的西北部，横跨博罗县、龙门县、增城市三地，总面积260多平方公里，和位于中国广东省佛山市境内的西樵山是姐妹山。一为东樵山，一为西樵山；一为罗浮山，一为官山。罗浮山的主峰是飞云顶，海拔1296米，山势雄浑，风光秀丽，四季气候宜人，是中国的“国家重点风景名胜区”和避暑胜地。

Can the name of Balik Pulau, Pulou is derived from Boluo(博罗) of Boluo County(博罗县)?Boluo, Boluo, Pulou, Pulou...it is close in sound; moreover there is a hill in Boluo called Luofu-shan(罗浮山), if you turn around the word, it become 浮罗, the same word as Pulou(浮罗).....is it coincident or the Huichew Hakka ancestor in Balik Pulau had already named it after the hill in their ancestry land in Boluo County in Huizhou?.....

Can I said this was the story of the name of Balik Pulau?. It was named by Huichew Hakka in Balik Pulau, using the name of the hill in Huizhou and the Malay world Pulau, which means island. To them Pulau is pu-lou, is a hill, they call Pulau Hill, sound similar to the hill in Huizhou, Luofu Mountain in Boluo(博罗). At the back of island(pulou,浮罗) and the hill is Pulau Hill or pu-lou-san(浮罗山), to them pu-lou is a hill. Pu-lou-san-pui(浮罗山背) is at the back of Pulau Hill. It is not Hokkien name as they will call Pu-lou-sua-bui(浮罗山尾) similar to the name given to Shanwei city((汕尾市). It must be Hakka name as pu-lou-san-pui(浮罗山背). It cannot be Malay name, at the back of the hill is be " Belakang Bukit", not Balik Pulau which literally means returning to island, which is not meaningful as Balik Pulau is already in the island. The name will not be logical to Malay language. Belakang is 3 words to Chinese, be-la-kang; Balik is two words, ba-lik. They will not choose a name which is difficult to pronounce by them for the new language(pasar Melayu) they just learn and acquired for their daily usage. So they already name the hill, pu-lou-hill, what to call the place at the back of the hill, to be correct in Malay languae it should be Belakang pu-lou-hill(Belakang Bukit Pulau). It become a long name. The Chinese will not name a long name, slowly it will shorten to either one word or two words, slowly only pu-lou(where the local Hokkien still call it)will remain. But why Balik Pulau instead of only named it Pulau like Hokkien Chinese called it? Pulau, unlike pu-lou will be confusing as there are many islands around Penang island. Pulau Bedong is one of them. But the home sick Huichew Hakka, still thinking of their ancestry land, slowly use balik to relate to coming home. Coming home to pu-lou-hill(浮罗山) after a day work, which is also a name quite similar name to the Luofu-shan(罗浮山)at their home land. This solved psychologically their home sickness.

Suddenly discovered that Huichew Hakka called pot, a type of Chinese cooking utensil as "pulou", which have a similar sound as Malay word " Pulau"(which means island). Can it be the reason the Chinese name of Balik Pulau derived? Balik Pulau is a Hakka town to Chinese. Hakka people was in Balik Pulau even before the establishment of the political administration in 1880(district office established). There were many tombstones of pioneer Hakka dated back to 1856,mostly Huichiew Hakka( 惠州客). Most of the Hakka are mainly Huichiew, and Chaozhou Hakka or pan-san-hak(半山客) which include Hailukfong(海豐，陸豐),hobo(河婆,現改成揭西縣）, and daipu(大埔) Hakka.

Huichew Penang(檳榔嶼惠州人)

The early Hakka immigrants in Penang appeared to have consisted mainly of three groups: the Chia-ying Hakkas(嘉应客), the Tengchow(汀州) or Yongding(永定)Hakkas and the Huichew Hakkas(惠州客). This can be seen from the fact that the founding of their dialect associations in 1801, 1819 and 1822 respectively. The development of Penang as free port open the opportunity for Huichew Hakkas, some of them come direct from Huizhou, but others from Kalimantan. From Penang, some of them moved to North to Kedah, others moved to Perak, especially tin mines at Klian Bahru(新吉輦) 吉輦包, now Kamunting(霹靂甘文丁錫礦區), near today's Taiping were the areas where pioneer Huichew Hakkas settled. Huichew Hakkas are experienced tin mine workers.

