PENANG is a given regional hub. It is located in such a way that it has acted as the cultural and economic centre for not only northern Malaysia but also southern Thailand, the northern Sumatran province of Aceh, and even the eastern seaboard of the Indian Ocean.

 

But how small Penang has become of late. This is clearly reflected in the identification of the Penangite himself. When Penang is mentioned today, people tend to think only of the island, and sometimes only of the city – George Town. Any consciousness of its regional situation is rare.

 

Penang has become insular, becoming only as big as the physical island in attitude and interest. To a large extent, we can put the blame on the nationalisation of consciousness over the last 50 years. But now when politics and economics are being regionalised, it is perhaps time for Penangites to denationalise their perception and start thinking in regional terms again, for that was how we began.

 

Penang has the chance today to adopt the role of establishing regional economic, political and socio-cultural links, promoting heritage conservation, preserving endangered human biodiversity, contributing to research, creating industries and enhancing education 

and health. In short, it can become a corridor of growth and co-prosperity.

 

But for this to happen, the habits of recent times have to be curbed, if not broken.

 

Insularity has saddled us with the attitude that Penang is somehow self-sufficient, especially culturally. For example, too much emphasis on English as the medium of communication gives the impression that Penang is an English debating society. The assumption that English suffices as the lingua franca in the daily life of Penang works against our young becoming multilingual in different combinations.

 

In our struggle to recognise diversity, perhaps the realisation that the northern Malay dialect is not the national language could also go a long way towards creating an inclusive society.

 

Even in Singapore, there is now a realisation that proficiency in Bahasa Indonesia is needed for business reasons (and also the business of missionary work).

 

Penang’s past can be an inspiration for our future cosmopolitanism, where people from many parts of the world can feel at home in Penang, where cultures and ethnicities can coexist peacefully.

 

It is narrated that shortly before the arrival of Francis Light, three Minangkabau ship captains (nakhoda) from Sumatra settled on Penang Island with the per-mission of the Sultan of Kedah. They arrived with their “Batak” followers. “Batak” is a generic term for people from the interior of Sumatra, uncivilised in the eyes of the coastal people and largely unconverted to the universal religions.

 

Well aware of his extensive business network in the region, Light wooed the merchant prince, Tengku Syed Hussain, to settle in Penang. This soon attracted Arabs and Acehnese to move into what is today the Acheen Street area, aka “Kampong Masjid Melayu”. In historic George Town, each community had its own captain or headman responsible for their respective community.

 

Over the years, people from various ethnic, cultural, linguistic and social backgrounds came in droves to Penang. The Siamese invasion of Kedah in 1821 contributed to the habitation of Seberang Prai (Province Wellesley), Balik Pulau and George Town. In the 19th century it was remarked that: “Its [Penang] inhabitants are composed of various Nations; amongst whom are counted, the British, Dutch, Portuguese, Armenians, Arabs, Parsees, Chinese, Chooliahs, Malays, Buggesses, Burmahs, Siamese, Javanese, etc, etc, etc.” 

 

So numerous were the nationalities that resided in Penang at the time that the author had to use “etc” three times.

 

The names of urban kampongs in George Town and its immediate environs indicate the diversity of its origin – Kampung Palembang, Kampung Deli, Kampung Kaka, Kampung Serani, Kampung Arab, etc, etc, etc.

 

A micro study of one of the Acheen Street and Armenian Street areas illustrates the cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism of Penang. A meeting place of Confucianism and Islam, the area was inhabited by the Chinese (especially Hokkiens and Cantonese), Indians (especially Tamils), Arabs and Sumatrans (namely Acehnese, Mandailing and Rawa [Rao]). It was a melting pot of sorts. Mosques, temples and clan houses still line the streets today.

 

Indeed one of the reasons George Town is listed as a World Heritage Site is precisely its living multi-culturalism and religious pluralism – as showcased by the Armenian Street and Acheen Street enclave. This is something substantive that Penang can build and expand on for its future.

 

No man is an island, and culturally, Penang is certainly not one. It cannot develop without the rest of Malaysia and the region in the ubiquitous “global village” where symbiotic relationships are for mutual benefit.  

** Republished with permission. This article first appeared in the October 2010 issue of the Penang Economic Monthly. Abdur-Razzaq Lubis is a writer and the Malaysia and Singapore representative to the Mandailing All Clans Assembly.

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