Quest for an empire

The chance sighting of an old photograph sets

WAnewly renovated building at Leith Street. HAT is that? Can I have a look? I ask, pointing to a large photograph standing at the side of a display cabinet. The antique shop owner promptly picks up the sepia image and hands it to me explaining that he just got it together with a bunch of other stuff from an old ancestral home in George Town.

Looking at the photograph closely, I find out that it depicts two men standing in front of a large theatre. What is more interesting is the presence of a small arch with the words “God Bless The Prince Of Wales”.

This immediately sets my mind thinking. This image must have been taken during the time when Prince Edward VIII visited Penang in 1922. This thought sets my heart racing. This is a very historically important photograph.

“Is it for sale?” I ask hopefully. To my utter disappointment the item has already been booked by a dentist who has a clinic in Beach Street.

“He will be coming later this evening to pick it up,” the shop owner explains.

While allowing me to take a picture of the item, he poses me a challenge. “This theatre is definitely in George Town but I am not sure where. Why don’t you solve this mystery? I am sure the doctor will also be interested as well.”

The offer cannot come at a better time. Having arrived in Penang earlier in the day, it has been my intention to explore the city. My day trip is getting better. There is a sense of purpose now. The Auction Rooms Cafe is located in Jalan Sungai Ujong. The Kapitan Keling Mosque is the first permanent Muslim established in Penang during the early 1800s.