Fort Cornwallis

Fort Cornwallis is an old star-shaped fort located on the northeastern coast of Penang, Malaysia. It is named after the late 18th century Governor-General of Bengal, India, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis. Fort Cornwallis is the largest standing fort in Malaysia.

Captain Sir Francis Light took possession of the island from the Sultan of Kedah in 1786 and built the original fort. It was a nibong (Malay: palm trunk) stockade with no permanent structures, covering an area of 417.6 square feet (38.80 m²).

In 1804, Indian convict labour rebuilt the fort with bricks and stones during Colonel R.T. Farquhar’s term as Governor of Penang. Fort Cornwallis was later completed in 1810 during Norman Macalister’s term as Governor of Penang at the cost of $80,000. The fort was intended as a defense against the pirates, Kedah, and the French because of the Napoleonic Wars. A moat 9 meters wide by 2 meters deep once surrounded the fort but it was filled in in the 1920s due to a malaria outbreak in the area.

The Chapel at Fort Cornwallis was built in 1799. The first recorded marriage here took place that same year when John Timmers married Martina Rozells, the widow of Francis Light. The building in the southwest bastion is almost certainly not the chapel, but the main magazine; the massive roof and the surrounding buttresses are typical of magazine buildings of the period. The building is the earliest roofed structure surviving in Penang from the colonial era.

Even though the fort was originally built for the Royal artillery troops and the military, its function, historically, was more administrative than defensive. For example, the judge of the Supreme Court of Penang, Sir Edmond Stanley, was first housed at Fort Cornwallis when the court opened on 31 May, 1808.

In its entire history, the fort had never engaged in any battle. Apart from being used for the British Royal artillery troops, the fort was once occupied by the Sikh Police of the Straits Settlements during the 1920s. An archaeological survey was conducted by Royal Navy personnel under the direction of Rev. Peter Brown RN in July/August 1970.Old cannons decorate the fort. The largest cannon, known as Seri Rambai Cannon, was cast in 1603, and was a gift from the Dutch to the Sultan of Johore in 1606. In 1613, the Portuguese took possession of Seri Rambai. The cannon was taken to Java, where it stayed until 1795, when it was given to Acheh and brought to Kuala Selangor. The British seized the cannon and placed it in the fort in 1871.The fort was gazetted on Sept 8, 1977, under the Antiquities Act 168/ 1976, as an Ancient Monument and Historic site. Today, it has become one of Penang's prime tourist attractions.

History of A Famosa

In 1511, a Portuguese fleet arrived under the command of Afonso de Albuquerque. His forces attacked and successfully defeated the armies of the Malacca Sultanate. Moving quickly to consolidate his gains, Albuquerque had the fortress built around a natural hill near the sea. Albuquerque believed that Malacca would become an important port linking Portugal to the Spice Route in China. At this time other Portuguese were establishing outposts in such places as Macau, China and Goa,India in order to create a string of friendly ports for ships heading to China and returning home to Portugal.

The fortress once consisted of long ramparts and four major towers. One was a four-story keep, while the others held an ammunition storage room, the residence of the captain, and an officers' quarters. Most of the village clustered in town houses inside the fortress walls. As Malacca's population expanded it outgrew the original fort and extensions were added around 1586. The fort changed hands in 1641 when the Dutch successfully drove the Portuguese out of Malacca. The Dutch renovated the gate in 1670, which explains the logo "ANNO 1670" inscribed on the gate's arch. Above the arch is a bas-relief logo of the Dutch East India Company. The fortress changed hands again in the early 19th century when the Dutch handed it over to the British to prevent it from falling into the hands of Napoleon's expansionist France. The English were wary of maintaining the fortification and ordered its destruction in 1806. The fort was almost totally demolished but for the timely intervention of Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, who happened to visit Malacca in 1810. Because of his passion for history, this small gate was spared from destruction

List of Proton car models

This is a list of Proton car models, listed in chronological order by the year of release of each of the respective cars. Proton is the Malaysian national carmaker.

