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PENANG, UNESCO World Heritage Zone

St Georges Church…….St. George's Church is located on Lebuh Farquhar, not far from the espanade in Georgetown. It is the oldest Anglican church in Southeast Asia. It has an active congregation of the Diocese of West Malaysia. This landmark church was completed in 1818 on the initiative of the Penang Colonial Chaplain, Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings (best known for his later founding of the Penang Free School). It was consecrated on 11 May 1819 by the Bishop of Calcutta, Thomas Fanshawe Middleton. On 6 July 2007, the church was declared one of the 50 National Treasures of Malaysia by the Malaysian government. It underwent a major restoration in 2009.
The Esplanade (Beach Road)…….The seafront promenade is an enclave of structures and memorials which include Fort Cornwallis, the nearby Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower, City Hall, Town Hall, State Legislative Assembly building, Cenotaph and Logan Memorial. At the centre is a beautifully landscaped public park where locals often bring their families to enjoy the cool, breezy air. In the early days, the Esplanade was used as a ground for firing practice by sepoy regiments and later for football, cricket and lawn bowling in more settled times. During the two World Wars, Penang was not exempt from involvement. In 1914 the German cruiser SMS Emden saw action here as did the Japanese in WW2. More recently, politicians from Malaysia and Singapore have delivered fiery speeches at the field in recent decades.
German Heritage Trail…….Along the esplanade to the left, the German Heritage Trail is clearly marked by a signboard but the trail itself is not on land. Out in the harbor is a red marker buoy. The signboard explains what happened here in the autumn of 1914 which went down in history as the Battle of Panang.
‘During the First World War, the German Cruiser SMS Emden raided Penang on 28th October 1914. Under the command of Captain Karl Friedrich Max von Mΰller, SMS Emden sank (torpedoed) the Russian cruiser Zhemtschug, which was anchored in the harbour. As the German cruiser was making its escape, she sank the French destroyer Mousquet which had attempted a brave counter attack. Emden rescued several French survivors before leaving the waters of Penang. A red buoy in the harbour off the Esplanade marks the spot where the Russian cruiser Zhemtschug went down. An anchor salvaged from the wreck of the French destroyer Mousquet near Muka Head in 1969, is kept today at the Penang Museum’.
The surprise attack on the Zhemtschug had been achieved by a bold deception. A fake fourth funnel had been erected on the Emden which was then mistaken for the town class HMS Yarmouth. The German cruiser was flying the Royal Navy ensign.
Fort Cornwallis…….Fort Cornwallis was built by the British East India Company on the northeastern coast of Penang Island on the site of the reputed first landing of Captain Sir Francis Light who took possession of the island from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786. It is named after the late 18th century Governor-General of Bengal, India, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis. Fort Cornwallis is the largest standing fort in Malaysia built to protect Penang from pirates and Kedah. The fort never engaged in a battle. The original fort was a stockade with no permanent structures but in 1804, after the outbreak of the Napoleonic Wars, during Colonel R.T. Farquhar’s term as Governor of Penang, Indian convict labourers rebuilt the fort using brick and stone. The work was completed in 1810. In later years its function was more administrative than military. The fort was gazetted on 8 September 1977, under the Antiquities Act 168/1976, as an Ancient Monument and Historic site after an archaeological survey conducted by the Royal Navy. Today, it has become one of Penang's prime tourist attractions.
Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower…….This clock tower is an icon of Penang practically adjoining with the corner of Fort Cornwallis and close to Swettenham Pier. Lying within the recently designated UNESCO World Heritage Zone, it is a tribute to Queen Victoria. It was commissioned in 1897 by a local millionaire named Cheah Chen Eok to commemorate the Queen of England’s Diamond Jubilee but the Queen never saw this tribute to her reign. The sixty foot tall tower, one foot each per year of the Queen’s reign was completed in 1902, one year after her death. The structure has four tiers and the dome and arched openings at the top are constructed in Moorish style.
Little India…….Little India is located in an area around Lebuh Queen, Lebuh Chulia and Jalan Pasar (Market Street. It is an ethnic Indian enclave in the old city of Penang. Lebuh Chulia was alloted to Indian immigrants who settled there in the early days. They took up a variety of roles as agricultural labourers, money lenders and spice traders. However the enclave soon became engulfed by an ever growing Chinese community creating a zone of its own. Little India and Chinatown are now part of the wider UNESCO World Heritage Zone.

AIR ITAM, PENANG

Penang Hill funicular railway…….The Penang Hill Railway is a one section funicular railway which climbs Penang Hill from Air Itam, near George Town, a journey taking at least minutes. Construction of the railway took place between 1906 and 1923, at a cost of 1.5 million Straits dollars. The railway was opened to the public on October 21, 1923. New cars were provided in 1977. Between February 2010 and April 25, 2011, the railway was closed while being upgraded and for new cars to be purchased to increase the passenger capacity and to speed up the train. Passengers now have non-stop service in air conditioned cars. The blue, air-conditioned Swiss-made coaches, capable of ferrying up to 100 passengers at one go, run every half hour from 6.30am to 9pm daily. The new RM73mil system replaces the 87-year-old funicular railway. The downside is that passengers now have to pay RM30 for this journey.
Memorial to the Penang Chinese Transportation Volunteers…….The Memorial to the Penang Chinese Transportation Volunteers is located at the junction of Jalan Air Hitam, which terminates at Penang Hill, and Jalan Paya Terubong in Air Itam district. The memorial is to the victims of the Sino-Japanese War who were serving volunteers or civilians from Penang. A 49-foot obelisk was inaugurated in 1951 but for the 60th anniversary of its founding a 60-foot long wall relief depicting the transportation volunteers moving the vehicles on the perilous Burma-China Road was added. A full-scale model of a transport truck with assisting volunteers rests proudly in front of the obelisk. More information on this interesting subject can be found in my travel log for Penang. Click here
Kek Lok Si-Temple.......The Kek Lok Si Temple is a Buddhist temple situated in the hills around Air Itam, near Georgetown. It is one of the best known temples on the island and the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. The temple is run on a commercial basis with shops throughout the complex. Pilgrims and day trippers arrive from all over the region and beyond, taking in the views over Georgetown and paying their respects. An ascending covered staircase lined with souvenir shops leads past the Liberation Pond where turtles are released for merit making. Several large prayer halls contain statues of Buddha, various Bodhisattvas as well as Chinese gods. A prominent feature is the Pagoda of 10,000 Buddhas, completed in 1930. This pagoda combines a Chinese octagonal base with a middle tier of Thai design, and a Burmese crown; reflecting the temple's embrace of both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism. An inclined lift conveys visitors to a higher physical, and spiritual, level to the bronze statue of the Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy), opened to the public in 2002 and to a pond filled with Koi. By 2009 the Kuan Yin statue had a concentric octagonal roof. Mahayana Buddhism and traditional Chinese rituals blend here into a harmonious whole, both in the temple architecture and artwork as well as in the daily activities of worshippers. There is a small charge to enter the pagoda and to use the inclined lift although the Kuan Yin can also be reached by road.