Through Turbulent Terrain: Trade of the Straits Port of Penang

Through Turbulent Terrain: Trade of The Straits Port of Penang presents the story of Penang navigating a tough environment in space and time from its beginning, in 1786, as an east India company port in the northern straits of melaka. Penang earned its stripes—rising to become the Straits Settlements capital in 1826 and a commercial centre in Southeast Asia’s north-west littoral—despite little support from higher authorities in India and London. Penang also had to contend with Dutch machinations in Sumatra—the Dutch increased port duties even after the Treaty of London 1824 which guaranteed free trade, effectively preventing Penang from trading there. Additionally, the shift of the Straits Settlements’ capital to Singapore in 1832 saw Penang’s many proposals constantly blocked. Contrary to the conventional view that Penang was by-passed by Singapore after 1819, Penang held her own, continued her entrepot trade up to the post-independence period, also serving as the conduit for the Malayan Peninsula’s tin and rubber from the turn of the twentieth century.