SEEING elderly people in dirty clothes and the homeless lying on five-foot ways, at bus terminals, outside banks, and other public places or watching them beg at kopitiam (coffee shops), tugged deeply at his heart.
Their plight and sense of hopelessness continued to trouble him, even while he was working at his eldest brother’s timber factory in Sabah.
In 1997, at the age of 29, Peter Tan Hiang Hock made a life-changing decision. He resigned from his job and returned to his hometown in Melaka.
“The looks of despair on their faces kept burning hotter and hotter in my mind. I knew I had to make a decision to do something. That was a defining moment for me,” said Tan, founder and principal of Persatuan Syukur Penyayang Pulau Pinang (PSPPP), in an interview with Buletin Mutiara. PSPPP’s Chinese name, Gan En Zhi Jia, translates to Home of Gratitude.
Upon his return, Tan enrolled in a seminary in Melaka for four years before leaving for Taiwan to study theology, social work, and clinical psychology. There, his mentor instilled in him a powerful lesson — that one must first learn to love and understand oneself before truly loving and understanding others.
In 2001, after spending 40 days in a mountain seminary in Taiwan, Tan returned to Malaysia with a renewed heart for social work.
After a brief rest in Melaka, he set out with only a small bag of clothes, travelling by bus to Johor for three days, then to Kuala Lumpur for another three, before finally arriving in Penang on 11 July 2001 at the Komtar bus terminal. He was following wherever his heart would lead him to serve.
“I didn’t know anyone in Penang, but I came across a Buddhist temple near the Jelutong Sunshine Mall. I knocked on the door, and a nun opened it. She was very kind — despite me being a Catholic — and offered me free accommodation. I stayed there for half a year before moving out after buying a house in Jalan Gangsa,” recalled Tan, now 57.
A day after checking into the temple, he spotted a newspaper advertisement for a salesman at a flower distributor in George Town. He applied for the job and started work the next day.
“The job allowed me to deliver flowers all across Penang island. Within three months, I knew the nooks and crannies of Penang — even the shortcuts!
“During those months, I was touched by the warmth of Penangites. Even when I didn’t know how to get to a place, strangers would offer to take me there on their motorcycles.
“When I ventured out at night, I saw many vagabonds sleeping at Komtar, near the jetty, and along bank pavements. Because of their plight and the kindness I experienced from Penang people, I chose to make Penang my home. I resigned from my job after three months,” he added.
For the next three years, Tan worked alongside a Rumah Charis pastor, helping troubled students, assisting drug addicts, and counselling couples in distress.
“After gaining invaluable experience, I decided to register a charitable organisation called Persatuan Syukur Penyayang Pulau Pinang with two friends in December 2004. My deep desire was to care for elderly folks who had nowhere to go.”
However, the journey was far from smooth. A teacher initially offered his house in Alma, Bukit Mertajam, to be used as a home for the elderly. After renovating it, Tan was shocked to find the doors locked just before opening day.
“The teacher’s mother had changed the lock, unwilling to let the house be used as an old folks’ home. The teacher apologised profusely. I told him that if doing a good deed would cause conflict with his mother, we should not proceed,” Tan explained.
Soon after, another disappointment followed. A landowner in Pulau Betong offered Tan a 10,000 sq ft plot for the home. After spending over RM20,000 clearing the land, the landowner backed out of the deal.
“When I asked him to sign the agreement, he said, ‘Don’t you trust me?’ I decided then not to go back there again.”
Undeterred, Tan rented a single-storey house at Jalan Tan Iu Ghee in September 2005 – PSPPP’s first home. Its first resident was an 80-year-old man with severe bedsores who had been sleeping outside a storehouse in Weld Quay.
The home eventually accommodated nine elderly residents, with Tan caring for them personally — often sleeping on a deck chair for three and a half years.
“Although I welcomed them into the home, the elderly folks were the ones who actually helped me run it. They cooked, received donors, and even assisted one another when I was out fetching residents to the hospital or collecting recyclables to sustain the home.”
The idea of recycling began when a passerby stopped to donate a stack of newspapers, an encounter Peter described as God-sent.
