PENANG A PORTRAIT OF PROGRESS

SOPA AWARD WINNER FOR EDITORIAL EXCELLENCE

THE EDGE MALAYSIA

JANUARY 24, 2011

PEOPLE’S LEADER an exclusive interview with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng VISION & ROMANCE E&O Bhd’s Datuk Terry Tham on the group’s investments and ambitious plans for the island’s seafront THE BUSINESS OF HERITAGE savvy investors bring life to Penang’s historic shophouses A NEW BENCHMARK luxury living

redefined in Seri Tanjung Pinang URBAN REJUVENATION federal and state partnership to revive and create a

greater George Town LIVE, WORK & PLAY the allure of the Pearl of the Orient

Op2 JAN 24

2011

OPTIONS EDITORIAL TEAM

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DOROTHY TEOHEDITOR SURINDER JESSYDEPUTY EDITOR JACQUELINE TOYADWRITERS ANANDHI GOPINATH, ELAINE LAU CONTRIBUTORS KAM RASLAN, KULWANT GREWAL, NEIL KHOR PRODUCTION EDITOR OOI INN LEONG CHIEF COPY EDITOR PUSHPAM SINNAKAUNDANSENIOR COPY EDITOR MARICA VAN WYNENCOPY EDITORS KENNETH FRANCIS MARTINUS, PATRICK FONGCHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER ABDUL GHANI ISMAILDEPUTY CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER HARIS HASSANSENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER KENNY YAPPHOTOGRAPHERS LEE LAY KIN, PATRICK GOHART DIRECTOR SHARON KHOH DESIGN DESK RAYMOND KHOR, NIK EDRA, MOHD YUSRY, BOH JUN KITPRODUCTION MANAGER THOMAS CHINPRODUCTION TEAM HONG KIN SIANG, YONG ONN, KUAH CHOON ENG, TO YEN SUANG, LEE KHIAM SU

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4EDITOR’S NOTE

6VOICES OF THE ISLAND STATE

8STATE OF RENAISSANCEHow Penang has become a portrait of progress for Malaysia

10A PEOPLE’S LEADERAn exclusive interview with Penang’s Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng on his philosophy, leadership and vision for the state

14THE MAKING OF GREATER GEORGE TOWNPropelling the rejuvenation of the state through sustainable federal and state government partnership

16THE LURE OF PENANGTh e appeal of the island state

18A NEW BENCHMARKSeri Tanjung Pinang sets new living standards in its waterfront residental and retail project in Tanjung Tokong

CONTENTSthe week of 24 • 01 • 11

22VISION & ROMANCEE&O Bhd’s Datuk Terry Th amKa Hon on the company’s faith and investments in the island

25VOICES OF PENANG

26URBAN REJUVENATIONWhat Khazanah Nasional and Th ink City Sdn Bhd are doing to revitalise the world heritage site

30THE BUSINESS OF HERITAGESavvy investors on their creative ventures

34CREATIVE ENDEAVOURSExploring Penang’s arts scene

36FOOD HAVENDelving into Penang’s culinary cornucopia

38OCEANIC SPLENDOURExploring marine tourism opportunities in Penang

40LIFE’S A BEACHSorting out Penang’s seashores

42THE LONE PINERevisiting an icon of hospitality and history in Batu Ferringhi

44SNAPSHOTS OF PENANG

46TALKING EDGEA living heritage city, too many acronyms IMHO

Op3 SEPT 292009

JANUARY 24, 2011

Op4 JAN 24

2011

he year 2008 marked a watershed in Malaysia’s history, triggering sweeping changes in the country, and Penang off ers an interest-ing case study of how Malaysians are embracing that change to improve their way of life. The positive energy sweeping the state now is spurring economic activity and transforming its living environment.

Penang voted in a new political team, led by current Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in March 2008. Shortly after he occupied the state’s top seat, the capital city of George Town was success-fully listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site. These two events have indeed brought winds of change to Penang, with the Pearl of the Orient fi nally moving towards regaining its lost lustre.

The people of Penang are a proud lot today. They had worked relentlessly to put George Town on the world heritage map through individual eff orts to preserve the physical legacy of George Town, and they did it out of a passion for and responsibility to their city. And it was they who decided that it was time for a new beginning and today, they are living in a state of renaissance because they decided to take charge.

