THE Penang Island City Council (MBPP) will host a George Town-Adelaide open day on Saturday to mark the 50th sister-city anniversary of both metropolitan sites whose legacies are intertwined by the Light family.
Mayor and MBPP president Datuk A. Rajendran shared the plans to hold the open day where every resident in George Town who can recall experiences and have mementos including photographs of the sister-city are urged to attend the event.
They are encouraged to bring along such items for the council to record.
The proceedings will be held at the City Hall near Esplanade from 9am until noon.
George Town through MBPP also has similar ties with Medan (Indonesia) and Xiamen (China).
“We hope to encourage all residents with such novelty items to come for the open day where they can share their version of how the sister-city ties had impacted their lives and provided them an unforgettable experience,” Rajendran told the media.
The council is also particularly searching for photographs, postcards, videos, and posters that depict sister-city celebrations in the past, in both cities.
Rajendran said the sister-city celebration which begins on December 8, for one year, is also an occasion for Penang to explore boosting ties in the education, trade, tourism, sustainable living and manufacturing areas.
“The economies of both cities can mutually benefit, while also echoing the friendships ties that have endured various challenges.”
The event is also extended to Penang folk living in Adelaide and the expatriates in Penang, who can either attend in person or monitor via social media and as well as the MBPP portal.
They are welcome to contact MBPP if they wish to share their own experiences and items related to the ties.
The ties have impacted many Penang personalities such as civil society activist Datuk Anwar Fazal, who can recall the various initiatives done by both cities, and media practitioner Kee Thuan Chye, who was part of a recent state delegation to Adelaide.
Rajendran also announced that Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow is expected to lead a delegation to Adelaide next month to mark the start of the anniversary celebrations.
Historic love stories
Adelaide-based politician Frank Pangello said that the city is also evolving, seeking to improve its trade volume. He said it is serious about tapping the potential of the aerospace while also providing educational opportunities in such field of studies.
Although divided by land and sea mass some 5,900km away, it did not deter Colonel William Light, the eldest son of English captain Francis Light, who pioneered George Town in 1786, to found Adelaide around 50 years later.
On December 8, 1973, Penang signed a sister-city pact with Adelaide, the capital of the South Australia.
There have been many celebrations of the event since and more so this year, as both cities marked their 50th anniversary of the pact to promote closer ties.
However, what is less known, was that the sister-city pact was driven by two love tales.
Such telling accounts provide a value-added dimension to the definition of a sister city.
Light shared a relationship with live-in partner Martina Rozells whom he is said to have met in Phuket, Thailand.
And the couple’s eldest son, William, went on to become the first surveyor-general of Adelaide after locating the place.
Love story number two happened some 180 years later.
The then premier of South Australia Don Dunstan, who died in 1999, lobbied the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, Penang’s second chief minister, to pursue a sister-city status on account of the Light legacies in both cities.
Dunstan’s girlfriend, Adele Koh, who he married eventually, was born in Penang. She was apparently instrumental in lobbying both cities to have such ties.
Koh was a journalist who had worked in Singapore before she found herself working in Dunstan’s office as a research executive. She died in 1976 to cancer. – The Vibes, November 22, 2023.
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