There are 6 clan jetties in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. The historic sites include housing built over the water, which continue to be lived in today. Old town Georgetown, including the clan jetties was designated an UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 (along with Melacca).
When the jetties were established in the mid-19th century everybody who lived on the same jetty had the same surname because they all came from the same fishing village in Chinaโs Fujian Province. When they arrived they did not have money to buy land and so decided to build their own villages: the jetties. The families were used to living close to the water and most men who lived on the jetties worked as fishermen or as coolies in the port.
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The UNESCO World Heritage status saved the jetties from planned demolition. The fact that the jetties now have heritage status guarantees that they will stay.
– Francine Linssen, Passage magazine, Friends of the Museums of Singapore, Jan/Feb 2012
