THEY can be found throughout Penang -- old colonial buildings in various states of use. Many of them used to be government quarters, homes for the state's civil servants and their families. Over time, some have fallen into neglect, no longer serving any purpose to Penangites.

This particular one (right) has been put to great use though. In the early 1980s through to the 1990s, it was home to the International Organisation of Consumer Unions (IOCU) Asia-Pacific Office, now called Consumer International. Apart from serving IOCU, it was the secretariat of many "action" networks of non-governmental organisations like the International Breast Feeding Action Network (IBFAN), Health Action International (HAI) and Pesticides Action Network (PAN). The AP Office then was headed by IOCU president Dato' Dr Anwar Fazal.

Today, it houses the Cancer Society of Malaysia (Penang Branch) and the Penang Hospice Society. There is a close relationship between the two. NCSM (Penang), founded in 1968, decided in September 2000 "that a separate organisation should now be formed to run hospice services in Penang." On November 21, 2001, the Registrar of Societies approved the setting up of the Penang Hospice Society. They are under the leadership of another Penang luminary, Dato' Seri Dr T Devaraj.

Other bungalows in the area have also been usefully occupied by the Penang Japanese Society and the Malaysian-German Society.  

References

• Contested Space: Cultural Heritage and Identity Construction by Gwynn Jenkins
• Penang Hill beckons visitors

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