PHT Newsletter Issue 94

Site Visit Report
Former King Edward Memorial Hospital

Report by Timothy Tye, PHT Council Member

The former King Edward Memorial Hospital at 57 Macalister Road was the venue of the PHT site visit on 3rd August with participating PHT members and friends numbering about seventy. PHT Trustee Dato Anwar Fazal opened the visit by introducing the site. Our host was Mr Patrick Khoo, Director of Management Services for the Municipal Council of Penang Island (MPPP), who briefed us on the building's history.

The building was the result of an initiative in 1912 by two gentlemen, William Evans and William Peel, for a maternity hospital be set up in memory of King Edward VII (1901 - 1910). Among the major donors to the hospital fund were the Huttenbach brothers; Tye Kee Yoon, the fourth Chinese Consul in Penang; the Sarkies Brothers of E & O Hotel fame; the various clan associations; and other pillars of early 20th century Penang society. The complex was used as the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital from 1915 until 1955. More research on its history is still required. In 1955 the maternity hospital moved to its present premises along Jalan Residensi. A court order called for the original building to be used for charitable purposes. In order to generate income for its upkeep, a petition appealed for part of the building to be rented out.

Between the 1950's to the 1980's, 57 Macalister Road was occupied by many different tenants including the St John Ambulance Organisation and Bulan Sabit Merah (Red Crescent) organisation. It was also used as a training centre for adult education. The centre served as a school providing skills training in electronics, metalwork and the like to young people who were unable to proceed beyond Form Three. These youths attend evening classes while being employed as parking attendants during the day.

After the history briefing by Patrick Khoo and Dato Anwar, the restoration architect Encik Anuar took participants for a tour of the building, explaining the restoration work involved. He said that the restoration attempted to be sympathetic to the original design, with compromises in keeping with present-day needs. One such was the installation of glass panels and the concealing of air conditioning ducts.

On the tour, we visited a block within the complex that has not yet undergone restoration, giving an idea of how the building looked before restoration. More research is needed to gather information regarding the history of 57 Macalister Road, including the functions of the different blocks in the complex.