檳城夜香工友勞動記錄
Documenting the Labours of Penang's Night Soil Worker
位於檳島市中心，繁華城市的象徵——時代廣場後頭，房屋發展工程正如火如荼地進行中。在建築地的砂石之下，掩埋著城市建設歷史的殘垣斷瓦——潮興公司——一座即使存在時也被人故意忘卻，卻見證了喬治市現代化進程的建築。
潮興公司是檳島市政局夜香工友的宿舍，位於一條俗稱“倒糞路”的小巷旁。據知，該建築建於檳城英殖民時代，確切年份暫無法考察，按照推論，應晚於開始啟用人工糞穢系統的1930年代。這裡的員工有99%是祖籍中國廣東惠來的潮州人，因此命名為“潮興公司”。員工們也在此供奉從中國家鄉帶來的大伯公香火。
住在潮興公司的工友，有的成家立業後搬出，有的告老還鄉，也有的在宿舍走完人生。這裡既是夜香工友們的每天工作日程後的集合地，是工作、生活、信仰、情誼，見證集體記憶和城市歷史的地方。
潮興公司的故事
The Story of Teoh Heng Kongsi
Amidst the hustle and bustle of George Town, behind the busy Penang Times Square, a few major housing development projects are in full swing. Beneath the rocks and sand of the project sites lie the ruins and rubble of the city’s urban development history – Teoh Heng Kongsi – a building that had witnessed George Town’s changes and growth but was deliberately left in the corner of people’s minds.
Teoh Heng Kongsi was once the hostel of Penang’s night soil workers. Nested in an alley along Jalan SP Chelliah, it was built during the British colonial era. The exact year remains untraceable but records show that manual night soil service had been available as early as the 1930s. Ninety nine percent of the workers were Chinese migrants from the Teochew clan in Guangdong Huilai, hence the company’s name of Teoh Heng. The deity they worshipped, Tua Peh Kong, was from their home province in China.
Some of the night soil workers moved out from the hostel after marriage, while others retired and went back to China. Some passed on while still at Teoh Heng Kongsi, which had become home in a foreign land. As the gathering place for the workers after their daily work routine, the hostel became a witness of the workers’ collective memory—of life, faith, and friendship—as well as the history of the city they served.
潮興公司除了被稱為“公司厝”的單身宿舍外，還設用公用的廚房和浴室，20分鐘就會自動沖水的廁所，還有福利設施如羽球場、草場，甚至還設有雞寮和豬寮。周邊的社區全為市政廳各種部門員工宿舍，其中包括工友們成家後可入住的“政府厝”、孟加樓紅毛厝官員宿舍、診療所等等。
潮興公司的主入口是永遠開啟著的，作為主要建築的“公司厝”，供奉著大伯公和其他神祗，住在這裡的工人會更早起身，出門工作前都會燒香祭拜神明。公司厝內部是一個開放的寬敞空間，設有大通舖，沒有固定床位，私人物品都放置於木箱和鐵皮箱中，再置放於大通舖上。
In addition to the singles dormitory known as the “kongsi house”, Teoh Heng Kongsi was built with a public kitchen, bathrooms, and toilets that flushed automatically every 20 minutes. The hostel also came with other facilities like a badminton court, a grassy field, a chicken hut and a pigsty. The surrounding neighbourhood constituted of clinics, and staff quarters for various departments of the Penang City Council, including the “government house” for the married night soil workers, and the “red house” for foreign officers.
The main entrance to Teoh Heng Kongsi was never shut. Being the main area of the “kongsi house”, a temple with Tua Peh Kong and other deities was built there. Every morning, the workers would get up early and burn incense to worship at the altars before going to work. A large inner room which was open and spacious was the shared dormitory with no specific bed for anyone. Personal belongings were kept in either wooden or iron cases which were placed above the common dormitory.
後期，工友陸續搬離這棟建築後，建築內還留下一些已故單身工人留下的舊式皮箱、工作服、20世紀70年代的聘書、稅單，甚至還有物品如煤氣燈和腳車等等文物。
潮興公司已完成其歷史任務、退出舞台，如今只剩下當地發展商興建、供奉百年大伯公的廟宇留在倒糞路鄰近的齊來亞路，作為最後一批工人們聯繫情誼的地方。
Much later, when all the workers had moved out, many of these personal items were left behind in the building, including old suitcases, uniforms, appointment letters from the 1970s, tax bills, and even kerosene lamps and bicycles.
Its mission completed, Teoh Heng Kongsi has exited the stage. In its place is a site now full of construction work by local developers. The temple of over a hundred years old, however, was moved to Jalan SP Chelliah, and has become a gathering point and a place of reunion for the last batch of workers.
