College General - History - Pulau Tikus, Penang (1808 - 1914)

1914)

The island of Penang, a British colony since its occupation by Francis Light in 1786 was eventually chosen due to its political stability and geographical proximity to the other mission lands. In 1808, a new Superior, Fr. Lolivier arrived with 5 seminarians from Macau and the seminary was revived with its current name the following year in Pulau Tikus, Penang with 20 seminarians from China. The college had prominent members take on the role as teaching staff, including Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert and Jacques-Honoré Chastan who served from 1821–1822 and 1827-1830 respectively. Both were martyred in Korea and later beatified in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Both were canonised in 1984 by Pope John Paul II. The college also was a sanctuary for the Vicar General of Annam and scores of seminarians during the persecutions of 1834-35 and among the number included Philip Minh Van Doan who was martyred and later canonised in 1988.

In 1885, the buildings were expanded to cope with the additional seminarians that came to Penang due to persecution in other territories in the region. With peace returning, enrollment was reduced with a large majority of the seminarians coming from the newly established missions in Rangoon and Mandalay in Burma.