Talk:Penang

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Contents 1 Penang Island 2 "Pearl of the Orient" 3 Etymology 4 Penang is famous for ... 5 Separate Articles for Penang Island 6 Culture and economy 7 Technology and Industrial Development in Penang - Missing? 8 Penang bridge 9 Penang Free School 10 Lengthy article 11 Pictures layout 12 South Channel 13 Highest population density? 14 Gross Regional Product 15 Rate this article,please 16 Removal of Chinese name 17 Images Don't Appear in the Traditional Chinese Page 18 Crime - no sources 19 World's Oldest Newspaper or Malaysia Oldest Newspaper? 20 Wikiproject Malaysia 21 Map 22 Trivia 23 Famous Penangnites 24 Greater Metropolitan Area of Penang 25 Language Confusion

[edit] Penang Island

todo: make 2 diff. articles: Penang (state) and Penang Island --Zenogantner

As it is now this article Penang is about the whole state, that includes the island and the Seberang Perai. Is there something only specific to Penang Island that you wanted to write, Zenogantner? -- sabre23t 02:59, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] "Pearl of the Orient"

"Pearl of the Orient" is controversal. The title referred to Hong Kong for many years. I wonder when it started to refer to Penang. Can the poster quote some reference of this title? -- Kowloonese 08:46, 25 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I didn't post that, but I've recently heard that on a Canadian TV travel show, which visited both Hong Kong and Penang (among other places). It did say the Pearl thing about Penang, but didn't mention Pearl about HK. But, Google does show that HK is the more famous Pearl: 2,540 vs. 1,990 hits. --Menchi 20:43, Aug 25, 2003 (UTC)

Just for a note, Penang is often refer as oriental garden(东方花园) in chinese as used by many local chinese newspaper. However, the title of "Pearl of Orient" was seen in tourism brochure written in english. Since there is no further evidence, the origins of the title is unclear.

pearl of the orient has always been understood as the Philippines

A Journal source from the literatures of ZAINAL AKHIRUDDIN DATUK HJ. ZAINAL ALAM: Penang was never "Pearl of the Orient". It was a British way of being proactive and having a sense of mission to develop the Island and to portray that they did some good architecture of Pulo Pinang (Penang). The Sultan of Kedah traded-in this deserted Island of 7 Achinese Family atap houses at Balik Pulau with some few Gujerat Merchants from India in Tanjungpura (Georgetown) in return for 'Armed Forces' strenght to protect Langkawi and his palace from Siamese invasion . . . Penang was never 'Beautiful' during colonial days, Zainal Akhiruddin stressed, "If the word 'beautiful' is to be mentioned of Penang, originally, it meant the white sandy beaches of Batu Ferringhi".

[edit] Etymology

Anyone know the meaning of the word Penang? In Chinese, Penang is referred to as the Island or city of "Bin Nang" (檳榔嶼 or 檳城) where "bin nang 檳榔" is a chinese transliteration of some kind of fruit Arecae catechu L. Was the fruit named after the island or vise verse? Kowloonese 08:46, 25 Aug 2003 (UTC)

From the tree . Oxford says: 1883 I. L. BISHOP in Leisure Ho. 202/2: "Pinang (from the pinang, or areca-palm) is the proper name of the island." [emphasis added] --Menchi 20:43, Aug 25, 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Penang is famous for ...

was "Just A Simple Question"
what EXACTLY is penang famous for...? like every state in Malaysia, it must be famous for something else except the nature in it... for example, langkawi is famous for it's chocolate... every trip to langkawi will end up in bags and bags of chocolate... so that leads to my question.. what is penang's fame?

