[September 2026] An Evening Walk Through Penang's Global Esplanade with Eugene Quah
Where World History Hides in Plain Sight She ruled a quarter of the world, and the town's clock tower stands in her memory. He made himself Emperor of Europe, and on the other side of the world a wooden stockade was rebuilt into a fort of stone – named after the British general who lost thirteen of His Majesty's colonies to a band of rebels. And a retired American civil war general, who once commanded a nation that had liberated itself from the British, walked these same streets – only to be addressed, in fluent English, on the burning political question of the day by a merchant whose family had stood on this shore since the very day it became a town. Highly improbable. Entirely true. And as you walk the Esplanade at twilight, these are the echoes that find you hiding in plain sight in every wall, every inscription, every silhouette against the Straits. This is a walk about Penang – and its place in the world. The Esplanade is not just a pretty waterfront. It is the stage on which Penang announced itself to the world — where a clearing on a headland the Malays called Tanjung Penaga became George Town, and where merchants, engineers, and communities from every corner of the globe built a town that punched far above its size, and left their mark in stone, in chimes, and in the quiet confidence of a city that knew exactly who it was. Join Penang Hidden Gems for a 90-minute evening walk that uses the buildings, monuments, and stories of the Esplanade to trace Penang's remarkable place at the centre of global trade, diplomacy, and ideas – told not through the eyes of empire, but through the people who actually built this town. On this walk, you'll discover, among other interesting stories: A fort that never fired a shot in anger, yet came within a whisper of demolition by those who built it. And how a contingent of Sikh policemen established a house of worship within its walls. How Napoleon's ambitions sent ripples across the world to this very shoreline The Penang merchant, the former US president, and a conversation that shouldn't have been possible – but was. Two halls, one city, and why George Town got there long before anyone expected. A clock tower with a secret written into its very proportions – hiding in plain sight for over a century. Three gifts by three Penang merchants and one evening in 1902 when Westminster chimes rang out over the Straits for the very first time. A street named after the man who established this town — and the night in 1883 it became the first in the Straits to blaze with electric light. And the monuments that remember the only battle in WW1 fought in Malaya, just off the shores of the Esplanade. Details 🗓️: 19th September, 2026 (Saturday) ⏰: 8:00 PM – 9:30 PM 📍Starts: Cenotaph 🏁Ends: Cenotaph 🚶90 minutes | Easy, flat walking – suitable for all ages