Words by Rachel Yeoh. Photos courtesy of Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Foundation.

A PARTICULAR INTEREST shown to visiting delegates of the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) to Adelaide by the then Premier of South Australia, Don Dunstan, in 1972 could have been the catalyst for Adelaide’s sister-city relationship with George Town today. After the initial introduction to the heritage and culture of Penang, Dunstan paid Penang a visit, only to discover the father-son link between the two cities: Captain Francis Light set up a settlement in Penang and founded George Town, while his son, Colonel William Light was one of the founders and the celebrated surveyor-general of Adelaide.

On 19 February 1973, Dunstan sent a proposal for establishing a sister-city relationship with George Town. On 8 December 1973, the sister-city pact was signed, and for several years thereafter, Penang Week was held in Adelaide, introducing the state’s unique heritage, arts, culture and food to the people of Adelaide.

Penang Monthly presents several photographs courtesy of the Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Foundation, taken during 1977’s North Malaysia Week [1], also known as Penang Week in Adelaide.

Footnotes

[1] Penang Week in Adelaide started in 1975. Its success encouraged the Penang state government to plan something larger, involving the northern states of Penang; hence, the 1977 Penang Week was named North Malaysia Week. Penang Week continued to be celebrated a few times a decade until the 1990s.

[2] https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/silat-01504