Washing powder. My Singaporean friends say it is cheaper in Penang. Andrew Yong 20:00, 1 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Penang Char Koay Teow. Penang Mamak Nasi Kandar. Pasembur. Yep, Penang food. ;-) -- sabre23t 13:31, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Alternately, have a look at this page of Penang's First for further ideas on what Penang is famous for. ;-) -- sabre23t 13:38, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

On clickpenang.com, Zainal Akhiruddin Datuk Hj. Zainal Alam says, "Nasi Kandar, in its original meaning, is a meal comprises of rice, fish curry, spiced roasted beef, and bolied egg with ladysfinger (bendi) all mixed in assortment on a single plate" check-out "Ais Kacang" at the same webforum on Penang and the ingenious "Device A Better Penang Rather Than An Ex-Pearl Of The Orient".

And don't forget Laksa Penang...Boeing.

Penang is famous for its diversity of people, which means it is also famous for the number of its cultural events (Malaysia as a whole has one of the highest numbers of public holidays anywhere in the world, and Penang takes full advantage), as well as its food (Malay specialities like laksa, popia, ice cendul, ice kecang, nasi kandar; a very wide variety Indian and Chinese foods, respectable number of European foods and , unfortunately, a growing number of fast food outlets). The island used to be famous for the quality of its water - best in Orient up until a few years ago ... unfortunately although the water remains good quality it's not like it used to be.

Lastly, re Langkawi, chocolates?? It's famous for the Gamat - a worm that,when split into two, can reassemble itself. Great healing properties obviously. It appears in Gamat Oil, Gamat cough mixture, etc.

Gamat is actually sea cucumber, not a worm.--Wai Hong 13:30, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Separate Articles for Penang Island

There are a number of subjects that can be written under the article "Penang Island" as distinct from Penang. For example, geographical features, a detailed description of the Island's culture and the residents' way of life can be added in the "Penang Island" article. However, aspects such as government and foreign trade should be retained under the "Penang" article. Hyperlinks and cross reference may be added for convenience. Cheng 12:26, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

When ONE speaks or write about PENANG, it means a focus on issues and matters relating to the ISLAND paradise. The mainland has little to talk about as it has limited attraction and historical factor (65% rural homes/5% modern residential/10% industrialization/10% commercial buildings/10% other slow developments. The Penang State Stadium at Batu Kawan is magnificient but a white elephant today in this tight budget years (perhaps suitable come year 2050) since it was expensively built for sake of stimulating the property value of the district. [ref:forum.clickpenang.com](Ali)"The 7 blunders of Penang"; comment by Zainal Akhiruddin.

On Clickpenang.com You can also view pictures from the so called "Worlds Largest Toy Museum "

[edit] Culture and economy

This is poorly edited. Cuisine should be dealt with separately from Culture and Economy. The The article on Kelantan should be used as a guideline for the Penang article. It deals with Culture and Economy separately.

[edit] Technology and Industrial Development in Penang - Missing?

Penang is the most advanced state within Malaysia in electronics manufacturing, industrial automation and mechanical industry. It is indeed the silicon valley in Malaysia. Should there be something to talk about?

[edit] Penang bridge

Can anyone confirm whether or whether not the plans to extend the first bridge are still ongoing now that the second bridge is planned Nil Einne 14:31, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

The bridge extension is on going, and slated to complete by September 2008 (although we know that that's unlikely to finish on the date they say it will)Martianunlimtied

[edit] Penang Free School

Penang Free School was founded by Anglican Missionaries (Rev. Hutchings) not Catholic Missionaries.

[edit] Lengthy article

I think there should be a few new articles about certain aspects of Penang, such as places of interest,etc. Then, these articles should be linked to the Penang articleWai Hong 12:32, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pictures layout

I do think that proper alignment of the pictures so that they fit nicely and neatly into the page is better than trying to put them alongside the write-up and making them look disorganized and out of alignment. Anyhow, the pictures should always be in the relevant categories. Any comments about a better layout?

