Penang High Court

Penang High Court (21 August 2011)


Penang High Court Building (GPS: 5.42076, 100.3398), or Mahkamah Tinggi Pulau Pinang, is an elegant Palladian-style building along Light Street in George Town, Penang. Formerly called the Supreme Court Building, it was built to replace the original courthouse which was constructed on the same site in 1809. It is located on a plot of land bounded by Pitt Street, Light Street and Farquhar Street.

The Penang Supreme Court Building was designed in the Palladian style and was inaugurated in September, 1903. The Supreme Court building was designed by the engineers of the Public Works Department headed by John Henry McCallum, the Surveyor-General of the Straits Settlements, based in Singapore. The total cost of construction was 206,678 Straits Dollars.

The building has stately columns and a domed chamber. Originally, there were also statues and emblems which have since been removed. Some of the balconies and verandahs were also sealed off during later expansions to create additional space.

Recently the Penang Supreme Court underwent renovation and expansion. A 3-storey wing was added to it. In addition, the State Government provided a piece of land across the street for additional space. Within the grounds of the Penang Supreme Court is the Logan Monument, which was also moved to the new space across the street.

The Penang Supreme Court Building is on the Map of Light Street, Penang

Penang Supreme Court Building (21 August 2011)


Newly restored façade of the Penang Supreme Court (8 January 2008)


The Penang Supreme Court, Pitt Street façade (8 January 2008)


The Penang Supreme Court, new Farquhar Street wing (8 January 2008)

Penang Supreme Court During Restoration

The Penang Supreme Court during restoration (23 April 2007)

Penang Supreme Court Before Restoration

The Penang Supreme Court before restoration (20 March 2004)


The Supreme Court, Pitt Street façade, before restoration (20 March 2004)

Updates on the Penang High Court

25 October, 2015 The Star reports cracks appearing in the Penang High Court Building, raising concern over the safety of lawyers, court staff and the public using it.

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About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.