In barely three years, George Town has shed its drab image. Economically, Penang’s fortunes are on the rise. Just a few days ago, the Malaysian International Development Agency (Mida) announced that Penang was the most attractive destination for both foreign and local investors for 2010. And it’s not just the pri-vate sector that is investing in Penang. The federal government is spending billions on upgrading the state’s infrastructure. Its airport is undergoing a RM250 million facelift and the construc-tion of the second bridge linking the island to the mainland is well underway. The federal government, through its investment arm Khazanah Nasional Bhd, has also put in place a RM20 million grant programme to revitalise George Town.

The streets are cleaner, the island is greener and neatly paved sidewalks make venturing into the inner city on foot a pleasant experience. The urban rejuvenation process is very apparent. Two and a half years ago, when the Options team visited Penang for our heritage issue, George Town was just coming to life. Many of its heritage buildings were still in a state of dilapidation. But two weeks ago, when the team went back to Penang for this issue, a whole new island greeted us.

George Town is buzzing with life and the energy almost infec-tious. The heritage buildings have been given a new lease of life, a café lifestyle is brewing while boutique hotels are the in thing.

This happy mingling of a better economic climate and a cleaner, greener and more vibrant environment is making Penang a very liveable and attractive place. Last year, George Town was voted the eighth best city to live in Asia by ECA International. It is also the preferred city for Malaysia My Second Home residents. And it gained international attention after being listed as the world’s street-food capital and destination of choice for international travellers by The New York Times.

This changing landscape has also become a magnet for local property developers. A case in point is E&O Bhd. The group pio-neered the concept of luxury living on the island. It started off with the restoration and refurbishment of E&O Hotel and now it has set a new benchmark with its Seri Tanjung Pinang luxury waterfront residential and retail marina in Tanjung Tokong.

It is these changes that I observed in Penang that prompted me to come up with this special issue on the state. We off er our readers a peek at Penang’s rapid transformation. E&O’s manag-ing director Datuk Terry Tham shares his vision of the state and chats about his long “love aff air” with the island (Page 22). We also look at how the federal government is forging a sustainable partnership with the state city (The Making of Greater George Town on Page 14) and how the federal and state agencies are working together to revive the city (Urban Rejuvenation on Page 26). We bring you Penang’s appeal (The Lure of Penang on Page 16), its heritage value (The Business of Heritage on Page 30), its evolving lifestyle (A New Benchmark on Page 18; Many Firsts in Straits Quay on Page 20) and the splendour its seas off er (Oceanic Splendour on Page 38). We revisit a heritage landmark on the Batu Ferringhi stretch (Revisiting Lone Pine on Page 42) and explore the artistic opportunities and talent the place breeds (Creative Endeavours on Page 34). And how can we talk about Penang without mentioning about its food? See Culinary Haven on Page 36.

EDITOR’S NOTE

The highlight of this issue is, of course, our exclusive interview with Penang’s Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (Pages 10 to 14). We (myself, deputy editor Jacqueline Toyad and The Edge deputy chief photographer Haris Hassan) met him at his 28th fl oor offi ce in Komtar and his warm handshake put us at ease immediately. During our one hour with Lim, we saw the diff erent facets of his personality but what stayed with us is his emotional connection with the people of Penang. When I asked him what he thought were the better attributes of the people of Penang, he immedi-ately pointed to his forehead and said: “Brain power. They are the brightest and most creative people in Malaysia. Their vision, their drive ... their spirit of expertise, energy and entrepreneurship is something I admire and share.” This is probably the best accolade for the people of Penang and what’s even better is that it comes from a man who is not a Penangite.

And this is precisely why Lim believes strongly in Penang’s success because he knows that the progress of the state is driven by its people.

This has indeed been a very challenging issue to put together and I worked very closely with the E&O group on the issue. I could not have done it without the input of Lyn Chai, group communica-tions and investor relations director at E&O Bhd, and her team.

Like Datuk Terry, the Options team has an ongoing love af-fair with Penang. This is our second special edition dedicated to Penang; the fi rst was in August 2008 when we featured Penang in all its heritage glory. This time around, it is all about Penang’s physical, economic and emotional metamorphosis.

