Visiting the roots of Penang's founder

Last weekend, my friend Wailian brought Saucer and me to a very unsuspecting 'tourist spot' in Penang. He was telling us about how this place was even used as a venue for wedding photography. I'm sure you would be as surprised as I was, when he revealed this place to be...

Cemetery!

Tadaa! Got you, didn't I? Even though it was a bit awkward, I proceeded to go in anyway, since I was really curious to know where Francis Light was buried. The cemetery was still well-maintained even after hundreds of years, it's amazing. Luckily the gate was not locked, so we all went in, only to find that we're probably the only visitors there.

Entrance gate

There was this huge information board at the entrance, detailing the location and information of each tomb. There was even a map with numbers to let you know how to get to specific tombs. I didn't pay too much attention to the numbering because I thought it would be more interesting to search for the tombs ourselves.

Information board

There were many important people who were buried in this cemetery before, especially the British. The pathway was nicely built and led us to the inner part of the cemetery. I guess if we just stay at this path without walking in, we wouldn't have known that this was a cemetery plot. :)

Walking path

Walking in gave us a very calm and peaceful feeling, maybe bordering on eerie too, once we saw these lying around us. One thing noticeable is that their tombs came in all different shapes and sizes, and most of them were buried on the ground, instead of inside the ground, unlike the Chinese cemetery. I suppose the size of the tomb also reflects the status of the person buried inside.

Cemetery

After the first path, there was a second path continuing, without the tiles. We walked further inside, hoping to find the home of Sir Francis Light's.

On the way in

We were greeted with more elegant tombs, with the company of huge trees that protected us from the sunshine. It was really rather comforting walking in the midst of thick trees, mainly because it made us feel protected.

Calm and peace

So we started with our quest to look for the tombstone with Francis Light on it. It wasn't that easy.

For one, there were plenty of mosquitoes in the cemetery! And we were all wearing shorts, so it was really annoying to flick them off. I guess even mosquitoes found this place to be comfortable to them. :P

Spankie?

I saw many tombstones with the last name of Brown. I'm not really familiar with the history of Penang but I'm guessing this Brown fellow must have been a very important person in the days of yore.

Mr Brown

Then there was this gigantic tomb that we saw, complete with a dome. We thought it was Francis Light's but it wasn't.

Saucer and witch

This was the back view of the gigantic tomb.

Biggest tomb

Still no sign of Francis Light. At that point, I thought of going back to the front to look at the map for the location, because the mosquitoes were seriously irritating the hell out of me. But then I saw it! The great father of Penang, Sir Francis Light, resting in peace. It's surreal to come so close to history, to know that Francis Light really did exist.

We found it!

Even Wailian was captivated by it.

Wailian admiring Francis Light

Thank you Sir Francis Light, for bringing us the wonderful gem that is Penang. :)

Posing with the founder of Penang

Anyone still thinks this place is appropriate for wedding photography?