Thursday, May 17 2012
| Remember the city status of George Town |
| Monday, 01 March 2010 15:00 |
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By Goh Ban Lee.
ACCORDING TO the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, there are 12 cities in Malaysia. They are Alor Setar, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Malacca, Johore Bahru, Kuala Trengganu, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching North, Kuching South and Miri. George Town is not on the list. But George Town is a city. It has been one since Jan. 1, 1957, and there has been no official order retracting its city status. It is unfortunate that the ministry and, by extension, the federal government, have chosen to ignore a simple historical fact.As a general rule, whether a settlement is called a city or town has no practical significance or even reputational value. Although “city” is a formal term in Malaysia and only the King can elevate a town to a city on fulfilment of certain conditions, the elevation exercises have not been consistent. Being a city does not mean being bigger, better managed or cleaner than a town or a village. Having said that, it is now important to set the record straight regarding the status of George Town. Since 2007, part of the city, together with part of Malacca City, has been listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Historical facts have become more significant. The city status of George Town, a historical first in Malaysia, should be recognised and promoted. How can Malaysians, especially Penangites, be proud of the World Heritage inscription and at the same time ignore historical facts? A detailed record of the events related to the city status of George Town is in order. It all began with a handwritten note by Cunynham-Brown, then the George Town municipal president, to the municipal secretary-cum- treasurer S.V. Adams that read, “Isn’t it about time we become a City?” The note was dated July 19, 1954. While the officers were busy preparing documentation to petition the Queen of Britain, a motion calling for city status was made at the full council meeting on Aug 31, 1956. Part of it read: “…that the Council resolves to submit a Humble Petition to the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty-in-Council to grant to this Municipal Council a Royal Charter raising the status of the town of George Town to that of a City.” The motion was proposed by A.M. Abu Bakar, an elected councillor, and seconded by Lim Huck Aik, who was an appointed councillor. It was passed unanimously. Among the elected councillors were G.H. Goh, S.M. Mohd Idris, A. Balakrishnan and Nyak Hashim Nyak Puteh. The chairman of the meeting was, of course, Cunynham-Brown. A formal petition to the Queen was made in September 1956. Meanwhile, on Dec 1, 1956, for the first time in the history of the country, an election was carried out to elect all the councillors. On Dec 21, the London Gazette recorded the City Status of George Town. The official City Day was Jan 1, 1957, this being the date of the centenary of the birth of the Municipality of George Town after the Municipal Act XXVIII of 1856. The ceremony to hand over the Letter of Patent by Queen Elizabeth II of Britain was officiated by the British High Commissioner, Sir Donald MacGillivary. Relating the role of George Town as “the seed-bed for the first planting of democracy and modern progress through-out Malaya”, MacGillivary said, “This Town and this Island may take credit for giving the original impetus to the progress made, over the short span of 82 years, towards the great goal of independent Government which we confidently expect will be achieved this very year of which we today stand upon the threshold.” He continued, “It is a matter of great joy to us all to see that George Town, with its fine motto of ‘Leading We Serve’, is still in the vanguard of progress not only by being the first local government throughout this country to elect its own President and its own Council, but also by being the first Municipality in Malaya to be elevated to the status of City. Penang continues to lead.” (Straits Echoand Times of Malaya, Jan 3, 1957) Among those present at the ceremony were the Sultan of Pahang, the Sultan of Perak, Ong Yoke Lin (then the Minister of Transport), Mohd Khir Johari (then Assistant Minister of Commerce and Industry) and Sardon Haji Jubir (then Minister of Works, Post and Telecommunications). Sardon was to become the Governor of Penang. Also present were Wong Pow Nee, who was to become the first Chief Minister of Penang and Dr Lim Chong Eu, who also served as Chief Minister from 1969 to 1990. On Jan 2, the 15 elected councillors took their oath of office. In the election of the president of the council, G.H. Goh of the Alliance, made up of Umno, MCA and MIC, beat D.S. Ramanathan of the Labour Party by one vote. Although Goh was addressed as “mayor” he was officially the president of the council since the Constitution of George Town was amended to provide for the position of mayor in December 1957. By then the Labour Party had commanded the majority and Ramanathan was officially elected the first mayor of George Town. Unfortunately, the glory days of the George Town City Council did not last long. The local government election scheduled in 1965 was suspended, and the tenure of the councillors extended. The reasons given by the Alliance federal government was the “Confrontation” with Indonesia. In 1966, the days of elected mayor and councillors came to an end. The administration of the city was taken over by the Chief Minister, Wong Pow Nee, to facilitate the workings of the Commission of Inquiry to enquire into the affairs of the City Council of George Town, from Dec 31, 1958, up to June 30, 1966. The commission, chaired by Justice Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohd Zain, found that although there were cases of maladministration, there were no specific instances of corruption. In 1973, Parliament passed the Local Government (Temporary Provisions) Act. Consequently, the Penang State Government under the leadership of Lim Chong Eu decided to merge the City Council of George Town and the Rural District Council of Penang Island into one local authority. On July 1, 1974, the Lembaga Pengurus Kerajaan Tempatan Pulau Pinang (Penang Island Local Government Management Board) came into being. However, it is important to note that Clause 3 of the Local Government (Merger of the City Council of George Town and the Rural District Council of Penang Island) Order, 1974, clearly states that “The status of the City of George Town as a city shall continue to be preserved and maintained and shall remain unimpaired by the merger hereby effected” (emphasis added). As such, although the administrative body that used to govern George Town was disbanded, there was no change in the city status. It is bad enough that the Ministry of Housing and Local Government is not aware of the content of the 1974 Order to merge the two local councils in Penang Island. It would however amount to negligence of duty if Penang government leaders today do not fight to maintain the city status of George Town. Lately, after agitation by local opinion builders, the state government and the leadership of the Penang Island Municipal Council have begun to take note of this issue. Unfortunately, there are now calls for the Penang Island municipality to be elevated to a city. While there is no doubt that the island satisfies all the requirements to be declared a city, it will be a waste of time for the officers who are already hard-pressed keeping the island liveable to have to deal with this request. It will also cost the municipal council a large amount of money not only in the celebrations but also in changing signboards and stationery. What is needed is merely this – just let us all recognise and treat George Town, and talk about George Town, as a city. The time and energy of the officers and councillors and taxpayer monies will be better spent on the big challenges facing the island: cleanliness, open spaces, parking, pedestrian facilities, accessibility to scenic areas, development control and most importantly, safety. Goh Ban Lee is a senior research fellow at the Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI). ** Reproduced with permission. This article first appeared in the February 2010 issue of the Penang Economic Monthly. This 11-year old magazine published by the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI) is being overhauled and commercialised. This endeavour is in response to the growing insight among Penangites and Penang lovers that the downward trend in the state's fortunes cannot be succesfully reversed unless they themselves get seriously involved. The goal is to inspire positive action among readers towards attaining a "Penang Renaissance". Comments (0)
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George Town is a city. That has been a fact since Jan 1, 1957.It does not matter that this has been forgotten or ignored by officialdom. To save money and time, all that needs to be done now is for Penang’s government and people to acknowledge that fact in action and words. 
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