Captain Speedy's Baobab Tree, George Town, Penang

Captain Speedy's Baobab Tree, George Town, Penang (27 October 2022)

Captain Speedy's Baobab Tree (GPS: 5.422, 100.31229) is a baobab tree at the traffic island between Residency Road and Macalister Road in George Town, Penang. It is a fully grown tree with the appearance of a bonsai. Planted by English explorer Captain Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy in 1871, it holds the distinction of being the oldest still surviving planted tree and oldest non-native planted tree in Malaysia. Captain Speedy's baobab tree is older than the first rubber tree in Malaya, which is the Rubber Tree of Kuala Kangsar). Planted in 1871 - the year Captain Speedy arrived in Penang to take on the position of Superintendent of Police - the tree is now over 150 years old.

Of all the heritage trees in Penang, Captain Speedy's Baobab Tree stands as the grand dame of them all, and is in a class of its own. The tree, an Adansonia digitata, is a native of the semi-arid part of sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar. In Penang, it lives in its own picket-fence compound. Although it appears very elderly and frail, and even requires crutches to remain standing, all efforts are taken to prop it up.

There is a long-standing urban legend in Penang that Captain Speedy's baobab tree brings good luck to the island, and so must be kept standing by all means, or else calamity will fall on Penang. A more colourful twist to the belief states that Penang is a vessel floating in the sea and the baobab tree, with its upside-down looking trunk, acts as a stopper. If the tree is uprooted, water will gush out of the hole and the whole island will sink.

After his sojourn in Penang, Captain Speedy would be hired by Perak Mentri Ngah Ibrahim to quell the restive situation in Larut. This inadvertently led to him founding the town of Taiping.

The baobab produces green buds in spring. The buds looking like hanging tennis balls. These buds open into fragrant white flower. The oblong fruits are not pretty. They are dark brown and wizened, looking somewhat like dead rats.

It was reported on 18 July 2007 that the Lions Club of Penang put aside RM15,000 to beautify the traffic island where the Baobab tree stands, to turn it into a green garden. They are getting assistance from the Lion Clubs in Taiwan, Australia, Kuala Lumpur, Thailand and Singapore for this project, and when completed, the Penang Municipal Council will take over the maintenance.