Monday, April 9, 2012

Penang - The Cradle of the Chinese Revolution

How many of you know that Penang was an important base for Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the founder of the Chinese Revolution?

Not many, I believe. Unless of course you have studied about the Chinese Revolution in school, or visited the old shophouse at 120 Armenian Street, which currently showcases an exhibition on Sun Yat Sen.

When we visited the antiquated building 2 weeks ago, we saw a sign stating that the admission fee was RM3 per person. The volunteer manning the reception ushered us to some seats, so that we could watch some snippets of the movie 'Road to Dawn' (《夜.明》). While the video clip was playing, he provided a running commentary on how Sun Yat Sen used the historical shophouse as a base to raise funds for the Canton Uprising, which ultimately led to the success of the Chinese Revolution in 1911.

In the following movie clip, you can listen to the awe-inspiring speech from the actor playing Dr. Sun Yat Sen.

Below are 4 images of the interior of the shophouse, also known as Sun Yat Sen Penang Base (孙中山槟城基地纪念馆).



The volunteer guide provided many explanations on the exhibits. As we were leaving, we thanked him for his hospitality and paid him the full admission fees.

Out of curiosity, we asked him whether it is a policy to collect the admission fees only when the visitors were leaving. He shared that in general, the admission fees are collected upfront, especially for those shutterbugs who just want to take quick snapshots and then depart.

For visitors who are genuinely interested in what the place has to offer, he believes that visitors will automatically pay the full admission fees in appreciation of what they have seen, heard and experienced. That has been the case so far.

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