Tourism and creative economy committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said George Town had been listed as a Unesco heritage site since July 2008, an international recognition which he said affirmed the city as a top tourist destination.

Wong also noted that George Town’s parliamentary constituency had been renamed Tanjong since 1959.

“Therefore, there is no issue over a need to change the name of the city,” he said in a statement.

Yesterday, Fawwaz, the Permatang Pauh MP, called for George Town to be renamed Tanjung Penaga, claiming it was the original name of the area before it was renamed by the British.

The Penang PAS information chief said the state’s capital city should be renamed to reflect Malaysia’s identity rather than “taking pride in an identity given by the colonisers”.

In 2022, International Islamic University Malaysia’s Ahmad Murad Merican proposed the name change as George Town was deemed a legacy of British colonialists.

The suggestion was shot down by then executive councillor Yeoh Soon Hin, who said changing George Town’s name would negatively affect its status as a Unesco heritage site.