.jpg/1500px-Komtar,_2024_(retouched,_3to4_portrait).jpg)
Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Komtar
The Tun Abdul Razak Complex (abbrev. Komtar) is a civic complex of five buildings within the central business district of George Town, Penang. It first opened on 2 December 1976. At the time of its completion in 1985, the central skyscraper of the complex, Komtar Tower, at 231.7 metres (760 ft), was the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia. The complex contains 1,420,000 square feet (132,000 m2) of office and retail space on a 27-acre (11 ha) superblock. It is a major bus terminal for Rapid Penang, and the seat of the Penang state government and the chief minister of Penang.
The modernist complex was built between 1974 and 1986 at an initial cost of RM279.5 million (equivalent to RM642.5 million in 2023). The complex was proposed by chief minister Lim Chong Eu in 1969, while his brother Chong Keat designed the complex. It was planned to be built in five phases, although only two were completed in their original form. The remaining three phases were repurposed as Prangin Mall, 1st Avenue, and the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park and were built between 1996 and 2019. Renovations in 2015 extended the height of Komtar Tower to 249 metres (817 ft).
Described as a "city within a city", the design of the complex was radical and utopian for its time, and was the largest urban regeneration project in Malaysian history. However, it ultimately failed to achieve its objective of rejuvenating George Town's city centre. The construction of the complex was also criticised for demolishing a portion of the city's heritage quarters which displaced thousands of residents. Starting from the late-1990s, the complex was neglected due to insufficient maintenance. Despite these circumstances, Komtar is Penang's most famous landmark and is seen as a symbol of the state's post-industrialisation prosperity.
The site Komtar now occupies was a stretch of the Prangin River, which ran through a swamp. In 1804, the construction of the Prangin Canal began under directions from the British East India Company. The canal was built for agricultural and commercial uses, and marked the furthest boundaries of George Town at the time. Due to its location, the Malays referred to it as Ujong Pasir, while the Chinese called it Sia Boey, both carrying the same meaning of the "end of the village". In 1806, a marketplace was set up at Sia Boey, which evolved into the Sia Boey Market. Since the 1880s, the market centered around an iron market hall, which operated until 2004.
Adjacent to Sia Boey was Magazine Circus, a roundabout converging on a junction of six major roads. The Malays named it Simpang Enam ("the six-way junction"), while the Chinese called it Go Pha Teng ("the five lamps"), referencing street lamps set up at the junction. In 1928, the first traffic lights in Penang were set up at the roundabout. Sia Boey was severely bombed during Japanese raids during the start of the Malayan campaign, killing hundreds.
George Town was established as a free port in 1786 and served as a major entrepôt in British Malaya, trading spices and tin. It was also the first port of call east of the Indian subcontinent. After Malayan independence, the federal government shifted commercial and trading activities to Kuala Lumpur, intending to focus on the development of Port Klang. In 1966, federal amendments to customs made the free port status redundant, and in 1969 the status was formally revoked. These policy changes led to massive unemployment and brain drain within the city, creating a period of recession and urban decay in Penang throughout the 1960s.
Amidst rising discontent, during the 1969 general elections, the ruling Alliance Party led by chief minister Wong Pow Nee was voted out in Penang and replaced by the opposition Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan), with Lim Chong Eu sworn in as chief minister. To address these challenges, Lim established the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) in November 1969 as a development arm of the state government.
As early as 1962, the Penang state government proposed to develop a hawker centre in an area around Prangin Road. Malayan architecture firm Malayan Architects Co-Partnership was contracted for the project, but it stalled within months. PDC designated four sites within George Town in late-1969 as "comprehensive development areas" for urban redevelopment, which included the construction of low-cost flats on reclaimed land and urban renewal programmes. It then created a "central area planning unit" (CAPU) for monitoring residential and highway infrastructural projects in the city, which redesignated the 1962 hawker centre proposal into a civic centre known as the Central Area Redevelopment Plan, the precursor project of Komtar.
