What's in a Name?: The Many Lives of Penang's Roads
By Liani MK
February 2025 FEATURE
FOR ANY VISITOR, George Town’s colonial footprint is easily evident in the names of roads, named after European administrators, merchants and notable personalities during the British colonial period. Light Street, for example, was named after Francis Light, Penang’s first superintendent, who had named this street after himself in 1786 after clearing a forested land that would later form Penang’s Esplanade.While such British names may point to the island’s colonial beginnings, oftentimes they also signify a biased retelling of the history...
Liani MK
is an independent writer, journalist and artist whose works span areas of language, film, culture, indigeneity and migration in Southeast Asia.