Around 1848 'Che Long Ja'afar introduced Chinese miners to Larut (spelt Laroot or Larot at that time). The original mine field, Klian Pauh is where the jail at Taiping stands today. Long Ja'afar appointed Low Sam from Penang as agent and Low Sam was associated with Chung Keng Quee. "Five Associations" or Go-Kuan (Chinese: 五館 or 五群)whose members worked in the mines of Klian Pauh(吉輦包),Chung Keng Quee was the leader, and also Hai San. The Cantonese was under "Four Associations" or Si Kuan, whose members worked in the mines of Klian Baharu(新吉輦).

From 1860 to 1874, Huichew Hakkas were involved in two Larut Wars(霹靂拉律戰事)with Hai San. Huichew Hakkas were members of Ghee Hin( 義興党), unlike other Hakkas who were member Hai San. The Hai San was under Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee(鄭景貴), also Hakka from Zengcheng(增城),Guangdong.

In 1862，after the second Larut War, when Huichew leader So Ah Chiang(蘇亞松) was killed, most Huichew moved to tin mines in Selangor ,and few left in Taiping tin mines. The Hui Chew Hakka from the Ghee Hin from the earlier two battles having gone down to Selangor to join Yap Ah Loy, a Hui Chew Hakka who was head of the Hai San in Selangor. The Huichew were not involved with the later two Larut Wars.

After the Larut War when the Huichew were defeated by Hai San, many moved back to Penang, and involved in agriculture. They planted nutmegs, peppers, and spices, especially in Province Wellesley, they were also involved in sugar cane planting in Bukit Mertajam. In Pulau Betong, Sungai Ara, Teluk Kumbar of the Penang island, there were Huichew who were involved in agriculture,charcoal and fishing. In Balik Pulau, there are still many Huichew settlement still remained until today.


在吉打的亞羅士打，惠州人戴春桃是著名的華人領袖及地方經濟的開拓者，在玻璃市加基武吉毗鄰泰國的錫礦區，也有許多惠州人參與采礦工作。

上述各地區的惠州人除了少數是錫礦工人（吉玻區），其餘多為務農者、工匠及小生意經營者，其中更有雄踞一方的惠州人領袖黃陳慶（檳威）、吉打華人甲必丹戴春桃及吉打居林甲必丹羅啟立等。(http://fuichiu.blogspot.com/search/label/B03a大馬惠州人史料)

Lo Chung Huo(罗仲霍,1881~1911) was one of the 72 martyrs who died during the 1911 uprising, was a Huizhou from Penang. On April 27,1911(March 29, Lunar year Xinhai), Tongmenghui, a revolutionary Organization, led by Dr. Sun Yat-sen launched an uprising to overthrow the federal Qing dynasty to build a new democratic country, but unfortunately the effort failed. Peilun Yu, Wen Lin, Jumin Lin, Shingdong Fang and over 100 other Participants died. Mr. Dawei Pan collected seventy-two bodies then and buried them in Huanghua Gang or Huanghua Hill, literally means yellow flower hill, now known as Huanghua Gang Commemoration Park (黄花岗公园)in Guangzhou. Seventy-two martyrs were found and buried here, it was later determined that there were 86 martyrs, including 30 who were overseas Chinese . The cemetery was begun in 1912 and finished in 1921.

Not only in Balik Pulau, Huichew Hakka also dominated in Bukit Mertajam and central Province Wellesley.

Huichew Association of Penang(惠州会馆)

Huichew Association of Penang(惠州会馆)was formed in 1822, part of Prangin Road( now Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong) east of Carnarvon Street in Georgetown, was known as Hūi-chiu-kong-si-ke(惠州公司街)or literally means Huichew association street by local Chinese.

