A VERY WELCOME TO THIS UPLIFTING BLOG,
There is no coincidence for me to drop in and visit the Penang Philomathic Union (PPU) Sun Yat-Sen Centre, 65 Macalister Road 10400 Penang on Aug 30, 2011. That day was Hari Raya (New Year) for the Malay communities and 31st is our National Day. AS such, many people took these long holidays for either vacation or went back to their hometowns. I passed by and took photos of something interesting for this blog. When I passed by the Macalister Road and found that the centre was opened for the public, I decided to pay it a visit after all Dr Sun was one of my childhood heroes.
I was subsequently introduced to the founder by his son who had taken me on a tour of this centre and briefed me in detail. His father told me that he decided to open during these long holidays mainly to attract and cater for both foreigners and outstation visitors, otherwise I couldn't be able to visit and meet up with both of them. Many visitors have turned up on that day and were well within his expectation. Since this centre is self reliant and he managed to get helps from numerous volunteers, including his children to man this centre to brief and guide the visitors during their visits whenever the needs arise.
Both the father and sons are very humble, helpful and friendly, we had a good chat and they even share with me their future plans and that really arose my anxiety. That's the reason one of his sons was busy shooting the photo of its exhibits with professional camera while I was there. During my tour, one of his sons also chipped in and briefed me about its history; each and every exhibition hall; its key messages from various forms such as texture, graphic, photos and models in details. I found his briefing is so lively and entertaining. I am really grateful to them for spending time and efforts to brief me in details. At last, we exchanged our call cards and I realised that his father was honoured with Dato' title.
I have no hesitation to make a strong recommendation to anyone who seeks to have real taste of entertaining life experience especially for art and culture lovers. Let us be honest to ourselves that we can't avoid to touch these two aspects in life as they are form part of everyone's life one way or the other. It has been closely associated with human civilization. I could not imagine what our lives would be without these colourful aspects. I find it very educational and very good exposure for children so as to cultivate their awareness of these aspects. Therefore, I do encourage children to visit it and discover its wonder yourself. I can assure you that you wouldn't regret it. As such, I am willing to stand forward to vouch for it and I like you to know that I really enjoyed it very much and found this centre very unique – well designed for all walks of life. Well done to our missionary founder Dato' Chuang Keng Kung.
Again, I write to express my great pleasure to meet up with him and his children and also to thank him personally for allowing me to snap photos of its exhibits for this uplifting blog. With these, we shall able to spread and promote the center further to the whole world at large. This is the least I can do in a way to sincerely thank Dato' Chuang for the great work he has done for us. I appeal to all parties to extend your support to this great missionary leader, who had taken initiatives to honour Dr Sun Yat Sen. An entrance ticket is only RM 5.00 per head is nothing compare to lots of moral value and lessons which you will learn from this great hero.
No surprise to me when I was told by the founder of this center that some foreigners especially from the Art and Cultural educational background sought his permission to snap photos to bring back to their countries as they couldn't find them there as they are not only unique and creative, yet educational.
Unfortunately, this building was a big too late to be included in as the Penang Heritage Buildings Scheme as they were finalised prior to its submission. That did not hinder this missionary leader from turning it to a reality, but continuously to spread its wings to the whole world at large. I strongly believe that it will eventually be transformed into a lively tourist place together with Penang Island to gain back its former glory. I believe it is achievable especially with more people such as the great missionary leader, Dato' Chuang step forward and steer it toward this direction.
Meanwhile, I also urge more people to step forward to extend your expertise to Dato’ to make his mission into a reality so as to leave behind a great legacy exactly like Dr Sun. Before I forget, I like to let you know there are many cultural activities carried out throughout the year in conjunction with all the festivals that are celebrated by the Chinese Communities such as Moon Cake, Dragon Boat, Chinese New Year and etc. Please come forward and join forces with this centre so that we all can celebrate these festivals on a even a larger scale and made them memorable events especially for those great people who had done so much for us.
Before I pen off, I write to give you a glance of the Exhibition Halls. Exhibits in the hall are uniquely created by local craftsmen and they depicted episodes of the life and struggle of Dr Sun - notably, the 10 attempted rebellions against the Manchu Dynasty. It portrays a series of significant memorial events that led to the success of the missionary leader, Dr Sun Yat-Sun. In order for you to truly apprehend and appreciate this historical establishment and its revolutionary activities, it is advisable for you to have a quick understanding of its history.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PUUS
This foundation, founded and named after DR Sun Yat-Sun, was officially established on December 1908. It serves as a political wing for his revolutionary work in Nanyang (South East Asia) with its intention to overthrow the government of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty, which was decadent and corrupt; its politics directionless and ineffective. There are also scenes of life in the late Qing Dynasty and the early days of the republic. All the sites and buildings in Penang that Dr Sun Yat-Sen visited are in 3-dimensional exhibits. One prominent display is the sculpture erected at the centre and close behind him are his staunch aides, the first chairman and vice-chairman of the PPUS. This sculpture portrays the resolute commitment of the Overseas Chinese to justice and the revolution. It is now stand proudly at the front of its British Prestige Columbia building, which made Penangites proud of in line with the honorific award bestowed by the first President of the new republic of China - Father of the Nation.
Append below please find extracts from the Wikipedia on Dr SUN YAT-SEN for your additional information.
Sun Yat-sen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Sun.
Generalissimo Sun Yat-sen
孫文
孫逸仙
Provisional President of the Republic of China
In office
29 December 1911 – 10 March 1912
Li Yuanhong
Succeeded by Yuan Shikai
Personal details
Born 12 November 1866
Xiangshan, Guangdong, China
Died 12 March 1925 (aged 58)
Beijing
Nationality Chinese
Political party Kuomintang
Spouse(s) Lu Muzhen (1885–1915)
Kaoru Otsuki (1903–1906)
Soong Ching-ling (1915–1925)
Children Sun Fo
Sun Yan
Sun Wan
Fumiko Miyagawa
Alma mater
Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese
Occupation Physician
Politician
Revolutionary
Writer
Religion Congregationalist
Signature
Sun Yat-sen (12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)[1] was a Han Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" (國父), a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China[2] and the Republic of China.[3] Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty during the Xinhai Revolution. Sun was the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (Chinese National People's Party) where he served as its first leader.[4] Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Although Sun is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution, he quickly fell out of power in the newly founded Republic of China, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Sun did not live to see his party consolidate its power over the country during the Northern Expedition. His party, which formed a fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions after his death. Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood.[5]
Names
Main article: Names of Sun Yat-sen
The original name of Sun Yat-sen was Sun Wen (孫文) and genealogy name was Sun Deming (孫德明).[1][6] As a child name his milkname was Dixiang (帝象).[1] The courtesy name of Sun Yat-sen was Zaizhi (載之), and his baptized name was Rixin (日新).[7] While schooling in Hong Kong he earned the name Yat Sen (逸仙; Mandarin: Yixian).[8] Sun Zhong-shan, the most popular of the Chinese names came from (中山樵), a form of the Japanese name given to him by Miyazaki Touten (宮崎滔天).[1]
We have more to tell about this centre and we decided to blog them out from time to time so as to keep you not only entertained, but also enhanced your knowledge. It is our way of rewarding you, our blog readers and more important is to lift you up, as its name suggests.
So, seeing you again and again.
James Oh
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