 According to Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) trustee, Anwar Fazal, a lawyer by profession, George Town ""legally has been and is still a city because the City of George Town Ordinance 1957 was never repealed"".In addition, Clause 3 of the Local Government (Merger of the City Council of George Town and the Rural District Council of Penang Island) Order 1974, which was sanctioned by the then Penang state government, stated that""... the status of the City of George Town as a city shall continue to be preserved and maintained and shall remain unimpaired by the merger hereby effected.