Rifle Range Flats at Taman Rifle, Air Itam, Penang

Guidelines for the Rifle Range Competition can be downloaded as a doc or pdf. Files from these About pages can also be downloaded. See the Downloads page >

Introduction to Penang and Rifle Range area

Introduction to Penang

Geography

The state of Penang comprises the island of Penang (approximately 293 sq km in size) and Seberang Perai (760 sq km in size; previously known as Province Wellesley) on the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia.

The name 'Penang' itself comes from the colonial way of pronouncing the original Malay name of the island, Pulau Pinang. 'Pulau Pinang', which means the isle of Penang in Malay, literally can be translated as 'Betel Nut' island.

Penang Island is off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is at a Latitude of 5°22'8.37"N and Longitude of 100°15'40.00"E.

The North Channel and the South Channel Sea separate Penang Island from Seberang Perai. The two halves of Penang are connected by the spectacular 8 mile long (13.4km) Penang Bridge, the longest bridge in Malaysia and the third longest suspension bridge in Asia. A second bridge, currently under construction, will connect Batu Maung to the south of the island with Batu Kawan on the mainland.

Although it is the second smallest state in Malaysia, Penang State is also the most densely populated. Seberang Perai on the mainland is two-and-a-half times bigger than Penang Island in size, but has a population (54%) only slightly more than that of the island.

The capital of Penang, George Town (location: 5°25'8.59"N, 100°20'36.54"E) is located on a cape to the northeast of the island. The very tip of the cape is the site of the earliest British settlement, when they opened the island as the first British trading port at the end of the 18th century. Fort Cornwallis is a stoic reminder of British occupation.

The area within a radius of about a mile from Fort Cornwallis forms the old quarters of George Town (recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site). This area holds some of the oldest and historically significant structures on Penang Island.

The area that constitutes George Town extends roughly north to the Gurney Drive traffic roundabout and south to the Gelugor traffic roundabout. Although Penang is one of the most industrialized states in Malaysia, the capital George Town has managed to retain much of its old world charm.

George Town was the first town to receive city status by a royal charter granted by Queen Elizabeth II, just before the Malaysia achieved independence from England.

Rifle Range site

In the local Hokkien patois, Rifle Range is Pak Cheng Por. The name Rifle Range hails back to the 1950s when the site was used for target practices.

The site is located at the junction of Jalan Padang Tembak with Jalan Boundary (Jalan Sempadan). It is next to the Batu Gantong Chinese Cemetery. Penang Hill is behind.

It is south west of central George Town. See the Maps > page

There is also a Federal Reserve Unit adjacent to Rifle Range, a special response team that can be deployed anywhere in Malaysia in an emergency or during public unrest. The main role of this unit is to disperse illegal assembly, riot suppression and to carry out other functions relating to Public Order.

Rifle Range development

The Rifle Range Flats are one of the Penang state government's earliest low-cost housing projects.

In 1964 the national Ministry of Housing and Local Government identified two pilot projects in order to try out the industrialized building or prefabrication system (known as IBS). The first of these projects was in Kuala Lumpur along Jalan Tun Razak (Jalan Pekeliling).

The second pilot project was set in Pulau Pinang. It consisted of the construction of 6 blocks of 17-storey flats and 3 blocks of 18-storey flats comprising 3,699 units and 66 shop lots along Jalan Rifle Range. The project in Penang was awarded to Hochtief/Chee Seng using the French Estiot System and took 27 months to complete, inclusive of the time taken in setting up the precast factories.

When Rifle Range Flats were completed in the early 1970s they were the tallest buildings in Penang.

None of the units were big - on average they were approximately 36 s.m. for intermediate 1 bedroom units and 38.7 s.m. for 2 bedroom end units. Nonetheless they provided housing for many hardcore poor. Over the years, however, the general condition of Rifle Range Flats has deteriorated rapidly, especially in the common areas.

The advantage of living in Rifle Range is that it is relatively close to town, the property is cheap, and if you are a single person living alone, the space is sufficient. Today, due to rapid development, Rifle Range and the Batu Gantong Cemetery next to it are right at the edge of town.

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