The Light Street Roundabout, on which the Pinang Fountain was erected in the 2000s. The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower stands just north of the roundabout.
The Light Street Roundabout in the heart of George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site serves as the intersection of four streets - Light Street, Beach Street, King Edward's Place and Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah. Instantly recognisable by the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower that stands next to it, the more modern Pinang Fountain has also been erected on the roundabout.
The present roundabout did not came into being until after World War 2. Prior to the war, the four streets simply met at the junction.
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A 1905 postcard depicting the panoramic view of King Edward's Place. The intersection where the roundabout is now located can be seen to the right of the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower.
History[]
The Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower, also known as the Jubilee Clock Tower, was completed near the junction in 1902.
Before World War 2, Light Street, Beach Street, King Edward's Place and Fort Road (now part of Jalan Tun Syed Sheh Barakbah) simply intersected at this junction without a roundabout. Although this posed a potential traffic hazard, traffic at the time was perhaps not as busy, so the British authorities did not seriously consider a roundabout.
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The intersection between Light Street, Beach Street, King Edward's Place and Fort Road to the left of the Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower in the 1930s.
It was after the Second World War that the present roundabout was finally created.
In the early 2000s, the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition that governed Penang at the time erected the Pinang Fountain on the roundabout. Although the fountain initially received criticism from most Penangites, it is now accepted as a landmark and part of the landscape in the heart of George Town.
Queen Victoria Memorial Clock Tower just north of the roundabout