No need to rename George Town, Penang exco says

There is no need to rename George Town to Tanjung Penaga, as proposed by PAS’ Permatang Pauh MP Muhammad Fawwaz Mohamad Jan yesterday.

Penang executive councillor for Tourism and Creative Economy Wong Hon Wai pointed out that “Tanjong” was already a parliamentary constituency in the state.

“Therefore, there are no issues or problems arising concerning the name of the place.

“In addition, I would like to emphasise that George Town was gazetted as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) on July 7, 2008.

“This international recognition confirms George Town’s position as a leading tourist destination in Malaysia that attracts visitors from all around the world,” the DAP lawmaker said in a statement today.

Muhammad Fawwaz, who is also the Penang PAS information chief, made the proposal yesterday when commenting on the exclusion of Malay culture in the promotional video for the George Town Festival (GTF) 2024.

“Is this another agenda planned to portray Penang as owned by certain races?

“Do the relevant parties want to deny the existence of the original Penang people who settled in Penang before Francis Light’s colonisation?” he asked in a statement yesterday.

Regarding the name change to Tanjung Penaga, Muhammad Fawwaz urged the Penang state government to do it for the sake of the Malaysian identity, instead of aping what colonisers left behind.

George Town was named in honour of King George III, the ruler of Great Britain and Ireland between 1760 and 1820. Prior to the arrival of the British, the area was known as Tanjung Penaga, due to the abundance of penaga laut trees (Calophyllum inophyllum) found at the cape (tanjung) of the city.

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