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.
Imperial Federation Imperial Federation The Imperial Federation was a proposal in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to create a federal union in place of the existing British Empire. The project was championed by Unionists such as Joseph Chamberlain as an alternative to William Gladstone's proposals for home rule. At the time, the British Empire consisted of many colonies, some of which were largely self-governing dominions (Canada, Newfoundland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa) and others were not (India, West Indies, Fiji). The future of the empire remained uncertain, as it was unclear what the end result would be if all colonies