George Town, Penang

George Town
Motto: "Leading We Serve"
Map of the City of George Town, showing the city limits in 1963
George Town George Town, Malaysia
Coordinates:
Country	Malaysia
State	Penang
Founded	1786
Municipality established	1857
Granted city status	1957
Merged with neighbouring district	1974
Area
- City	estimated 150 km2 (58.59 sq mi)
Elevation	4 m (13.1 ft)
Population (2006)
- City	300,000 (20th)
- Density	est 1,464/km2 (3,748/sq mi)
- Metro	1,225,501
	(metro pop is a 2000 estimate)
Time zone	MST (UTC+8)
- Summer (DST)	Not observed (UTC)

George Town^[1] or Georgetown^[2], is the capital of the state of Penang in Malaysia. Named after Britain's King George III, George Town is located on the north-east corner of Penang Island and has about 220,000 inhabitants, or about 400,000 including the suburbs.

Formerly a municipality and then a city in its own right, since 1976 George Town has been part of the municipality of Penang Island, though the area formerly governed by the city council is still commonly referred to as a city, and is also known as Tanjung ("The Cape") in Malay and 喬治市 (Qiáozhì Shì) in Chinese.

The inner city of George Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

George Town was founded in 1786 by Captain Francis Light, a trader for the British East India Company, as base for the company in the Malay States. He obtained the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah and built Fort Cornwallis on the north-eastern corner of the island. The fort became the nexus of a growing trading post and the island's population reached 12,000 by 1804.

The town was built on swampy land that had to be cleared of vegetation, levelled and filled. The original commercial town was laid out between Light Street, Beach Street (then running close to the seashore), Malabar Street (subsequently called Chulia Street) and Pitt Street (now called Masjid Kapitan Keling Street).

The warehouses and godowns extended from Beach Street to the sea. By the 1880s, there were ghauts leading from Beach Street to the wharf and jetties as Beach Street receded inland due to land reclamation. A new waterfront was created at Weld Quay, where commercial buildings sprang up.

The historic commercial centre was segmented into the banking and trading areas related to port activities which included shipping companies, the import and export trade, and the wholesalers who dominate the southern section of Beach Street until now. It has been listed as a World Heritage site since July 2008.^[3]

The hub of George Town’s waterfront commercial and financial district

At the turn of the 19th century, the northern section of Beach Street and the adjacent Bishop Street were the ‘high street’ where the ‘modern’ European emporium and stores selling imported merchandise were situated.

Among the early foreign companies that located their offices on Beach Street were the Netherlands Trading Society, the Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the Chartered Bank, Boustead & Co., Guthne & Co., Caldbeck & Macgregor, Behn Meyer, Sandilands & Buttery, G.H. Slot and the stores of Pritchard & Co., Whiteaway, Laidlaw & Co., and others. Among the local businesses that were established here during this period were H.M. Nooradin, Tiang Lee & Co., Guan Lee Hin Steamship, Tye Sin Tat, Pinang Sales Room, Koe Guan and others. Penang’s first petroleum lamps were installed on this section of Beach Street by Huttenbach & Co..

International recognition

Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Malaysia
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iii, iv
Reference	1223
Region**	Asia-Pacific
Inscription history
Inscription	2008  (32nd Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

George Town was voted as one of the best cities in Asia by Asiaweek, ranked 6th in 1998 and 9th in 2000. More recently, George Town has improved a notch to rank as the 9th most liveable city in Asia in a survey of 254 cities worldwide according to an international location ratings survey by Conditions Abroad Limited (ECA International), an agency that develops and provides solutions for the management and assignment of employees around the world, in its annual Location Ratings Survey.^[4]. Previously it was ranked 10th in 2009 which saw the biggest improvement in scores among the 49 Asians cities surveyed by rising 11 notches in global best cities ranking from 74 to 63. A city is judged based on living standards according to categories, including climate, air quality, health services, housing and utilities, isolation, social network and leisure facilities, infrastructure, personal safety and political tension.

On 7 July 2008, George Town was, together with Malacca, formally inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is officially recognized as having a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.^[5]

Local government

Coat of arms of the Municipal Council, later City Council, of George Town

The Municipal Council of George Town was established in 1857, the first local authority in Malaya outside Singapore. In 1956, George Town became the first municipality in the Federation of Malaya to have a fully-elected council, and on 1 January 1957, the municipality became a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the first (and until 1972, the only) city in the Federation.

