Penang George Town, Best Place To Retire

U.S. website ranks George Town in top 10 best places to retire this year.
Penang’s state capital city George Town has been listed as one of the best places to retire abroad in 2016 by CNN Money.
One of Malaysia’s two urban Unesco world heritage sites ranked sixth in the US list, beating even Chiang Mai in Thailand and ahead of Las Terrenas in the Dominican Republic, Cuenca in Ecuador, and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the latest listing proved that Penang is heading towards an international city status that is clean, green and sustainable.
“We are proud of being one of the only two Asian cities in the list,” he said and congratulated Penangites for making George Town a liveable city for all.
He also told senior citizens living in the state that they have chosen the right place to retire.
In the CNN Money report dated January 6, writer Katie Lobosco named George Town as an “extremely affordable” location to retire in with a monthly budget of US$900 equals to Ringgit Malaysia 3,750.
Georgetown is the capital of the island and state of Penang, on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. It was listed by UNESCO in 2008 as a 'World Heritage Site', together with fellow former Straits Settlement, Malacca.
Founded in 1786 by British trader Francis Light, Georgetown was one of the three Straits Settlements along with Singapore and Malacca. Modern-day Georgetown is one of Malaysia's largest cities with 600,000 inhabitants.
Today, the city is known for its well-preserved colonial core, with original shophouses dating from the 19th century to the 1930s still surviving, together with their trades of old. Colonial buildings and places of worship coexist with these shophouses. Street markets and hawkers continue to be a part of daily life, and the atmosphere is often likened to that of Singapore back in the 1960s and 1970s.