Car models

Model	Production	Info
Proton Saga	1985–2008	Proton Saga (known as the MPi in the UK) was the first Proton model. It rolled off the Shah Alam assembly line for the first time in September 1985. The 100,000th Proton Saga was produced in January 1989.
Proton Wira	1993-2006	Proton Wira was, and still is, very popular in Malaysia. It is almost identical apart from some trunk lid and tail light design to the 1992 Mitsubishi Lancer The word Wira translates into English as "Hero" but instead of using this as the name in English-speaking countries, Proton chose to use the word Persona. The wira has variant models such as 1.3GLi A/M, 1.5GLi A/M, 1.6XLi A/M, 1.8XLi A/M and 2.0D M. Only the 1.8XLi Auto is marketed in the English-speaking country at first known as Persona. Persona is a hatch back model. However, from about 2001 onwards, the car has been sold as the Wira in the United Kingdom
Proton Satria	1995-2007	Proton Satria (also called the Proton Compact in the UK) is a sporty 3-door hatchback based on the Mitsubishi Mirage / Mitsubishi Colt. Proton gained a lot of valuable engineering knowledge from its takeover of Lotus which ultimately led to a special Lotus badged version of the Satria being produced. Proton Satria GTi is a 3-door sports hatchback. This was Proton's entry in the sport performance hatchback market. The Satria GTi is popular in Malaysia and has a large following in Australia. It is powered by a 4-cylinder 1,800 cc DOHC engine and featured Lotus-tuned suspension. Proton Satria R3 is a limited edition road-legal race-spec Satria with only 150 units in production. It features a double seam-welded lightened chassis and a tweaked engine with more aggressive cam timing. Proton Satria SE is the last batch of Proton Satrias to roll out. Featuring Proton Arena sports rims and grille, and many extras in the interior similar to the Proton Wira SE, this would be the last of the Satrias before the long-awaited SRM (Satria Replacement Model) rolls out.
Proton Putra	1995-2000	Proton Putra (also sold in the United Kingdom and Australia as the Proton Coupe or Proton M21) is a 2-door sporty coupe based on the Mitsubishi Mirage. Considered by many as one of the better looking of the Mitsubishi-based models, the Putra was well-received and commands good second-hand value.
Proton Perdana	1995-1998	Proton Perdana, based on the Mitsubishi Eterna, was first produced in 1995, and was intended for the higher-end market.
Proton Tiara	1996-2000	Proton Tiara was a supermini class 5 door compact car based on the Citroën AX. It was built under license fromPSA Peugeot Citroën by Proton from 1996 to 2000. The Tiara was powered by a 1.1L engine and featured a different grille, tail lights and bumpers than the Citroën AX. Its successor is the Proton Savvy.
Proton Perdana V6	1999-2010	Proton Perdana V6 was a facelifted version of the Perdana, featuring a more powerful V6 engine and new front and rear look. It was later facelifted to include the Alfa-Romeo-inspired grille that earned it the nickname Alfa-dana among enthusiasts.
Proton Juara	2001-2003	Proton Juara was a microvan based on the Mitsubishi Town Box Wide. This model was the first batch being totally CKD models from Japan. The external appearance of the car, which was a modification of the original Town Box, was not popular with the Malaysian market and suffered poor sales. The Proton Juara was very economical in fuel consumption and was very versatile. It is also one of the best-equipped Mitsubishi-based models offered from Proton.
Proton Waja	2000-Present	Proton Waja (Proton Impian in Europe) is the first Proton to be designed and styled in-house. However, the car's chassis and engine were sourced and adapted from Mitsubishi (except for the 1,800 cc variant, which was powered by a Renault engine). The word Waja translates into English as "steel" while Impian translates into "dreams" or "ambition". The name Impian was chosen as it was considered to be a more pleasant sounding word for the international market. In January 2006, the car was fitted with a CamPro engine which has been re-tuned to boost the horsepower to 86 kW (115 bhp) and 155 N-m of torque. This made it go full-circle, as the CamPro was originally developed for the Waja, but was deemed not ready for production when the Waja was launched, hence debuting in the Proton Gen-2. The facelifted 2007 Proton Waja was launched on 19 January 2007 with the new grille nearly identical to the Proton Savvy. The Proton Waja was initially marketed as a premium product in some markets, but the actual product proved unconvincing, and the ill-judged marketing ploy was quickly dropped. The Waja was also released as the Proton Chancellor in late 2005, a variant for the executive market with a 250mm wheelbase stretch and luxury fittings and accessories, including a space-robbing rear centre console that restricted seating to four persons. It was fitted with powertrain from the Proton Perdana V6. With a selling price of about twice that of a Waja, the Chancellor is a very rare sight on Malaysian roads. Proton Waja R3 MME Edition
