Already, you feel like you’re no longer in Penang… well, not in 21st century Penang anyway. With more imagination, you’ll feel like you’re in another world altogether. It’s hard to pinpoint when and where this feeling arises from. It could be the charming décor or maybe the warm reception of its staff. Or, at a deeper level, perhaps the new coat of paint, applied less than a decade ago, is not enough to cover the memories that have been embedded in its walls since the E&O first opened its doors back in 1885.
The E&O Hotel is a piece of Penang’s history that has borne witness to colonialism, the rise of a metropolitan culture, two world wars and the birth of a nation. It has even survived abandonment, several recessions as well as blind development, inflicted on most of George Town in the boom of the 1980s. Today, the establishment stands resplendent on the history-steeped Light Street, as the only luxury heritage hotel in Malaysia. If structures could speak, imagine what the E&O would have to say?
The brothers Sarkies
“No hotel keepers in the Far East are more famous than Messrs Sarkies Brothers,
pioneers in that line of business,” states an English travel guidebook, dated 1923.
This was a time when the Sarkies name was synonymous with luxury accommodation, thanks to the success of the brothers’ ventures in Penang (the E&O), Singapore (Raffles Hotel) and Myanmar (Strand Hotel).
The story of these brothers begins with the East India Company implementing an open-door policy allowing a free flow of trade into the island of Penang. Merchants and traders who had stopped there on their journey from India to China and vice versa helped to spread the word about an idyllic island that was open to settlers.
One of the first communities to emerge in 19th century Penang were the Armenians. By the time the first Sarkies brother arrived, the Armenians had already risen in society and seen as respectable enough to be included in one of the six categories of men who could be called to testify under oath in court.
Yes, racism was a culture under colonial rule, but luckily for Tigran, the eldest of the Sarkies, his race was of no issue and he had the liberty of pursuing business opportunities. He arrived in 1882 and set up Sarkies & Co, auctioneers and commercial agents. By 1884, he had a new venture: The Eastern Hotel, which was a house on Light Street that had been refurbished.
It was when his brother Martin joined him in 1885, that Sarkies Brothers (the company) was established, and together they executed a bid to take over the nearby Hotel de l’Europe on Farquhar Street, which became the Oriental Hotel. The third brother, Aviet, joined them in 1886, and soon the two hotels flourished to the point that they had to source for more rooms. Aviet and Martin had the gift of personally designing their hotels, or at least directing their chosen architect. They both exhibited taste and flair for details, and had a penchant for minarets, domes, lofty air wells, verandas, columns and so on, all still visible in the hotel’s structure today. Expansion was focused on the Oriental Hotel as it was not possible at the Eastern Hotel. When the refurbishment of the Oriental was complete and ready to open for business, the brothers made a business decision to surrender the Eastern Hotel. But unwilling to completely let go of their former establishment, they merged the names instead. So, when the doors to the refurbished hotel were opened in 1889, it was reintroduced to Penang as The Eastern & Oriental Hotel, today known as the E&O.
The golden era
While the E&O grew to be a great business venture for the Sarkies Brothers, it was Arshak, the youngest sibling, who turned the hotel into the social nucleus of George Town. An ebullient personality, Arshak was known for his extravagance as well as his generosity. He was meticulous as well as hungry in his pursuit of style, luxury and wealth, pretty much an olden day Donald Trump.
Arshak had free reign over the E&O once the ageing Tigran retired and returned to England. He expanded the hotel, building a 20-suite annexe on what was Penang Hall and took over a property called Sea Bank (on the left, western side of the hotel), turning it into the three-storey 40-room Victory Annexe (opened in 1923, but torn down in 1981). For the latter especially, Arshak spared no expense; the new wing featured modern facilities, including attached bathrooms, hot and cold running water, private phones, electric fans and private balconies.
The hotel boasted its own billiards room, hairdressing salon, curio and jewellery shop, a post and telegraph office, a 300-seat dining hall and the piece de resistance: a teak-floored ballroom measuring 77ft by 57ft. The opening of the ballroom was a grand affair, held on New Year’s Eve, 1922. It was here that Arshak proclaimed, now that the Penang community had one of the best hotels in the East in the E&O, they had to make sure they kept it.
