The House of Doors

The Malaysian Island of Penang fell under British Imperial rule in 1786, when the British East India Company acquired the island from the sultanate of Kedah in exchange for financial assistance discharging a debt between Kedah and Siam (now Thailand). The deal, brokered by Francis Light, also included military assistance against Siam; when Light reneged on this deal, Kedah attempted to reclaim Penang, though this incursion was quashed by British forces. Penang became the first British holding in South Asia and was renamed Prince of Wales Island. The first city established was George Town—named for then-king George III of England. It was a free port, meaning no duties or taxes were imported, thus luring merchants to Penang instead of Dutch-controlled ports in the area and causing George Town to boom with an influx of immigrants from Europe and Asia.

In 1826, Penang was united with Singapore and Malacca into the Straits Settlements, which operated under the control of the British East India Company. Singapore replaced George Town as the capital of British Malaya in 1832, though Penang remained a trading center in Southeast Asia. Though diverse, 19th-century Penang was frequently segregated, with different ethnic and racial groups occupying different portions of the workforce and different areas of the city. In 1867, the Straits Settlement became a British crown colony, which put its rule directly under the Colonial Office in London. George Town became a popular destination for political and artistic figures, as represented in The House of Doors.

Penang was occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1941 and renamed Tojo-to, after the contemporary Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Though this occupation led to widespread economic hardship in Penang, Japanese rule disproportionately affected different ethnic groups. Chinese Penang residents, who were massacred by the thousands, suffered the worst violence. The island was heavily bombed during World War II and recaptured by Britain in 1945. Penang remained under British military control from 1946 to 1957 as the Malayan Union. It gained independence as part of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 and became a member state of Malaysia in 1963.