I've tried to arrange the pictures. I hope it's ok. Besides, other contributors please recognise that spaces between the written material are for the purpose of picture alignment. --Wai Hong 12:59, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] South Channel

I've created an aritcle for the channel separating Penang island from Seberang Perai. I think it's called South Channel. I translated it from the Malay Selat Selatan. Are there any disagreements? Wai Hong 09:26, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

"Selat" translates into "Straits" so perhaps Southern Straits is a better translation. However, I feel as a geographic article, it is probably best to use the original name bar the existance of another, proper, English approximate. For example, Chao Praya river is known as that instead of "General River" or "River of the Kings" - so perhaps the very least, "Selatan Straits" is better. --Rajan Rishayakaran 06:47, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Highest population density?

On "The state has the highest population density in Malaysia with 2,031.74 people per square kilometre on the island and 865.99 people per square kilometre on the mainland." - according to the Kuala Lumpur article, Kuala Lumpur has a population density of almost 3 times more than Penang. Something's inaccurate, either in this article or in Kuala Lumpur's. --Rajan Rishayakaran 06:36, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

• Maybe both are incorrect,we are going to need the latest census readings in order to articulate further on the matter.

• Actually Kuala Lumpur is not a state but rather a Federal Territory. Surely Kuala Lumpur is denser than Penang, but for states, Penang has the highest population density. —Preceding unsigned comment added by MoZulWan (talk • contribs) 08:20, 8 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Gross Regional Product

What is gross regional product? Can anyone enlighten me on this?Wai Hong 06:07, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rate this article,please

I found this article is getting better and better. Can someone assess this article, for a better rate class? or maybe we can get a GA or FA? Thank youZack2007 15:57, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

This looks like a good B to me. I'm an outsider here, but I reviewed the cities & countries for Version 0.5 so I've seen a lot of similar articles. I'd look at Singapore (GA) or Bangalore (FA) to see how things are handled with similar articles. Things to work on IMHO are:

• References/notes are VERY weak at the moment - compare Singapore - it would get an immediate rejection as GA or FA on those grounds. There are several external refs - these need to be listed as internal refs with proper citations. I personally like to see a mix of book and online refs.
• The culture section obviously needs expansion - that is a core subject in these types of articles. Things like architecture are nice but less critical, unless the architecture is unique as in Bath (former FA).
• Be very careful with sections such as "Character of Penang" which may encapsulate how local people see themselves, or how Malaysian people generally perceive Penang, but there are serious problems with this type of thing. Any such description needs cited authoritative sources (for example, a major Malay newspaper, or a respected book about Penang or Malaysia), otherwise it becomes simply "people say" (speculation) or "The Penang Tourist Board say" (biased) - neither of which belongs in an encyclopedia. I would suggest merging the section into the new Culture section once that is written.
• Also be careful with sections labeled "trivia" or "references in popular culture," as these often snowball as every passing teenager starts adding in minor film stars from Penang, movie scenes shot there, etc. (See Steve Biko for an extreme example). Much of the "trivia" seems to be serious content that could be merged into the article. I think if you move the "references in popular culture" section into the "culture" section, that would help avoid that problem. I realise that places tend to be proud of these connections, but note that GAs and FAs (like Singapore and Bangalore) avoid such sections - with good reason. If it's in a separate "Culture of Penang" section anyone seriously researching references to Penang in pop songs etc will be able to find the content in the appropriate place.

I think if you can fix the above, and clean up organisation a bit, the article has a good shot at GA or FA - there is a lot of good content here! Also, I saw this get accidentally added to Version 0.5 recently, so you may be interested to know - this article will almost certainly be included in Version 0.7. I specifically proposed including all Malaysian states when we began setting things up recently, and no objections were raised. Walkerma 06:03, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Removal of Chinese name

For background, please see Talk:Kuching#Language. Basically, Chinese is not an official language of Malaysia, so by convention, we should not be using it in the article (otherwise, we have no objective standard for inclusion of alternative names - we might as well put the Swahili transliteration in as well). Jawi has a better claim because it is an alternative script for Malay, which is the official language of Malaysia. Johnleemk | Talk 12:11, 14 January 2007 (UTC)