Hub AI
Komtar AI simulator
(@Komtar_simulator)
Komtar
The Tun Abdul Razak Complex (abbrev. Komtar) is a civic complex of five buildings within the central business district of George Town, Penang. It first opened on 2 December 1976. At the time of its completion in 1985, the central skyscraper of the complex, Komtar Tower, at 231.7 metres (760 ft), was the tallest skyscraper in Southeast Asia. The complex contains 1,420,000 square feet (132,000 m2) of office and retail space on a 27-acre (11 ha) superblock. It is a major bus terminal for Rapid Penang, and the seat of the Penang state government and the chief minister of Penang.
The modernist complex was built between 1974 and 1986 at an initial cost of RM279.5 million (equivalent to RM642.5 million in 2023). The complex was proposed by chief minister Lim Chong Eu in 1969, while his brother Chong Keat designed the complex. It was planned to be built in five phases, although only two were completed in their original form. The remaining three phases were repurposed as Prangin Mall, 1st Avenue, and the Sia Boey Urban Archaeological Park and were built between 1996 and 2019. Renovations in 2015 extended the height of Komtar Tower to 249 metres (817 ft).
Described as a "city within a city", the design of the complex was radical and utopian for its time, and was the largest urban regeneration project in Malaysian history. However, it ultimately failed to achieve its objective of rejuvenating George Town's city centre. The construction of the complex was also criticised for demolishing a portion of the city's heritage quarters which displaced thousands of residents. Starting from the late-1990s, the complex was neglected due to insufficient maintenance. Despite these circumstances, Komtar is Penang's most famous landmark and is seen as a symbol of the state's post-industrialisation prosperity.
The site Komtar now occupies was a stretch of the Prangin River, which ran through a swamp. In 1804, the construction of the Prangin Canal began under directions from the British East India Company. The canal was built for agricultural and commercial uses, and marked the furthest boundaries of George Town at the time. Due to its location, the Malays referred to it as Ujong Pasir, while the Chinese called it Sia Boey, both carrying the same meaning of the "end of the village". In 1806, a marketplace was set up at Sia Boey, which evolved into the Sia Boey Market. Since the 1880s, the market centered around an iron market hall, which operated until 2004.
Adjacent to Sia Boey was Magazine Circus, a roundabout converging on a junction of six major roads. The Malays named it Simpang Enam ("the six-way junction"), while the Chinese called it Go Pha Teng ("the five lamps"), referencing street lamps set up at the junction. In 1928, the first traffic lights in Penang were set up at the roundabout. Sia Boey was severely bombed during Japanese raids during the start of the Malayan campaign, killing hundreds.
George Town was established as a free port in 1786 and served as a major entrepôt in British Malaya, trading spices and tin. It was also the first port of call east of the Indian subcontinent. After Malayan independence, the federal government shifted commercial and trading activities to Kuala Lumpur, intending to focus on the development of Port Klang. In 1966, federal amendments to customs made the free port status redundant, and in 1969 the status was formally revoked. These policy changes led to massive unemployment and brain drain within the city, creating a period of recession and urban decay in Penang throughout the 1960s.
Amidst rising discontent, during the 1969 general elections, the ruling Alliance Party led by chief minister Wong Pow Nee was voted out in Penang and replaced by the opposition Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan), with Lim Chong Eu sworn in as chief minister. To address these challenges, Lim established the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) in November 1969 as a development arm of the state government.
As early as 1962, the Penang state government proposed to develop a hawker centre in an area around Prangin Road. Malayan architecture firm Malayan Architects Co-Partnership was contracted for the project, but it stalled within months. PDC designated four sites within George Town in late-1969 as "comprehensive development areas" for urban redevelopment, which included the construction of low-cost flats on reclaimed land and urban renewal programmes. It then created a "central area planning unit" (CAPU) for monitoring residential and highway infrastructural projects in the city, which redesignated the 1962 hawker centre proposal into a civic centre known as the Central Area Redevelopment Plan, the precursor project of Komtar.