槟城惠州会馆位于马来西亚槟城。创立于清道光二年六月初六。至迟清道光二年六月初六（23─7─1822），惠州属同人已组织惠州公司，当时有乡老归善人李兴以墨西哥银（又名鹰洋）325元购得砖瓦屋两间及地皮一段，无条件捐赠给惠州同乡充作会馆。当成立之初，定名为“惠州会馆”，凡居住乡村僻埠之同乡，因事至槟城者，均以会馆为憩息之所；从中国南下的同乡亦通过会馆为跳版，深入内陆开拓农业及矿业。因此，联络梓谊，实深利赖。 后来利昂康伯氏（LEON─COMBER）写的《马来亚的华族私会党》（CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES IN MALAYA，1800-1900）曾引用这份资料把它们当作是槟城华族私会党的七个最早组织──结果“惠州公司”也因而被归纳为会党。槟城惠州会馆由乡贤李兴（淡水人）于清道光八年（1828年）创立，初名为“惠州公司”，后易名为“惠州会馆”。

从清光绪三十二年（1906年）起，由胡捷发（惠阳人）任会长达10年之久，建树殊多，为同侨所钦佩。1937年，由孙荣光任会馆主席。1941年底，太平洋战争爆发后，南洋各地陷入日军之手，会馆被付诸一炬。日本投降后，仍由孙荣光任主席。主持馆宇修整重建各项事宜。1954年，陈世烈继任会馆主席，从此开始，会馆建设教育基金会，每年颁发奖学金，鼓励同侨子弟勤勉向学

廣東的揭陽市、豐順縣、揭西縣、揭東縣、普寧市、惠來縣、海豐縣、陸豐縣、汕尾市、陸河縣、潮安縣等地的客家人，被稱為「半山客」。福建的詔安縣、南靖縣等地的客家人，被稱為「學老客（福老客）」。「半山客」是潮汕地區對潮汕客家人的稱呼，「學老客」是漳州地區對漳州客家人的稱呼。而實際上「學老客」其意義性質和「半山客」是相同的，只是閩粵地區的學老民係（粵為潮汕民係，閩為學老）和畬族對客家人的稱呼。


Pu-lou, Huizhou, Hakka, Balik Pulau....what an interesting connection.....

Further readings/references
1. Chinese wok, http://www.foreigners-in-china.com/chinese-wok.html
2. Wok, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wok
3. 客家, http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 客家
4. http://www.omniglot.com/writing/hakka.htm
5. Balik Pulau Hakka(浮罗山背的客家人), http://teochiewkia.blogspot.com/2009/06/balik-pulau-hakka.html
6. 潮汕半山客,http://www.hakkasky.cc/wiki/doc-view-485.html
7. 半山客名稱之由來,http://big5.am765.com/gate/big5/bbs.am765.com/detail.jsp?id=746915&agMode=1
8. 惠州客家人,http://www.hakkasky.cc/wiki/doc-view-3904.html
9. 槟城惠州会馆, http://baike.baidu.com/view/1665583.htm
10. 惠州南洋华侨社团简介, http://hddys.cn/show_news.php?id=465&class_1=8&class_2=30
11.大馬惠州先驅人物選錄, http://fuichiu.blogspot.com/search/label/B03b大馬惠州先驅人物選錄
12. http://fuichiu.blogspot.com/search/label/B03a大馬惠州人史料
13. 槟城惠州会馆180年: 跨越三个世纪的拓殖史实, 王琛发,槟榔屿惠州会馆, 2003
14. 森美兰惠州会馆史略及现况,王琛发, http://www.penangmedia.com/cms/zslz/2006/0424/article_7.html

Bayan Lepas(峇六拜)

Bayan Lepas

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Bayan Lepas(峇六拜) is the town within South West District or Daerah Barat Daya of Penang Island, Malaysia. Penang International Airport was located in the town. It has a population of about 141,000 people. Bayan Lepas is the main industrial hub of Penang, being home to the Free Industrial Zone, where factories of many multinational companies are located.

