Voted as one of Asia's most liveable cities, Penang is fast becoming a destination of choice to live and invest in. Its distinct personality - a bustling metropolis where the old exists in perfect harmony with the new, a place steeped in history and tradition - has been a catalyst for its progress and development in recent years. Elaine Lau examines the allure of the Pearl of the Orient.
 THROUGHOUT the centuries, Penang has been known by different names: Pulo Pinaom, Prince of Wales Island, Isle of the Areca Palm. But none encapsulates the essence of the island more aptly than the name the British colonials gave it: Pearl of the Orient.
The charming moniker referred as much to the lustre of the island's picturesque beauty as it did to its strategic location for seafarers and traders. Long before Sir Francis Light of British East India Co established Penang as the first trading post in the Far East in 1786, Penang was already a well-established port of call for sailors from Arabia, China, Europe and India.
With the arrival of the British, Penang soon rose to prominence and became one of Asia's foremost ports, trading rubber, nutmeg, clove, sugar, coconut and pepper. Along with the goods and prosperity came people from Europe, China and India, many of whom, seeing the bountiful opportunities that this new land offered, decided to settle down here.
Through the years, Penang has continued to attract foreigners looking to make their nest in an idyllic location or to invest. The establishment of the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in the 1970s by the second chief minister of Penang, the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, saw a large number of multinational corporations setting up shop here, earning it the moniker of "Silicon Valley of Malaysia".
Penang enjoys a solid reputation overseas not only as a world-class tourist destination, but also as a highly liveable city with one of the best standards of living in Malaysia. It is one of the top destinations for foreigners coming to live in the country through the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme, after Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. In 2010, ECA International, the world's leader in the development and provision of solutions for the management and assignment of employees around the world, ranked George Town as the eighth most liveable city in Asia, and 62nd globally (in 2007, it was 10th and 74th respectively). The 2010 rankings placed George Town on a par with Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.
Penang's appeal
 So, what is it that makes Penang such a great place to live, work and play? What is it that attracts people - not just locals returning to the island but also foreigners from the world over - to come and reside here? For one, it is so easy to be seduced by the romance of the place and the leisurely island life here, as anyone who has visited can attest to. Penang, in particular the Batu Ferringhi area, is a haven for sunseekers and beach lovers, and also nature enthusiasts, surrounded as it is by rolling hills and lush greenery.
But what strikes you most of all is the distinct personality that Penang has, a bustling metropolis with the old George Town existing in perfect harmony with the new - a place full of history and tradition yet sparkling with progress and modernity.
George Town's rich historical heritage lies in both its buildings and culture - this trading town was forged as much from mercantile exchanges as it was from an exchange of Malay, Chinese, Indian and European cultures. It boasts a truly unique historical, architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia, and it is for this reason that George Town was recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage City in 2008 (as was Melaka).
 George Town's rich amalgamation of cultural and architectural influences can be seen in the shophouses, Chinese clan houses (kongsi), places of worship and colonial structures. More than that, when you walk down the streets that are steeped in history, you'll encounter a vibrant, living town with people young and old residing here, new businesses (boutique hotels, F&B outlets, galleries and shops) that have sprung up, and also men and women perpetuating ancient crafts such as Chinese signboard engraving, joss sticks or songkok making, and traditional goldsmithing, to name but a few. In other words, it's not a museum like preservation site, but very much a thriving, living, bustling city.
For these reasons and more, people are drawn to Penang. "When I first came here two years ago, I walked for hours and hours and thought, 'This is kind of edgy'," says Ann Marshall, who along with husband Greg, set up their retirement home in Penang last August. "There are civilised places where you can be very upscale should you choose, but also little, local mom and pop shops, and that makes it very attractive. And all of it within a small radius, so you're not driving for hours, like in KL. Although we liked KL very much, there was absolutely no choice - it was Penang. We're also interested in historic preservation, and it certainly has that here. And there's the botanical garden, plus very good food."
 Former Hong Kong child star Fung Bo Bo, known at one time as the Shirley Temple of the east, chose Penang to write her memoirs, in a place that "overlooks the blue sea". "I love Penang because there's so much history here and the architecture is beautifully influenced by many cultures - it's all very romantic," she was quoted as saying last year. "When I write my memoirs, I want to be inspired in a quiet place and I think I've found it here." Indeed, Penang seems to be a place that inspires and engenders creative endeavours. Alison Fraser, one of the proprietors of Straits Collection Penang, calls it "an energy". "It's almost tangible," she says. "If you have any form of creativeness about you, somewhere like this, it draws you. Coming into George Town for me has been an opportunity to feel this energy that is here, and to tag onto it and be a part of it, and contribute to it. You go to cafés and you always hear people talking about what they are doing ..."
 This last point is one of the aspects that artist and designer Rebecca Duckett- Wilkinson resonates with. "The whole thing about George Town," she says, "is when you wake up in the morning, you don't quite know what's going to happen - there's something happening every day. I went for a hike up the hill on New Year's morning and I parked near the Indian temple, and there are parades of people walking, going up to the temple. So you can go somewhere and suddenly find a procession happening, even things that are not so happy like funerals - there's this whole ceremony taking place. That to me is the thing that is really special here. On any given day, you can walk around somewhere randomly and something's happening. There's a real living kind of spirit here ... it's like people do it not deliberately; it's just part of their lives. That's what makes it so special - that intangible, which nobody understands.
I love it; it's great."
Businessman, performing arts practitioner and activist Joe Rosli Sidek describes it as, "Penang has got a heart and soul, which is in the centre of George Town - it is raw, interesting, energised, gentrifi ed and real." He continues, "Penang will be the place for change - spiritually, politically, creatively ... Here's a place where people can put in ideas, can feel, can show and make changes without restrictions ... It is quite unlike any place else in Malaysia. Penang is a place with a non-political, non-biased way of living together, working together and producing things together and on a very clear canvas. For instance, I've done shows for a Chinese temple and I'm Muslim. I proposed sacred music for a church last year and no one batted an eyelid. You think if I did that anywhere else I wouldn't be stoned?"
To be sure, Penang is a fertile ground for the arts and for investment and development by the locals, Penangites who have returned from elsewhere, and foreigners. On the one hand you have individuals, organisations and corporations spearheading the restoration of heritage buildings and injecting new life into them with creative uses of the spaces, but on the other, companies are pouring money into transforming the island's landscape via new property developments.
** Republished with permission. This article first appeared in a special focus on Penang in the Options section of The Edge of January 24, 2011.
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