Soon after, the E&O was the place for engagement parties, weddings and even honeymoons. Dance nights were Tuesdays and Fridays. It became the go to venue for main social events such as St George’s Day for the English, St Andrew’s Day for the Scots, Christmas and New Year. Back then, it was not unusual to see as many as 500 people milling about at one time.
This was the E&O’s golden era. Well-known figures such as American silver screen stars Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, English actor and playwright Noel Coward and novelist William Somerset Maugham were guests of the hotel. The E&O staff too enjoyed a certain amount of celebrity, such as “Hindenburg” (a Hainanese “head boy” who was given the nickname for his bulldog looks, resembling a World War I military leader of the same name), “Ah Ming”, “Ping Pong” and “Goldie”, most of them Hainanese.
By 1927, Arshak’s dream for E&O continued to grow and he instituted the construction of another ultra-modern, three-storey, 68-room wing on the eastern side of the hotel. (This would be the streamlined main building that we recognise today.)
While the exterior featured domes, minarets and cupolas, the main feature of this wing was inside — the reception lobby-cum-ballroom, called the Palm Court, covered by an elegant glazed steel dome (16m in diameter) which was illuminated at night by some 81 concealed lights. The new lobby also included a marble fountain, a zigzagging staircase facing the hotel entrance and one of Malaya’s earliest electric passenger lift, an antique which still runs in the main lobby of today’s E&O.
Arshak’s lust for further expansion continued and manifested in the 1929 opening of the East Wing which included a proper ballroom. The occasion was celebrated with a grand masquerade ball, and the new wing was declared open by flooding the dome with light.
The following year, Arshak’s ambitions finally proved to be his downfall. Questions about the hotel’s books were raised as it had not been audited since 1927. With a substantial overdraft (due to the many renovations and extensions) looming over the hotel, he turned to Indian moneylenders, putting himself further in debt. Then, in 1931, Arshak died of liver failure, with a debt of half a million Straits dollars to the E&O, and 40,000 Straits dollars to the chettiars. The dream of E&O died with him.
A new chapter
After Arshak’s death, the then newly established Raffles Hotel Ltd assumed the management of the E&O. As it wasn’t a priority and the cost of maintaining it proved to be a burden, the Raffles sold the E&O after five years, for less than it was worth, to Runnymeade Hotel, which Arshak had considered his bitter rival.
Then, war came to the island. Seeing the hotel empty, the Japanese military officers turned it into a private clubhouse, renaming it the Penang Haitan Ryokan, managed by the Japanese Daimaru company. The once luxurious Victory Annexe was by this time dilapidated and served as quarters for low-ranking soldiers. Senior officers were housed in Arshak’s final extension — the East Wing. Outside, trenches were dug in the lawns for protection from air raids by the Allies.
However, this all came to a halt when the A-bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. And the E&O staff watched as Japanese soldiers, in tears, piled up their weapons at the hotel in surrender. The war was over.
The British prisoners of war, held captive in a Singapore camp, returned to Penang, pleased to see that the E&O was still intact, hot and cold running water and all. At first, the hotel was requisitioned by the British Royal Marines, making it their headquarters, and appointing a local, Tan Thean Hock, to manage it.
Upgrading and rehabilitation of the E&O commenced over the next few years, annexe by annexe. Things began to pick up in parallel with Penang’s recovery from the war. Former staff returned to their duties or were promoted, and colonial social life returned to the E&O.
While it seemed like everything was back to normal, there was an underlying current of change, not just for E&O but for the nation too.
Prior to the war, for decades, the colonials exhibited unsubtle distaste for the locals. Sad to say, even the E&O was racially segregated somewhat, with one wing for the locals and another for Westerners. In his memoirs, Hail, Penang!, George Bilainkin, a young English journalist who was a permanent guest at the E&O, conveyed an uncensored look of life at the hotel and colonial society.
In his book, Bilainkin wrote that “a white man in the tropics is watched as a minor god” and he describes many instances when he had broken societal rules by associating with the “Asiatics”, the colonial white man’s name for the locals.
So, when Choong Lye Hock Estates took full control of the E&O in 1951, purchasing the hotel for a then princely sum of 1.45 million Straits dollars, it marked a new phase for E&O and Penang. Now that it was owned by a prominent Chinese family, to the great pride of the general Penang population, the hotel scene changed in that the Chinese and other local people were now regulars at the hotel when before they would have not been welcomed. The “British only” preserve was broken.
