Penang on the Local Stage

Penang on the Local Stage tells a story of how the island survived and prospered against the odds. In 1786, the island of Penang was a Kedah backwater. Without a person like Francis Light to pluck it from slumber, it would never amount to much.

The island does harbor pockets of fishing community in the mangrove estuaries. Pirates are said to find the island a good hideaway. On the northern coast, a shrine had already been built by early Chinese settlers in what became known as Tanjung Tokong.

Francis Light came on the scene as an opportunist. He appeared on the scene when Kedah was weak, and the sultan reluctantly turned over the island in returned for military assistance that didn't materialise. He beat the odds in founding Penang, having to clear the forest while keeping disease and enemies at bay. While he managed to fend off an angry Sultan of Kedah, he could not beat malaria, and succumbed to the disease a mere eight years after founding Penang.

The British East India Company didn't pay much attention to Francis Light - or his appeals for funds - until the island was in their own hands. Then world activities propelled them to pay close attention to the island, even promoting it to Presidency. Alas, it was an opportunity gained, and lost.

At the time when Penang was raised to Presidency, it had nothing much of value. And as a result, it was not a profitable port, a realisation that propelled the British, through the shrewd Stamford Raffles to established a superior port in Singapore. The latter quickly surpassed Penang in revenue, and has never looked back since.

Prosperity for Penang came later in the 18th century, when rich tin ore was discovered in the area in northern Perak, which enabled the Chinese (and European) investors to send miners to the area. This resulted in the prosperity that had eluded Francis Light.