Proton Arena	2002-Present	Proton Arena (called Proton Jumbuck in the United Kingdom and Australia), a coupe utility vehicle. Based on the Wira platform, Proton engineers managed to develop a vehicle that would cater for those who have an active lifestyle and also those who need a small and economical utility vehicle as opposed to a commercial truck. 1200 units were sold in Australia in its first year. The Arena comes in 3 bodystyles.
Proton Gen-2	2004-Present	Proton Gen-2 is the first fully Malaysian-developed (including chassis and engine) Proton car and the replacement model for the Proton Wira; launched on February 8, 2004. Proton still continued to sell the Wira after the Gen.2 was launched, due primarily to the popularity of sedan/saloon vehicles in the target market. The Gen.2, a hatchback design, is considered by many to be the best-looking Proton. It has a minimalist and modern interior with design cues from the Lotus subsidiary. However, very low quality of materials and fit and finish of interior components seriously hurt the public's perception of the quality of the vehicle at launch. Later models used improved quality materials and assistance from the TUV of Germany to help maintain the quality improvements. The Gen.2 was the first Proton to receive the (inappropriately) named CamPro engine, which at launch was widely criticised for the lack of low- to mid-range torque (pulling puwer), due to a late decision to drop Camshaft Profiling from the engine feature-list in production models. Attempts to improve this torque deficit by adjusting ECU parameters have largely been unsuccessful. Published engine torque curves still show a pronounced dip in torque output in the crucial 2000-3000 RPM engine speed region, presumably due to the missing engine feature. The version with Campro CPS engine was previewed during the 24th Thailand International Motor Expo 2007 in Bangkok. The Proton Gen-2 was also released in the form of three other variants: Proton Gen-2 R3 MME Edition Proton Gen-2 EVE Hybrid, a hybrid concept version of the Gen-2, revealed during the 2007 Geneva Auto Show. It retains the S45MPH Campro engine coupled together with a 30 kW, 144 V electric motor. Proton Gen-2 Ecologic , a dual fuel (petrol/lpg) conversion done by proton at no cost extra.
Proton Savvy	2005-Present	The Proton Savvy was launched on June 8, 2005. The 1,200 cc 5-door supermini car. The car is fitted with an engine and a gearbox sourced from Renault. In an official on-road test made by Proton in mid-2006, Proton Savvy recorded the fuel consumption rate of about 24 km/L at constant speed of 90km/h (or about RM0.08/km of fuel), making the car as the most fuel-efficient Malaysian car as verified by Malaysian Book of Records. Even with very good fuel efficiency the car maintenance were reportly to be very high even surpassing the Proton Waja. This because of the use of the European Renault engine. Proton Savvy R3 Zerokit was based on the Proton Savvy R3 prototype and could be added to a Savvy purchase for an additional RM3000. It featured a roof spoiler, front and rear lips and side skirting.
Proton Satria Neo	2006-Present	Proton Satria Neo is the replacement model of the previous Satria variants, using all-new design, chassis and powerplant. Launched on 16 June 2006, the Satria Neo is available in 1.6L and 1.3L variants, where both variants are powered by Campro engine.
Proton Persona	2007-Present	Proton Persona was launched on 15 August 2007. The 1.6 liter sedan is based on the Proton Gen-2 and features a sedan body instead of the Gen-2's hatchback body. It retains the same 82kW Campro engine. The Persona is rebadged as the Proton Gen-2 Persona in the UK market. The name Persona was also originally used in English-speaking countries for the Wira.
Proton Saga	2008-Present	Proton Saga is an indigenous design, designed to outperform and outengineer the old Saga compact sedan and aeroback in every way. Its bodywork is essentially based on a stretched Proton Savvy. The new model is an in-house design developed in collaboration with Korea's LG CNS and Lotus Engineering. This model enables the Malaysian company play to its strength in the home market i.e. three-box sedan. The Proton Saga is not planned for U.S. launch but will be sold throughout Southeast Asia, in China, India and Australia.
Proton Exora	2009-Present	Proton Exora was launched on 15 April 2009. It is powered by the 1.6L Campro CPS I4 engine producing 125 horsepower and 150Nm of torque, resulting in a top speed of 165 km/h (103 mph) and an average fuel consumption of 7.2 L/100 km (39 mpg-imp; 33 mpg-US).The Exora will feature a Body Control module which allows automatic activation and configuration of various vehicle functions such as door locking/unlocking, interior lamps, headlamps, brake lamps and wipers. The result has been announced on 17th February 2009. The name Proton Exora",was picked from the Name The Proton MPV competition grand prize winner Norsholihan Bt Abdul Eanich. Some says that it was taken from the name of a flower, (Ixora) but according to compettion termss and conditions the name should not based on any kind of flowers, animals etc.
Proton Inspira	2010-Present	Proton Inspira, or previously referred to as Proton New Sedan, or codenamed P3-90A is an automobileproduced by Proton as the successor to the Proton Waja. The Compact car is essentially a rebadged 9th generation (and current) Mitsubishi Lancer.

