At the George Town Waterfront Diorama

At the George Town Waterfront (2 November 2013)


"At the George Town Waterfront" is a diorama masterpiece. A year in the making, it features a scene at the bustling waterfront of late 19th century George Town. The massive land reclamation of 1883 had extended the shoreline outwards, leading to the creation of a new waterfront named Weld Quay, after Frederick Weld.

At the George Town Waterfront, we see coolies labouring to shoulder the cargo from tongkangs, under the watchful eye of their stern overseers and supervisors. Further in, ricksaws carried wealthy passengers along.

Forming the backdrop is a row of stately mercantile buildings that house German and British trading companies. Their address runs from right to left (geographically, north to south), beginning with 1 Weld Quay, then 2 Weld Quay, and so on. As I write this, they are all well preserved buildings, many of which presently undergoing restoration. They are Boustead & Co, Schmidt, Küstermann & Co, Behn Meyer (which houses the Made In Penang Interactive Museum today), Schiffman, Herr & Company and Behr Brothers Trading Company.

"At the George Town Waterfront" is the work of master diorama sculptor Khoo Chooi Hooi. When Khoo was commissioned by the Made In Penang Interactive Museum to create a selection of dioramas, the museum never expected the magnitude of his ambition when he decided to depict a scene from the George Town waterfront during the late 19th century. In order to create the diorama, Khoo sieved through old postcards and photographs. He also took measurements of the buildings. The scene was created to scale at a ratio of 1:13. It measures about 10 meters in length. Material used include clay, polymer clay, wood, canvas and silicon.

The details in "At the George Town Waterfront" is a feast for the eye. Observant viewers will see, among others, a nasi kandar vendor, a European couple and even a kingfisher.

Ships arriving at the wharf, George Town Waterfront (2 November 2013)


Coolies umloading the bumboats, George Town Waterfront (2 November 2013)


Cargo loaded to the wharf at the George Town Waterfront (2 November 2013)


Coolie resting at the George Town Waterfront (2 November 2013)


Coolie resting at the George Town Waterfront (15 April 2014)


Chinese ear cleaner at work (15 April 2014)


Boats carrying cargo to the wharf (15 April 2014)


Bullock cart carrying cargo away (15 April 2014)


Muhibah (15 April 2014)


Kingfisher at the harbour (15 April 2014)


Nasi kandar (15 April 2014)

Made In Penang's Dioramas and Made In Penang Interactive Museum

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.