Western Road Cemetery

Western Road Cemetery (2 January 2005)


Western Road Cemetery (GPS: 5.42645, 100.30138) or Tanah Perkuburan Kristian Jalan Utama is the biggest Christian cemetery on Penang Island. It is the final resting place for both Catholics and Protestants. The cemetery has been in use since the late 19th century, when the Protestant Cemetery at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah was closed to further burials.

Among those who were buried here were eighty-four Russian soldiers who perished when the Zemschug sunk off Penang harbour in the early hours of 28 October, 1914, when it was torpedoed by the German cruiser SMS Emden. Also buried at the Western Road Cemetery are British soldiers who died fighting communists during the Emergency Campaign of 1948-1960. A memorial is erected to them near the gate into the cemetery. There are also graves to soldiers from the Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF.

Western Road Cemetery is on the Map of Jalan Utama, Penang

There are many interesting gravestones at the Western Road cemetery. Among the Catholics, in particular, are sculptures and statuettes of angels and cherubs. One of the most fascinating sculpture at the cemetery is that of a dog resting on the gravestone. Legend has it that the dog visits the grave of is master after the latter had passed on, and continued to stay at the grave. After the dog had died, symphatisers erected a statue of the dog and placed it on the grave.

Pathway at Western Road Cemetery (2 January 2005)


Statuette of cherub at Western Road Cemetery (2 January 2005)


Dog Sculpture on the grave of one Andrew Duncan at the Western Road Cemetery (1 March 2016)


Dog sculpture, Western Road Cemetery (2 January 2005)


Chapel of Western Road Cemetery (2 January 2005)

Getting there

The best way to get to the Western Road Cemetery is by car or taxi.

List of Cemeteries in Penang and Cemeteries 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.

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

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.

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.