Map of Malaysia showing the location of Penang in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia

Penang (in Malay Pulau Pinang, Jawi:بينانج) is the second largest city of Malaysia, after Kuala Lumpur. It consists of an island of 293 sq. km. on the north-west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and a strip of 760 sq. km. on the mainland.

It has the total population of 1.4 million. The city of Penang has the highest population density in Malaysia with 2031.74 people per square kilometer on the island and 865.99 people per square kilometer on the mainland (statistics in 1998).

Penang is also one of the states of Malaysia (state capital: George Town), which consists of the island and a strip of land on the mainland known as Province Wellesley (also known as Seberang Perai; principal town: Butterworth). The island is named after the pinang, or betel nut tree. Penang is surrounded by several satellite towns in Kedah state, forming a large urban area in the northern part of Malaysia.

History

Penang was part of the Malay state of Kedah before Captain Francis Light successfully negotiated with the Sultan of Kedah to cede the island to the British East India Company on August 12, 1786. Province Wellesley was ceded to the Company in 1790.

The East India Company was attracted to the natural harbour which could serve as an anchorage for their trading ships and as a naval base to counter growing French ambitions in the region. The town on the northeastern tip of the island was named George Town after King George III of Great Britain. Penang island itself was originally named Prince of Wales Island by the Company.

In 1826, Penang, along with Malacca and Singapore, became part of the Straits Settlements, moving to direct British rule in 1867. In 1946 it became part of the Malayan Union, before becoming in 1948 a state of the Federation of Malaya, which gained independence in 1957. In 1963 it became one of the 13 states of Malaysia.

The island was a free port until 1969. Despite the loss of the island's free port status, from the 1970s to the late 1990s the state built up one of the largest electronics manufacturing bases in Asia, in the Free Trade Zone around the airport in the south of the island. Penang currently suffers from heavy traffic jams.

Recently in 2004, there have been plans to bring Penang back its former glory [1] (http://thestar.com.my/news/archives/story.asp?ppath=/2004/12/16/nation/9673098&sec=nation)

Government

The state government has very limited powers in comparison with the Federal government.

Penang has a Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Governor) appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (or King) of Malaysia. The present Governor is Tun Dato' Seri Haji Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas. In practice the Governor is a figurehead, and he acts upon the advice of the state Executive Council, which is made up of Legislative Assembly members. The current Chief Minister of Penang, Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu-Khoon, is from the Gerakan party which has held the chief-ministership since 1969. It is the only state chief-ministership in Malaysia which is held by an ethnic Chinese, which reflects the state's ethnic majority.

There are two local authorities in Penang, the Municipal Council of Penang Island and the Municipal Council of Province Wellesley. Local councillors have been appointed by the state government since local elections were abolished in Malaysia in the 1960s.

The current Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is from Penang state, as is the former Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Culture and Economy

Penang Island, also known as the Pearl of the Orient, is a heaven for food lovers, who come from all over Malaysia and Singapore. Penang's cuisine reflects the Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnic mix of Malaysia, but is strongly influenced by the cuisine of Thailand to the north. Penang is especially famous for the "hawker food" sold and eaten by the street, in which noodles and fresh seafood feature strongly.

The north shore of Penang, known as Batu Feringghi, is a popular beach resort, characterised by high-rise hotels. Many tourists also spend time in the historic centre of George Town, which is largely made of nineteenth-century Straits Chinese shophouses, with Indian and Malay quarters. Anglo-Indian colonial buildings are also to be found amongst elaborate Chinese and Indian temples and Indian-Muslim mosques.

The entrepot trade has greatly declined, due in part to the loss of Penang's free port status, but also due to the active development of Port Klang near the federal capital Kuala Lumpur. However, there is a container terminal in Butterworth which continues to service the northern area.

Penang is today has second largest economy amongst the states of Malaysia, after Selangor. Manufacturing is the most important component of the Penang economy, contributing 45.9% of the State's GDP in 2000. The southern part of the island is highly industrialized with high-tech electronics plants (such as Intel, AMD, Agilent, Hitachi and Seagate) located within the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone.

Other important sectors of Penang's Economy include tourism, finance and other services.

Language

As in other parts of Malaysia, Malay, the national language, and English are widely spoken. Uniquely, however, the lingua franca in Penang is a variant of Minnan or southern Fujianese known as "Penang Hokkien". It is based on the Minnan dialect of Zhangzhou prefecture in Fujian province, China, but incorporates a large number of Malay and English borrowed words. For more detail, see Penang Hokkien.

Other languages, including Mandarin and Tamil are also spoken on the island.

Cuisine

Penang is famous for the food sold at road-side stalls, known as "hawker food". Among the most famous Penang dishes are:

• Penang laksa. The laksa stall can be found at the junction of the road leading to Kek Lok Si is regarded as the most famous and best.

• Char kway teow. A stall is at a corner along Chulia Street which uses a distinctive narrower noodles then others.

• Hokkien hae mee.

• Nasi Kandar, an Indian-Muslim dish of mixed rice with an assortment of meat and seafood curries, the secret of which is in the mix of curries. Among the most well-known is a place called Line Clear, off Penang Road.

• Wan Than Mee (Hokkien 餛飩麵 oan⁵-than¹ mi^{n 7}), also known as Tok-tok Mee from the sound of knocking bamboo sticks made by the vendors in former times to draw attention to their food, of a dish of egg noodles and wontons with sliced barbecued pork and vegetables. It is served either dry with a soy and sesame oil sauce, or in a clear pork stock.

Transport

Penang island is connected to the mainland by a 13.5 km bridge (completed in 1985), one of the longest bridges in Asia. Ferry services are available to the town of Butterworth (where the nearest Malayan Railway station is located) on the mainland and to the resort island of Langkawi in the north. Bayan Lepas International Airport is located in the south of the island, and international flights are available to London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Medan. A quaint mode of transportation, the three-wheeled trishaw, still operates in certain parts of George Town. However, with the advent of modern transportation, the trishaw has increasingly become more of a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, modern transportation has also brought a common urban bane to the beautiful island: traffic congestion.

External links

• Penang State Government (http://www.penang.gov.my/) - this official site is mainly in Malay but includes English articles such as Penang's first in history and transportation solution for Penang.
• Wikitravel Penang Article (http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Penang)
• Penang Port (http://www.penangport.com.my/)
• Visit Penang (http://www.visitpenang.com/)
• Tourism Penang (http://www.exoticpenang.com.my/)
• Penang Homepage (http://penang.thestar.com.my/)

States and Federal Territories of Malaysia
States: Johor | Kedah | Kelantan | Malacca | Negeri Sembilan | Pahang | Perak | Perlis | Penang | Sabah | Sarawak | Selangor | Terengganu Federal Territories: Kuala Lumpur | Labuan | Putrajaya

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