With Merdeka in 1957 came new development in Penang, and thus the E&O. The hotel was touted as “A first-class hotel under Chinese direction and expert European management. (It seems our preoccupation with European quality service has always been there.) Everyone from the manager (Choong Lye Hock’s son, Eng Hye) downwards is anxious and wiling to help in every way to ensure that the visitor has a pleasant sojourn.”
This time saw the return of the E&O as Penang’s social hub. There was dancing every Friday and Saturday; the Lotus Room, an affiliated Chinese restaurant, became increasingly popular while the in-house Grill Room was a favourite for European and Chinese food. American movie star Rita Hayworth came to stay in 1961, and so did Miss Universe, Miss Bolivia and Miss Germany, all in 1962. Tourism in Penang was growing and the E&O was happy to benefit from it.
A mild disaster in the form of a union strike happened in July 1965 — the National Union of Hotel, Bar and Restaurant workers wanted to take action if the union was not recognised by the hotel management and its 11 sacked workers were not reinstated. The Choong brothers sold off the E&O, believing their business reputations had been tarnished by the strike. When they made the announcement to sell, guests were asked to find other accommodations. By Aug 1, 1965, only four guests remained. For the first time since it opened, the hotel was dark, and was offered up for sale or lease.
Late September that year, businessman Chan Eng Hock acquired the E&O for just under three million Malayan dollars. With a varied background — tin-miner, car sales agent, bus and truck operator, Kodak wholesaler, insurance representative and even photojournalist — Chan also had experience in hotel management as the owner of Towne House Hotel, a smaller establishment.
Chan turned the E&O into an establishment truly dedicated to Penangites. He reinstated old staff, added a local touch to the ambience, and put in the hotel’s first swimming pool, a feature no modern hotel could do without in the 1960s, on the seafront lawn.
The tourism industry boomed in the 1970s, ushering in the age of the professional hotelier. Local spending was growing and competition was steep, and thus Chan found himself prompted to strengthen his investment. He formed a partnership with Jack Chia-MPH Ltd, which would be called Jack Chia Enterprises (Malaysia) (JCEM) by 1978, which would hold the controlling shares. There were plans to renovate, modernise and expand because while foreigners like the Americans and Japanese loved the vintage feel of E&O, few locals patronised the place, put off perhaps by the colonial association or “foreign” image.
In 1981, the Victory Annexe, once the pride and joy of Arshak Sarkies, was demolished and the ballroom was boarded up. Extensive renovations began in 1982, led by Chan, focusing on bedroom, ceiling and floor restoration, and the addition of modern amenities such as colour television, in-house videos and mini refrigerators. For some reason, a lot of the original elements of the hotel were retained, so much so, the old-world feel of the E&O remained.
It couldn’t compete with the new high-rise hotels that were coming up all over Penang, but it could still enjoy a minimum 65% occupancy rate, and was able to draw VIPs and Malaysian royalty. However, travel magazines turned up their noses at the E&O, with Business Traveller going so far as to state, in 1988: “Strictly for nostalgia lovers on holiday. It has almost no facilities. If you insist, go for a sea-view room.”
JCEM had to face facts: E&O had lost its lustre, worsened by unfortunate circumstances. First, construction problems arose and JCEM had to halt further expansion works, while locked in breach of contract issues with consultants and contractors for five years. Then, recession rang in. With a fall in the number of Penang tourist arrivals, the project stopped again, but the hotel continued to run.
A resurrection
By the late 1980s, the E&O was rated as 3-star and below. The 1987 business slump led to the retrenchment of 40 E&O staff, some of whom had worked there for 30 years. In the 1990s, the management tried to make some money by organising theme parties like “Colonial”, “Malay Kampung” or “Chinatown” for tour groups, descending into a misery that would have had Arshak turning in his grave.
Enter property developer Datuk Terry Tham who, in a complex deal, acquired a 90.7% stake in the E&O in 1994. A man of vision, Tham saw potential in the E&O name and changed his business’ name to Eastern & Oriental Bhd, with the E&O Hotel (which he bought for a cool RM60 million) as its flagship property. In 1996, the E&O was retired to allow major restoration work and, despite the initial deadline of December 1997, would not open its doors again until 2001.
The five-year closure would prove to be a trying time for Eastern & Oriental Bhd. When word got out that old fixtures and furniture were being disposed of, heritage lovers feared that the hotel would be stripped bare. The 1997 recession impeded the refurbishment even further, causing many to question if the hotel would ever be re-opened.
