Jalan Khaw Sim Bee, formerly Khaw Sim Bee road, (Traditional Chinese: 許心美路, Simplified Chinese: 许心美路), is a minor road in George Town, Penang. It runs from Jalan Perak to Jalan Westlands. At the junction with Jalan Perak is the Penang Christian Centre. Westland Secondary School is also entered from the road.
Khaw Sim Bee Road was named after a Thai Chinese, Khaw Sim Bee, whom I describe in more detail on a separate page. Khaw was famous both in Malaysia as well as in Thailand. He was born to a wealthy family in 1857 in Thailand. His father Khaw Soo Cheang was Phraya Damrong Sucharit Mahisonphakdi, the Governor of Ranong, on the Isthmus of Kra, Thailand. Khaw received some education in China, enabling him to speak and write in Chinese, but he is unable to write in any other language, except to sign his own name. Nevertheless, he was able to pick up spoken Thai, Malay and English as well as several Chinese dialects.
Khaw began serving the Siamese government as a royal page in 1882, and progressed to become the Governor of Trang (Phraya Rassadanupradit Chao Muang) in 1890. In this position, he developed the port of Kantang and introduced rubber plantation into Thailand. Khaw was instrumental in increasing the productivity of the impoverished south, winning him favor with the king.
While he was so influential in south Thailand, he married a Chinese woman from Penang, with whom he had five sons. However, he was also polygamous and a notorious womaniser. This proved to be his undoing, as he was killed by a doctor in Trang whose wife he had his eyes on. The shooting took place on 25 February, 1913. Also wounded was his nephew, the Governor of Trang. Khaw Sim Bee and his nephew were rushed to the Penang hospital, but succumbed to their injuries on 10 April and 2 May respectively.
Today Khaw continued to be held in high esteem, particularly by the people of south Thailand, from Ranong to Phuket to Trang. A statue to him can be seen at Khao Rang hill in Phuket.
Khaw Sim Bee Road, Penang (30 June 2018)
Sights along Khaw Sim Bee Road
Khaw Sim Bee Road, Penang (30 June 2018)
Statue of Khaw Sim Bee at Khao Rang Hill Park, Phuket, Thailand (12 July 2004)
Jalan Khaw Sim Bee roadsign (30 June 2018)
Jalan Khaw Sim Bee roadsign (7 May 2009)
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