Leith Street is a narrow road within the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

of the city of George Town within the

Malaysian state Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories, which form the primary administrative divisions of the country. Eleven states and two territories are part of Peninsular Malaysia, while two states and one territory ...

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. Once known as an enclave for rich

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

tycoons, it is home to the famous

Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion The Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion is a government gazetted heritage building located on Leith Street in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. The mansion's external decorations and indigo-blue outer walls make it a very distinctive building, and it is somet ...

. The road was laid out in the early 19th century and named after one of the first

Governors of Penang The Governor of Penang, officially Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang (') is the Ceremony, ceremonial head of state of the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. The role of governor is largely ceremonial with the ...

Etymology

Leith Street was named after

George Alexander William Leith Major-General Sir George Alexander William Leith, 2nd Baronet (1766 – 25 January 1842) was the first Lieutenant-Governor of Prince of Wales' Island (Penang Island), replacing George Caunter, a magistrate who was acting superintendent followin ...

, who became the Lieutenant-Governor of Penang between 1800 and 1803. During

Leith Leith (; ) is a port area in the north of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is home to the Port of Leith. The earliest surviving historical references are in the royal charter authorising the construction of ...

's tenure, he succeeded in gaining a narrow

hinterland Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...

on the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

directly opposite

Penang Island Penang Island is the main constituent island of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located off the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Malacca Strait, with the Penang Strait separating the island from Seberang Perai on the mainla ...

from

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...

; the land was subsequently named ''Province Wellesley'' (now

Seberang Perai Seberang Perai is a city in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located on the Malay Peninsula and separated from Penang Island by the Penang Strait, it shares borders with Kedah to the north and east and Perak to the south. The city spans an are ...

). Leith also presided over the establishment of a committee of assessors in 1800. It was the first local authority to be founded in

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

; the committee would gradually evolve over the centuries into the present-day

Penang Island City Council The Penang Island City Council ( ) is the local government that administers the city of George Town, which includes the entirety of Penang Island. The city council, which has jurisdiction over an area of , falls under the purview of the Penang ...

. When Leith Street was created in the early 19th century, the road was to be lined with palm trees, hence the Malay nickname ''Nyior Cabang''.

History

Leith Street was originally populated by Indian Muslims who arrived from southern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, such as the Bengalis and Biharis. At the time, ethnic Indians dominated a large portion of the new settlement of George Town, with Leith Street becoming an extension of the

Little India Little India (also known as Indian Street, India Bazaar, or India Town) is an Indian people, Indian or South Asian sociocultural environment outside India or the Indian subcontinent. It especially refers to an area with a significant concentra ...

enclave that was centred around the adjoining Chulia Street. During the 19th century, Leith Street witnessed major demographic changes. As rich Chinese businessmen moved in, the road became gentrified. By the start of the 20th century, Leith Street was known as the Hakka Millionaire's Row, after the rich

Hakkas The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

who resided along the road, such as Tye Kee Yoon and

Cheong Fatt Tze Cheong Fatt Tze (born Chang Chin Hsun; c. 1840–1916), also known as Tjong Tjen Hsoen, Thio Tiauw Siat or Zhang Bishi was a Chinese industrialist, politician and philanthropist. Spending the majority of his life residing in Malaya and the Du ...

. The

tycoons built elegant mansions combining European and Chinese architectural styles along Leith Street; the

stands to this day as a testimony of this particular opulent era in

's history. Notably, Leith Street is also known as the place where the renowned

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or '' cordwainers'' (sometimes misidentified as cobblers, who repair shoes rather than make them). In the 18th cen ...

Jimmy Choo Jimmy Choo Yeang Keat (born 15 November 1948) is a Malaysian fashion designer based in the United Kingdom. He co-founded Jimmy Choo Ltd, which became known for its handmade women's shoes. Early life Choo was born in 1948 in the Crown Colony ...

, started making shoes as an apprentice.

Landmarks

References

{{GTRoad

Etymology

History

Landmarks

See also

References