The colourful culture and spiritual life in Penang - Part 2 of 2

Based on information from Nation.com (www.Nation.com), George Town is the capital city of the state of Penang in Malaysia. It's named after King George III of Great Britain.

The city is located on the north-east corner of Penang Island and has about 220,000 inhabitants. Including the totally 400,000 people live there.   

As the story is told, George Town was founded in 1786 by Captain Francis Light. He was a trader for the British East India Company, which used the city as a base for the company in the Malay States.

Francis Light 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 to 12,000 in 1804.

George Town was given city status on 1 January 1957, by a royal charter of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.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.

Stein Morten Lund, 1 May 2004

Additional information

Penang has a variety of religious structures, from churches and mosques dating back the early 1800's to Hindu temples, Buddhist watts, and Chinese worship houses paying mixed homage to Taoism, Confucism, and Buddhism.Penang is well covered with religion; whether you are an interesting in the island's religious past, preying, or just want to have fun at the beach, Penang is the place for spiritual experiences.

Facts about Malaysia:

Formal country name: Federation of Malaysia.

Area: 329,750 sq km.

Population: 23 million.

People: 50% Malay, 33% Chinese, 9% Indian, plus indigenous tribes such as Orang Asli and Iban.

Language: Malay, English, Tamil.

Religion: 52% Muslim, 17% Buddhist, 12% Taoist, 8% Christian, 8% Hindu, 2% tribal.

Government: constitutional monarchy.

For more information:
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, or Tourism Malaysia: tourism.gov.my

Malaysia Tourism Centre (MTC)

109, Jalan Ampang,

50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel : 03- 2163 3664/2164 3929

Fax : 03- 2162 1149

www.mtc.gov.my

Source:

World Heritage Centre

UNESCO, Paris

(July 2003)

Malaysia has two places listed on the World's Heritage list:

Kinabalu Park (N ii, iv/ 2000):

Kinabalu Park, in the State of Sabah on the northern end of the island of Borneo, is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea. It has a very wide range of habitats, from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest to tropical mountain forest, sub-alpine forest and scrub on the higher elevations. It has been designated as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia and is exceptionally rich in species with examples of flora from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, as well as pan-tropical flora.

Gunung Mulu National Park (N i, ii, iii, iv/ 2000):

Important both for its high biodiversity and for its karst features, Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the State of Sarawak, is the most studied tropical karst area in the world. The 52,864-ha park contains 17 vegetation zones, exhibiting some 3,500 species of vascular plants. Its palm species are exceptionally rich, with 109 species in 20 genera noted. The park is dominated by Gunung Mulu, a 2,377 m-high sandstone pinnacle. At least 295 km of explored caves provide a spectacular sight and are home to millions of cave swiftlets and bats. The Sarawak Chamber, 600 m by 415 m and 80 m high, is the largest known cave chamber in the world.