Penang welcomes British Helicopter Carrier.

History was made in Penang when Royal Navy helicopter carrier - HMS Ocean -L12, anchored in the Pearl of Orient for the first time on June 18, 2009.

The Penang stopover is a welcome respite for Her Majesty ship and her thousand plus crew who have just returned from a tropical war game at their favorite army camp in Brunei.

Needless to say, the arrival of the HMS Ocean brought much excitement to the otherwise mundane ferry terminal in Butterworth. However, the sight of the warship gets more profound if one could grab the opportunity to view it from the iconic ferries plying across the narrow Penang Strait.

It is from the ferry, one can appreciate the full scale of the carrier. The 208 meter long floating airfield dwarfs over everything nearby at the wharf.

However, all eyes are quickly drawn to the Sea Kings and Chinooks on board the Amphibious Assault Ship.

Another spectacular feature of the warship is the cutting edge military hardware packed with awesome firepower. The most noticeable lot is the Phalanx CIWS - the state-of-the-art anti ship missile system positioned at the HMS Ocean’s bow and helm. I saw only two Phalanx units on board although Wikipedia notes there are three.

The ship is currently on a month long journey back to their home base in Plymouth.

Quite expectedly, the arrival of the British warship captured the headlines in the local press. The Penang based Chinese daily Kwong Wah Yit Poh ran a special feature on the event (June 18, 2009 edition; see attached photo) and the news also went national on Starmetro (Warship docks in Butterworth, June 25, 2009)

Bring Back The Trams To Penang

Article from - The Sun -June 4, 2008
Diana Chin mailto:Chinnewsdesk@thesundaily.com

GEORGE TOWN (June 4) : Citizens groups in Penang have initiated a lobby to have the billion-ringgit monorail project replaced with a tram system in the state. The movement stems from an increasingly popular notion that the monorail is far too costly and would bring about adverse effects to the heritage streets and green landscape of Penang.

'Penangites for Tram' campaign coordinator Anil Netto explained that investment required for developing a tram network would be much lower than for constructing the monorail.
"The tram is a more substantial choice as we can revive the system based on already existing old tram lines that Penang used to have, thereby eliminating excessive additional costs," he said.
Netto said trams would blend in with George Town’s heritage and greenery, while the monorail would obstruct views of buildings and mar the attractiveness of the island.

He said a good tram system would also encourage people not to drive private vehicles within the town area, allowing them to save following the increase in fuel charges.
"If we give the people a better alternative in public transport, there will be less traffic congestion and more parking spaces in town," he said.

As the roads of Penang are narrow, they suited the concept of the trams, he added. The campaign is currently being supported by 25 bloggers and websites.

Heritage writer Khoo Salma Nasution noted that the Penang Island Municipal Council was the first local government to introduce electric trams in the inner city in the early part of the last century.

"People think the tram is a thing of the past, but they are wrong because it is actually the thing of the future," she said. "It is clean, energy saving and user-friendly not to mention fast, efficient and also cheap." She said the tram could provide an iconic identity for Penang and help revitalise the heritage of the inner city.

Khoo, who published a book titled ‘Penang Trams, Trolleybuses & Railways: Municipal Transport History 1880s-1963’,said trams could also help traffic calming in Penang’s roads.
Aliran and Penang Heritage Trust activist Ahmad Chik said the campaign is calling for a traffic master plan for Penang that would include feasibility studies for trams as compared to monorails and underground transit systems.