The Great Fire of China Town

In late 1970`s, when the Capitol cinema stopped operation, its wooden building was left neglected. It became a smoking den for drug addicts and the building went up on fire which spread to wooden upper floor of old Kuan Tung Association which was later replaced by 4 stories building. That was the end of Capitol cinema building.

One night in 1981, a big fire razed a row of 6 double stories wooden houses near the Ho Ann Keong Temple. The houses belong to Mdm. Poh Ai Choo who is a news vendor in front of The Store, a sundry shop of Ang Nyeow So (mother or Mrs. Chin Kong Nam nee Wee Siew Bee), a small bicycle repair shop where in the morning the wife would sell deep-fried `chai kuey` (a type of carrot cake of 3 inch square and ¼” thick), Ah Meng kopitiam, Phua rattan chair shop (formally Hai Thean `char mee`) and lastly, house of `Po` Kiam Khuan, whose husband, Hai Pin, used to slaughter and sell exotic meat, such as fresh water soft-shell turtles (terrapin), python and iguana. Ho Ann Keong Temple was spared but to be destroyed on the night of 22.2.2010. Three of the razed houses were rebuilt except for the 2 houses next to the Temple. As for the small bicycle shop, the landlord took advantage of the walls of 2 new buildings by putting up only the roof and rents it out to pork seller. The only house belonged to a Malay man was that of Phua rattan chair shop. The land of the Malay man was bought by Terengganu Hokkien Association, the trustee of Ho Ann Keong Temple. When the Temple was burn down in 2010, a temporary temple was built on this site until restoration works on the razed Temple was completed at the end of 2011. The narrow piece of land next to the Temple belongs to many owners and the Association was in the midst of acquiring it (Annual Meeting 2011)

Another great fire occurred on the night of 27.11.1983. A row of 7 double stories wooden houses and 3 semi-concrete ones near the bridge, on the `ua sua` side of the road went up in flame. Seven of which, nearest to the bridge, were built on stilts were completely burned down. There was a tragic loss of life – a young son of photographic shop owner. That was a unique row of houses occupied by all main dialects of Chinese community – Dato` Tan Eng Ann motor cycle/motor car shop (Hokkien lan), Mr. Toh Teck Tee`s resident (Hokkien lan), Ma Chee Seng grocery shop (Hokkien lan), 2 houses of Ah Hong kopitiam (Hainaness), Lee Hong Tai denture maker (Shanghainess), Ah Nua goldsmith (Cantoness), Melong photography (Hakka), Tong Hai Ang toy shop (Teochew) and next to the bridge, Yeo kah (shake legs) ( Hokkien `lan) The 7 houses on stilts were on Government land under TOL (Temporary Occupation of Land) and the Authority had reclaimed the land for future use.