Why are so many Malaysians from Penang settling in Hong Kong?

When Cheah Cheng Hye left his hometown of Penang in northern Malaysia in 1974 for a higher paying job with The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong, his plan was to stay a few years until he saved enough money to buy his family a house. Unable to afford a flight, Cheah – 20 at the time – travelled to Hong […]

Penang’s Youth Park: Malaysia’s First Adventure Playground

One Monday morning in June 1970, Dr Lim Chong Eu, then Chief Minister of Penang, marched into his office at the top floor of the Tuanku Syed Putra Building in Downing Street, George Town. As usual, he had a newspaper under his arm and a few files in his hand, followed by his “office boy”, […]

History Behind Penang’s Popular Ferry Service

PULAU Talang Talang sedia untuk berlepas (Pulau Talang Talang is ready to depart),” the voice booms over the public announcement system. This is quickly followed by two short blasts of the ship’s horn. Almost immediately, the entire vessel starts to shudder as its powerful engines below deck effortlessly nudge the submerged propellers to life. Fortunate […]

Malaysia, Thailand make top 10 in global retirement survey

Retirement is one of the major motivating factors for Chinese buyers who decide to purchase property overseas, so news that two Southeast Asian nations have been included in an annual top ten list of the best places in the world to retire should be seen as welcome news. Property developers and real estate agencies in Malaysia, which […]

Georgetown’s Central Park in historic Sia Boey

GEORGE TOWN, March 10 — Located on the boundary of George Town and the buffer zone of the Unesco world heritage site, Sia Boey is poised to be the city’s very own Central Park. The former busy marketplace, which was vacated back in 2004, will soon be transformed into a RM5 million urban park surrounded […]

Batu Kawan Rising

After years of meticulous planning, deal making and construction, Batu Kawan will dramatically change with major establishments opening their doors in the coming months. From IKEA and neighbouring commercial centre Vervea to the completion and launching of residential properties in Utropolis and Eco Horizon, Penang’s third satellite city, after Bayan Baru and Seberang Jaya, is […]