Rifle Range is a residential

neighbourhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

within the city of George Town in the

Malaysian state Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories, which form the primary administrative divisions of the country. Eleven states and two territories are part of Peninsular Malaysia, while two states and one territory ...

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

. Located west of the

city centre A city centre, also known as an urban core, is the Commerce, commercial, Culture, cultural and often the historical, Politics, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely e ...

, the area was once home to a

shooting range A shooting range, firing range, gun range or shooting ground is a specialized facility, venue, or field designed specifically for firearm usage qualifications, training, practice, or competitions. Some shooting ranges are operated by milita ...

used by the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. The

Malaysian federal government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia (; Jawi: ), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya, with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is a federation comp ...

constructed nine blocks of low-cost

public housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

at the area in 1969, making them the first residential high-rises in Penang. Until 1977, the Rifle Range flats were considered the tallest buildings in George Town.

Etymology

Rifle Range was so named as the area was once used as a

by the

and local police.

History

Rifle Range, which was used by the military and the police as a shooting range during the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

colonial era, was also the site where victims of the

Imperial Japanese Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

Sook Ching Sook Ching was a mass killing that occurred from 18 February to 4 March 1942 in Singapore after it fell to the Japanese. It was a systematic purge and massacre of 'anti-Japanese' elements in Singapore, with the Singaporean Chinese p ...

massacres were buried. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when

was under Japanese occupation, thousands of ethnic Chinese were brutally executed by the Japanese authorities and were buried in mass graves throughout Penang, including at Rifle Range. The remains of the victims would only be uncovered in the 1960s when the construction of the Rifle Range flats was underway. In 1964, the

approved a pilot project to construct prefabricated high-rise housing at Rifle Range. Six blocks of 17-storey flats and three blocks of 18-storey flats, which cumulatively contain 3,699 residential units and 66 shop lots, were to be assembled on-site using prefabricated concrete blocks. The nine blocks were constructed by the Housing Trust Federation and were complete by 1969. The Rifle Range flats became the tallest buildings in George Town until the completion of Sunrise Tower in 1977. All nine structures were eventually acquired by the Penang state government from the federal government in 1972.

Transportation

The major thoroughfares within the neighbourhood are Boundary Road and Rifle Range Road. In addition,

Rapid Penang Rapid Penang (stylised as ''rapidPenang'') is a public bus brand operating within the George Town Conurbation in Malaysia. Established in 2007 as a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia, it serves as the main public transport system within the sta ...

bus routes 201, 202 and 204 include stops within Rifle Range.

Education

The neighbourhood is served by a single

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. * SRK Padang Tembak

References

{{Penang Neighbourhoods in George Town, Penang

Etymology

History

Transportation

Education

See also

References