In 2009, the home was relocated to Jalan Lengkok P. Ramlee as the homeowner at Jalan Tan Iu Ghee decided to sell the house. The second home, with a larger space, could house up to 13 residents, all personally cared for by Peter for a decade. However, its low-lying location made it prone to floods.
“On 4 November 2017, Penang was hit by one of its worst floods. Our home was inundated up to five feet. Thankfully, volunteers helped evacuate all our residents safely,” Tan recalled.
Though the flood caused severe damage, it also drew public attention to the home. Donations poured in, enabling Tan to re-register it officially as Persatuan Syukur Penyayang Pulau Pinang (PSPPP) on 16 March 2018.
That same month, the home relocated to a two-storey bungalow in Lorong Kenari, Sungai Ara, accommodating 28 residents on higher grounds.
After about a year, Peter’s dream came true when PSPPP successfully tendered for a two-storey building not far from the Penang Hospital, moving there on 15 December 2019. Today, it houses 37 residents and 11 full-time staff members. The home requires about RM40,000 monthly to operate.
“Sixty per cent of the residents were picked up from the streets, 30 per cent were received from the government hospitals, and 10 per cent were referred by staff members,” said Tan, who is married and has a 13-year-old daughter.
He expressed his gratitude to Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin for supporting their tender application and the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), the building’s owner, for granting a rental discount after three years.
The building underwent major renovations to meet safety and health requirements before the state Social Welfare Department issued PSPPP’s official operating permit on 29 September 2025.
Tan recently received the licence from Northeast District Welfare Department officer Baizlin Hasbi Bedol in the presence of state Social Development, Welfare and Non-Islamic Religious Affairs Committee chairman Lim Siew Khim and her predecessor, Datuk Seri Chong Eng, who is also the chairman of the General Committee of the Silver Jubilee Home for the Aged.
For now, PSPPP has paused new admissions to comply with welfare regulations regarding staff-to-resident ratios. The latest resident, an elderly trishaw rider at Komtar, was admitted just last Sunday.
“Over the past 20 years, 80 residents have passed away. Each one was very dear to me. I cared for them from the day they arrived until their final days. Many confided their life stories to me — things they had never told anyone,” Tan shared.
Among current residents, Tan recounted one story of a man who often went out after regaining his ability to walk. When asked why, he explained that he was uneasy for not having returned the RM100 he had borrowed from a friend.
“Listening to him, I realised his peace depended on clearing that debt. We gave him the money and took him to meet his friend at the Tanjung Bungah Market to return it personally.
“He was a changed man after that. Every day, he would sweep the compound and care for the home as if it were his own.”
When Tan first shared his intention to open an old folks’ home, friends questioned how he would sustain it without charging fees.
“I didn’t know how, but my heart told me to go ahead. Friends started avoiding me when they saw me from a distance, perhaps afraid I’d ask for money. But I thank God that since the day I started, I have never asked anyone to please donate even 10 sen. After a few years, when these same friends saw me from afar, they would call out, ‘Peter! Peter!’”
Running a home for the elderly is no easy feat, and Tan draws inspiration from Mother Teresa, whose work among the destitute and downtrodden in India is renowned worldwide.
A framed photograph of Mother Teresa with a quote above her head sits proudly in Tan’s office: “I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.”
Tan said the quote holds deep meaning for him, especially after someone once used social media to urge the authorities to close the home following the 2017 floods.
“The quote reminds me to do more for the needy because it means that when you give love to the point of personal sacrifice or emotional pain, the act itself transforms the experience from one of hurt to one of deeper, more profound love.”
Looking ahead, Tan said PSPPP aims to raise RM80,000 through its upcoming fundraising dinner at SJKC Shang Wu, Jalan Air Itam, on Dec 21.
“We’ve named it the 20 Years of Gratitude Anniversary Dinner, not only to mark our two decades of service but also to express our heartfelt appreciation to the kind-hearted donors and supporters who have journeyed with us,” he said.
His story is one of resilience, faith, and a heart that has always chosen compassion over comfort.
Story and pix by K.H. Ong