Tanjong Pinang is a suburb within the city of George Town in the Malaysian state of

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. It lies northwest of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

and was created on land reclaimed off

Tanjong Tokong Tanjong Tokong is a suburb of George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. It is located at the northeastern coast of Penang Island, northwest of the city centre. The suburb is bordered by Tanjong Bungah to the west and Tanjong Pinang to the ...

in the 1990s. The suburb also encompasses Gurney Bay and the ongoing reclamation project of Andaman Island.

History

View of Tanjong Pinang from Penang Hill 2024

Tanjong Pinang, originally known as ''Seri Tanjong Pinang'', was first mooted in the 1980s, during the tenure of the then

Chief Minister of Penang The chief minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the chief minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The ch ...

Lim Chong Eu Lim Chong Eu (; 28 May 1919 – 24 November 2010) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 2nd Chief Minister of Penang from May 1969 to October 1990 and the longest serving Chief Minister of Penang. He was also the founding president of ...

. The project is split into two phases, with land reclamation for Phase 1 commencing in the 1990s. However, the land reclamation was put on hold following the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

. Having acquired the site in 2003, Eastern & Oriental Berhad resumed the development of the first phase. In spite of the increasing costs, the Seri Tanjong Pinang Phase 1 was completed by 2005. The second phase of the Seri Tanjong Pinang project began in 2016, involving the reclamation of of land. Simultaneously, work began on the reclamation of Gurney Bay, which was partially opened to public by 2024. In 2019, the first phase of the Andaman Island reclamation was completed. The man-made islet was envisioned as a mixed-use precinct with a gross development value of RM17 billion.

Geography

Demographics

, Tanjong Pinang was home to a population of 11,970. Ethnic Chinese constituted nearly half of the suburb's population, while Malays formed another one-fifth of the population. Tanjong Pinang attracted a sizable expatriate community, which constituted over 18% of the population, followed by the

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

at 6%.

Education

In 2022,

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

located in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, established a sister school at Tanjong Pinang. The school offers a British educational curriculum for students aged three to 18.

Retail

Straits Quay Straits Quay Retail Marina is a shopping mall-cum-marina within George Town in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located at Tanjong Pinang, it was opened in 2010 and includes a marina designed for small recreational vessels, as well as a conven ...

, a marina-cum-shopping mall within the suburb, was completed in 2010. Aside from containing over 100 retail lots, the marina consists of 40 pontoon berths designed to accommodate small recreational boats. The mall also houses the Performing Arts Centre of Penang (Penangpac) and a convention centre. In addition, a

Lotus's Lotus's (formerly known as Lotus Supercenter, Tesco Lotus Supercenter and Tesco Lotus) is a retail chain in Thailand founded and operated by Charoen Pokphand (CP) Group, with operations in Malaysia following the acquisition of Tesco internationa ...

(formerly

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

) hypermarket was launched at the suburb in 2011, making it the third such hypermarket in George Town.

References