GOOD water management in Penang has had a long and interesting history since Sir Francis Light first commissioned the development of the first simple water supply and distribution system in the Settlement of Penang Island in 1804. “It was the first of its kind in the country and was able to cater for the need of the 10,000 odd population on the Island...

“Water was sourced from the waterfall in the Penang Botanic Garden and supplied via a long brick aqueduct to the town. Earthenware pipes were laid through the streets as distribution pipes to the individual houses.”  Read here. The reservoir of the Penang Waterfall was constructed in the gardens in 1892 by British engineer J MacRitchie. It was reconstructed in 1950.

ARGUABLY the largest Buddhist temple complex in Malaysia, the Kek Lok Si temple, which is also referred to as the “Temple of Supreme Bliss” or the “Pure Land Temple”, covers the expanse of a sloping, east-facing hillside at Air Itam, just to the west of the city of George Town.

REDISCOVERED in 1993 by Johari Shafie, a local Penangite, this World War II fortress has been transformed into a living war museum and was reopened to the public in 2002. Originally designed by Royal British Engineers in the 1930s in anticipation of the War, it was constructed by South Africans, Indians, Nepalese, prisoners-of-war and even locals. The museum is located on Bukit Maung (once known as Bukit Punjab) on the southeastern tip of Penang island.