Penang
Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is divided into two parts by the Strait of Malacca: Penang Island to the west, where the capital city George Town is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula to the east. These two halves are physically connected by the Penang Bridge and the Second Penang Bridge. The state shares borders with Kedah to the north and east, and Perak to the south.
Penang is one of Malaysia's most developed economic powerhouses, with the highest GDP per capita of all states. It also ranks second among the states in terms of average wages. Penang is Malaysia's leading exporter with nearly RM495 billion in exports in 2024, primarily through the Penang International Airport which is also the nation's second busiest by aircraft movements.
Established by Francis Light in 1786, Penang became part of the Straits Settlements, a British crown colony also comprising Malacca and Singapore. During World War II, Japan occupied Penang, but the British regained control in 1945. Penang was later merged with the Federation of Malaya, which gained independence in 1957. Penang's economy shifted from entrepôt trade to electronics manufacturing and the tertiary sector throughout the late 20th century.
With 1.74 million residents and a population density of as of 2020, Penang is one of Malaysia's most densely populated and urbanised states. Seberang Perai is Malaysia's third largest city by population. Penang is culturally diverse with a population that includes Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, Siamese and expatriates.
Etymology
The name Penang comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang which means 'areca nut island'. Penang is also colloquially referred to as the "Pearl of the Orient" and "The Island of Pearls".Over the course of history, Penang Island had been known by different names by seafarers from various regions. The locals named it Pulo Ka Satu, meaning "The First Island", as it was the largest island on the maritime route between Lingga and Kedah. The Siamese, who were the overlords of Kedah, called it Ko Mak.
Maritime explorers also took note of the island's abundance of areca nut. During the 15th century, Admiral Zheng He of Ming China referred to the island as Bīngláng Yǔ in his navigational charts. In the Description of Malacca, Portuguese cartographer Manuel Godinho de Erédia named it Pulo Pinaom.
History
Early history
Archaeologists have discovered human remains such as the "Penang Woman", along with seashells, pottery and stone tools, in Seberang Perai. The artefacts indicate that around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, Penang was inhabited by nomadic Melanesians during the Neolithic era.Pali inscriptions on the Cherok Tok Kun megalith suggest the Hindu-Buddhist Bujang Valley civilisation, based in present-day Kedah, held authority over parts of Seberang Perai by the 6th century. The entirety of Penang later formed part of Kedah, which came under Siamese suzerainty by the late 18th century.
Establishment and British rule
Penang's modern history began in 1786 when Francis Light, a representative of the British East India Company, obtained Penang Island from Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah of Kedah in exchange for military aid. Light had been sent to the Malay Peninsula by the EIC to build trade relations in the region, where he saw the strategic potential of Penang Island as a "convenient magazine for trade" that could enable the British to check Dutch and French territorial ambitions in Southeast Asia.After negotiating an agreement with the Sultan, Light and his entourage landed on Penang Island on 17 July that year and took formal possession of the island "in the name of King George III of England" on 11 August. The island was renamed Prince of Wales Island after the heir to the British throne and the new settlement of George Town was established in honour of King George III.
Unbeknownst to Sultan Abdullah, Light had acted without the authority or the consent of his superiors in India. When the EIC reneged on military protection, the Sultan launched an attempt to recapture the Prince of Wales Island in 1791. However, the attempt was defeated by EIC forces and the Sultan sued for peace. An annual payment of 6,000 Spanish dollars was agreed in exchange for British sovereignty over the island.
In 1800, Lieutenant-Governor George Leith secured a strip of hinterland across the Penang Strait, which was subsequently named Province Wellesley. The EIC gained permanent sovereignty over both Prince of Wales Island and the new mainland territory, while the annual payment to the Sultan of Kedah was increased to 10,000 Spanish dollars. The British government and, subsequently, the Malaysian government maintained the annual payments to Kedah until 2018, when the Malaysian federal government increased the amount by RM10 million yearly.
File:KITLV - 80020 - Kleingrothe, C.J. - Medan - Quay in Penang - circa 1910.tif|thumb|The Port of Penang in George Town. Port functions were eventually relocated to Seberang Perai in 1974.
