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10 | FireFlyz
Whether you’re just passing through or lingering for awhile, Penang is one of those
places that you never truly leave behind.
Stephanie StaMaria
speaks toPenang locals
and lovers about their relationshipwith the island.
There’s
Something
About
Penang
THE FIREFLY OPTION:
Fireflyflies fromPenang toSubang, KotaBharu, Kuantan, Langkawi,
BandaAceh, Medan, KohSamui andPhuket. Informationon routes and
schedules canbe found atwww.fireflyz.com.my
K
uala Lumpur
throbs
with urban vibrations.
Malacca dishes up
slices of history. And
Ipoh is soaked in old
wor l d cha rm. But
Penang is a fascinating
kaleidoscope of all three landscapes.
The northern island state has earned
a mandatory mention in almost every
traveller’s guide and review of Malaysia
and for very good reason.
Penang’s history stretches back to the
18th century when its founder, Captain
Francis Light, hoisted the Union Jack on
the island. That single move declared
Penang as the British Empire’s first
possession in Southeast Asia.
From then on, the island witnessed
great historical events unfolding on its
shores. Among the more notable ones
were the opening of the Suez Canal and
the two world wars. The opening of the
canal in 1869 boosted British trade with
the Far East and infused Penang with
immense cultural diversity. Traces of the
ethnicities that walked its soil are now
immortalised in Penang’s road names
and cemeteries.
Penang’s Turn of the Century
Penang’s march into the 20th century
was greeted by visits from distinguished
personalities like Somerset Maugham,
Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling. All
reportedly stayed at the luxurious Eastern
& Oriental Hotel, a colonial sea-fronting
hotel on Lebuh Farquhar built in 1885.
Then World War I arrived and with it,
a naval attack by the Germans on allied
warships off the Penang harbour. Apart
from a war memorial on the Esplanade,
little trace of the attack was left on the
island. But it was World War II that left
a dark imprint on Penang’s social fabric
when the island suddenly found itself
under Japanese occupation for four years,
until 1945.
Post-war Penang slowly, but very
determinedly got back on its feet, buoyed
by the remarkable fact that none of
Georgetown’s colonial buildings were
casualties of the bombings.
In January 1957, just seven months
before Malaysia gained its independence,
Queen Elizabeth II accorded Georgetown
city status, thus making it the first town
in the then Federation of Malaya to be
recognised as a city. Five years later,
Penang earned its second accolade as a
Unesco world heritage site.
It’s hardly surprising then that
Penangites, as the locals are called, are
ferociously proud of their island and carry
it with them no matter where they are in
the world or how long they’ve lived away.
Culinary haven
Take Joseph HayeemAbraham Jacobs, for
example. Joseph has been an Australian
citizen for almost three decades but
will always remain first and foremost, a
Penangite.
Two years ago he returned to Penang
for his nanny’s cremation, and once the
The famous noodle stall at Lorong Kampung
Malabar