Bayan Lepas is in the southeast part of Penang Island. Bayan Lepas include Batu Maung, Kampung Seronok, Kampung Binjai, Permatang Damar Laut. It begin with a small town, which is still exist, just opposite the old police station. In the mid 1970's the new township of Bayan Baru was created, and has since become a major suburb of a greater Penang metropolitan area. There are other townships like Relau, Sungai Ara, Batu Maung, Teluk Kumbar, Bayan Baru. As for electoral districts, Bayan Lepas is under the Parliamentary constituencies, P.053 Balik Pulau, which included N.38 Bayan Lepas, N.39 Pulau Betong, N.40 Telok Bahang. The Batu Maung is however now under P.052 Bayan Baru(N.35 Batu Uban, N.36 Pantai Jerejak, N.37 Batu Maung).

The name Bayan Lepas in Malay means "the parakeet has flown away". Parakeet is a term for any one of a large number of unrelated small to medium sized species of parrot, that generally have long tail feathers. According to the story, a wealthy Sumatran family had arrived by boat at the coast of Bayan Lepas some time in the late 19th century. During the commotion of coming to shore, their pet parakeet escaped. The incident became the basis for naming the place Bayan Lepas. Not only the parakeet has flown away, the fortune of one Scotsman, James Scott was flown away here. James Scott was the partner of Capt Francis Light, he developed a new town just opposite Pulau Jerejak, after hearing that a military base is going to built there. The new town is named Jamestown,a name after himself. However the plan did not materialized and he lost a fortune in Jamestown project and become a bankrupt, his business was later taken over by his partner, David Brown. His fortune was flown away at Jamestown, the Bayan Lepas town. Otherwise, Bayan Lepas will be known as Jamestown....

There was some source reported that Bayan Lepas was named after Raja Bayan or Nakhoda Bayan , a prince of the kingdom of Minangkabau, Sumatra, in modern-day Indonesia. Raja Bayan settled in Penang in the 1700s, when the state was still part of Kedah, a vassal state of Siam , and he was appointed the headman of Penang by the Sultan of Kedah. He gave his name to the suburb of Georgetown called Bayan Lepas. The Minangkabaus are the indigenous people of West Sumatra province in modern-day Indonesia and they originate from the Semelai indigenous people in Bahau (Jempol), Negeri Sembilan and Triang (Bera), Pahang. Raja Bayan is believed to be the relative of the royal family of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia. It was also reported that the first President of Singapore, Tun Yusof Ishak, from Padang Gajah(in Trong), Taiping, Perak was a descendant of Raja Bayan. Is it when Raja Bayan left the place, the village was called Bayan Lepas?... The name of Bayan Lepas is suitable for the place, the area has been an airstrip for Penang since 1900s. The Bayan Lepas airstrip later gradually developed into a modern international airport, and is now known as Penang International Airport, which is the second busiest airport in Malaysia. To the locals, Bayan Lepas is the airport, the airport is Bayan Lepas.

Bayan Lepas is the birth place of former Prime Minister, the 5th Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. His birth place was at Kampong Perlis, Bayan Lepas.

Free Industrian Zone

Home to the Free Industrial Zone, Bayan Lepas is the island’s main industrial hub. The island was a free port until 1969. When the free port status was removed, the state was under difficult time, but under the able leadership of the Chief Minister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, Bayan Lepas was developed into a free trade zone. Despite the loss of the island's free-port status, from the 1970s to the late 1990s, the Penang state was able to built up one of the largest electronics manufacturing bases in Asia, in the Free Trade Zone around the Bayan Lepas airport in the south of the island. It was called The Free Trade Zone, but today is the Free Industrian Zone.

A huge number of factories belonging to multinational companies are located here. It is mainly cater for electronic industry. The names included Intel, Motorola, Agilent Technologies, Dell, Jabil Circuit, Flextronics, BBraun, Avago Technologies, Seagates, AMD, Fairchild etc

Tourist attraction

But it’s not all factories and industrial areas here, Bayan Lepas has its own charms and attractions that lots of people still flock to throughout the year, such as the War Museum, Bukit Jambul Orchid and Hibiscus Garden, Snake Temple, and the Fisheries Department Aquarium. Perhaps the most famous tourist attraction in Bayan Lepas is the world famous Snake Temple, located in the area called Sungai Keluang. Note: The land for the snake temple was reported donated by David Brown family.

