we do this trip every year and have usually used hong kong and then air asia on to penang
but air asia have cancelled direct penang flight so only option is cathay pacific to penang
this year managed to snag 2 F seats to singapore - much better availibility direct to penang
also what about bangkok-biz class only now but daily thai air flight to penang

are you set on penang as borneo is another easy option from hong kong with both airasia and dragonair

have you been to malaysia before-if not you will love it