Op5 SEPT 292009

JANUARY 24, 2011

Eye on George Town

islandstate

Op6 JAN 24

2011 VP

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Hello, and welcome to my state. For centuries, my beautiful port on the island has been the international gateway for trade, due to its location in the Straits of Malacca. A bridge between east and west from ancient times, it drew people from the four corners of the world, some of whom stayed on, enriching my history and heritage with their respective cultures. I gained respect when on Jan 1, 1957, I was declared a city under a royal charter by Queen Elizabeth II and became the fi rst municipality in the Federation of Malaya.

It wasn’t always easy, I have had rough and dark years, sometimes at the hands of the people. Th ey left parts of me in decay, my spirit a little broken, until that fateful day when Unesco recognised me as a world heritage site in July, 2008. Th e people remembered me again and my former state of glory, and they started to come back, one by one. Th eir return triggered a renaissance of sorts, and I feel my weakened spirit becoming stronger, brighter.

I am shining again — I am in the process of being made over, upgraded and rejuvenated - thanks to my people.

Now, I am waiting for you.

Op7 JAN 242011Voices of

Penang

Penang is all about warmth. I’m from KL, and it’s a

metropolis now. Penang is more provincial and people

are closer. Th e charm too – because its smaller,

everything here is more charming. In KL, people

tend to be indiff erent, cold and isolated. But in Penang,

people reach out all the time. In KL, it’s a rat race, but in Penang, it’s sitting

under a betel nut tree.” - Johan Othman, composer

and lecturer at University Sains Malaysia

Penang has got a heart and soul, which is in the centre of George Town – it is raw, interesting,

energised, gentrifi ed and real. We were cosmopolitan since 1700s when KL was not

even discovered. We had infl uences in art, music, everything. And it’s in our blood … Penang will

be the place for change – spiritually, politically, creatively. Here’s a place where people can put

in ideas, can feel, can show and make changes without restrictions… It is quite unlike any other

place in Malaysia.” – Joe Rosli Sidek, entrepreneur, performing arts

practitioner and activist

Penang has got a heart andcentre of George Town –

energised, gentrifi ecosmopolitan since 17

I could have stayed in the US or moved to KL, but I think it was probably the people, the atmosphere as well as the food that drew me back here. A lot of Penangites who go as far as the UK or US, the fi rst thing they do when they touchdown at the airport is head to their favourite char koay teow location in town. Th ese are very important elements that draw Penangites back. Heritage has done a fair bit. Studying at St Xavier’s Institution, in the heart of the core zone, I used to spend a lot of time there. Back then, old streets like Love Lane were dull, broken, but these days they have been transformed. I have passed through (the heritage area) every day of my life, and to see the change in the atmosphere gives me a sense of optimism.It’s alive again.”

— Jeff rey Chew, special offi cer to Chief Minister of Penang

I could have stayed in the US that drew me back here. A lo

the airport is head to th

Th ere are a lot of people here who have a natural creative spirit. Why that is I don’t know, but it’s a creative spirit that moves from person to person, far more so than I’ve seen in Langkawi. And I’m eager to be a part of that. People are so positive about their desire to promote the destination. Many, many people here are both proactive as well…in their vision for the destination, and I think what it lacks is somehow perhaps even more people driving it forward. Th ere’s so much opportunity here but you can’t achieve everything all at once but I think that many people are putting things in place, cementing ideas and making things work for the future. And I think that’s what’s so wonderful about it. Th ere’s so much colour, artistic creativeness which comes in so many forms... there’s an energy.”

– Alison Fraser, hotelier and co-proprietor of Penang’s Straits Collection and Langkawi’s Bon Ton Restaurant & Resort

Th ere are a lot of people here but it’s a creative spirit that m

angkawi. And I’m eager to b

Penang is all about warmth. I’m from KL, and it’s a

metropolis now. Penang is ore provincial and peop

Op8 JAN 24

2011

A state of renaissancePenang today is a portrait of progress and, as Jacqueline Toyad fi nds out, at the heart of the transformation is its people who have responded enthusiastically to the winds of change sweeping across the state

All Options food reviews are done incognito Food reviews are subjective as they depend on the likes and dislikes of each writer

Blessed with the ideal geography, Penang has enjoyed a long histo-ry as a trading hub. As far back as

the late 18th century, it emerged as one of the fi rst free trade ports in east Asia, resulting in the most unique cosmopoli-tan makeup in a single state, compared with the rest of Malaysia, thanks to the trading and cultural exchanges between East and West.

