George Town's historical “Malay Town” and famous Acheen Street Mosque were established with the wealth and influence of the Achenese prince, Tengku Syed Hussain. His legacy is a vibrant urban kampung that lives on today.
ON HIS ARRIVAL in 1786, Captain Francis Light, the founder of the British trading post on Penang Island, laid out the original grid of George Town as we know it today. The first town was about half a mile in length and going by a map of 1798, "Malay Town" was located at the southern periphery of the colonial urban centre. Its position corresponds with the location of Lebuh Acheh today.
