Rifle Range Flats, Ayer Itam. Penang.

Archived from: Rifle Range & Padang Tembak, Penang Facebook Group


In the local Hokkien patois, Rifle Range is Pak Cheng Por. The name Rifle Range hails back to the 1950s when the site was used for target practices.
The site is located at the junction of Jalan Padang Tembak with Jalan Boundary (Jalan Sempadan). It is next to the Batu Gantong Chinese Cemetery. Penang Hill is behind.
It is south west of central George Town.
There is also a Federal Reserve Unit adjacent to Rifle Range, a special response team that can be deployed anywhere in Malaysia in an emergency or during public unrest. The main role of this unit is to disperse illegal assembly, riot suppression and to carry out other functions relating to Public Order.
The Rifle Range Flats are one of the Penang state government's earliest low-cost housing projects.
In 1964 the national Ministry of Housing and Local Government identified two pilot projects in order to try out the industrialized building or prefabrication system (known as IBS). The first of these projects was in Kuala Lumpur along Jalan Tun Razak (Jalan Pekeliling).
The second pilot project was set in Pulau Pinang. It consisted of the construction of 6 blocks of 17-storey flats and 3 blocks of 18-storey flats comprising 3,699 units and 66 shop lots along Jalan Rifle Range. The project in Penang was awarded to Hochtief/Chee Seng using the French Estiot System and took 27 months to complete, inclusive of the time taken in setting up the precast factories.
When Rifle Range Flats were completed in the early 1970s they were the tallest buildings in Penang.
None of the units were big - on average they were approximately 36 s.m. for intermediate 1 bedroom units and 38.7 s.m. for 2 bedroom end units. Nonetheless they provided housing for many hardcore poor. Over the years, however, the general condition of Rifle Range Flats has deteriorated rapidly, especially in the common areas.
The advantage of living in Rifle Range is that it is relatively close to town, the property is cheap, and if you are a single person living alone, the space is sufficient. Today, due to rapid development, Rifle Range and the Batu Gantong Cemetery next to it are right at the edge of town.