However, a ray of hope appeared in 1999 when a senior banker at Ban Hin Lee bank approved a loan for the E&O to continue its restoration programme. “That is one property I’d love to lend against — and would love you to default on,” said the banker. The grateful Tham remarked: “This bank had sentiment about the E&O and understood the hotel’s true value, treasured it.” [The Ban Hin Lee bank was owned by the family of Yeap Chor Ee, the man who started the bank, and the man who paved the way for the loan was none other than Steven Yeap, the grandson of Yeap, see story on page 14]
By 2000, heritage became a tourism draw. Meanwhile, inside the E&O, the lobby had been collecting rainwater through the leaky ceiling, and the glorious seafront swimming pool was a dump-hole for construction debris. Would it all come together by the newly set April 2001 deadline?
With all eyes on her, Penang’s Grand Dame arose from her long slumber. Restored to splendour, she glowed in her celebrated reintroduction to the island she had long silently watched bloom into this bustling city, and just like George Town, she too is a charming hotchpotch of cultural influences from across time. Penang rejoiced at the return of her glamour, her embodiment of luxury hospitality, her renewed heritage. People were quick to forgive the removal of some parts of the old hotel as they understood the need to contemporise and upgrade amenities to better serve the discerning traveller of today.
The Otis elevator with cage-lift, installed by Arshak, has been serviced and still functions as a novelty ride, while modern lifts are available, cleverly tucked in corners so as not to clash with E&O’s original surfaces. The grand staircase in the lobby, which had gone missing amid the refurbishment, was replicated and now stands as if it has always been there. The famous dome, concealed by boards for a decade or two, was uncovered for all to enjoy its amazing acoustics. The pool built by Chan Eng Hock on the sea-front lawn lies invitingly against the backdrop of E&O’s amazing sea-frontage, a selling point that could never be taken away. Accommodations are now all suites, fitted with luxurious finishes such as timber and brass, and marbled floor bathrooms.
The West Wing, the last of the restored annexes to be opened (in 2004), welcomed guests with the grandest accommodations of all: the three Straits Suites (Tanjung, Mutiara and Penaga), the four Writers’ Suites (Noel Coward, Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling and Herman Hesse), the two-bedroom Pinang Suite and the glamorous E&O Suite. Arshak’s dream ballroom came back to life — 400 seats, timbered dance floor, concert stage, upper gallery and royal box — and will host some of Penang’s grand fetes at Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
A return to elegance
Eastern & Oriental Bhd’s restoration programme did not end with the hotel’s physical structure; in fact, the focus then moved on to restoring E&O’s intangible heritage as Penang’s haute social hub. Effort was also put into reviving the establishment’s tradition of good service.
Basically, the original dream for E&O had to be resurrected in whole, along with her personality, and when Michael Saxon assumed the role of general manager in 2004, Tham found in him the ideal man for the job.
Saxon is the man Tham credits for the turnover in 2005, eventually bringing E&O out of the red just last year.
Says Tham, “In terms of return on investment, E&O Hotel started making money in 2005, and the turnaround is largely attributed to the able stewardship of Saxon and his team. Working tirelessly together, they continually raised the bar to improve standards across the hotel’s operations, which ultimately translated into revenue.”
Saxon joins a long line of memorable managers who worked, during its prosperous eras, to maintain a high level of hospitality at the E&O. There was a George Goldsack in the 1950s, who was handpicked from a London hotel by then E&O shareholder Frank Duxbury. A man of details, he would ask for a light from the lift attendant just to make sure he was using the hotel’s own monogrammed matchboxes or cross the road to see if the hotel’s flag was flying well. So conscientious was he that he would not leave the hotel without a post-mortem session with his crew.
Others followed suit, leaving their own personal imprint on the hotel, including Mr Tiffin, who introduced a military style of management and thus, fell out with then owners Choong and Wu Boo Yam, a promoted hotel clerk and food and beverage manager.
Saxon’s approach is, for lack of a better word, intimate, treating the E&O like a temple of memories where returning guests, on homage to the place, come with their own stories of the hotel.
