Kelawei Road (Jalan Kelawai)

Kelawei Road (2 September 2008)


Kelawei Road (Malay: Jalan Kelawai) is a major road out of George Town. Until as late as the 1930's, Kelawei Road was still the main road that extended beyond Northam Road (now Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah). At that time, nothing stood between Kelawei Road and the shoreline. Cantonment Road ended at Kelawei Road, which was already near the shore. It was during the late 1930's that Gurney Drive was built, originally being called the New Coast Road, then then renamed Gurney Drive only in 1952. The land reclamation allowed Cantonment Road to be extended, creating what is now called Jalan Pemenang.

Map of Jalan Kelawei, Penang

Residential Properties on Kelawei Road

Petrol stations along Kelawei Road

Hotels along Kelawei Road

Sights on Kelawei Road

Eateries on Kelawei Road

Shopping Malls on Kelawei Road

Businesses on Kelawei Road

Junction of Kelawei Road with Pangkor Road (22 December 2009)

Going to Kelawei Road

Kelawei Road is served by Rapid Penang bus 103 heading west towards Tanjung Bungah. The Penang Hop-On Hop-Off Tourist Bus also stops at Kelawei Road.

Dashcam view of Kelawei Road

Kelawei Road (6 July 2018)

About Kelawei Road

Kelawei Road is an example of the result of having no standard way to spell local names. There is no consensus over how the name should be spelled, with the two main variations being Kelawei and Kelawai. I had originally written that the name Kelawei is actually the British transliteration of "Kuala Awal", the local name for the first northern estuary from George Town. However Syed Imran Syed Ahmad, a reader of The Star, clarified that it was instead named after a tree (see details under updates below). This name comes from the original Malay settlement located along Kelawei Road, a remnant of which, known as Kampung Syed, is near Masjid Jamek Al-Munauwar Kelawei, between Edgecumbe Road and Jones Road.

At the start of Kelawei Road was the extravagant home of Chung Thye Phin, the last Kapitan China of Perak. The mansion, long demolished, stood on the grounds of where the twin condominiums called 1 Persiaran Gurney are located today. Farther west along Kelawei Road takes us to the Burmese and Thai settlements, leaving behind their temples such as the Dhammikarama Temple, Wat Chaiyamangkalaram and Wat Buppharam.

Beyond lay the Eurasian village or Kampung Serani, at and around what is known today as College Square. The Church of the Immaculate Conception is a reminder of the Eurasian legacy on Kelawei Road. Along the road is the Catholic Cemetery that belongs to the church.

Today Kelawei Road is prime real estate and location for numerous skyscrapers and upmarket condominiums that take advantage of its proximity to the city centre as well as the glorious views the location affords.

Petron Jalan Kelawei, with Setia V Residences in the background (29 December 2018)


Kelawei Road (22 December 2009)

Updates on Kelawei Road

8 January, 2014: According to Syed Imran Syed Ahmad, writing to the Star, there was no river in Kelawei, and that instead the name Kelawai refers to the roots or akar of the dedawai tree, Myxopyrum nervosum, which is also known as kelawai. From there, the area became known as Tanjong Kelawei, it being one of the five places on the North-East and South-East districts of Penang Island that bear the word "tanjong" to its name. According to Syed Imran Syed Ahmad, the name Tanjong Kelawai, which referred to a Malay fishing village, eventually evolved to simply Kelawai.

27 July, 2013: Traffic flow on Kelawei Road is made one way, with traffic going from east to west.

Getting there

Rapid Penang Bus 103 pass through Kelawei Road.

Village houses in the Kelawei Road area (22 December 2009)


Village houses in the Kelawei Road area (22 December 2009)

List of Streets in Penang and Streets in Malaysia

Private Guided Tours of Penang

If you are seeking private guided tours of Penang, message Penang Tour Guides at penangtourguides@gmail.com and enquire with them.

 Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang

Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.

Adakah anda mempunyai hartanah untuk dijual atau disewakan? Adakah anda ingin membeli atau menyewa hartanah? Hubungi saya. WhatsApp saya (Timothy Tye) di 012 429 9844, dan saya akan menugaskan salah seorang ejen hartanah saya untuk berkhidmat kepada anda. Saya akan pilih ejen untuk anda, mengikut keperluan hartanah anda. Oleh itu, apabila anda menghantar mesej kepada saya, berikan saya beberapa butiran tentang apa yang anda perlukan, sama ada untuk menjual, untuk membeli, untuk disewakan atau untuk disewakan, dan jenis hartanah apakah itu kondo, pangsapuri, rumah, kedai, pejabat atau tanah.

您有待出售或出租的房产吗？ 您想购买或租赁房产吗？ 与我联系。 WhatsApp 我 (Timothy Tye) 012 429 9844，我将指派一名房地产经纪人为您服务。 我会根据您的房产需求，为您选择代理。 因此，当您给我发消息时，请向我提供一些您需要的详细信息，无论是出售、购买、出租还是出租，以及房产类型，是公寓、公寓、房屋、商店、办公室还是土地。

 New Properties in Penang

Looking to buy property in Penang? Get the e-brochures right here without having to visit or contact individual developers.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

 Share your travels and/or ask a travel-related question

Join the Penang Travel Tips Facebook Group to share photos, tips and anything related to your travels, or ask travel-related questions.

Map of Roads in Penang

Looking for information on Penang? Use this Map of Roads in Penang to zoom in on information about Penang, brought to you road by road.

Discover with Timothy

Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.

Disclaimer

Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

Songs about Penang

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.