Tropical Fruits in Malaysia

Duku (Lansium domesticum)

Duku is round in shape and slightly bigger than a golf ball. It grows in clusters with a thick leathery skin which is in golden brown colour and can be peeled into segments when gently pressed on the top of the fruit. Each fruit composed of a few segments of juicy and refreshing flesh that is tangy sour to sweet taste. Some segments may contain small and bitter seeds. The flesh is usually white but some are pink.

Duku is originated from West Malaysia but it is cultivated through out the whole region nowadays. It takes about fifteen years for a duku tree to reach maturity; but the wait is worthwhile as they bear clusters of fruit twice a year thereafter. There are farmers blend both duku and langsat and produce a new innovation species, that is the Duku-Langsat which bears the characteristic of both duku and langsat.

In Terengganu, duku is cultivated in Manir area in Kuala Terengganu. During the harvest season, there are lorries lining up outside the orchards as to collect and weight the fruits then distribute to other areas later. 

Salak (Snake fruit)

The salak, or snake fruit which grows in clusters at the base of the plant has dark-brown shiny skin which is tough. It is originated from Indonesia but is now also grown in Thailand and Malaysia. Surprisingly the rough skin is thin and easy to peel. Inside you'll find a light-tan firm, dry and crunchy fruit divided into three or more lobes, usually with a single seed in the largest section. The fruit has a tannin content and if it is not properly ripe, the taste can be unpleasantly astringent. A ripe salak is always creamy yellow colour and has a sweet acid taste rather like a pineapple. Salak is not juicy which makes them especially convenient to peel and eat. The fruit has the firmness of a carrot and a distinctively agreeable flavour quite unlike any other fruit. Beside eaten in fresh, people in Terengganu also make this fruit into pickled or hot packed into syrup. These reproduced salak can be found in stalls by the road or in Center Market of Kuala Terengganu.

Salak fruit is cultivated in for commercial purpose in Ketengah in Terengganu. Recently there is another newly innovated clone, the salak pondos which can be cultivated in hydroponics method and harvest all year round in 2 years time. It is sweeter and allows higher yield.

Langsat

Langsat comes from the same species as duku but langsat grows not as wide as duku does and is cultivated on a lesser scale. Langsat fruits are always smaller and oval in the shape as compared with duku. The skin is pale and fawn colour. Langsat usually grow in 6 to 12 fruits in a single cluster and each fruits composed of a few segments each each with green and bitter seed and sourer in the taste. The skin exudes latex or sap even when it is mature, this makes it less welcome than duku.

Banana

There are various type of banana can be found in Malaysia all with different name and appearance. For example Pisang mas is the short and little banana, Pisang rastali and Pisang Tanduk are often made into fried banana and other dining banana such as Pisang Susu, Pisang Raja etc. Some bananas are even made into dishes together with its stem and flowers.

Banana is available year round and it is always not expensive in price. Banana tree has a large expanded leaves, about 2.0 m long and 50 cm wide. It has entire leaf margin and the leaf stalk elongated to form the leaf sheath. Because of the unique fragrance produced and the size, banana leaf is often used as wrapper to certain local food such as Nasi Lemak andKuih Tepung Pelita.

When buying a banana select that is slightly green, firm, and without bruises. If the bananas have a gray tint and a dull appearance, these have been refrigerated, preventing them from ripening properly.

Jack fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus)

There is proverbs in Malay : Siapa makan nangka, dia kena getah” ---- who eats the nangka (jack fruit), will be touched by the sap, meaning that you are responsible for your own action. Name of this fruit always gives space for imagination as it always sounds like ‘Jack’s fruit’. Jack fruit hang on a stalk from the tree trunk, large and oblong in shape. A mature Jack fruit can reach to 30-90cm long, 30-50cm wide and 5-8kg in weight. Therefore it can be easily recognized among the fruit. Jack fruit has thick skin with thorns which are not shape. The flesh is firm and yellowish with seed encases in the fruit. It is eaten raw and the seeds can be eaten when it is boiled. However, the flesh is also used as dish when the fruit is unripe. There is sap produced when you cut the fruit and it is sometimes used to capture birds by the villagers. It is normally grown in yard in the village area.