97 Heeren Street

In this time of pandemic, Virtual Sketchmeets (using Google Maps) has become popular for Urban Sketchers who can't organize their usual group sketchmeets. I have decided to use this practice to revisit and do a virtual sketch of places of significance in my life. My sketches will be accompanied by a personal photo (or two) taken at the site!

In 2007 I visited for the first time the Tan Kim Seng "rumah abu" (Malay for house of ash) in Melaka, Malaysia. As a descendant of Tan Kim Seng it was an emotional experience. He was my great great great grandfather on my paternal grandmother's line.

Tan Kim Seng was a prominent Peranakan Chinese merchant and philanthropist born in 1806. This house at 97 Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock (formerly known as Heeren St) is a long narrow terrace house with a spacious inner courtyard. These houses were built narrow in those days as houses were taxed based on their width!

Number 97 housed large portraits of various members of the Tan clan and several altars for prayers. At the time the house was maintained by a trust (I presume it still is). A caretaker lived on the premises and attended to the required prayers on the anniversaries of the deaths of the various Tan clan members (according to Buddhist rites).

The house was furnished with old style Chinese blackwood furniture. Sadly some members of the management trust looking after the house were Christians who took offence to the carvings on some of the furniture. Feeling that these carvings depicted pagan objects they sawed off the legs of some of the furniture!

I was excited to find the house again on Google Maps. It's the one with a decorative strip below the upstairs windows.

At the time of my visit in 2007 it was pretty run-down but from the present image on Google Maps I see the house has been renovated. The Chinese characters on the windows I'm told are poetic couplets about not forgetting where you come from.

Here's the present Google Map image of the house.

Here's a photo taken during my 2007 visit.

Here's one of the interior in 2007. Like all the houses in the area, it had an inner courtyard open to the sky with the prototypical well. 

Unfortunately I don't know anything about the history of Number 97. Tan Kim Seng himself once lived in a (apparently grand) house at Number 118 Heeren St which is now the renovated Hotel Puri.

Here's a few fascinating links:
Photobook about Heeren Street

Restoration Project at Number 8 Heeren St

Tan Kim Seng

The Peranakan Chinese

#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Zeta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”
#virtualsketch #virtualsketching #HeerenStreet