Snake Temple

The Snake Temple ( 蛇庙) is situated in Sungai Kluang, Bayan Lepas, Penang, Malaysia and is perhaps the only temple of its kind in the world. The temple is filled with the smoke of burning incense and a variety of pit vipers. The vipers are believed to be rendered harmless by the sacred smoke, but as a safety precaution, the snakes have also been de-venomed but still have their fangs intact, visitors are warned against picking up the reptiles and placing them on their bodies for taking pictures. Local devotees believe that the temple's snake population has come there of its own accord.The original name of the temple is actually Hock Hin Keong(福兴宫).

The Taoist temple was built in 1872(光绪卅一年）in memory of Chor Soo Kong(清水公/清水师祖). Chor Soo Kong was born with the Tan surname(陈昭应) in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) at Fujian Province(福建安溪县). He was an anti Mongolian hero, who was serious about spiritual attainment and was ordained. Legend has it that Chor Soo Kong, who was also a healer, gave shelter to the snakes of jungle. When he died at the age of 65 at Qing Sui Yuan(清水岩) in 1109, he was honored as Qing Sui Kung or Chor Soo Kong(清水公/清水师祖) by the local residents. A temple was built by a Taoist worshiper who moved to Penang from the same ancestral village. After the completion of the temple, snakes appeared in the temple. The Snake Temple was also originally known as the "Temple of the Azure Cloud"(清云巖) in honor of the beauty of Penang's sky. The locals called the snake green dragon, thus the temple is also know as Temple of green dragons (青龙宫). Believers from as far away as Singapore and Taiwan come to pray in the temple on Chor Soo Kong's birthday (the sixth day of the first lunar month). The temple site was donated by David Brown family.

Bayan Lepas Expressway
Connected to George Town via the Bayan Lepas Expressway which takes approximately half an hour, Bayan Lepas is also home to the island’s international airport and Penang’s biggest shopping mall, Queensbay Mall.

Penang International Airport

Penang International Airport (IATA: PEN, ICAO: WMKP), previously known as Bayan Lepas International Airport, is situated in the Bayan Lepas area of Penang, Malaysia. The airport is located 16 km (10 miles) south of George Town, the capital city of Penang.

Penang International is a medium-sized airport with good connections to major cities in South East Asia. Passengers arriving or departing from the north will have a view of George Town, Butterworth and the Penang Bridge. Waiting times for check-in and baggage claims are relatively short compared to other larger regional airports. The airport is not crowded and basic facilities are available for users.

In 2008, over 3.4 million passengers used Penang International Airport. 43,796 aircraft movements were registered. The airport is the hub of two low-cost carriers, namely Firefly and AirAsia.

Penang International Airport won the Best Emerging Airport (Asia) in 23rd annual Asian Freight and Supply Chain Awards 2009(AFSCA) and Airport of the Year (below 15 million passenger annually) in the 2009 Frost and Sullivan Asia Pacific Aerospace and Defence Awards.

Bayan Lepas Old Town


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The old town of Bayan Lepas is located at the junction between Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim, and Jalan Bayan Lepas. It remained a small old town, lined on both sides with the pre-war colonial double storey shophouses. The narrow old town main street today have become the busy road that lead to Teluk Kumbar, where residential development has built up. This has resulted in traffic bottleneck, and frequent traffic jam happen within the old town. The Bayan Lepas police station is located just fronting the T junction. An old wet market built in 1930 located near to the T junction at Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim. Masjid Bayan Lepas is walking distance to the old town. In old days, when you travelled by the old main road to Balik Pulau, you will go through small towns, similar to old Bayan Lepas town e.g Relau, Sg Ara, Bayan Lepas, Teluk Kumbar etc. Sg Ara town has been demolished, Relau old town is slowly disappeared. These old towns with their narrow main street has been causing traffic bottleneck as the area is developed, and not possible to widen the road, unless the old shops lining the road are demolished. We should retain this old towns, and open a new road for the traffic, but ironically if the traffic by pass the town, that is the end of the town, unless they have a sufficient local population to support it. Bayan Lepas old town should be able to survive, there are villages around the town to support it.

