Meng Eng Soo (GPS: 5.41734, 100.33434), or Ghee Hin Memorial Hall of Heroes, is the base of the infamous Ghee Hin Secret Society of the 19th century. They set up their base in Rope Walk after they were ousted from their original base in Church Street by their nemesis, the Hai San leader Kapitan China Chung Keng Kwee, who took over the Church Street premises and turned it into his residence and home, called Hai Kee Chan. The Ghee Hin's new premises at Rope Walk is located next to the base of their Malay associates, the White Flag Society based at Masjid Pintal Tali.
360° View of Meng Eng Soo on Google Street View
The Meng Eng Soo acts as a clan temple for the Ghee Hins, who are mostly of the Teochew and Cantonese dialect groups. They are a spin-off from the Hung League triad group in China, and in the Malay peninsula, they had their branches in Penang, Taiping, Ipoh and Singapore. As a triad, they cause much trouble to the British authorities for their fondness to attack and burn post offices. They were also the players in the three Larut Wars, although it must also be pointed out that they are not always the ones to start the warfare, but are often retaliating against what they perceive as unfair deals or simply outright bullying from the Hai San Secret Society.
Door gods of the Meng Eng Soo (13 February 2005)
The third Larut War resulted in the Pangkor Engagement (Perjanjian Pangkor), which gave the Ghee Hins the short end of the deal. The most lucrative tin mines in the Larut region, Krian Pauh, went to the Hai San, while they were given the mining area of Krian Baru, which is inferior in tin deposit. These two areas become the towns of Taiping and Kamunting respectively today.
When the British outlawed secret societies, it compelled the Ghee Hin Society towards dissolution. The setting up of the Meng Eng Soo is what I would deem a 19th century version of "money laundering". The society had to sell or transfer all its assets by June 1890. The property previously known as Hong Eng Tong (or in Mandarin, Hong Ying Tang) at 48 Jalan Pintal Tali had to be registered to new trustees. The Meng Eng Soo was then set up as a legitimate society with the purpose of offering prayers to noted deceased Ghee Hin members, numbering 165 in all.
Interior of Meng Eng Soo (25 July 2009)
Getting there
Using the Komtar Bus Terminal as point of reference, cross Lebuh Tek Soon to Prangin Mall. At Prangin Mall, walk along Lebuh Lintang to Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong. Cross Jalan Dr Lim Chwee Leong and enter Jalan Pintal Tali. Cross the junction of Lebuh Kimberley and continue along Jalan Pintal Tali. Meng Eng Soo is on the left side of Jalan Pintal Tali, immediately after Masjid Pintal Tali, near the junction of Pesara Claimant.
Memorial at the Penang General Hospital commemorating the donation from the Ghee Hins and other parties (6 March 2009)
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.
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.
About this website
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.
While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.