Jalan Residensi, George Town

Residency Road, Penang (20 March 2013)


Residency Road (Malay: Jalan Residensi; Chinese (Hokkien): 二王厝路; Penang Hokkien: Jee33 Ong3 Chu1 Lor33) is a major road out of George Town, Penang. It was built in the the four quarter of the 19th century, when Penang was experiencing expansion brough on by prosperity from tin mining in Larut. Residency Road was originally called Race Course Road. That was because in the late 19th century, there was a race course where the field of the St George's Girls' School is now located. Since then, the race course has been relocated to the present Penang Turf Club at Batu Gantong. Race Course Road was also given a new and more stately name of Residency Road, or nowadays Jalan Residensi, after the construction of the official residence of the Governor of Penang, The Residency, which is today known as Seri Mutiara.

The character of Jalan Residensi is shaped by the presence of three disparate concerns: military, medical and sports. All three arrived on Jalan Residensi as George Town expanded outwards. For much of the early part of Penang's history, the military was headquartered at Fort Cornwallis, and military parades took place at what is now Padang Kota Lama.

Map of Jalan Residensi, Penang

Sights along Residency Road

As George Town grew, the military found it necessary to acquire new land for their army barracks, jail, and parade grounds. These took shape around Residency Road. Although the barracks are no longer around, road names in the area such as Sepoy Lines Road and Barrack Road remind us of their presence. One of those who brought the sepoys from India was Captain Speedy. Tristram Charles Sawyer Speedy was a Victorian age explorer who arrived in Penang in 1871 to be the superintendent of police. In 1873, he resigned his post to work for Ngah Ibrahim. He employed sepoys - Indians trooping fighting for the British - to bring order to the volatile situation in Larut. A legacy of Captain Speedy is the baobab tree at the junction with Macalister Road, standing today as the oldest planted tree in Malaysia.

The jail is still standing today, and is a functioning penitentiary known as the Penang Prison. Towards the mid 20th century, the parade ground had taken on a new role as Polo Ground, a role that has further evolved to now include other recreational sports.

Jalan Residensi is also noted for the number of government hospitals. Among them is the Penang General Hospital, or Hospital Pulau Pinang. Within its vicinity is the Maternity Hospital, the Dental Hospital and the Children's Hospital.

The Mayor of George Town also had his official residence along Jalan Residensi. The mansion is now used as a senior citizen home called the Penang Home for the Infirm and Aged.

Updates

25 May, 2015: The Star reports that an 80-year-old angsana tree was relocated from Residency Road to Karpal Singh Drive so that road widening can be carried out on the road. In order to ensure that the tree is safely moved, its branches were first prunned. Then the 20-tonne 16-meter tree was taken out of the ground using an Air Spade and a heavy-duty crane.

Getting there

Rapid Penang Bus 10, 304 and 306 pass along Residency Road, in the vicinity of the Polo Ground.

Jalan Residensi, George Town, Penang (17 June 2021)


View of Residency Road, looking towards the Penang General Hospital (8 March 2009)


Residency Road, George Town, Penang (3 March 2009)


Residency Road, Penang (8 March 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.