History of Penang 1957, George Town, the capital of Penang, was granted city status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957, becoming the first city within the Federation of Malaya, and by extension, Malaysia. George Town continued to be the only city within Malaysia (other than Singapore between 1963 and its Separation in 1965) until 1972, when Kuala Lumpur was also conferred city status. Penang, as part of the Federation of Malaya, gained independence from the British Empire on 31 August 1957, and subsequently became a member state of Malaysia in 1963. Penang's political landscape immediately after the independence of Malaya became relatively fractured.
Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–89) the Malaysian state of Sarawak in the island of Borneo, which had been incorporated into the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. During the first Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), the MCP launched an unsuccessful insurrection against the Federation of Malaya. The independence of the Federation of Malaya on 31 August 1957 removed the major cause for the communists as the Federation had gained full autonomy from the United Kingdom. The first Malayan Emergency ended on 31 July 1960. Between 1960 and 1968, the MCP underwent a period of streamlining, retraining, and re-indoctrination of the communist ideology. The Malayan Races Liberation