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Penang
Air Itam Dam
Botanic Gardens
BORR
Canopy Walkway
Ceruk Tok Kun
Crag Hotel
Mengkuang Dam
Metropolitan Relau Park
Moniot Road
Pantai Kamloon
Penang Hill
PNP 2004
Teluk Bayu
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CRAG HOTEL OF PENANG |
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The Main Building - a restaurant, kitchen & recreation area. Note the ugly antenna on the left built several years ago.
A very interesting evidence of how construction methods of older days attempt to build into and around rock boulders instead of blasting them away. (Friends of Pg Hill, 1991)
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The bridge that leads to Crag Hotel today.
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Old Crag Hotel as viewed from higher ground.
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The History
The Crag (also Craig) is situated on a commanding hill shoulder on which it was first leased after 1805 to the Clubley brothers. The Clubley brothers were seeking opportunities when Penang was elevated to the status of a Residency in the same year. In 1890 a Scotman named J. Kerr leased the site from the government and built on it a bungalow with an attap roof which he named ‘The Crag’. About the same time, the lease was transferred to the well-known hoteliers, the Sarkies Brothers. It was then called the Crag Hotel. (MNS, 1991).
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The chalet housed the headmaster of the Uplands School.
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The Sarkies Brothers – Martin, Tigran and Arshak – from Isfahan in Persia, were the foremost hoteliers of the East where they operated the Strand in Rangoon, the Raffles in Singapore and the E&O and of course the Craig Hotel on Penang Hill. If you have been to E&O Hotel, Georgetown, you will find a similarity in the design of the size of the washrooms at Craig Hotel - which were as large as a modern day rooms.
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Crag Hotel built in 1929. Note the year inscribed on the wall of the building.
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View from the Upper floor of Crag Hotel.
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In 1929 the Sarkies brothers completely rebuilt the place as it stands today, adding nine chalets for guests staying at the hotel. The Crag Hotel prospered until the outbreak of the second World War from 1942 to 1945 after which, it remained empty for ten years. In 1955 the place was leased to the Incorporated Society of Planters, Malaya which added four chalets and converted it into a school under the name Upland School. ‘Uplands Preparatory School’ served Malaysian and European children who were going on to boarding schools in Europe or the United Kingdom. It fulfilled this function until a sudden increase in rental forced the school to move elsewhere. Since then the house, chalets and grounds of the famous ‘Crag’ have all been allowed to go to ruin. (MNS, 1991)
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The wear of time as seen on the roof curtain (made with plywood) put up in 1992 for the film INDOCHINE
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View inside the main building.
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Food elevator. Food from the kitchen below being brought up through this elevator.
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The compound and the field. Hostel for students.
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The Future
2006 - Xylarium (Wood Museum) To Be Built At Old Craig Hotel Site On Penang Hill
It is estimated by Mid 2007, Penang will see yet another museum, but it will be a museum of a different kind, a xylarium - a museum dedicated to different kinds of wood samples - and it will be built amidst the lush greenery of Penang Hill at the old Craig hotel site. So, when you visit the xylarium, you will also be able to see the old Craig Hotel and Uplands International School of Penang buildings. Among them is the collection of wood samples from around the world at the RM2.5mil Wood Museum which will be built at the old Craig Hotel site by the middle of next year. (Source: http://penangtalk.com/jots/C1201699752/E20060816004900/index.html)
References:
Nature Trails of Penang Island, MNS
Penang Hill (1991), Friends of Penang Hill, CAP, Penang
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/9/8/north/15370901&sec=North
http://www.nst.com.my/Weekly/Travel/article/FeatureStory/20060117111007/Article/pp_index_html
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