I'm removing all languages other than English and native language, per WP:UE. __earth ^(Talk) 06:41, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Images Don't Appear in the Traditional Chinese Page

HELP! Does anyone how to contact someone who could make the images in the Traditional Chinese Page to appear? See the link below and click on the first search result. Thank you! Penang in Traditional Chinese

[edit] Crime - no sources

Today, April 13th, it was noted in the Malaysian daily tabloid The Sun that the Wikipedia article on Penang was basically bull. I checked it, and there are some bold statements that lack citation. I'm not exactly an experienced user (to put it mildly) so I just put some citation needed tags in there. Catxk 12:29, 13 April 2007 (UTC)

I think that the article about Penang crime should be removed unless with exact source, or else the article should not be in here (KyoriAsh 03:46, 17 April 2007 (UTC))

The The Sun (Malaysia) is basically kertas tandas, quality-wise IMHO. Wikipedia is what its editors make of it. If there are citation and verification issues be WP:BOLD and fix it. --Eqdoktor 10:21, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] World's Oldest Newspaper or Malaysia Oldest Newspaper?

One thing I have to clearify first: I went to www.takungpao.com.hk and found nothing about the newspaper that established BEFORE Kwong Wah Yit Poh. Please stated the source please? (KyoriAsh 04:37, 5 May 2007 (UTC))

Its most definitely NOT the oldest newspaper in the world, there are several papers that go all the way back to the 1600s and still printing - Oldest newspapers still in circulation. In Malaysia, New Straits Times(1845) and The Malay Mail(1896) are older. In Penang, I think the Straits Echo (defunct) may be older than 1910. Kwong Wah Yit Poh can only claim at best to be the oldest Chinese paper (still in circulation) in Malaysia.--Eqdoktor 10:16, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

For the Topic, I missed the "Chinese", should be World's Oldest Chinese Language Newspaper... (KyoriAsh 17:45, 23 May 2007 (UTC))

[edit] Wikiproject Malaysia

Calling all Malaysian Wikipedians around the world!! It is high time for us to start our own WikiProject for Malaysia..any one can create/assiting me to create WikiProject Malaysia. Marcusaffleck 11:22, 30 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Map

Map is not good - I didn't know there was such a thing as "Penang" and after looking at these maps I still cant tell where. I guess from the fact that its part of wikiproject malaysia and occupied by the Japanese that its close to them?Tourskin 01:31, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Trivia

"Penang is the most geometrically rectangular country in the world." This is a boo boo... Penang is a state not a country. Please have this removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Adaml11600 (talk • contribs) 01:09, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Famous Penangnites

Daniel and Anita Bogdan, co-founders of Penang Christian Centre. Michael Bogdan, son of Daniel and Anita Bogdan, co-founders of the PCC Penang Christian Centre

Who are they? I do not think they are famous, at least outside the Christian community. Kindly have them removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Drteoh (talk • contribs) 19:09, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Mohammad N. Farhan , a future-to-be international pilot and the founder of Malaysia warhead sources.

And who is this? Can't even find a single article about him in Google. I advocate deletion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Drteoh (talk • contribs) 19:14, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Greater Metropolitan Area of Penang

I have never heard of this term being used. Sounds like original research. A quick google search also reveals nothing, except this page and other mirrors. kawaputra^torque 11:04, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Language Confusion

Your article states many languages but fails to state that the official language of Penang is the national language of Malaysia - bahasa Melayu! You'll find everyone can communicate in this language in Penang, all the government institutions use this language, and all the public signs are written in this language. There is a large part of chinese cummunity that tries to ignore this language by using some chinese dialects, using chinese characters on displays etc., but in the end bahasa Melayu is the language that is compulsory at schools. Other languages are local languages spoken by various groups. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.48.162.157 (talk) 01:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)