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A tale of two cemeteries

The Jewish cemetery and the Anglican cemetery in Penang are two historical places that should be on every local or foreign tourist must-visit list. The former, established in 1805, is one the few remaining, and public, evidence of a small yet thriving Jewish community in Penang once upon a time (now, how many actually knew about that fact?) The latter, established in 1789, is the resting place of a number of important individuals, including Francis Light, the founder of Penang. But sadly, both places have, over the generations, been neglected and pushed back to a drab and lonely corner that we might call the forgotten part of our history.

Although comparatively, the Jewish cemetery is quite well taken care of (there is an old Indian caretaker  living in the compounds of the cemetery), not many people, even locals, know about the existence of the cemetery. It is not even listed on tourism brochures or guide books like the Lonely Planet.  In contrast, the Anglican cemetery  is quite well known since it houses Francis Light’s grave. However, the state of the cemetery is apalling. Torn fences, moldy graves, unkempt yard and ocassional garbage litters the site. It is ironic to hear and read in the news about heritage-loving people and NGOs protesting over the planned desctructions of old hospitals or some old mansion that once belonged to some rich fellow, while truly historical sites like these (for God’s sake, that Francis dude founded Penang!!! and i’m not sure about my history knowledge but it was perhaps one of  the first instances of British arrival in Malaysia) are neglected and swept under the carpet.

It makes one wonder. Does it have to do with Francis Light being a penjajah (colonizer) and we are supposed to hate the penjajahs and therefore we dont care about their cemeteries? And in the case of the Jewish cemetery, is it because of the prevalent (it’s bloody obvious, you hear it all the time although people are unwilling to criticize it) anti-semitic views among most Malaysians? Case in point, a friend of mine once made a comment about how he would rather die than be the jaga (caretaker) of the Jewish cemetery.

Jewish cemetery

Francis Light's grave