Introduction
Travelling on the ferry from Butterworth to Penang before the bridge was built was one of the highlights of my visits to Malaysia in the 1980s. It was the perfect way to arrive on the island, leaning over the rail with a sense of excitement and anticipation, taking in the sights and sounds, watching as the ship slowly approached the quay. For 127 years millions of travellers taking the crossing no doubt also enjoyed the experience but no longer as, from 1st January, 2021, the authorities decided to replace the regular service with new “water buses”, and sadly a part of Malaysia’s valuable heritage has been lost.
Establishment of the ferry service
The first regular ferry service between Penang and Butterworth on the mainland was begun in 1894 by a Chinese entrepreneur, Quah Beng Kee who together with his four brothers formed the firm known as Beng Bros. and operated from Beach Street, George Town. Beng Kee and his brothers were the sons of a wealthy immigrant father who had emigrated to Penang from China during the second half of the nineteenth century.
In 1897 Beng Kee bought out his four brothers and continued the ferry service under the name Guan Lee Hin Steamship Company which later became the Eastern Shipping Company Ltd. Beng Kee expanded the number of routes which were operated by vessels associated with his company which travelled all over South East Asia and as far as China.
The shipping operations headed by Beng Kee proved to be very successful and he soon became a rich man enabling him to branch out into many other business activities including plantations and factories. He became a prominent member of the community becoming President of the Chinese Town Hall, member of the Penang Harbour Board, and in 1902 a member of the Municipal Commission.
After being awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1923 his most prominent appointment was in 1926 when he was appointed by popular vote as the Penang Chinese member of the Legislative Council of the Straits Settlements. At the ceremony in George Town he was described as “a public-spirited man who for twenty years has taken a deep and abiding interest in the citizens of the town”.
During the 1920s Beng Kee’s involvement in the ferry service industry effectively ended when the Penang Harbour Board took over the service and was empowered by the government to pass by-laws relating to its operation, subject to its approval.
The arrival of the motor car
This was the boom time of the Penang-Butterworth ferry due to the increasing use of the motor car. In 1925 it carried 1.5 million passengers. Before 1925 the ferry did not cater to vehicles but demand for such service had become impossible to ignore so the Penang Harbour Board decided to commission specially designed new ferries for the purpose. At the same time new ferry quays had to be constructed to cope with the traffic and the bigger boats.
The first such ferry designed to carry vehicles was the Seberang, a twin screw, coal-burning steamer built in Singapore by the Singapore Harbour Board at the Keppel Harbour Dockyard.
Further ferries followed and by 1930 there were three in service: the Seberang, the Tanjong, and the Kulim. However, the service failed to keep up with demand and was unable to cope with the rapid increase in the amount of traffic. In response, a new super ferry was ordered which was much larger than the three already in operation. Named the Bagan, equipped with a powerful, twin-screw reciprocating steam engine, it could accommodate 120 passengers in a first class section, 170 deck passengers, and space for twenty vehicles on the bottom deck.
The fate of these ferries during the Japanese occupation in World War Two is described by writer Alan Teh Leam Seng in an article about the ferry service, and who says that in order to prevent the ships falling into the hands of the Japanese, both the Tanjong and Kulim were scuttled, whilst the Bagan sailed from Penang to Singapore to assist with the evacuation at the beginning of 1942 but was captured en route to Sumatra. After the war the Bagan was recovered by the Allies and returned to Penang.
The modern age
After World War Two the story of the Penang ferry is one of a service which could never keep up with demand. No matter how many new ferries the Penang Harbour Board acquired and despite the efforts to continually upgrade the facilities at the terminals, it was never enough. There were complaints every day in the local press about the long waits and the poor service. However, car ferries do not come cheap. For example, the ferry Penang which was added to the fleet in 1957 and which could carry 480 passengers and twenty-four cars, cost $7 million.
The cost of upgrading the facilities was also high. In 1955 the Federal Government lent the Penang Harbour Board $3.5 million for construction of new ferry terminals ar Penang, Butterworth and Prai, and in 1958 the cost of the Penang Wharf extension project amounted to $17 million.
Having perhaps regard to the continual complaints by the public about the inadequacy of the service, on 1st January, 1968 it was decided to reduce the price of the tickets by introducing the one-sided fare collection which meant passengers only paid to on the return leg from Penang whilst outgoing was free. It was estimated that the reduction meant a loss of $150,000 for the Penang Harbour Board.
The decline of the ferry service
With the ferry service hemorrhaging money, the beginning of the end for the ferry inevitably came in 1985 with the opening of the bridge between the island and the mainland. However, it continued on, and whilst it operated, many tourists and commuters still continued to use it in preference to the bridge but by then its days were numbered.
A final attempt to revive the service was made in 2017 when a government owned entity called the “Rapid Ferry” took over operations but it only lasted three years and by then its time was up, and it was announced that on 31st December, 2020 the ferry would stop.
According to the CEO of the Penang Port Sdn Bhd, Saseddharen Vasudevan, the government entity responsible for the service, the ferries, which were now over 40 years old, were “not really seaworthy” and were difficult to maintain due to problems in obtaining spare parts.
As a result, on the following day, 1st January, 2021, an alternative service was begun using small, fast passenger boats obtained from Langkawi. These so called water buses can carry up to 200 passengers but currently are not equipped to carry vehicles or motorcycles. One of the old ferries, the Pulau Angsa, it is reported, has been given a reprieve and at the time of writing still makes the trip, but the old romance of travel on the Penang-Butterworth ferry has gone.
Taking into account the fact that the ferries have become part of Malaysia’s heritage and the desire of many to preserve them, it has been proposed that they be turned into floating restaurants, galleries or a museum, so that the memories of millions of its users may be preserved.
Malaysia 1786 - 1957 
