History of Air Itam

GEORGE TOWN: The history of Kampung Melayu in Air Itam can be traced back to the 1800s.
The origin of the name is not known but it was named Kampung Melayu after the British gazetted the place as the Malay settlement in the area after the Second World War.
The village was formerly a rubber estate and a home to several fruit orchards owned by private individuals.
In 1870, a famous Sufi teacher, Sheikh Omar Basheer Al-Khalidy, from Acheen Street settled in Kampong Melayu on the invitation of his student Syed Hassan.
A towering figure in the Malay-Muslim community, Sheik Omar became a reference place for the Muslim community in Penang in seeking guidance on religious matters and also their daily lives.
theSun reached out to University Sains Malaysia (USM) historian Dr Nik Haslinda Nik Hussain to know more about the village and Sheikh Omar.
According to Nik Haslinda, Sheikh Omar's family originated from the Arab community who migrated to Penang in the early 18th century and settled first at Acheen Street and the surrounding area.
"The Arabs or Aidid came here after the migration of the Datuk Jenaton from Batu Bara Minangkabau to Batu Uban in the 17th century.
"Sheikh Omar's family arrived here in the early 18th century as merchants and at the same time they were also active propagators of Islam," she said.
According to records from the Penang Museum, Sheikh Omar gained the trust of the British at that time to mediate during the Penang riots in 1867.
Sheikh Omar made Malay heads to swear to him that they would not support the secret societies that feuded with one another during the riots.
He died in 1881 and a mausoleum was erected in the village to house his remains.
In 1966, the settlement was developed and a low cost housing project called Rumah Seratus and flats were built in the area to accommodate the increasing population.
Nik Haslinda pointed out that Kampung Melayu in Ayer Itam is among the last of the Malay villages in Penang.
She said the current generation may not be tempted to sell off their houses to outsiders but that may not be so with future generations.
"There are several cases from research and interviews that we conducted, where we found that owners of low cost houses were offered hundreds of thousand ringgit to sell their homes," she said.