The "new" old Straits Echo building

In recent weeks, I've observed a welcome transformation taking place at the old Straits Echo building, situated at the crossroads of Penang Road and Dato Koyah Road. While I'm uncertain about the driving force behind this restoration, I can't help but marvel at the renewed splendor this building now exudes. After the closure of the newspaper in the 1980s, the Kayu Nasi Kandar group briefly occupied the premises. I vaguely recall that there may have been an outlet here at one point, but it met a rather swift demise, leaving the building vacant.

Seeing this building restored to its former glory today is a source of satisfaction, although, during my brief stint at the Straits Echo in the past, it was far from the pristine condition it boasts now. Nonetheless, back then, it served as a bustling newspaper office, with the printing press situated at the rear of the building. Nighttime was a hive of activity, with staff diligently working, machines whirring to print and fold the next day's edition, local news vendors eagerly awaiting their supply of the Straits Echo newspaper, and vans lined up to collect newspapers for distribution to places like Taiping, Ipoh, and Kuala Lumpur.

As I reminisce about those newspaper vans, memories flood back to the mid-1970s when I was studying in Petaling Jaya. Those delivery vans doubled as a popular means of transportation for students commuting between Kuala Lumpur and Penang. When evening fell in KL, we would congregate, if my recollection serves me right, somewhere along Jalan Walter Grenier in the vicinity of Ipoh Road, eagerly awaiting the arrival of these vans with their cargo of newspapers. For a modest fare, we'd hop aboard for the journey back home to Penang, often falling asleep during the ride and waking up to stretch our legs whenever the vans made brief stops in small towns along the way to unload their newspaper bundles.

For me, journey's end was Butterworth, where I would then catch the ferry to the island. From there, I'd hop on a bus to return to my family home on Seang Tek Road, surprising my folks with my unannounced arrival. Those were indeed the days of carefree living, filled with youthful adventures and spontaneous journeys.