1960 Survey Department of Malaya Map of George Town, Penang

This is a rare 1960 negative print map of George Town, the capital of Penang, likely produced soon after the Federation of Malaya gained independence from British rule. The map gives a sense of the vibrant mix of cultures and activities that have always defined the city.

A Closer Look

The diverse cultures that compose Penang are reflected in structures noted, with Hindu and Buddhist temples, Christian churches, Chinese folk temples, and mosques co-existing with Chinese native place associations, social clubs, cinemas, cabarets, banks, and shipping companies. In addition to Malays and the Chinese community, subdivided according to native region, there were also sizable Indian, Peranakan (descendants of earlier Chinese migrants), Burmese, Thai, and other communities. Typical of a colonial city, structures related to policing are conspicuous, with the Police headquarters, barracks, Central Police Station, and jail (labeled here as 'goal') constituting four of the larger buildings in the city.

George Town: Crossroads of Cultures

Britain acquired Penang Island in the late 18th century from the Sultanate of Kedah after offering military assistance to the Sultan, then facing both internal and external struggles. Initially conceived of as a stopover for naval vessels between India and China, Penang and its main settlement at George Town rapidly developed into a commercial center in its own right, aided by the free trade policies implemented by Francis Light, the founder of the colony. It first became an important center for the spice trade, then developed additional industries during the 19th century, and later attracted banks and other financial institutions, such as the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC) and the Chartered Bank (of India, Australia and China) seen here. Due to its laissez-faire atmosphere, Penang became a destination for writers, revolutionaries, and drifters from around the world.

Like other colonial entrepôts and treaty ports in East and Southeast Asia, George Town became known for its cosmopolitanism as well as its vice, particularly organized crime. Various communities contributed to its culture, while also comingling (the city had a visible and important 'Eurasian' minority of mixed-race heritage). Amid this diversity, however, there was racial discrimination and stratification. After the small number of British residents, white settlers, and mixed-race 'Eurasians,' the Chinese, who primarily engaged in commercial activity, were generally better-off than Indians, who performed 'coolie' labor, and Malays, who primarily produced food through farming and fishing. The British crafted immigration and education policies that reinforced these divisions, further strengthening their preconceptions about the proper role of each group, while also stoking tensions between these communities. Although inequality has improved since independence, the continued relative wealth of the Chinese community and the resentment it has provoked has often been the central tension in Malaysian politics, though recent elections suggest that this is changing.

From Malaya to Malaysia

British Malaya was a combination of quasi-independent protectorates like Kedah (the Unfederated States), the more directly controlled but still nominally autonomous Federated States (based in Kuala Lumpur), and the Straits Settlements (Singapore, Penang, Malacca, and Dinding), which were crown colonies. Though all were enmeshed in a wider colonial system and often considered as part of a single entity, this tripartite system lasted until after the Second World War.

Malaya was an important piece in Britain's global empire, especially as a source of tin and rubber, which also made the peninsula a target for a Japanese invasion in late 1941. Britain's defense of the peninsula was disastrous, culminating in the embarrassing surrender of Singapore, smashing the façade of British military invincibility. The occupation was trying for all inhabitants of Malaya, but especially ethnic Chinese communities who suffered wholesale massacres at the hands of Japanese troops.

After the war, as elsewhere, Britain found it difficult to reassert control and was forced to undertake moves towards independence. The war and the immediate postwar situation pushed the states and colonies towards a federal union, which adopted a Westminster parliamentary system and a fixed-term monarch that rotated among the rulers of the various constituent states.

The independence of the Federation of Malaya (1957) and creation of Malaysia (1963) were heavily influenced by Cold War geopolitics. Britain was aided in its plan of gradual drawdown by the recklessness of the most militant independence activists and rebels, led by Communists, who repeatedly committed terrorist attacks that alienated the population and justified a continued British military presence. Although there was intercommunal strife and widespread anti-colonial sentiment, the handoff to independence in Malaya was relatively smooth and the country maintained closer ties with Britain than Burma or India, including as an anti-communist bulwark in Southeast Asia (the dominant political party of the independence era, the United Malays National Organization, was strongly supported by the British). Still, Malaysia's early history was defined by racial tensions, leading to the expulsion of Singapore only two years into the country's existence, and conflict with Indonesia.

Although in some ways quite similar to Singapore, Penang was not expelled from the union but lost some of its autonomy, most importantly having its free port status revoked by the federal government, and was deprioritized to develop other areas (especially Kuala Lumpur). Its economy has struggled to recapture its former dynamism, but in recent years George Town has returned to its open port legacy and attracted foreign investment, while the city's tourism industry has been buoyed by the historic urban center's designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2008 and the city's reputation as a gastronomic mecca.

Publication History and Census

This map was created from a Survey Department map with the sanction of the Chief Surveyor and published in the 1960 edition of the Straits Times Directory. Separate examples of the map are known to exist in the holdings of the National Library Board, Singapore, but it has no known market history.