George Town grew rapidly as a free port and a conduit for spice trade, diverting maritime commerce away from Dutch outposts in the region. In 1805, Penang became a separate presidency of British India, sharing similar status with Bombay and Madras. By 1808, George Town had established its local government, while the founding of the Supreme Court of Penang marked the birth of Malaysia's modern judiciary. In 1826, George Town was made the capital of the Straits Settlements which included Singapore and Malacca. As Singapore soon supplanted George Town as the region's premier entrepôt, Singapore became the capital instead in 1832.
Despite its secondary importance to Singapore, George Town retained its importance as a vital British entrepôt. Towards the end of the 19th century, it became a major tin exporter and Malaya's primary financial centre. Penang's prosperity attracted a cosmopolitan population comprising Chinese, Malay, Indian, Peranakan, Siamese and migrants of mixed European-Asian lineage referred to as "Eurasians", and led to the development of hitherto rural areas such as Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam. However, the population growth created social problems such as inadequate sanitation, health facilities and rampant crime, culminating in street violence and rioting in 1867.
The Straits Settlements became a British crown colony within the same year. Direct British rule led to improved law enforcement, and investments in health care and public transportation in Penang. Owing to enhanced access to education, active participation of Asian residents in municipal affairs and substantial press freedom, George Town was perceived as being more intellectually receptive than Singapore. The settlement attracted intellectuals and revolutionaries, including Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Sun Yat-sen. In 1910, Sun selected George Town as the centre for the Tongmenghui's political activities in Southeast Asia, aimed at overthrowing the Qing dynasty.
World wars
Penang emerged from World War I relatively unscathed, apart from the Battle of Penang during which the Imperial German Navy cruiser SMS Emden sank two Allied warships off George Town. During the interwar years, the British had acknowledged the need to fortify their armed forces in northern Malaya. However, complacency and lack of resources left British forces ill-prepared to confront the Japanese invasion at the onset of the Pacific War. Although Penang Island had been designated as a fortress, Penang fell without struggle to the Imperial Japanese Army on 19 December 1941 after daily aerial attacks. The British covertly evacuated Penang's European populace; historian Raymond Callahan since contended that "the moral collapse of British rule in Southeast Asia came not at Singapore, but at Penang".Penang Island was subsequently renamed Tojo-to after Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Japanese military police imposed order by massacring Chinese civilians under the Sook Ching policy, while women were forced into sexual slavery. Swettenham Pier was converted into a major submarine base by the Axis Powers.
Between 1944 and 1945, Allied bombers from India targeted naval and administrative buildings in George Town, damaging and destroying several colonial buildings in the process. The Penang Strait was mined to restrict Japanese shipping. Following Japan's surrender, George Town was the first Malayan settlement liberated by British marines through Operation Jurist on 3 September 1945.
Post-war years
Penang was placed under British military administration until 1946, after which the Straits Settlements was abolished. The British sought to consolidate the various political entities in British Malaya, including the Crown Colony of Penang, under a single polity known as the Malayan Union. Initially, the impending annexation of Penang into the vast Malay heartland proved unpopular among Penangites. The Penang Secessionist Committee was formed in 1948 due to economic and ethnic concerns, but their attempt to avert Penang's merger with Malaya was unsuccessful due to British disapproval.To relieve the concerns raised by the secessionists, the British government guaranteed George Town's free port status and reintroduced municipal elections in 1951. George Town became the first fully-elected municipality in Malaya by 1956 and was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II in the following year. This made George Town the first city within the Federation of Malaya, and by extension, Malaysia.
Post-independence era
's status as a free port was rescinded by the Malaysian federal government in 1969. This led to a loss of maritime trade, causing massive unemployment and brain drain. To revive the economy, Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu established the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in 1972. Massive industrialisation proved instrumental in reversing Penang's economic slump and led to the state's rapid economic growth until the late 1990s. Under Lim's tenure, the Penang Bridge, the first road link between Penang Island and the Malay Peninsula, was built.Persistent brain drain, aggravated by federal policies prioritising the growth of Kuala Lumpur, resulted in Penang losing its leading position in the national economy by the 21st century. This decline, compounded by various issues including incoherent urban planning, poor traffic management and the dilapidation of George Town's heritage enclave following the repeal of the Rent Control Act in 2001, contributed to growing dissatisfaction within Penang's society.
In response, civil societies in George Town mobilised public support to rejuvenate the city. Resentment against the Barisan Nasional administration led to the Pakatan Rakyat bloc rising to power through the 2008 state election. Efforts to preserve George Town's heritage architecture led to the city's historical core being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site that year.