In 1965, the federal Government suspended local elections as a result of the Indonesian Confrontation, and in 1966 the functions of the City Council were transferred to the Chief Minister of Penang. In 1974, a Local Government Management Board (Lembaga Pengurus Kerajaan Tempatan) was established for the whole of Penang Island, which became the Municipal Council of Penang Island (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang) in 1976.

As a result of the administrative reorganisations since 1966, George Town no longer exists as a legal entity, let alone as a city under the Local Government Act 1976, although it is still commonly referred to as a city.

Transportation

In the past, George Town boost of having the best public transportation system in Malaysia, with Electric Trams, Trolleybuses and also Double-decker buses. They have since been stopped in the 1970.

Today, George Town is well connected by roads, buses and etc. The Jelutong Expressway connects the city to Bayan Lepas and the Penang International Airport. With this highway, trips to the airport were cut short to 30 minutes instead of almost an hour in the past. The Penang International Airport serves as the main airport of the northern part of Malaysia.

To get over to Butterworth in the mainland, the Penang Ferry Service at Weld Quay operates every day since 1920. Passengers, cars and motorcycles can all travel in the ferry. Other than that, commuters can drive to the Penang Bridge, located in Gelugor, to cross over to the mainland. To travel elsewhere around Malaysia, through the Penang Bridge, commuters can take the North-South Expressway to reach their destinations.

Public transportation is George Town is operated mainly by Rapid Penang, the main bus company in Penang now. Almost every bus connects George Town to their respective destinations, with Weld Quay being the main terminal of Rapid Penang in Penang Island and Komtar being the main hub. There is also a free bus service operated by Rapid Penang. This bus service is only located within George Town, and it also operates every day, taking commuters a drive along George Town's famous heritage sites.

Express buses used to stopped at Komtar at the past but has sinced been relocated to the Sungai Nibong Bus Terminal, which is not that far away. There are many express bus companies operating 24 hours there, and main destinations are usually Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. There are also some buses travelling out of Malaysia, mainly to Hat Yai, Thailand and Singapore.

Other than that, George Town is famous for having trishaws plying the city. The Port of Penang has 4 ports, with 3 on the mainland and one terminal here, Swettenham Pier. The port links Penang to over 200 ports all over the world. There is also a cruise ship situated here and it has become an attraction here.

Future developments

Due to strict rent controls, George Town retains many of its colonial-era shophouses to this day and is often considered an architectural gem. Most of George Town's population is of Chinese origin. Since the repeal of the rent controls in 2000, many pre-war buildings have given way to new high rises. Heritage guidelines are still in its infancy and much needs to be done to conserve such treasures for the benefit of future generations.

On 2 August 2006, the federal government announced a plan to build a monorail urban transit system connecting George Town to Tanjung Tokong in the north and Bayan Lepas in the south. However, due to the defeat in Penang of the Barisan Nasional coalition after the 2008 General Election, the proposed development project was called-off after the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan which was tabled in Parliament on June 26, 2008.

Gallery

View onto Beach Street	Fort Cornwallis, the first British settlement on Penang	Buddhist Kek Lok Si Temple	Islamic Museum on Armenian Street
Jewish Cemetery on Jalan Zainal Abidin (former Jahudi Road)	The colonial Eastern & Oriental Hotel	View of Gurney Drive

Closes towns and cities

Destinations from George Town

	Teluk Bahang	Tanjung Tokong	Batu Feringghi
	Air Itam		Butterworth / Penang Bridge
		George Town
	Balik Pulau	Gelugor	Prai

Sister cities

• Adelaide^[6], Australia (1973)
• Medan, Indonesia
• Xiamen, China (1991)
• Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

See also

• Cities of Malaysia
• Architecture of Penang
• City Hall, Penang

References

Literature

• Khoo Salma Nasution. More Than Merchants: A History of the German-speaking Community in Penang, 1800s-1940s. Areca Books. (2006). ISBN 978-9834283414

External links

• Media related to George Town, Penang at Wikimedia Commons
• Georgetown travel guide from Wikitravel
• A website focused on Penang Heritage
• George Tower in Community Portal
• Article about George Town
• Georgetown photo gallery
• Trails of Georgetown
• The Northam All Suite Penang

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