Healthcare
Healthcare in Penang is provided by public as well as private hospitals. The healthcare system in Penang is generally considered to be good, and the public healthcare system first established by the colonial authorities was supplemented by healthcare provided by local Chinese charities, and Christian missionaries such as Roman Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist missionary groups. Hospices are also increasingly becoming the choice for long-term and terminal care.
Public Hospitals
Penang Island
Penang General Hospital (main)
Balik Pulau Hospital
Province Wellesley
Seberang Jaya Hospital (main)
Bukit Mertajam Hospital
Sungai Bakap Hospital
Kepala Batas Hospital
Private Hospitals
Island Hospital
Gleneagles Medical Centre
Pantai Mutiara Hospital
Loh Guan Lye Specialist Centre
Lam Wah Ee Hospital
Penang Adventist Hospital
Tanjung Medical Centre
Mt Miriam Hospital
Srigim Medical Centre
In addition to public hospitals are numerous smaller community clinics. Private hospitals supplement the system with better facilities and equipments. These hospitals cater not only to the local population but also to people from other states and health tourists from neighbouring countries. Patients from the Indonesian city of Medan across the Straits regularly visit these hospitals for quality treatment, and because the cost is less than in places like Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Penang is, therefore, actively promoting health tourism.
Transportation
Getting to Penang both from within and outside Malaysia is easy as Penang is well-connected by road, rail, sea and air.
Bridge, roads and highways
The 13.5 km long Penang Bridge
Penang Island is connected to the mainland by the 13.5-kilometre Penang Bridge (completed in 1985), one of the longest bridges in Asia. On March 31, 2006, the Malaysian Government announced a second bridge project, tentatively named the Penang Second Bridge, to be built under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.
Penang on the side of Province Wellesley is connected to the North-South Expressway (Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan), the 966-km long expressway which traverses the western part of Peninsular Malaysia linking major cities and towns. The expressway also incorporates the Penang Bridge.
The controversial Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) is now under way. The idea of the project is to cut travelling time on the eastern part of the island. Concerned citizens voiced protests over the designated route which will cut across quiet residential areas and also cause some environmental damage. Another expressway, the Jelutong Expressway has reduced travelling time from the Penang Bridge to the city centre by half.
The Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) is a 14-km tolled expressway that serves primarily Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam to ameliorate the upsurge in vehicular traffic due to intense urban and industrial development.
Unfortunately, modern transportation has also brought the problem of traffic congestion to the roads of Penang, as most of the roads in the city centre are narrow, due to lack of proper planning and also primarily because these lanes and alleys were built so long ago. Many of them have since been converted into one-way streets in order to smoothen traffic flow. Roads in the city outskirts and in Province Wellesley, however, are broad and modern because these areas were more recently populated and thus could anticipate heavier traffic. As traffic congestion worsen by the year, the government desperately needs to come up with a comprehensive solution to the erratic public transportation problem.
Public transport
Buses and taxis in George Town
Penang boasted an efficient public transport network right up to the 1970s. Electric trams, trolleybuses and double deckers used to ply the streets of Penang. The Penang Hill Funicular Railway was an engineering feat of sorts when it was completed in 1923.
The Penang bus services today are generally unsystematic and do not have a reputation of reliability. Therefore, the usage of public transportation is still low, exacerbating the traffic jams in the city during rush hours. The city council has, however, provided free shuttle bus services for short intra-city travel to lessen the congestion, with mixed success. In April 2006, the local authorities announced a revamp of the public bus service to bring about a more reliable and efficient network without any visible progress.
There are two main bus terminals for express buses which travel out of the state. One is located at the ferry terminal in Province Wellesley, and a newer one at Sungai Nibong on the island.
Taxis in Penang have not conformed to the meter system as exhorted by the federal authorities, citing unprofitability. A new ruling implemented on August 1, 2006 makes it compulsory for taxis to use the meter system. This has caused many taxi drivers to go on strike or "sick leave". Although taxi drivers have been repeatedly warned by the state government, the meter system are still not used by taxi drivers in Penang.
A quaint mode of transportation, the three-wheeled trishaw, still operates in certain parts of George Town. However, with the advent of modern transportation, the trishaw has increasingly become a mere tourist attraction.
[edit] Rail and monorail
Penang has 34.9 km of rail track within its border[5]. Butterworth is serviced by the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) or Malayan Railway West Coast line which runs from Padang Besar on the Malaysia-Thailand Border in Perlis to Singapore. Senandung Malam is the daily night express running from Kuala Lumpur to Haadyai via Butterworth. Trains are not a popular mode of transportation due to their low speed and also because of the availability of buses which are more convenient, as well as high ownership of cars.
Penang has had a monorail under consideration since 1999. The Penang Monorail project was finally approved on March 31, 2006 under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. On August 2, 2006, the federal government has decided to build the monorail transit system in the city of George Town. This monorail line will connect Tanjung Tokong in the north with Bayan Lepas in the south.
Airport
Penang International Airport (PEN) is located in Bayan Lepas in the south of the island, and international flights are available to London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Medan, Taipei, Bangkok, Bangalore, Seoul, Riau, Xiamen and Guangzhou. The airport serves as the northern gateway to Malaysia.
In 2005, the airport handled 2.83 million passengers, both domestic and international, and 22.22 million metric tonne of cargo from within and outside the country[6].
Ferry and seaports
A Penang ferry docking at the Butterworth jetty
Cross-channel ferry services, provided by the Penang Ferry Service, connect George Town and Butterworth, and were the only link between the island and the mainland until the bridge was built in 1985. High-speed ferries to the resort island of Langkawi, Kedah in the north as well as to Medan, Indonesia are also available daily.
The Port of Penang is operated by the Penang Port Commission. There are four terminals, one on Penang island (Swettenham Pier) and three on the mainland, namely North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT), Butterworth Deep Water Wharves (BDWW), and Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal (PBCT). Malaysia being the 13th largest exporting nation, the Port of Penang plays a leading role in the nation's shipping industry, linking Penang to more than 200 ports worldwide. Swettenham Pier also accommodates cruise ships.
Utilities
Water supply which comes under the state jurisdiction, is wholly managed by the state-owned but autonomous PBA Holdings Bhd whose sole subsidiary is the Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang Sdn Bhd (PBAPP). This public limited company provides reliable, round-the-clock drinking water to 100% of the urban areas and 99.5% of the rural areas throughout the state. Penang was cited by the World Development Movement as a case study in successful public water scheme. PBA's water rates are also one of the lowest in the world [7]. Penang's water supply is sourced from the Air Itam Dam, Mengkuang Dam, Teluk Bahang Dam, Bukit Panchor Dam, Berapit Dam, Cherok Tok Kun Dam, Waterfall Reservoir, Guillemard Reservoir, and also from neighbouring Kedah state.
Penang was among the first states in Malaya to be electrified in 1905 upon the completion of the first hydroelectric scheme. At present, electricity for industrial and domestic consumption is provided by the national electricity utility company, Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).
Telekom Malaysia Berhad is the landline telephone service provider as well as the main Internet service provider in the state. Penang also has excellent cell phone coverage. Broadband internet is also widely available.
Garbage collection and disposal is managed by the respective local authorities. The main landfill is the modern Pulau Burung landfill near Nibong Tebal.
Sewage treatment in Penang is managed by the national sewerage company, Indah Water Konsortium. Prior to systematic sewerage piping and treatment, waste water was haphazardly disposed, mostly in the sea, causing environmental pollution. It is not uncommon to see washing water from roadside pushcart stalls simply released into the open drainage system. Litter floating in drains and canals is not an uncommon sight.