When it comes to lifestyle and cul-ture, none can deny the vibrant and col-ourful palette that Penang off ers. Rich in culinary off erings, heritage and the arts, and complemented by a thriving econo-my built on tourism and manufacturing, Penang is a portrait of progress, and at its pulse, the people who are currently riding a wave of positivity and working towards the transformation of the once-sleepy seaside state into an international destination driven by a high-income and knowledge economy.

According to the Malaysian Inter-national Development Agency (Mida), Penang has come out on top over the rest of the states in attracting capital investments for manufacturing projects in 2010 with a total of RM12.2 billion — more than RM2 billion were new investments and another RM9 billion plus were reinvestments.

How are they getting it so right? This new energy seems to have infected all Penangites alike, from the trishaw man and street hawker on Penang Road and the suits that fi ll the fi nancial institu-tions off Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah in George Town to the thousands of em-ployees milling at the manufacturing plants in Butterworth and that of the multinationals in Bayan Lepas. Not even the dark cloud of the global economic crisis has managed to dull the island sun. Business as usual is the mantra, business better than ever is the goal.

The answer lies in two catalytic events in 2008, namely the general election in March and the listing of George Town as a Unesco World Heritage Site in July, which brought with them the winds of change and hope that the Pearl of the Orient could be polished to its original splendour.

The general election saw DAP inject-ing a new, people-centric administra-tion that aimed to return Penang to its origins as an international hub in a way that is defi ned and driven by the people. At the same time, the Unesco listing boosted the state’s tourism industry and restored pride among Penangites, which saw them to embrace the new state gov-ernment’s agenda of progress.

“It’s still a work in progress, but at least we’re moving in the right direc-tion,” says Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. “It’s not easy to work off 18 years of sloth and inertia. We slept for 18 years and that’s too long. It’s not easy to shake the lethargy off your body.”

Lim refers to Penang’s second wind back in the 1960s, when then chief min-ister Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu revived the state’s economy after it lost its free port status. A visionary, the late Lim went on a mission to transform the state’s lack-lustre agriculture-based economy into a booming electric and electronics manu-facturing hub. Through the setting up of the Penang Development Corporation in November 1969 and the establishment of Malaysia’s fi rst free trade zone in Bayan Lepas, the state enticed the likes of Ad-vanced Micro Devices Products Sdn Bhd, Agilent Technologies Sdn Bhd, Clarion (M) Sdn Bhd, Fairchild Semiconductor Sdn Bhd, Hitachi Semiconductor (M) Sdn Bhd, Intel Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Osram Opto Semiconductor (M) Sdn Bhd and Robert Bosch (M) Sdn Bhd to set up their off shore bases in Penang, all of which

continue to thrive there today. Soon, other free trade zones were set up in Prai and Bukit Minyak, and companies like Motorola, Seagate, Dell and Western Digital also made Penang their base, which gained it recognition as “Silicon Valley of the East”. It was during this time that Penang began to landmark its successes, fi rst with the 65-storey Komtar (Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak, the tallest building in Southeast Asia back when it was completed in 1986) and the 13.5km Penang Bridge.

Blame it on a combination of being sidetracked by politics and settling into complacency, Penang’s development then went into slowdown by 1990 though the state managed to continue riding the strength of its electrical and electronics industry and nothing else.

But since 2008, it seems that the Pearl of the Orient is in the midst of a great polishing up. This includes tour-ism, which continues to be the other major component of Penang’s economy, making up 70% of Malaysia’s tourism receipts. Having long ago lost its ap-peal as a beach destination due to poor maintenance, heritage and culture have proved to be the main drivers over the last couple of years. Last year, it was pro-jected that 2010 would see a revenue of RM10.8 billion from tourism alone.

Overall, Penang’s GDP has grown from about RM1.3 billion in 1970 to a projected RM45 billion by 2020, and this increase is largely due to the expanding manufacturing sector that now accounts for 39% of Penang’s economy, with the services sector contributing 57%. Penang contributes nearly 25% to Malaysia’s imports and exports, both in value and volume. From March 2008 — when Paka-tan Rakyat took power — until February 2010, Penang has attracted investments worth RM9 billion.

