Oldest Protestant Church Building in Penang

35 Farquhar Street, the Farquhar Street Mission House and Chapel, covered in undergrowth (7 August 2008)




The oldest Protestant Church Building in Penang, not counting the Anglican church, is believed to be Mission House at Farquhar Street. The building, which dates from around 1878, is unfortunately in an advanced state of dilapidation today. This is due not only to natural weathering and neglect, but also appears to have been deliberately facilitated.

I visited the site in the company of Puan Maimunah Mohd Sharif of the George Town World Heritage Office. We were there to show the historical building to Professor Dr. A Ghafar Ahmad, the Deputy Commissioner of Heritage with the Department of National Heritage. Also joining us were concerned individuals (whom I shall not name) and a member of the press.

It is extremely regretful to see this very historic building purposely driven to ruin. There is tremendous heritage tourism potential attached to this building, as it is one of the components of the Christian precinct of George Town stretching from the Protestant Cemetery in Northam Road to the original site of the Church of the Assumption on Church Street.

With the support of the Penang Heritage Trust, I am presently working to document all the sites in this area an effort to create a Christian Heritage Enclave and Christian Heritage Trail to include the following sites which are all close together: The last time I visited the site was on 7 August, 2008, as reported here. At that time, the house appeared forlorn. Today, it appears like someone has gutted its inside, leaving it a mere empty shell. The floorboards of the upper level have been entirely removed. Let me show you some before and after photographs on this page. The house next door, Farquhar Villa, is similarly gutted.