Jalan Kampung Jawa Baru, George Town. The towering condominiums of the Penang Times Square (left) line the eastern side of the road.
Jalan Kampung Jawa Baru is a narrow road off Dato' Keramat Road within the George Town city centre. The L-shaped road stretches between Dato' Keramat Road to the north and Brick Kiln Road to the east.
The road was so named because of the influx of Javanese workers brought in to work in the Eastern Smelting facility at the road in the late 19th. century.
Jalan Kampung Jawa Baru road sign
Today, the site of the former tin smelting plant has been redeveloped into the Penang Times Square.
Etymology[]
Kampung Jawa Baru, meaning New Javanese Village in Malay, was so named due to the high concentration of Javanese workers who used to live along the road in the late 19th. century. At the time, the influx of Javanese workers expanded an existing Javanese village that had been in existence since the early 19th. century, known as Kampung Jawa Lama.
History[]
The road has been in existence since the late 19th. century. Nearby, a Javanese village, named Kampung Jawa Lama, had been established in the early 19th. century.
When a tin smelting facility, to be named later as Eastern Smelting, was established along the road in 1897, Javanese workers from Kampung Jawa Lama were hired to work in the facility. More workers were also brought in from Java, then under the Dutch East Indies, when the tin smelting plant was expanded.
The influx of Javanese workers in the area soon extended the Javanese neighbourhood along the road. Thus, the road was named Kampung Jawa Baru.
The site where the Eastern Smelting facility once stood has been redeveloped into the Penang Times Square.
The Eastern Smelting plant was eventually abandoned towards the late 20th. century, as the tin mining industry in Malaysia was dying a slow death. In the early 2000s, the site of the former tin smelting facility was brought by Ivory Properties Group, who subsequently redeveloped the site into the Penang Times Square.
Religion[]
- Kampung Jawa Baru Mosque
- Sri Rajamariamman Hindu Temple
Hotel[]
- Hotel SixtyNine
Political Representation[]
Penang State Government[]
N.28 Komtar State Assemblyman : Teh Lai Heng (Democratic Action Party)
Malaysian Federal Parliament[]
P.049 Tanjong Member of Parliament : Ng Wei Aik (Democratic Action Party)
References[]
- Khoo S.N., 2007. Streets of George Town, Penang. Areca Books.
- http://www.penang-traveltips.com/kampung-jawa-baru.htm