Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera or Flagstaff Hill), the earliest British Hill Station in Malaya, as its names suggest, had its beginnings in 1793 as a strategic vantage point in a time of war. In later years, Penang Hill would become a place of rest, recreation and refuge for colonial administrators, a place of exploration for nature enthusiasts and fertile ground for agriculturalists optimising the cool climes of the hill to harvest fresh produce. 

Today, the landscape of the hill is dotted with a built heritage which spans 200 years. It is alive with the stories of people of diverse backgrounds – people who maintain their residences here, farmers, caretakers, small businesses, those that maintain places of worship and those whose work is intertwined with the rhythms of running the hill’s historic funicular railway. Many can trace their past to generations that came before them. These stories which form the tapestry of life on the hill remain largely untold. It is against this backdrop that our visual narrators have gone forth, to seek and find, to keep for generations to come.