We report a novel hemoglobin (Hb) variant with a β chain amino acid substitution at codon 78 (CTG>CCG) (HBB: c.236T>C), detected through prenatal screening via capillary electrophoresis (CE) in an otherwise healthy and asymptomatic 38-year-old female of Southeast Asian ancestry. The variant, named Hb Penang after the proband's Malaysian city of origin, underwent further characterization through high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), reversed phase HPLC, Sanger sequencing, isopropanol stability testing and isoelectric focusing (IEF).