Penang “The Pearl Of the Orient” is the most culturally diverse East Asia holiday destination of choice today.

The 285-square-km island of Penang, off Peninsula Malaysia's north-western coast, is the oldest British settlement in Malaysia and one of the country's premier resort areas.

It was in the 16^th century that the Portuguese first discovered the island of Penang. They named it Pulo Pinaom.

In the 17^th century, the island became a popular hideout for pirates who initiated raids on passing ships from her hidden harbours.

Francis Light established Penang in 1786 as the first British trading post in the Far East.

The island was originally named Prince of Wales Island and the settlement that soon grew up was named Georgetown after King George III.

By 1800, Light had also managed to negotiate for a strip of land next to the island. The place was named Province Wellesley, after the Governor of India, and is now the present Seberang Prai.

The Straits Settlement was formed in 1832, comprising of Malacca, Singapore and Penang, which becomes the capital.

The Straits Settlements of Penang, Malacca and Singapore become 1867 British Crown Colonies.

In the year of 1941 (World War II) on 8^th December, the Japanese invasion of Malaya began. The Malayan Peninsula was taken in just three weeks. Penang was bombed, and the British flee the island to the 'impregnable fortress', Singapore.

For more than a hundred years, it remained under British Colonial rule until 1957 when it gained independence and became one of the states of the newly formed Federation of Malaya and later Malaysia in 1963.

Since 1985, the Penang Bridge, one of the longest bridges in the world, joins the island to the mainland. Alternatively, travellers arriving from the mainland can hop onto the ferry and take a 20-minute ride across. There are also international flights that connect directly to the international airport on the island.

Though Penang today is a modern metropolis, the island still reeks pungently of yesteryears through the narrow streets and gloomy corridors of Colonial-style structures and Chinese kongsi quarters.

What makes Penang Island really tick is the vibrant and intriguing city of Georgetown with a population of 400,000, on the island's north-eastern coast. This city has more Chinese flavour than either Singapore or Hong Kong, and in its older neighbourhoods you could be forgiven for thinking that the clock stopped at least 50 years ago.