PENANG - THE Penang government will proceed with its decision to use multilingual road signs and street names to promote Georgetown as a World Heritage Site.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said it was merely adding English, Tamil, Chinese, Arabic and Jawi in the signboards while retaining Bahasa Malaysia in deference to it being the national language.

'We want to boost Penang tourism and this is part of our effort to attract more tourists to visit Penang after the recognition by Unesco as a World Heritage Site,' he told reporters after the installation of five signboards in different languages along Lebuh Acheh here today.

He said the multilingual road signs could assist many foreign tourists in exploring Penang as a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious city.

He said multilingual signboards had been put up in many cities, including Kuala Lumpur which had added Arabic and Jawi on its road signs.

'We cannot be a closed society if we want to survive and compete globally,' he said, adding that each of the signboards cost about RM300 (S$127).

Asked to comment on Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam remark that he should be aware earlier of the Unesco guidelines on world heritage site, Mr Lim said Mr Mohd Ali's words could not be trusted.

'Mohd Ali said that (Bollywood heart-throb) Shah Rukh Khan will come down to Melaka on Nov 29 to receive his Datukship but it was called off. This shows that the Mohd Ali does not mean what he says and does not say what he means,' he said.

Last Wednesday, Mr Lim was reported as having said tht the guidelines were not made widely known when they were first put in place and the state government only became aware of them when Georgetown's Unesco status was approved. -- BERNAMA