Untold stories

But time and circumstances seemed to conspire to keep these stories from being told. Not only was the world largely unaware, even most people in Penang and Malaysia remained ignorant of the history makers in their midst. The illustrious history of the base only surfaced in 1992 when Khoo, a conservationist, started researching the area. As it happened, the property belonged to her maternal grandfather, Ch'ng Teong Swee. Khoo convinced her mother, Ch'ng Cheng Ee, to buy the house from the family trust to preserve its history and later converted it into a museum.

It would take another two turning points at 120 Armenian Street to bring about the revitalization of the history of Sun Yat-Sen in Penang. On Feb 4, 2001, then prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamed visited the base and launched the Sun Yat-sen in Penang exhibition.

"He (Mahathir) told us we had to preserve and promote this history the first time a prime minister of this country recognized the importance of Sun's (time) in Penang. After that, people felt they could talk about their connections to the Chinese revolution," Goh said. The second key event was the April 2002 visit of President Hu Jintao (then vice president of China).

Many firsts

Penang's role in the revolution was finally solidified last year during the International Centennial Celebrations of the Penang Conference, which saw the launch of the Sun Yat-sen Heritage Trail and the hosting of the 22nd Joint Conference of Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching Ling museums, memorial sites and monuments, which received over 400 delegates.

It was an event of many firsts: the first time the annual conference was hosted outside China; the first time it was elevated to one of national significance as it was launched by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, and the first time more than 29 direct descendents of the Sun and Soong families gathered at a conference.

Things culminated on April 28, 2011, when Premier Wen Jiabao met the descendants of the Tongmenghui members. Lim Gaik Siang, honorary treasurer of the Penang Heritage Trust, who was instrumental in setting up the meeting, said the motions were put in place as far back as 2002 when Hu Zhengyue, then China's ambassador to Malaysia, was invited to the base.

"Various leaders came in the ensuing years and we educated them about the indirect connection between Penang and the Xinhai Revolution," she said. Lim led the nine-person delegation to Kuala Lumpur to meet Wen who said, "We should not forget the deeds of the Penang Tongmenghui members who supported the Huanghuagang Uprising."

Yee Thiam Sun, a descendant of Tongmenghui member Lim Bo Ai, said of the meeting, "It came as a total surprise. I'm sure even our ancestors would never have dreamed of such a date for us."

Yee's maternal grandfather went from riches to rags supporting the revolution and, later on, the reconstruction of China.

"My mother rarely spoke about her father's involvement with Sun. She lived through the revolution, the change of government in China and the communist insurgency in Malaysia. That made her apprehensive. Even when we were sitting around and talking, she would caution us to speak softly or avoid saying too much lest we were overheard," Yee said.