Penang Island
Encyclopedia
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, on the west coat of Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia
Peninsular Malaysia , also known as West Malaysia , is the part of Malaysia which lies on the Malay Peninsula. Its area is . It shares a land border with Thailand in the north. To the south is the island of Singapore. Across the Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of Sumatra...
. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
on 12 August 1786, in honour of the birthday of the Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the heir apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the 15 other independent Commonwealth realms...
, later King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
. The capital George Town
George Town, Penang
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 , an...
, was named after the reigning King George III
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
.
Malaysia has another island called "Pulau Pinang", which is a diving site located in South China Sea and part of the Johor Marine Park, which consists a group of islands: Pulau Aur, Pulau Dayang, Pulau Lang, and Pulau Pinang itself.
History
Penang was originally part of the Malay Sultanate of Kedah. On 11 August 1786, Captain Francis Light of the British East India Company landed in Penang and renamed it Prince of Wales Island in honour of heir to the British throne. Light then received it as a portion on his marriage to the daughter of the Sultan of Kedah. Light ceded Penang to the Government of India and promised the Sultan military protection from Siamese and Burmese armies who were threatening Kedah. Light is now credited as the founder of Penang.Many early settlers succumbed to malaria, earning Penang the epithet "the White Man's Grave".[3]
Unbeknownst to the Sultan, Light had acted without the approval of the East India Company when he promised military protection. When the Company failed to aid Kedah when Siam attacked it, the Sultan tried to retake the island in 1790. The attempt was unsuccessful, and the Sultan was forced to cede the island to the Company for an honorarium of 6,000 Spanish dollars per annum. This was later increased to 10,000 dollars, with Province Wellesley on the mainland of the Malay Peninsula being added to Penang in 1800. An annual honorarium of 10,000 ringgit continues to this day be paid by the Malaysian Federal Government to the state of Kedah.
In 1826, Penang, along with Malacca and Singapore, became part of the Straits Settlements under the British administration in India, moving to direct British colonial 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 and became Malaysia in 1963.
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.
On 7 July 2008, George Town, the historic capital of Penang, was formally inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside with Malacca. It is officially recognized as having a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia.
Geography
The island is the fourth-largest in the country with an area of 293 km2. It is also the most populated island in the country with an estimated population of 678,000. The island is connected with the mainland by the Penang BridgePenang Bridge
Penang Bridge is a dual carriageway toll bridge connects Gelugor on the island of Penang and Seberang Prai on the mainland of Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula. The bridge is also linked to the North-South Expressway in Prai and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway in Penang. It was officially opened to...
. The bridge begins at Gelugor
Gelugor
Gelugor is a town located at the southern part of Georgetown, a midway town between Georgetown and Sungai Dua...
on the island and ends in Perai
Perai
Perai is a main industrial area in Penang, Malaysia. It is situated in Seberang Perai, which is on the mainland....
on the mainland. The mainland portion of the Penang state is known as Seberang Perai
Seberang Perai
Seberang Perai / Beseran Darul Hidayah, formerly Province Wellesley, is a narrow hinterland opposite Penang island on the Malay Peninsula, which together with the island forms the Malaysian state of Penang. Its principal town is Butterworth...
(Province Wellesley), and together with Penang Island and other smaller islands, form the state of Penang.
Governance and Law
Penang Island is under the state of PenangPenang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
, which is one of the four states in Malaysia without a Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
and the head of the state is the Yang di-Pertua Negeri
Yang di-Pertua Negeri
The Yang di-Pertua Negeri is the official title of the ceremonial heads of state of the Malaysian states without hereditary rulers, namely Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak...
(English: State Ruler), which is appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is the head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957 when the Federation of Malaya gained independence....
of Malaysia
The island forms the local government area of the Municipal Council of Penang Island
Municipal Council of Penang Island
The Municipal Council of Penang Island or Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang ' is a local authority which administers the city of George Town and Penang Island. This agency is under Penang state government...
and is divided into two administrative districts—South West Penang Island
South West Penang Island
South West Penang Island , is one of the five administrative districts in the state of Penang. It covers an area of 176 square kilometres, and had a population of 196,195 at the 2010 Census . The district seat is located in Balik Pulau....
and North East Penang Island
North East Penang Island
North East Penang Island is one of the five administrative districts in the state of Penang, Malaysia. It covers an area of 121 square kilometres, and had a population of 508,181 at the 2010 Census . The capital of Penang State, George Town, is located in this district. It is also the official...
.
Other than a state ruler, Penang's executive members are led by a chief minister. The current chief minister of Penang is Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng
Lim Guan Eng is the 4th Chief Minister of the State of Penang and Secretary-General of the Malaysian Democratic Action Party . He is the son of Lim Kit Siang, Leader of the Opposition in the Dewan Rakyat from 1973 to 1999 and 2004 to 2008....
, and the post has been continuously held by a non-Malay ethnic Chinese since independence, reflecting the state's ethnic majority.
Local Authorities
The local authority on the island is the Municipal Council of Penang Island (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang). Local councillors have been appointed by the state government since local elections were abolished in Malaysia in the 1960s. Both municipal councils are made up of a president, a municipal secretary and 24 councillors. The president is appointed by the State Government for two-year terms of office while the councillors are appointed for one-year terms of office. Penang Island is divided into 2 administrative districts.The eastern portion of the island facing the mainland is highly urbanized and built-up with either industrial, commercial or residential areas. The western portion is generally more rugged/hilly and less developed than the rest of the island.