Strength of the people What has been amazing to observe is the way the people of Penang have accepted the call to arms. During its lacklustre years, it was hopelessness that hin-dered many from participating in the progress, with most of the Penang talent pool looking outwards for opportunities in shinier cities like Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, and even beyond.

The level of community participa-tion that one sees in Penang these days is astounding. From the organisation of arts festivals and participations in “gotong royong” activities on Sundays to the personal investments in the res-toration of heritage buildings and chan-nelling trust funds so as to make higher education accessible to everyone, the people of Penang are indeed getting things done.

Getting things done could very well be a trait ingrained in the Penangite DNA. Some have put it down to sea breeze, but Penang has for some reason been the birthplace of a great many doers, movers and shakers. There was Malaysia’s found-ing father Tun Abdul Rahman as well as legendary actor/singer/director Tan Sri P Ramlee. There is also luxury shoe couturier Jimmy Choo, squash world champion Nicol David and Tan Twan Eng, author of The Gift of Rain, nominated for the 2007 Man Booker Prize. It must be for this reason that the state govern-ment is returning development focus on human resources, on “training, retrain-ing, retaining and attracting” talent. The concept isn’t novel or groundbreaking. It’s down to common sense and making the best use of what already exists.

And just like in its Golden Age, when Penang island beckoned to modern Chi-na’s founder Sun Yat Sen and novelists Somerset Maugham and Rudyard Ki-pling, it is now attracting talents to come

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invest and/or stay, while Penangites who had moved away are coming back.

Penang native Christopher Ong, a retired fund manager, has returned to Penang and has been involved with a few major restoration works such as Clove Hall and most recently, Seven Terraces — seven dilapidated shophouses on Stewart Lane. Another Penang son, Joe Sidek, is taking the state’s arts scene to another level with George Town Festival, launched last year. From the outside, there’s Angela and Hijjas Kasturi, who’ve converted a cluster of 15 pre-war ter-raced and shophouses into a stunning heritage boutique hotel. (Read all their stories in this issue)

City infrastructure: Getting back to basicsThere is a style of living that is quintes-sentially Penang. It’s the right balance of being laidback and bustling; very re-laxed, yet very cosmopolitan. The timing is right, what with everything falling into place — Penang is being primed to be the destination for the young, educated and creative.

Just recently, it was announced that Penang ranked No 8 on the “Best place to live in Asia” list by ECA International.

Says Lim Guan Eng, “Three years ago, we were No 10; now we’re No 8. We want to keep on doing things right. Those

things that we’ve been doing right, we’ll keep on doing it right and also improve on them. I always say that the three main problems that Penang faces are the three Cs — crime, cleanliness and con-gestion — so we’re working on that.”

These days the link between qual-ity of life and economic performance is getting stronger. People are little bit worldlier, a little more learned, so beyond a livelihood, they have become pretty discerning when it comes to the live-ability of a city.

Liveability includes quality public services, good medical care, lower stress, open spaces, cultural events, sports and social facilities, safety and security, waste disposal, education, heritage sites and so on. The people are after the whole package, and Penang is being primed to deliver.

The Penang Transport Council has been tasked with “moving people, not cars”, and are about to launch a huge traffi c management study that will take into account the implementation of water taxis and innovative bus systems to improve mobility. Implementation of solutions will run concurrently with the study as and when the consultants appointed are able to make their recom-mendations, based on their fi ndings.

Currently, there are 10 major infra-structure projects that have been iden-

tifi ed for implementation, including the RM250 million expansion of the airport that is expected to be completed in June 2012; Penang Port; the con-struction of the second bridge, which is well underway; as well as the creation of a multimedia super corridor in the state. Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak concurs that the state is well-positioned to become a hub for the northern corridor and the growth trian-gle that comprises Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Another area the government will be focusing on aims to realise density and reduce distance in Penang, particularly between the island and mainland — the Penang Sentral project.

An international cityWhile many may equate progress with monster structures and other types of physical high-rise development, in Penang, the focus remains on the people. Any kind of physical development will be mainly to improve on what already exists.

