Kampung Jawa Lama, George Town

Kampung Jawa Lama, George Town, Penang (25 May 2013)


Kampung Jawa Lama, also written Kampong Jawa Lama, is a road in George Town, Penang. The name dates to the early 19th century, when there was a Javanese settlement in the area within walking distance of the Sungai Pinang River. At time of writing (February 2013), I have not yet found out when exact did the Javanese village exist and when it faded away.

In the closing years of the 19th century the Kampung Jawa area underwent development when the Seng Kee Tin-smelting Works was established there by Lee Chin Ho. Lee's tin-smelting works received unsmelted tin ore from his own tin mines in Gopeng as well as his fellow Chinese tin miners in Perak as well as from Phuket and Trang in Thailand.

When Seng Kee Tin-smelting Works was made publicly listed, it was renamed the Eastern Smelting Company, and its tin ingots were stamped the acronym ESCOY. A sister company, the Eastern Shipping Company, managed the export of the smelted tin ingots. From the turn of the 20th century to the middle part of the same, rail carts transport tin from Swettenham Pier through the streets of George Town to the Eastern Smelting Company.

Today Kampung Jawa Lama is a minor road connecting Dato Kramat Road in the north to Jalan Timah in the south. It runs roughly parallel to Kampung Jawa Baru.

Map of Kampung Jawa Lama

Sights along Kampung Jawa Lama

Getting there

The nearest bus stop is along Dato Kramat Road. It is served by Rapid Penang Bus 11, 102, 201, 202, 203, 204, 206, 301, 304 and 502.

Kampung Jawa Lama, looking towards Dato Kramat Road (25 May 2013)


Kampung Jawa Lama roadsign (25 May 2013)

Kampung Jawa Lama on Google Street View

(Jan 2019)

Recommended Reading

More information about the Eastern Smelting Company can be found on pages 103-104 of the book Kinta Valley (Perak Academy 2005) by Khoo Salma Nasution & Abdur-Razzaq Lubis.

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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