I NEVER KNEW PENANG ISLAND HAS SO MANY 'FIRSTS'! READ ON AND ADMIRE THIS ISLAND CITY'S RICH HISTORY AND TENACITY!
I wonder if my hometown Kota Baru in Kelantan can beat Penang...
Penang's firsts
- Penang became
the first British outpost in the then Malaya and Southeast Asia in 1786.
- The country's
first newspaper made its appearance in Penang in 1805 – the Prince of
Wales Island Gazette. This was followed by the Penang Gazette,
first published in 1837.
- The Royal
Malaysian Police was established when King George III awarded Penang a
'Charter of Justice’ in 1807 to form the police force and the Court of
Justice.
- Penang Free School founded by Rev.
Sparke Hutchings in 1816, is the first and oldest English School in
Southeast Asia. But the very first school was a Malay-language school
begun by Father Antonio Garnault in 1786 which is known today as St. Xavier's Institution.
- St George's Anglican Church on
Farquhar Street, established in 1816, is the oldest Anglican Church in
South East Asia and the only building from Penang that was declared one of
the 50 National Treasures by the Malaysian Government.
- The Sekolah
Kebangsaan Gelugor in Penang founded in 1826 is the first Malay school to
be established in Malaysia.
- The St Xavier's Institution established
in 1852, is the first school established in Malaysia to be administered
and fully owned by the La Salle Brothers.
- Convent Light Street or the Convent
of the Holy Infant Jesus, a girls' school established by a French Sisters'
Mission in 1852, is the oldest girls' school in Southeast Asia.
- Chung Hwa Confucian School founded by
Cheong Fatt Tze in 1904, is one of
the oldest formal Chinese Schools established in South-east Asia as a
result of influence by the educational reforms in China in early 1900s.
Mandarin is the school’s medium of instruction.
- The Municipal Council of Penang Island (Majlis
Perbandaran Pulau Pinang), is the successor of the Municipal Council
of George Town, which was established in 1857 as Malaysia's first local
authority.
- The Penang Turf Club, established in
1864, is Malaysia's oldest horse racing and equestrian centre.
- Standard Chartered Bank, the oldest
bank in Malaysia, opened its doors in 1875.
- In 1905 Penang
completed its first hydroelectric scheme.
- In 1906
Penang's first electric tramway made its appearance.
- Malaysia's
oldest Chinese newspaper still in circulation today, Kwong Wah Yit Poh or Kwong Wah
Daily (光华日报) was founded on 20 December 1910
by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen in Penang.
- St. Nicholas'
Home Penang,a social outreach ministry under the Anglican Church founded
in 1926, is first charitable organisation serving the needs of the blind
and visually impaired community of Malaysia. St. Nicholas' Home also
started the first blind school in Malaysia.
- The Penang Players Music and Drama Society,
the oldest English amateur theatre group in Malaysia, was founded in the
early 1950s by a group of expatriates residing in Penang.
- George Town, the state capital of
Penang, became a city by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II on 1 January 1957, becoming the first town in the Federation
of Malaya to become a city. (For further discussion on the disputed city
status, refer Municipal Council of Penang Island.)
- George Town together with Malacca Town are the first cities in
Malaysia to be granted the UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
- Penang's water
rates/tariffs are amongst the lowest in Malaysia (the other being Kelantan).
- Covering 738
km2 (285 sq mi), the Seberang Perai Municipal Council (Majlis
Perbandaran Seberang Perai) is the largest local authority in
Malaysia.
- The
2,562-hectare (6,330-acre) Penang National Park in Teluk Bahang gazetted
in 2003 is the world’s smallest national park.
- Penang Botanic Gardens, established
in 1884, is the first botanic gardens in Malaysia.
- Phor Tay High School, founded in
1940, is the first Buddhist school in Malaysia.
- Diocese of Penang, together with Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur in 1955
is the first Catholic diocese to have a local bishop at helm.
- College General is the only Catholic
seminary in Peninsular Malaysia founded in 1665 in Ayutthya, Thailand and then relocated to Penang
in 1808.
- Penang Island is the only island in
Malaysia to be connected to the mainland through land transport when the Penang Bridge was completed in 1985.
- The Penang Ferry Service is the oldest
ferry services in Malaysia, connecting George Town on Penang island to Butterworth in Seberang Perai.
- The Penang Hill Railway, opened in 1923,
is the first funicular hill railway in Malaysia.
- George Town
Dispensary is the earliest dispensary in the then Malaya. It was opened in 1895.
- Penang is the
first state in Malaysia to launch the "No Plastic Bag Day"
campaign.
- Penang Butterfly Farm, established in
1986, is the world's first butterfly and insect sanctuary to be set up in
the tropical world.
- Federation School for the Deaf, is
the first deaf school in Federation of Malaya in April 1954.
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