Me, Ma and magnificent Malaysia

The airport must have been all nutmeg trees once," sighed my mother Mary, now in her 80th year.

We were surveying the view from Penang Hill, one of the first colonial hill stations in Malaysia. Two centuries ago, this sultry island off the north-west coast was a distant outpost of the East India Company, its gentle hills draped with spice plantations, the dusty streets of the capital, Georgetown, teeming with a prospering mix of Malay, Chinese, Arab, Indian and Eurasian immigrants.

Mary and I had come here to fulfil a long-cherished ambition to look for our roots. She is a direct descendant of two of Penang's founding families, the Scotts and the Browns, who came here in the 1790s seeking fortune and adventure. "Your most famous ancestor was David Brown," she explained. A benevolent Scottish planter who died here at the age of 49, his most bizarre legacy is the Snake Temple in Bayan Lepas, built in 1850 after a priest saved him from "an incurable disease". Inside its candlelit halls, stupefied by a haze of incense, vipers lie coiled on the altar and a sign politely forbids mediums to fall into a trance. In the past, snakes would be drawn here from the neighbouring forests, making the island safer.

There's not much forest left now as Penang disappears beneath skyscrapers and urban sprawl. Today its streets are paved with semi- conductor factories, the beaches of Batu Ferringhi crowded with holiday resorts. Taking a tour round the island, we were pleased to find its southern parts still green and relaxing, the valleys home to prized durian trees and delightful villages full of traditional stilted wooden houses.

The Malaysian government is making efforts to preserve the historic architecture of Georgetown. A bid has been put in for Unesco World Heritage listing and grants offered to restore endangered buildings. Not just the mildewed monuments of Empire, but the chattering rows of Chinese shophouses, Indian mosques and the opulent mansions of the Babas and Nyonyas - Anglophile Malay-Chinese who made incredible fortunes here in the 19th century.

One fine example is the gorgeous Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in Leith Street, built in 1904 by a fat-cat businessman described as "China's Rockefeller". Cheong had eight wives, sired his last son at the age of 74 and left a will saying the house couldn't be sold until this last descendant died. The inheritors had to wait until 1989 to cash in, by which time 32 families had become sitting tenants.

It took four years to evict them and another six of restoration, but the result is a jewel-like historic house decorated with gold-leafed screens, art nouveau stained glass and the rich blue limewash that was once the fashion in Georgetown. Taking a guided tour, we discovered that 16 rooms have been given over for guests - you can live like a mandarin for £38 a night.

Not all buildings are so fortunate. Reopened last April after a four-year overhaul, the Eastern and Oriental Hotel is a gleaming flagship of heritage tourism with a fabulous seafront pool and pseudo-colonial decor. All very nice, but as Mary remarked: "The history has gone." We found bags more atmosphere just across the road in Georgetown's Protestant Cemetery, now an evocative jumble of tombs shaded by venerable frangipani trees.

Here we tracked down the simple headstone of Francis Light, founder of the colony, along with those of the Scotts, the Browns and the Logans. Many died young, including 31-yearold Thomas Leonowens, whose widow, Anna, became the inspiration for The King and I. "We should have brought a scrubbing brush and water," Mary reflected on the neglected graves.

Not far away, St George's Church, founded in 1817, is still fighting off the developers. Standing on its composed lawns, Mary produced a faded newspaper cutting from her minirucksack. Her Auntie Vi got married here in 1910. There were 13 column inches devoted to the wedding presents - mostly silver bon-bon dishes (so essential in the tropics), but also a satsuma plate, dinner gong and - thank you so much, Mrs Hobson Walker - a toast rack. "Now I wonder where that's got to?" Mary wondered. And given half a chance, she would have gone looking for it.

Way to go

Nigel Tisdall travelled to Penang with Saga Holidays (0800 056 5880; www.saga.co.uk); partners aged 40 can accompany main traveller. A 13-night package costs from £999pp half board in June, including five excursions.

Destination guide: Malaysia
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