“There was one time, an old British soldier in his 80s, came to stay. I met him in the lobby and he started telling me about the time he had stayed here 50 or 60 years ago. He saw the old antique lift and said, ‘I used to ride in that’. I asked him if he wanted a ride, and he got excited and asked, ‘It still works?’ We rode the lift, just up and down. When we got off, he had tears in his eyes, and he hugged me,” shares Saxon. “For me, it was 15 minutes of my time. For him, it was a precious memory from a long time ago.”
On another occasion, a woman from Australia approached him, requesting permission to spread her dead father’s ashes on the sea-front lawn. “Her father had served here during the war and used to talk about this place all the time when he went back. He loved this place so much that she wanted to put him to rest here. I said, ‘Scatter away.’ And she did. She’s living in Penang now, so every week, she’d sit in the garden with a glass of wine and talk to her father,” says Saxon.
Saxon has met many with stories like this. He stands in the lobby and talks to everyone, much like how Arshak would observe the comings and goings of his guests and made sure everyone had a good time.
“Datuk Terry couldn’t have put it more accurately when he said the hotel belongs to the people of Penang. So many people have had experiences in this hotel, or felt a personal connection with this hotel. We have Brits and Australians who came here to serve during the war, 20 or 30 years ago, with stories about having their first date here, their first naughty weekend here, their wedding or honeymoon… there is so much history here that money can’t buy,” reveals Saxon. “You can’t build a heritage hotel. You can’t build a hotel and say it’s 123 years old. It’s either 123 years old or it’s not, and those years cannot be taken away from this place.”
Apart from ensuring that day-to-day operations run smoothly, Saxon feels that part of his duty is to occasionally work some E&O heritage trivia into his speech. He’d take willing guests on impromptu tours and continuously bring up bits and pieces of its 123-year-old history.
“This is the E&O Hotel; this is what it’s all about. It’s so special, this place. I have people send me pictures taken at the E&O 30 or 40 years ago. I could just not care… some people might send them back thinking, how is this going to make me money? But this is the E&O Hotel and that is what it’s all about,” says Saxon. “A lady who’s been coming to the E&O since she was 18 came to me with photographs of her under a small coconut tree. She had a collection of photos that followed that, her getting older with the same coconut tree. I tell her, wow, this is beautiful… it’s your tree. And actually, just before that I had been thinking about cutting down that tree because it was blocking the view from some rooms. I looked at the picture and thought, how can I cut this tree now? That’s when I realised that everything you do in this hotel, you’ve always got to think about the consequences.”
The E&O Bhd corporate headquarters has entrusted the full operations to Saxon and his crew. The GM adds that the corporate office’s non-involvement has worked in the hotel’s favour. “The corporate office is very supportive and they don’t tell us how to run the hotel. The method is: We employ you as a hotelier, you are the one with the experience, your team is the one with experience, you all run the hotel and we only talk to you when the hotel is not doing well. I only have to send in a report once a month, and it takes me two hours. This means that I can stand around in the lobby all day and do a lot of PR and guest relations. I like talking to the guests and I encourage the rest of the staff, from the chef to the housekeeper, to talk to the guests. This will make it a hotel they’re very familiar with, that they’re very comfortable with,” says Saxon. “This type of service makes them want to return year after year. Whatever they want, we deliver, within reason, of course. If you want a candlelit dinner by the seawall on your own, we can arrange that. We’ve had to arrange a last minute wedding for an eloping couple from England before. It becomes a tradition with them. Our New Year’s Eve event was booked in March. There are about 150 bookings for this year already. And you have to keep at least 30% of space for those who get drunk and want to stay the night. If they can’t get a room, they might get upset. It would be an awful thing if ‘their hotel’ cannot give them what they want. It has become a very personal thing, and to be honest, I don’t think it could be the same with any other hotel.”
While many things have changed about the E&O, there are equally many that remain the same. For instance, the view of the sun rising over the horizon is still the same as it was more than a century ago. The luxurious service, once reserved only for the colonial British, is now enjoyed by locals as well as foreigners from all over the globe. Again, it has become the ideal wedding or honeymoon venue, and for some, the place to fall in love. It is the place where people gather to celebrate or hold grand events, and for others, a place for discreet dalliances. Somewhere, Arshak Sarkies is smiling.
For E&O’s historical details, we referred to The Story of the Eastern & Oriental Hotel: Pearl of the Orient, researched and authored by Ilsa Sharp. This book, commissioned by The E&O Group, will be published by Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd, and due for release at the end of this year.
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