Even Komtar, once the icon of mod-ern Penang in the 1980s, and now a dull, grey eyesore, will be given a re-juvenation to “elevate the building in its function and aesthetics”. Probably inspired by the restoration projects of the heritage buildings surrounding the tower, Penang Development Corp

will oversee the project, which entails rejuvenating the Geodesic Dome and more than 1.6ha of open space on the fifth floor. It will also upgrade facilities for the public, including the auditorium for concerts and functions, and maybe a “restaurant in the sky” on the 59th and 60th floors.

Mindsets are changing. If anything, the celebration of Penang’s heritage has taught us that all of the state’s former and now emerging glories have been achieved through intellect and creative economies. As Tun Lim Chong Eu once said, “It is indeed the people of Penang who have made us what we are today.”

The government’s focus on human resources to propel Penang forward as an international city and a high-income and knowledge economy is defi nitely a move in the right direction. Working from the inside out, Penang is cleaning up its streets and shaping a new living heritage that will off er stress-free and environmentally conscious approaches to life.

Ultimately, Penang’s future will be determined by its people, its cities and its economy. With the economy in a state of vibrancy, the people hopeful again and the city moving towards increased live-ability, and all these elements working in harmony, Penang is paving the way for other states to follow. E

EDGE

Op10

JAN 242011

A people’s

LEADER

Confrontational and outspoken — that’s how most Malaysians perceive Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng. Yet the DAP stalwart has endeared himself to the people of Penang since taking offi ce as the state’s leader in 2008. Which is not surprisinging as Lim operates on a platform of integrity, with no place for corruption and nepotism in his administration. The people and their needs are his top priority and competency, accountability and transparency his doctrines. Surinder Jessy and Jacqueline Toyad get the opportunity to speak to Lim about the sea change he has brought to the state, its economy and its people and come away impressed by his warmth and fervour.

How often does the leader of a state, after introducing himself, hand you his calling card rather

than assume that you already know who he is? It is this small yet charming ges-ture that amuses us when we meet Lim Guan Eng, Chief Minister of Penang, at his offi ce on Level 28 of Kompleks Tun Abdul Razak, otherwise known as Kom-tar, the state’s tallest landmark.

With smiling eyes and an affable manner, Lim greets us warmly. It’s 6.45pm and his day is still going on. He’s just completed an emergency press conference, but he is still fresh faced and ready to answer our questions.

Lim has a reputation for being tough — confrontational when attacked, fa-mously outspoken and blunt when there are things that need to be said. Face to face, however, his soft side becomes more apparent than what the media allows us to see. It’s no wonder the people of Penang take to Lim so easily, especially when he is on one of his regular walka-bouts. Sincerity rings through the timbre

of his voice and reverberates in his fi rm handshake.

It was no easy rise through the ranks for this Penang chief minister. Twice imprisoned, both times for standing up for the people, Lim had also been stripped of Member of Parliament status and was not able to practise as an ac-countant and therefore could not hold any party post or contest in the general election in 1999 and 2004. Today, he is Member of Parliament for Bagan, state assemblyman for Air Puteh and also secretary-general of DAP (the Malaysian Democratic Action Party).

What he’s achieved thus far, though, clearly he’s earned. Who can argue with the way he led DAP, the little engine that made a clean sweep of all 19 Penang state seats it contested in the March 8, 2008 election? Since being sworn into offi ce on March 11 that year, Lim has continued to make waves. Sure, there have been ripples caused by his going head to head with his political detrac-tors, but Penangites have recognised his

eff orts in introducing a political culture to the state government — a system of governance based on the principles of competency, accountability and trans-parency.

In the last two years, 30 people-cen-tric policies have been implemented with Lim at the helm. Entitled the 3Es Mission of a People-Centric Govern-ment to Enable, Empower and Enrich the People, the policies are in keeping with what the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government believes is essentially the framework that can succeed in trans-forming Penang into an international city that is “a democratic, just, united and cohesive, knowledge-seeking and prosperous society”.

So far, Penang has embraced a new form of governance the state has not seen in a long time. Yes, they probably couldn’t help but be taken with Lim’s knack for delivering dynamic speeches, with a penchant for catchphrases to punctuate his points; he also loves his alliterations, the most recent being “In-

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Op11 JAN 242011

vision, their drive … you know, Pen-angites are famous for their three Es: energy, expertise and entrepreneurship — traits that I share and admire. I think that’s the close emotional connection through these values. Maybe not per-sonal one-to-one, but that spirit of ex-pertise, energy and entrepreneurship is amazing. That’s why I have every belief in Penang’s success.”

