College Square (Medan Maktab)

College Square, Penang (23 January 2005)


College Square, or Medan Maktab, is a square in Pulau Tikus, Penang. It is bordered by College Avenue to the west, College Lane to the east, and its namesake to the north and south.

College Square took its name from the Roman Catholic College General of the Paris Foreign Missions Society. Established in Ayutthaya in 1665, the College General relocated to a number of sites in Asia through the course of history. In 1765, after Ayutthaya was burned down by the Burmese, the seminary relocated to Chanthaburi. Then it moved again to Hon Dat in then Cambodia (and in present-day Vietnam). Political volatility of the era forced another relocated, to Pondicherry in 1770. Though peaceful, Pondicherry was deemed too distant from China and Indo-China, as most of the seminarians came from there. Eventually it closed in 1782.

After Penang was established as a British trading port by Francis Light in 1786, the first group of Roman Catholic Eurasians received permission from Light to settle on the island. This opened the door for Penang to be considered as a site for the Roman Catholic seminary. Eventually in 1808, the seminary was reestablished in Penang on the site in Pulau Tikus, with the initial group led by Father Lolivier.

Except for a period during the Second World War, when the facility was taken over by the Japanese Navy, the College General occupied its campus in Pulau Tikus until 1983, when it relocated to Mariophile. Located on Jalan Cengai off Jalan Gajah in Tanjong Tokong, Mariophile was originally the holiday villa of the seminary. Its name means "Lover of Mary".

Although College General is no longer at Pulau Tikus, the name College Square lives on. It is surrounded by residential properties, some of which are being used for commercial purposes.

Map of College Square

Medan Maktab, Penang (14 March 2016)


Medan Maktab roadsign (14 March 2016)

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