Logan Memorial, Penang

Wednesday, February 08 2012

“HE WAS an erudite and skilful lawyer, eminent scientific ethnologist and he has founded a literature for these settlements”, a quote by John Turnbull Thomson, a government surveyor and artist, best describes James Logan and his legacy of championing the rights of the people of Penang.

Born James Richardson Logan in Berwickshire, Scotland, in 1819, he first came to Penang island in 1839 and from thereon fell in love with the place -- enough to dedicate his whole life to its people. Below are some of his achievements:

He was an avid writer and together with his brother Abraham bought over the Pinang Gazette. As the editor, he would often “publish powerful pieces against the East India Company (EIC). Logan used the Gazette to champion policies that would protect commerce in the Malay states and to support free trade.”
As a lawyer he often defended the underdog. “In one case even defended a local Indian sirih planter against it. He took the case to the press (through his newspaper) and brought it before a tribunal of public opinion. He was also a great defender of Chinese communities and even petitioned for prominent secret societies to be recognised as organisations. He became an advocate for religious tolerance between the communities and thus became a favourite barrister amongst the wealthy Straits Chinese and Indian Muslims.”
One of the most significant publications on Penang and the region was the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, better known as Logan's Journal. “The Malay peninsula as well as the surrounding areas were largely unexplored by Europeans at the time. An indefatigable traveller, Logan wrote articles on geology, general exploration, aboriginal peoples, ethnology and even piracy. His contributions to the geological and geographical world included his coining of the name “Indonesia.” Please read here on Logan’s justification for the term.
The two Logan brothers were also among the “first to campaign against EIC rule in the Straits Settlements. So successful were they that a historic transfer of power from the company to the colonial office took place in 1867 whereby the Straits Settlements became a crown colony. Transfer Road [in Penang] was named in commemoration of the event.”

(Source: Rajendra, S, “Logan’s lasting legacy”, Penang Economic Monthly, January 2010. This article is featured in our iGT features section this week. Please click here to read. Also, in our iGT Opinion section this week, we showcase this article entitled “The probable effects on the climate of Pinang of the continued destruction of its hill jungles”, written by James Logan in 1846 with regards to Penang's shrinking hill jungles at that point).

James Logan died in Penang in 1869 from malaria. His funeral day was attended by the “entire European community and leading Asians; he was buried in the Protestant cemetery (in Northam Road), Penang, and a monument was erected in front of the supreme court by open subscription lamenting his untimely death as a public calamity: ‘Unselfish to a degree he spared neither time nor money to promote Penang’s welfare’.” (C.M. Turnbull)

The James Logan Memorial was officially dedicated on October 20, 2009 in front of the High Court building in Penang, its new permanent location after it was moved from the front of Supreme Court building. Click here to view photographs of the event. His memorial comprises the allegorical sculptures of the four cardinal virtues which are wisdom, justice, temperance and fortitude (view photo gallery below). A definite testament to the strong principles that James Logan stood and lived by till the day he died.