We spent an hour with Lim, speaking to him about his three years as head of state, his work ethics, philosophy and his ultimate vision for Penang.

Options: Penang emerged from the recent global economic crisis largely unscathed, unlike the other states in the peninsula. Why and how was that so?Lim: There was a downturn in the ini-tial stage and most companies gener-ally shielded the local workers from the worst eff ects. The foreign workers were first impacted and many were retrenched and sent home. At the same time, the tourism sector was expanding and this presented new opportunities for Penang’s workforce and many switched over to the service sector.

Therefore, I would say that we saw a bit of an impact, not acute or intense, and many Penangites had savings af-ter working for so many years. So for them, it was an opportunity to take a break. When the upturn came, they immediately found jobs again. In fact, some lamented that the upturn came too quickly. They couldn’t take a longer break [laughs].

During that period, we set up our CAT [Career Assisted Training] Centre where we helped those unemployed and match job seekers with job vacancies, and that was also very eff ective and helpful. We managed to match around 3,000 over jobs during that period. After that we ran out of business because there were more companies than workers. They were ex-ceeding like three to one. Actually, the workers nowadays are very tarik harga. Sometimes when workers are being interviewed, it appears as if the worker is interviewing the potential employer, you know? And then there are cases where you have to beg them to stay on for the interview. One employer was so desperate that he went over to interview a worker in his house. And he was so reluctant to open the door. And when the job was off ered to him, he told the employer, ‘See fi rst-lah how’.

The job market here is incredible. The labour supply is so tight and the demand for workers is so high. So I’m making a call — if you can’t fi nd or get a job elsewhere, come to Penang. We’ve got 20,000 jobs waiting for you, any time. All sectors, but it’s more acute in the E&E (electrical and electronics) sector. Immediate, maybe 400 to 500 easy.

Even at this point there are a lot of job opportunities in Penang?Yes. In a way, we are victims of our own success because we have managed to get so many companies to come and open up for business here. Do you follow my Twitter? I tweet, ‘job vacancies, job vacancies, job vacancies’ all the time and I actually get a lot of response from outside of Penang. I’ve got almost 9,000 followers, so it gets around.

Where do you find the time to tweet? Tweeting is very fast. Only 125 char-acters.

And you think it has helped in your rela-tionship with the people of Penang?The cybercitizens, yes. Most of our ac-tivities are tweeted and the Twitter community or cyberspace is where the people keep in touch with me.

So you do think that it’s very im-portant for you to engage the social media?Very important. But it’s very important to engage everyone, whether it’s the busi-ness community, the NGOs, the senior citizens, cybercitizens, bloggers … I have regular sessions with them. I have regu-lar dinners with the business leaders, corporate captains, business reviewers and heads of international companies and it’s a good forum of exchange — they give us useful feedback and at the same time, they want to see where Penang is headed, and we give them a sense of direction and confi dence.

After being sworn in as the chief minister of Penang, you initiated a system of governance based on the principles of competency, account-ability and transparency. This rep-resented a complete change in the management of the state government and its agencies. How did you manage to inject this new management doc-trine into the state civil service?It’s not something new. It is actually a corporate norm. I’m just trying to adopt international best practices. It’s not so out of the ordinary. CAT — competency, accountability, transparency. That should be the soul of every governing creed. I think that has helped to clean up Penang, not only in terms of national or fi nancial resources. If you look at our budget, we’ve recorded huge surpluses — the largest surpluses in Malaysian history. Record surpluses. And with that money we can and are doing a lot like the social programmes we have implemented — the RM100 a year for senior citizens and if the senior citizen passes away, we give the family RM1,000.

It’s not just from surpluses but also in the way we manage our accounts. We’re always on time; we’re never late in submitting our accounts. For that, we have been praised in the auditor-

general’s report, consecutively for two years — 2008 and 2009. 2010 not yet lah! In fact, for year 2009, we were No 1 in the country.

CAT governance fi ghts corruption. The fact that senior citizens can get money now when they couldn’t in the past has got them asking ‘how come the previous government could not give money but you can?’ I say, ‘Simple, be-cause we don’t steal money’.

