Karpal Singh Drive is a seafront promenade within the suburb of Jelutong near George Town in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the M ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. It is named after

Karpal Singh Dato' Seri Utama Karpal Singh s/o Ram Singh Deo ( pa, ਕਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ, Karpāl Siṅgh; 28 June 1940 – 17 April 2014) was an Indian Malaysian politician and lawyer. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of B ...

(1940-2014), a prominent opposition politician and lawyer who hailed from George Town. Along Karpal Singh Drive are upscale residential and commercial properties, while the paved promenade itself is decorated with a handful of art sculptures. The promenade faces east, lying along the South Channel of the

Penang Strait The Penang Strait is an 11 kilometre-wide strait that separates Penang Island from mainland Malay Peninsula. Penang Island is to the west of the channel, while Seberang Perai, the mainland half of the State of Penang, is to the east. The norther ...

Etymology

The promenade was renamed after the late

, a Penangite lawyer who became one of the top

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...

(DAP) politicians. He was once nicknamed the Tiger of Jelutong''' as he held the federal constituency of Jelutong for five consecutive terms. At the time of death in 2014, he was the Member of Parliament for the Bukit Gelugor federal constituency south of Jelutong. After

's death, the

Chief Minister of Penang The Chief Minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the chief minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The chi ...

Lim Guan Eng Lim Guan Eng (; born 8 December 1960) is a Malaysian politician and accountant from the Democratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bagan, Member of t ...

, announced that the seaside promenade would be renamed in honour of his departed colleague and presented a map of the road with its new name to Karpal's widow, Gurmit Kaur. The renaming of the promenade made

the first local

DAP DAP or Dap may refer to: Science * DAP (gene), human gene that encodes death-associated proteins, which mediate programmed cell death * Diamidophosphate, phosphorylating compound * Diaminopimelic acid, amino acid derivative of lysine * Diaminop ...

politician to be honoured with a street name within

Penang Island Penang Island ( ms, Pulau Pinang; zh, 檳榔嶼; ta, பினாங்கு தீவு) is part of the state of Penang, on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It was named Prince of Wales Island when it was occupied by the British Ea ...

. Prior to the renaming move, the road was known colloquially as the Seaview''' or the IJM Promenade, the latter after the firm that developed this particular neighbourhood.

Landmarks

Karpal Singh Drive features a 10 metre paved walkway beautified with modern art sculptures by Hitori Nakayama, a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

artist who has been residing in

. These include the '''Celebration of Our Blue Sky''' and the Rhythm of Light'''; the former consists of a set of four blue pillars whilst the latter depicts musical notes. The Maritime is a commercial complex at Karpal Singh Drive, consisting of a two-storey commercial podium known as The Maritime Piazza and two high rise office blocks called The Maritime Suites. The Maritime Piazza contains the Auto Mall, which is made up of car showrooms, eateries, cafes, spas, and entertainment outlets.

Past art exhibitions

Penang Flotilla

The Penang Flotilla, which became the overall champion in the 2014 1Malaysia International Tourism Night Floral Parade, was installed at Karpal Singh Drive for public display until the end of 2015.

Ubah Bird

The Ubah di Air''' bird mascot was launched at the Karpal Singh Drive. It became the mascot for the

during

2013 Malaysian general election General elections were held in Malaysia on Sunday, 5 May 2013 to elect the members of the 13th Parliament. Voting took place in all 222 parliamentary constituencies, each electing one MP to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. ...

Gallery

File:Persiarankarpal1.JPG, Karpal Singh Drive signboard File:KSDRIVENEWYEAREVE.JPG, Karpal Singh Drive during day File:Persiarankarpalautomallnewyear.JPG, Karpal Singh Drive during new year celebration File:MCdkarpalsinghdrive.jpg,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

at Karpal Singh Drive File:Karpalsinghdrive2.jpg, The view of Karpal Singh Drive File:Karpalsinghdrive3.jpg, The view looking toward sea File:starbuckkarpalsing.jpg,

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 cou ...

at The Maritime Piazza, Karpal Singh Drive

References

{{GTRoad Roads in Penang George Town, Penang Waterfronts