¹ The research programme, of which this study is a part, analyses the changing patterns of urban landownership throughout Peninsular Malaysia in a long-term perspective and aims at providing basic information for regional and urban planning. Evers, Hans-Dieter, Lee, Goh Ban, and Ratnam, K.J., “Urban Landownership in the Peninsular Malaysia: A Proposed Study.” Urban Landownership Study Project Paper, no. 1, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang, 1975)Google Scholar.

² It is also reported that Colonel Butterworth was not very popular with the residents of the Straits Settlements until the later part of his governorship. Turnbull, C.M., The Straits Settlements, 1826–1867 (Kuala Lumpur, 1972), pp. 319–323Google Scholar.

³ Only land within the present town boundary of the lots concerned are of Butterworth and taken into account. The Indenture nos: 3433, 4545, 4546, 4547, 4548, 4275, 4276, 4277, 4278, and 5255 — all kept in the Registry of Land Titles, Penang.

⁴ For this reason one condition stated in the Indenture is that the owner “shall within the period of five years … clear and cultivate one fourth part at least of the said land.” Indenture: 4546 Registered 11/4/1852, kept in the Registry of Lands and Mines, Penang. This shows that at that time Butterworth was mainly an undeveloped area.

⁵ Thomas, F.A., A School Geography and History of Penang (Penang, 1974), pp. 14–18Google Scholar.

⁶ A copy of the map (Kelly's Block Map of Butterworth) is kept in the Survey Office, Penang, but unfortunately we were not able to gain access to it.

⁷ State of Penang, Investment Guide to Penang (Georgetown. Penang. 1974). p. 35Google Scholar.

⁸ See also Ming, Wong Cheak, “Butterworth Port Development,” The Sphere, I (Kuala Lumpur, 1965)Google Scholar for a discussion of port development in Butterworth.

⁹ See Lembaga Pengurus Kerajaan Tempatan, Seberang Prai.

¹⁰ Those who stay on other people's land, but with the permission of the current or previous landowners. Usually they own the houses. This problem is further analysed in a paper on a case study carried out under the auspices of the CPR Urban Landownership Study. See Lee, Goh Ban. Pattern of Landownership in Central Georgetown, Centre for Policy Research Monograph, no. 2, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang, 1975)Google Scholar.

¹¹ Mehden, Fred R. Von Der, “Industrial Policy in Malaysia: A Penang micro-study,” Unpublished manuscript, 1973Google Scholar.

¹² The survey office's estimate of Butterworth is 3,540 acres. The figures given in this report do not include land used for roads, backlanes, parking bays, and drainage. A few acres of land are not accounted for as their records cannot be traced in the land registry; however, most of this land is suspected to be state land. In addition, land along the sea and river mouth is not counted as it is not yet surveyed.

¹³ See Evers, Goh, and Ratnam, op. cit., for an extensive discussion of the interrelation between subdivision and urban development.

¹⁴ We shall deal with this issue further below. An intensive case study on this problem in Butterworth was carried out within our Urban Landownership Study. See Lee, Goh Ban, “Urbanisation and Changing Land Tenure: A Case Study,” Unpublished manuscript, 1976Google Scholar.

¹⁵ A similar pattern was noted for Kuala Trengganu. See Evers, Goh, and Ratnam, op. cit., figure 1 on p. 5.

¹⁶ When the East India Company first alienated the land, the Malays bought up the small pieces of land on which their houses and fruit trees were located. Indentures of sale in the late 1840s indicate that the usual size of the land bought was about one to two acres.

¹⁷ David Wong seems to imply that even land granted “in perpetuity” is “leasehold form of ownership” if the landowner is subject to pay rent and observe other conditions. See Wong, David, Tenure and Land Dealings in the Malay States (Singapore, 1975), p. 29Google Scholar. If we accept David Wong's definitions of freehold and leasehold, then the imposition of Quit Rent Rules, 1969 and the adoption of the National Land Code 1965 means that all private land in the State of Penang is leasehold land.

¹⁸ Although made more than a century ago, Young's recommendations are still of interest today. Generally Young recommended: (1) 99-year leases for building lots in town for substantial buildings and 60-year leases for land with free option of development, (2) 20-year leases (renewable up to a total of 50 years at a moderate fixed rate) for agricultural land.

¹⁹ Turnbull, op. cit., p. 142

²⁰ Government here includes Federal Government, State Government, Statutory bodies, and local authorities.

²¹ This does not take into account land reserved for open space, back lanes, and roads In addition, land along the beach (which has been gradually built up by the sea) is not taken into account. The latter category of land is rather substantial; however, squatters have used up almost all the land at present.

²² This problem of the government having to acquire land for development purposes had led to the recent amendment to the National Land Code regarding the amount of compensation to be paid to landowners.

²³ A local developer (who has slowed down his projects) said that it is very difficult for a local developer to evict the settlers as the people know who he is, but it is easier for an outside developer to negotiate with the settlers and to “convince” them to vacate the land.

²⁴ Indeed, this was one of the factors which motivated the CPR's interest in landownership, which led to our Study aimed at collecting systematic and comprehensive data on Peninsular Malaysia on an aggregate basis.

²⁵ This was shown in an earlier study of landownership in central Georgetown. See Goh, op. cit.

²⁶ The effect of the recent Land Acquisition Act remains to be studied.

²⁷ See Goh, op. cit.