ONE of the must visit places in Penang, the Penang Hill, saw a tremendous increase in the number of visitors last year.
According to Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also the chairman of the Penang Hill Corporation (PHC), the number of passengers (using the funicular train) recorded last year was 1.74 million passengers.
“This shows an increase of 26.14 percent of passengers compared to the year 2017,” Chow said during his opening speech at the Penang Hill Corporation Annual Dinner at the St Giles Wembley this evening.
“The PHC has taken the initiative to get Penang Hill listed as the ‘UNESCO Biosphere Reserve’ last year.
“If it becomes a success, then it will be another milestone for Penang Hill which we can be proud of,” Chow added.
Chow also encouraged the PHC to keep striving for excellence and not to be satisfied with their achievements.
He said the real challenge after achieving great heights is the ability to maintain it.
“To the PHC team, I hope that you will continue to work as a team to achieve PHC’s mission and vision to be a preferred hill resort of choice in the country.
“The state government will grant its greatest support to realise this,” he said.
Apart from that, Chow also shared the progress of the upgrading work at the upper station (Phase 4).
“After the completion of the upgrading work at the lower station last year, we are now moving towards upgrading the waiting area at the upper station.
“This is to make the environment more conducive for the Penang Hill visitors,” he added.
PHC general manager Cheok Lay Heng conveyed his vision of making the PHC a world class organisation.
“We want to achieve the world class standards, and this year we are aiming to pass the ISO standard of 9001 and 50001.
“And once we pass that, we want to pass the safety standard which is EN 12397,“ Cheok added.
At the dinner, the staff members were also awarded with the longest service awards.
Besides that, announcements were also made to recognise employees who have not taken any medical leave or emergency leave.
Also present were State Secretary Datuk Seri Farizan Darus, Datuk Seri Lee Kah Choon, the special adviser to the Chief Minister, and Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix & video by Alissala Thian