Map of Bayan Baru New Suburb


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Bayan Baru Town

Bayan Baru Town (BBT) is developed by Penang Development Corporation which is an integrated component of Penang State Government since 1972. Bayan Baru Town is situated about 18km south of Georgetown. It is originally an agricultural land before being developed as a new self-contained township to cater for the growing population on Penang Island. BBT is easily accessible via Bayan Lepas Coastal Expressway, Jelutong Expressway, Jalan Jelutong and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah.

The progress of Penang economy before the recent region economic turmoil have steadily increased retail activities in this area. Retail space subsequently increased from 0.71sq.metre in 1980 to 3.084sq. metre in 1990.

Bayan Baru is located within the area bordered by Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, Jalan Tengah, Jalan Tun Dr Awang. Bayan Baru Town (BBT) is developed by Penang Development Corporation which is an integrated component of Penang State Government since 1972. Bayan Baru Town is situated about 18km south of Georgetown. It is originally an agricultural land before being developed as a new self-contained township to cater for the growing population on Penang Island. BBT is easily accessible via Bayan Lepas Coastal Expressway, Jelutong Expressway, Jalan Jelutong and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah.

The progress of Penang economy before the recent region economic turmoil have steadily increased retail activities in this area. Retail space subsequently increased from 0.71 sq. metre in 1980 to 3.084 sq. metre in 1990.

The trend of retail space towards the 21st century is more favourable to shopping complexes compared to early 1990s where shophouses are more in demand. Below is a table of shoplots/commercial projects from 1980 to 1998 in Bayan Baru.

Bayan Baru is located next to Bayan Lepas, where Penang airport is. The town was part of the Penang Cybercity Phase 1, which was obtained in 2005. This town was the location of Pantai Mutiara Hospital and a hypermarket named "Giant". Penang International Sports Arena is also situated in Bayan Baru (near to Relau).The Postcode of Bayan Baru is 11950. The first MSC designated building outside Klang Valley, Suntech @ Penang Cybercity is also located here.

Bayan Baru is a satellite township located within Bayan Lepas. It was established by the Penang Development Corporation in the mid-1970's on what was once paddy fields. In the earlier years of Bayan Baru's development, the township was prone to floods - there was a joke back then that purchasing a house in Bayan Baru also includes a sampan. Over the decades, improved drainage has reduced the possibility of major floods, though flash floods still occur during heavy downpours, usually the culprit being blocked drains.

Bayan Baru is one of the most rapidly developed townships in Penang. This is to a large part the direct result of its proximity to the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, which is a source of employment for a good many people in Penang. The shift in population south, out of George Town and towards Bayan Baru and its immediate neighborhoods, brought with it mixed blessings. The main road, now called Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, has been expanded a few times, and now includes the Bayan Lepas Elevated Highway. New shopping malls have also been built in Bayan Baru and its immediate neighborhood. On the other hand, the growth in population has also introduced traffic congestions and jams, something foreign to the area a decade or two ago. Being caught in traffic jam is now a twice daily occurence, at every rush hour.

The parliament constituency of Bayan Baru includes N35 Batu Uban, N36 Pantai Jerejak and N37 Batu Maung.

Bayan Baru Market

Bayan Baru Market is located within the rectangular square between Jalan Mayang Pasir, Jalan Mayang Pair 1, Jalan Mayang Pasir 3 and Jalan Mayang Pasir 4.

The Bayan Baru Market is actually a community complex, which not only included a market, hawker centre, but also library, and community hall. It is officially known as the Bayan Baru Market Complex and Community Hall (Kompleks Pasar dan Balai Rakyat Bayan Baru). The complex was built by the Penang Island Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang or MPPP) to cater to the booming township of Bayan Baru. It is located close to Sunshine supermarket, and the Masjid Umar Al Khatab. It is truly a community complex.

The market is the biggest market in the Bayan Lepas area, Penang. The Bayan Baru Market was initially a simple open air market with basic structure, but it was gradually expanded as it served the increasing population of Bayan Baru area. The Bayan Baru Market, the present building within the community complex , was completed in early 2000s. It has a wet market in the front portion(toward Jalan Mayang Pasir) and the dry market which is located closer to the Bayan Baru Hawker Centre(toward Jalan Mayang Pasir 1).

