From an opinion piece in The Straits Times of 30 Dec 1956:
Next week Penang will celebrate the centenary of George Town, an event crowned by the title of City which the Queen has graciously conferred. George Town has, of course, been a town on the first importance for a very long time, and the testimony to this may be read in its hundred years of history. The significance of the occasion therefore lies not in the formal achievement of City status but in the conferment of a Royal honour.
No happier time could have been chosen for the Queen's gesture. As Malaya approaches independence, here is new affirmation of the warm friendship with which Britain regards this country.
In the testing days ahead, Malaya will need all the friends she has. It is even more important that in Malaya itself all shall be friends. The people of Penang are a living example. In George Town's hundred years, nothing has been more striking than the goodwill among the communities. Without this, the village of 1857 could not have flourished to become a City.
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