Leong Fee Mansion (Akademi Seni Equator), George Town

Leong Fee Mansion, Leith Street, Penang (20 November 2010)


Leong Fee Mansion (GPS: 5.42108, 100.33561) is a two-storey bungalow at the junction of Leith Street and Northam Road, opposite Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion. Built in 1900, it today houses the Equator Academy of Art (Leith Street Campus). Its namesake, also known as Leong P'i Joo, was a turn of the 20th century local tycoon and father of Leong Yin Kean, who built Leong Yin Kean Mansion, better known as Thirty-Two at the Mansion. Leong Fee built the mansion as his Penang residence.

Leong Fee (1857-1911) was one of the Hakka tycoons who made his home along Leith Street. He was born of Kar Yin Hakka extraction, in Guangdong province, China. He arrived in Malaya in 1876, settling first in Penang, and from there moved to Perak, where he struck his fortune in the tin mines of Taiping. From there, he also established mines in the Kinta Valley.

Leong Fee, along with his contemporaries Cheong Fatt Tze (of Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion) and Chung Keng Kwee (of Pinang Peranakan Mansion), were the pillars of society in Penang and Perak. He was appointed Justice for Kinta in 1892 and a member of the Perak State Council from 1895 to 1908. Having become a successful Chinese tin miner, he established a club as a watering hole for his fellow tin miners, who are largely Hakka. That club, called Han Chin Pet Soo, is today a museum that faithfully documents the Kinta tin-mining activities.

He was the Chinese Vice-Consul of the Manchu Government in Penang from 1901 to 1907, and was the first Chinese member of the Federal Legislative Council in 1909. He married the daughter of another local tycoon, Hsieh Yung-kuan, who served as the Vice-Consul of the Manchu Government before him.

Next to the main building is another structure with intricate filigree details. The structure has a hipped roof ending with a roof lantern.

Getting there

The nearest bus stop is along Penang Road, in front of Rima College. The bus stop is served by Rapid Penang bus 103, 204 and 502.

Akademi Seni Equator, formerly Leong Fee Mansion (11 February 2013)


Leong Fee Mansion, Leith Street, Penang (20 November 2010)


Leong Fee Mansion side annex (20 November 2010)

Leong Fee Mansion is on the map of Leith Street, Penang

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