A second bridge, which will link Batu Kawan on the mainland to Batu Maung, on Penang Island, Malaysia. (Photographer: Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg)
(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- Penang’s pastel-hued, colonial-era buildings speak to the Malaysian island’s history as a key trading post for the East India Company, when spices filled its warehouses and the British and Dutch vied for dominance in the region.