Shopping in Bayan Lepas

After the industrialization of the Bayan Lepas area, the area become residential suburb of the city Georgetown, there are many housing development mushroom in the area to cater for the inflow of population , the employee of the multinational companies and factories to the area. Many new condominiums, housing estates are all still currently under construction. Bayan Lepas is connects to Georgetown via the Bayan Lepas Expressway. Naturally shopping malls and complexes also mushroom in the area to cater for the increased population. Penang's biggest shopping mall, Queensbay Mall, the Bukit Jambul Complex, Penang island's only Giant Hypermarket, and the local company Sunshine Supermarket are all located here.

Sunshine Square

Sunshine Square is a five-storey shopping mall in Bayan Baru, located between Lintang Mayang Pasir 1, and Lintang Mayang Pasir 3. It houses Sunshine Department Store and Supermarket,fast food outlet, food court and parking place. Sunshine Square, an initiative of the Penang Development Corporation, was completed in 1993. To keep up with the times, Sunshine embarks on an upgrading exercise once every couple of years. In 2005, it unveils a new brand logo and corporate image following the refurbishment of the department stores and the expansion of its supermarket into the new wing previously occupied by a food court.

Sunshine Department Store and Supermarket is operated by Suiwah Corporation Berhad, which started as the Swee Wah Mini Market in Air Itam in 1961. Today the department store and supermarket in Bayan Baru continues to be the flagship store of Suiwah Corporation, which also operates the Sunshine Farlim Hypermarket, Sunshine Jelutong supermarket, Sunshine Bukit Mertajam supermarket, Suiwah Air Itam supermarket and the 24-hour Sunshine Lip Sin supermarket at Pan Palace Plaza

Suntech Penang Cyber City

Suntech @ Penang Cybercity, or simply SUNTECH, is an 21-storey office building in Bayan Baru, Penang. The name Suntech is an acronym for Sunshine Technology Tower, and it is located adjacent to Sunshine Square. It is touted as an Intelligent Building with Multimedia Super Corridor infrastructure, and one of the most sophisticated buildings in Penang.

Suntech features six high speed lifts and closed-circuit television at every level. A skybridge offers connection between Suntech and Sunshine Square. It also consist of levels of parking floor.

Penang International Sport Arena

Penang International Sports Arena (PISA) is the largest multi-purpose indoor venue in Northern Malaysia, with the largest capacity of 13,000 for an indoor fully air-conditioned arena. It is located with main entrance at Jalan Tun Dr Awang, rear entrance at Persiaran Mashuri. The PISA Aquatic Centre was at the site beside Jalan Mashuri.

Strategically located in the heart of the growing township of Bayan Baru, the Penang International Arena (PISA) is undoubtedly an impressive event venue in the state. Owned by the Municipal Council (MPPP) and managed by Penevents Sdn Bhd, PISA encompasses a spacious Arena, an Aquatic Center, and a multi-storey car park complex. PISA is today the largest and most comprehensive multi-purpose venue on the island.

With a floor area of 3,000 square meters, the Arena can comfortably accomodates up to 3,000 guests for a sit-down banquet or 140 standard exhibition booths. The Arena surrounded by 10,000 terrace seats that offer audiences unimpeded view of concerts, conventions and other shows. Many state function or state level exhibition and even international level were held here.

Bayan Lepas Food
(still waiting to be completed)

Bayan Lepas Waterfall

The waterfall is located at the right junction of Jalan Dato Ismail Hashim. About a kilometer from the junction, you will see a small signage of the waterfall. Turn left to the waterfall using a small tarred village road. The narrow path takes you straight to the waterfall. The waterfall is not a tourist attraction, but a picnic ground for the locals, one of them was Tun Abdullah, our former Prime Minister.

Sungai Air Terjun or Bayan Lepas Waterfall was made famous by our 5th Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Our PM used to spend his childhood swimming and picnicking in the crystal clear pool with the serenity atmosphere. Note: Kampong Perlis, Bayan Lepas was Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's birth place.

(source: http://northern.malaysianaturalheritage.com/?p=92)