One for Penang (My Favourite Place on Earth)

Most of my childhood revolves in the beautiful island of Penang. If someone asked me of my favourite place on earth, the answer wouldn’t be a hard one. Straight up, I will say, “Penang!”

Along with my answer, there will sometimes be some cynical remarks from the person who asked me the question. “There is nothing much there except the food, right?” or maybe something like “That island is a very filthy place nowadays” will come up. And usually against my better judgement, I will try to rectify them.

One thing that is oh-so-not-true about Penang is that the island is a very filthy place. It is true that Gurney Drive was once littered with rubbish. But the government had taken the initiative to clean up the place. Gurney Drive is now one of the most stylish places in Penang with one of the island’s largest shopping mall, Gurney Plaza, and numerous luxurious condominiums in its boundaries. To say that Penang is a filthy place is plain crap. Just because it is not as clean as Singapore, that doesn’t mean that the place is dirty.

It is true that Penang is famous for its various mouth-watering delicacies. Hokkien mee, char kuey teow, Assam laksa and popiahs have all became synonym to Penang. But honestly, there is so much more to Penang than food. In fact, I don’t think it is fair that Penang is labelled as a food heaven. This food heaven label further confused everyone to think that the only thing that makes Penang famous is its food. Of course, this gimmick would definitely attract all the glutton tourists. But it is surely not doing this island any justice by being labelled as a food heaven.

One of the things that I like about Penang is its old world’s charm. If you were to cruised along Armenian Street, you will find that you are transverse into an all thoroughly different place. Buildings that were preserved from the past lined along the street. Penang is one of those rare places in Malaysia where you can still see buildings from the past. There are also buildings that exude British colonial charm, for instance, the buildings that lie up Beach Street near Fort Cornwallis. Another thing about Penang is its people. Penangites respect the many different cultures and ethnics in the island. I will usually encounter a scene at a nasi kandar store where the shop owner converse in Hokkien with another customer. There is also a tree outside one of the oldest temple in Malaysia, Kuan Yin Teng, where there are three trees that symbolises the tree main races which grow together. This is sort of like an omen that Penang will flourish beautifully with all the races in it.

Penang is a truly remarkable place. I do hope that people won’t just regard it as a food heaven. On the other hand, I will like people to know Penang for its inner beauty, old world’s charm, people and culture. I am really ecstatic right now to be able to go back to Penang soon. Maybe I will add what that I forgot about Penang the next time I log into my blog.

P.S. I would love to know what you guys really think about Penang. So do send me a comment.