If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 476

 

 

 

 

Penang Skyline, Malaysia

This unused postcard with a photograph of the Penang skyline in Malaysia was distributed by S. Abdul Majeed & Co.  The number 100.208 is found at the lower left corner on the reverse.  The photographer’s name is not provided.

Penang is a state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia.  The state consists of two parts, Penang Island, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula.  The capital city of George Town is located on Penang Island.  The island and the peninsula are connected by two bridges.  Penang’s population was listed as 1,767 million in 2018.  It is known as the Silicon Valley of the East.  

The name Penang comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang which means in English, The Island of the Areca Nut Palm.  Seashells, pottery, hunting tools and other artifacts indicate that this area was inhabited 5,000 to 6,000 years ago.  In the 1770s the British East India Company formed trade relations in the Malay Peninsula.  In 1786 Francis Light negotiated a cession of the island to the Company in exchange for British military aid.  The island was then renamed the Prince of Wales Island.  Unfortunately, Light acted without authority and could not make good on the promise of military aid.  As a result, the British East India Company ended up settling with the Kedah Sultan by giving him an annual payment of 6,000 Spanish dollars.  

Light founded George Town as a free port with the aim of luring traders away from the nearby Dutch trading posts.  By 1826 Penang, Singapore, and Malacca were incorporated into the Straits Settlements with George Town as the capital.  Soon Singapore took prominence over Penang, even so, Penang retained importance as a port and was a major tin-exporting harbor.  Following World War II Penang merged with the Federation of Malaya, now Malaysia, which gained independence from the British in 1957.  Today Penang’s economy is primarily oriented to hi-tech manufacturing.

Francis Light was born in 1740 in England.  He had a career in the British Navy and was a colonial official who was respected by his British peers as a fair and honorable man.  He was admired for his achievements and was a skilled negotiator.  He cared for the welfare of the people and had rice sent to the people when the island was hit by a famine.  Light died in 1794 from malaria and is buried in George Town. 

For additional information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Light