Penang
Penang (in Malay Pulau Pinang) is an island of 113 sq. miles (293 sq. km.) on the north-west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It is also the name of one of the states of Malaysia (state capital: George Town), which consists of the island and a small 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 tree.
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. The town on the northeastern tip of the island was named George Town after King George III of Great Britain. Penang island was originally called Prince of Wales Island by the Company.
In 1832, 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.
Government
The state government has very limited powers in comparison with the Federal government.
Penang has a Governor appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (or King) of Malaysia. 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 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.
The current Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is from Penang state, as is the gaoled 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. Many tourists also spend time in the historic centre of George Town, which is largely made of old Straits Chinese shophouses, with Indian and Malay quarters. Old 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.
The southern part of the island is highly industrialized with high-tech electronics plants (such as Intel, AMD and Seagate) located within the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone. There are also many clothes factories in the area.
Language
As well as English and Malay, which are spoken throughout Malaysia, the lingua franca in Penang is a variant of Minnan or southern Fujianese known as "Penang Hokkien". It is a patois based on the Minnan dialect of Zhangzhou (漳州) prefecture in Fujian province, China, but incorporating a large number of Malay and English borrowed words.
Other languages, including Mandarin and Tamil, are also spoken.
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, also called Assam Laksa, which is local variant of laksa, a dish of thick white rice noodles in prawn or fish soup which can be found throughout the Malay peninsula. Penang laksa is made with fish soup and its main distinguishing feature is the asam or tamarind which gives the soup a sour taste. Typical garnishes include mint, thinly sliced onion and hae-ko, a thick sweet prawn ketchup. Famous laksa stalls can be found near the Pagoda in Ayer Itam, and on Gurney Drive.
Char Koay Teow (Hokkien 炒粿條 chha2-koe2-tiau5, fried flat noodles) which is a dish of flat rice noodles fried with soy sauce, chilli, prawns, cockles, egg, beansprouts and Chinese chives. Sometimes slices of Chinese sausage are added. It is fried in pork fat, with crisp croutons of pork lard, which give it its characteristic taste.
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.
Hokkien (Hae) Mee (Hokkien 福建(蝦)麵 hok4-kien1-(hE5-)miN7), Hokkien (prawn) noodles) is a dish of egg noodles and fine rice noodles in a fragrant prawn and pork stock. It is garnished with prawns, pork ribs, vegetables, crisp deep-fried shallots and sambal.
Wan Than Mee (Hokkien 餛飩麵 oan5-than1 miN7), 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 pork stock.
Transport
Penang island is connected to the mainland by a bridge 13.5 km long (completed in 1985). 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. Penang 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, this has increasingly become more of a tourist attraction.
Other Useful Information
Also see * Tamiya