Penang is a state in northwest Malaysia, latitute coordinates 5^o8'N - 5^o35'N and longtitude coordinates 100^o8'E - 100^o32'E. It consist of an island called Penang Island and a piece of land on the Peninsula Malaysia called Seberang Perai (Province Wellesley) that is separated by a channel. Penang is very near the equator, so it is a very hot and humid country but I find Penang dry except raining time.

According to Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute in Penang, Penang Island has a land area of about 293 km² and Seberang Perai has a land area of about 738 km². Therefore, Penang has a total land area of about 1031 km². Penang Island is at least 50% highland. Therefore, the build-up area in Penang Island is small and roads are not big.

According to Socio-Economic and Environmental Research Institute 2000 statistics, the population in Penang Island was about 614,300 and Seberang Perai was about 699,100 with a total of about 1.3 million. The population density of Penang Island was about 2,096.58 people per km² and Seberang Perai was 947.29 people per km². Bear in mind that Penang is a highland island and therefore the built-up density will be much higher. Out of this population, 45% of its population was of Chinese race, 40% was Malays, 10% was Indian race and the rest was of other races. Apart from this, there are many foreigners working in Penang especially as maid for women and in construction sector for men.

The majority of Chinese race people in Penang speak Hokkien. However, most people in Penang can understand and speak English. Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is its official language because Bahasa Malaysia / Melayu is Malaysia's national language.

Public transport in Penang is bad partly because there are few buses (low frequency) and narrow roads make movement slow. Sometimes, from Teluk Bahang to Bus Terminal Station at Weld Quay can take about 2 hours. So, people do not want to take public transport. Penang does not have many taxis and they usually wait at certain areas like shopping malls, near hotels and bus stations. Therefore, it can be difficult to get one if you are not near such places. Also, the taxi drivers do not want to go on meter and it seems that the government cannot / do not want to do anything about it. Penang Island already has one bridge called 'Penang Bridge' connecting the island to the mainland. However, the Malaysia government is too good and decided to give Penang a second bridge which connects the southern part of Penang and will cost Malaysia more than 4 billion Ringgit. Penang should expand its port to the south. Really do not understand them.

The Malaysia currency is called Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) or sometimes Malaysian called it Ringgit Malaysia (RM). The denominations in paper / plastic form are RM1, RM5, RM10, RM50 and RM100. The denomination of syilings are 1 sen, 5 sen, 10 sen, 20 sen and 50 sen. RM1 = 100 sen. Malaysia's central bank is called Bank Negara Malaysia and it has a branch in Penang along Light Street. So, if you need to ask regarding Malaysia currency visit Bank Negara Malaysia.

As for food, Penang or should I say Penang people pride themselves on their hawkers' food. Hawker food is the cheapest food you can find in Penang and you can get hawker stalls almost everywhere in Penang. Hawkers' food should cost between RM2.00 to RM3.50 unless you eat at food court in shopping malls.

Penang is more on manufacturing (in Southern Penang Island, Central and Southern Province Wellesley), tourism (beaches in Northern Penang Island) and medical sector of the northwest Malaysia. It is not much of an agricultural state except in northern Province Wellesley. Malaysia and Penang government say that Penang will be developed as a transportation hub. Huh, the airport is small, the port in Penang Island is so small but at least there is another one in Butterworth (northern Province Wellesley), the roads are narrow, and not much area to spend on roads. Yeahlah, reclaim land-lah.

Oh yes, one last thing, most Malaysian see/think of themselves according to their race first and then describe themselves as Malaysian. So, they call themselves Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indian. That is why 50 years after independance, they still have this identity issue/crisis that they always talk about even by the professors not only the politicians. I don't know why they don't know how to describe themselves. AIYA, what a shame. Maybe all of them are politically motivated because they say that they are treated unfairly. I call myself a chinese Malaysian (Malaysian of chinese race) and proud that enyone can still see that I am a 'chinese', maintaining anything 'chinese' that I want as provided in the Constitution. I know that China would definitely deport me out from China if I over-stayed in China so I cannot call myself a Chinese except to describe myself as chinese.