From medical hall to heritage inn
A TRADITIONAL Chinese medical hall turned heritage inn in the heart of George Town in Penang provides guests with a rare glimpse into the old-world charm of the building.
The newly restored Ren i Tang, located in 82-A, Penang Street, used to be the Yin Oi Tong Chinese Medical Hall which occupied three shoplots for 124 years.
The shoplots, which are pre-war houses belonging to the Cheah Kongsi, are now managed by Green Buildings Sdn Bhd.
As explained on its website, the name ‘Ren i Tang’ is the phonetic spelling of Yin Oi Tong in Mandarin, which is ‘The Hall of Benevolence’ when translated.
Opened for business in April this year after a two-year restoration, the inn is strategically located in the Unesco World Heritage site and just a walking distance to popular tourist spots and other heritage buildings in inner George Town.
The inn’s proprietor Eu Yeok Siew said the restoration cost more than RM2mil.
She said the objective was not only to restore the building but also to encourage people to see how they can recycle the things that they have.
“This is a recycling and conservation project. Eighty percent of the wood in the building is made of recycled timber.
“The wooden furniture in the hotel is made from the wood that was left in the building or those found in scrapyards.
“We also reused the old items left behind such as old bottles and newspapers and turned them into quirky decorations,” she said yesterday at the building.
Eu, who is also Green Buildings director, added that the ground floor was retained as a ‘trading area’ with Bistro Tang serving breakfast for guests and is open to the public for lunch and dinner.
“The second and third floors have been converted into 17 guest rooms,” she said.
She added that with its air well, the premises are filled with natural lighting and good ventilation.
She said a museum showing items and herbs left behind by Yin Oi Tong was in progress, and is expected to be open in August.
“We have invited Yin Oi Tong Medical Hall to take up a unit on the ground floor.
“They are now operating in Paya Terubong but they would like to come back here as they have a lot of loyal customers,” she said.
It was previously reported that Yin Oi Tong was forced to move out of the three shoplots as it could not sustain the business.
The medical hall, which was set up by Chinese immigrants who came to Malaya, was initially based in Pitt Street before it moved to Penang Street.
In 2009, several non-governmental organisations such as the Cultural Heritage Advisory Team and Penang Heritage Trust, as well as heritage researcher Tan Yeow Wooi, had joined hands to try to preserve the building’s traditional usage as a medical hall.
~News courtesy of The Star~
A TRADITIONAL Chinese medical hall turned heritage inn in the heart of George Town in Penang provides guests with a rare glimpse into the old-world charm of the building.
The newly restored Ren i Tang, located in 82-A, Penang Street, used to be the Yin Oi Tong Chinese Medical Hall which occupied three shoplots for 124 years.
The shoplots, which are pre-war houses belonging to the Cheah Kongsi, are now managed by Green Buildings Sdn Bhd.
As explained on its website, the name ‘Ren i Tang’ is the phonetic spelling of Yin Oi Tong in Mandarin, which is ‘The Hall of Benevolence’ when translated.
Opened for business in April this year after a two-year restoration, the inn is strategically located in the Unesco World Heritage site and just a walking distance to popular tourist spots and other heritage buildings in inner George Town.
The inn’s proprietor Eu Yeok Siew said the restoration cost more than RM2mil.
She said the objective was not only to restore the building but also to encourage people to see how they can recycle the things that they have.
“This is a recycling and conservation project. Eighty percent of the wood in the building is made of recycled timber.
“The wooden furniture in the hotel is made from the wood that was left in the building or those found in scrapyards.
“We also reused the old items left behind such as old bottles and newspapers and turned them into quirky decorations,” she said yesterday at the building.
Eu, who is also Green Buildings director, added that the ground floor was retained as a ‘trading area’ with Bistro Tang serving breakfast for guests and is open to the public for lunch and dinner.
“The second and third floors have been converted into 17 guest rooms,” she said.
She added that with its air well, the premises are filled with natural lighting and good ventilation.
She said a museum showing items and herbs left behind by Yin Oi Tong was in progress, and is expected to be open in August.
“We have invited Yin Oi Tong Medical Hall to take up a unit on the ground floor.
“They are now operating in Paya Terubong but they would like to come back here as they have a lot of loyal customers,” she said.
It was previously reported that Yin Oi Tong was forced to move out of the three shoplots as it could not sustain the business.
The medical hall, which was set up by Chinese immigrants who came to Malaya, was initially based in Pitt Street before it moved to Penang Street.
In 2009, several non-governmental organisations such as the Cultural Heritage Advisory Team and Penang Heritage Trust, as well as heritage researcher Tan Yeow Wooi, had joined hands to try to preserve the building’s traditional usage as a medical hall.
~News courtesy of The Star~
No comments:
Post a Comment