George Town, Penang
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| George Town Tanjung |
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| Motto: "Leading We Serve" | |
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| Coordinates: | |
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| Country | Malaysia |
| State | Penang |
| Founded | 1786 |
| Municipality established | 1857 |
| Granted city status | 1957 (merged in 1974) |
| Area | |
| - City | estimated 150 km² (58.59 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 4 m (13.1 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| - City | 300,000 |
| - Density | est 1,464/km² (3,748/sq mi) |
| - Metro | 1,225,501 |
| (metro pop is a 2000 est) | |
| Time zone | MST (UTC+8) |
| - Summer (DST) | Not observed (UTC) |
George Town is the capital city of the state of Penang in Malaysia. Named after Britain's King George III, the city is located on the north-east corner of Penang Island and has about 220,000 inhabitants, or about 400,000 including the suburbs.
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.
George Town is known as Tanjung in Malay and 喬治市 (Qiáozhì Shì) in Chinese. It was voted as one of the best cities in Asia by Asiaweek, ranked 6th in 1998 and 9th in 2000. More recently in 2007, it was ranked as the 10th most liveable city in Asia according to an international survey involving 254 cities worldwide by Employment Conditions Abroad Limited (ECA International). Back in 2002, it was placed 12th. A city is judged based on its weather, air quality, infrastructure, health services, housing, security and politics.
Due to strict rent controls, George Town retains many 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.
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[edit] The historic commercial centre
George 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 1880’s, there were ghauts leading from Beach Street to the warf and jetties as Beach Street receded inland due to land reclamation. A new waterfront was created at Wheld Quai, 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.
[edit] The hub of George Town’s waterfront commercial and financial district
At the turn of the 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, 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..
[edit] Local Government
The Municipal Council of George Town was established in 1857, the first local authority in Malaya. Three out of five municipal commissioners were elected by a limited franchise, but due to apathy these elections were abolished in 1913.
In 1951, as part of the move towards independence for Malaya, the British colonial authorities reintroduced local elections of nine of the fifteen municipal commissioners for George Town. Other municipal councils in Malaya followed shortly thereafter, with Kuala Lumpur holding its first local elections the year after. By 1956, George Town had become the first municipality in Malaya to have a fully-elected council, with Cllr G. H. Goh (Alliance) as its first President.
On 1 January 1957, George Town became a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the first town in the Federation of Malaya to become a city (Singapore became a city in 1951). The first Mayor of George Town was Cllr D. S. Ramanathan (Labour). George Town was the only city in Malaya/Malaysia until Kuala Lumpur was granted city status in 1972. To this day, the Royal Charter is still prominently displayed in the Penang State Museum.
In 1965, the federal Government suspended local elections as a result of the Indonesian Confrontation. A Royal Commission in 1968 recommended the restoration of local democracy, but this was never carried out.
In 1974, the City Council of George Town was merged with the Rural District Council of Penang to form the Municipal Council of Penang Island. The Local Government Act 1976 finally abolished local elections throughout Malaysia, providing for municipal councillors to be appointed by the state government.
[edit] City status
George Town's royal charter provided that:
- "the said Municipality of George Town shall on the First Day of January in the Year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and fifty seven and forever thereafter be a city and shall be called and styled the CITY OF GEORGE TOWN instead of the Municipality of George Town and shall thenceforth have all such rank, liberties, privileges and immunities as are incident to a city."
In addition, several federal ordinances and acts refer to the City of George Town, such as the City of George Town Ordinance 1957. According to Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) trustee, Datuk Anwar Fazal, a lawyer by profession, George Town "legally has been and is still a city [because] the City of George Town Ordinance 1957 had not been repealed" ("Penang Forgetting Its History", The Star, January 1, 2007).
However, since the City Council of George Town was merged with the Penang Rural District Council in 1974, it is not clear if George Town continues to exist as a legal entity, let alone as a city. Rochester in England, the site of England's second-oldest cathedral, which had been recognised as a city from the year 1211, lost its city status in 1998 when it was merged with a neighbouring borough. As the new council was not granted city status, and the city through oversight failed to appoint charter trustees to inherit the city charter, the city ceased to exist. In the view of the federal and state governments, George Town has similarly lost its city status.
Whether George Town is a city is a matter of law, and will depend on the legal instrument by which the merger was effected: was the municipality that was established in 1857 abolished in 1974, or did was it merely expanded to include the area formerly governed by the Rural District Council? Alternatively, if the Municipality of Penang Island is a new entity, did it inherit the "rank, liberties, privileges and immunities" of the old City of George Town? It is also not clear what effect the Local Government Act 1976 may have had on the previous charter and ordinances.
The issue of city status has lain dormant since 1974, but in recent years local resentment has grown as relatively insignificant towns such as Alor Star have been designated cities. Several years ago the Penang state government announced its intention to petition the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of Malaysia for a regrant/reconfirmation of city status once the city's new boundaries were agreed, but there has not been any progress on this front. The only other way to establish whether or not George Town remains a city would be an application to the High Court of Malaya for a declaration that George Town continues to be a city in law.
On January 1, 2007, no special event was held to celebrate the golden jubilee of George Town's city status and the 150th anniversary of the state's municipal status, prompting Datuk Anwar Fazal to slam the state government and calling it a "missed opportunity". He recalled "there was a three-day celebration on January 1, 1957, to mark the 100th anniversary of the municipality and its elevation to a city. It was a remarkable event, with some 5,000 dignitaries, including the Malay rulers attending. There were chingay demonstrations, a decorated vehicle procession, wayang kulit displays and cross-channel swimming matches" ("Penang Forgetting Its History", The Star, January 1, 2007).
[edit] Future development
On 2 August 2006, the federal government announced a plan to build a monorail transit system connecting George Town to Tanjung Tokong in the north and Bayan Lepas in the south.
[edit] Sister cities
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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Penang |  |
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| Districts: North East Penang Island | South West Penang Island | North Seberang Perai | Central Seberang Perai | South Seberang Perai | ||
| City: George Town (capital) | ||
| Towns: Air Itam | Bagan Ajam | Balik Pulau | Batu Ferringhi | Batu Kawan | Batu Maung | Bayan Lepas | Bukit Mertajam | Butterworth | Ceruk Tok Kun | Gelugor | Jawi | Jelutong | Juru | Kepala Batas | Nibong Tebal | Pantai Aceh | Permatang Pauh | Perai | Seberang Jaya | Sungai Ara | Sungai Bakap | Sungai Dua | Tanjung Bungah | Tanjung Tokong | Teluk Bahang | Val d'Or | ||
| Islands: Pulau Aman | Pulau Betong | Pulau Gedung | Pulau Jerejak | Pulau Kendi | Pulau Rimau | Pulau Tikus | ||
 Cities in Malaysia |
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 Alor Star •  George Town •  Ipoh •  Johor Bahru •  Kota Kinabalu •  Kuala Lumpur •  Kuching •  Malacca Town • Miri •  Petaling Jaya • Shah Alam |