We have also been praised by Transpar-ency International for integrity in leader-ship. This is the fi rst time any government in Malaysia has been praised, whether federal or state. First time in history.

I think that has also engendered a sense of confi dence amongst the corpo-rate industry. There is good governance, there is integrity, there is accountability, transparency and most of all, compe-tency. Values that they adhere to. Since we share the same corporate values as them, they are at home in Penang. They want to be in Penang, they like to be in Penang, they desire to be in Penang. They dream to be in Penang.

How would you describe the relation-ship between the state and federal governments at this point in time?Well, I would say that … it can be testy at times but I think both of us are look-ing at it as a G-to-G relationship and we need to look at the national interest. Penang is too big to be allowed to fail because if Penang fails, Malaysia fails. It is in Malaysia’s interest that Penang succeeds. When Penang succeeds, Ma-laysia succeeds. We command up to 30% of Malaysia’s exports. And if you look at manufacturing, it’s 50%. Electronics, 57%. Medical tourism — 70% of Malaysia’s medical tourism receipts originate in Penang. And tourism in general has grown tremendously.

Last year, MAB (Malaysian Airports Holdings Bhd) informed me that in terms of passenger growth, we were the top airport in the country with passen-ger growth of nearly 30%.

So if you punish Penang, you’re going to lose out because all the income tax receipts go to the federal government, not to the state.

Penang has always been a hub for elec-tronics, with manufacturing being the mainstay of the economy. What other areas has the government identifi ed for the state to diversify into? Tourism. We think that tourism will be the main revenue earner. Just like Florida. More than half of Florida’s rev-enue comes from tourism even though they are a very advanced, technologically inclined, knowledge-intensive state.

And that helps in terms of cash fl ow because tourist receipts are cash receipts. You get money. It generates a lot of jobs. It also brightens up the place. It allows us to be more cosmopolitan and more knowledgeable. At the same time, we need to maintain the edge in our E&E cluster. We want to be there when the next wave of new technology comes. We want to catch it and we want to remain the most dynamic cluster for E&E.

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spiring innovation” or in Bahasa Malay-sia, “Ilhamkan innovasi”, the motto for the recently established Penang Science Council, set up to help turn Penang into a centre of excellence for the science and technology sector. But there’s also the matter of how the Penang government was able to turn a projected defi cit of RM35 million in Budget 2008 to a record surplus of RM88 million and a projected defi cit of RM40 million in Budget 2009 to a surplus of RM77 million, garnering praise from Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang two years in a row.

The Penang government is also a pio-neer in holding public open tenders for government projects and procurement contracts and also conducting these on the Internet via an e-tender format; open to all races, with no preferential treatment accorded to anyone. This move was highly commended by Transparency International.

Clearly, Penang’s ferociously ide-alistic leader runs on a platform of integrity and has made it clear that corruption and nepotism have no place in the new administration, and that the people and their needs are top priority. A fine example is when, in the face of the recent global economic crisis, Lim’s government set up the CAT (career as-sistance and training) Centre to help the unemployed find jobs — about 2,795 people were matched with jobs. Today, the job market in Penang is as vibrant as its economy.

Perhaps where Lim diff ers is that he is not afraid. He has shown nothing but political will since taking offi ce with all the reforms that have been implemented. For him, though, losing a little popularity is worth it if the outcome means a more knowledge-driven society in a state that is self-reliant, provides equal opportunities and is more environmentally conscious — benchmarks of any international city.

Born on Dec 8, 1960, Lim attended the La Salle Primary English School in Petaling Jaya and later the Batu Pahat Montfort Primary English School. For secondary education, he went to the Batu Pahat High School and Malacca High School. He graduated from Monash University, Australia, with a Bachelor of Economics degree and was a qualifi ed professional accountant by 1983. He was the president of MUISS (Monash University International Student Soci-ety). Prior to joining politics, Lim was a senior executive at a bank. His foray into politics was in 1986, when he was elected MP of Kota Melaka, defeating former Malaysian football captain Soh Chin Aun with a majority of 17,606 votes.

Being the son of long-serving politi-cian and former opposition leader Lim Kit Siang, it’s easy to believe that Lim had been groomed by his father to lead DAP, but from what he has done, from how he has proved himself in terms of going over and beyond the call of duty, Lim is indeed his own man.

His hometown may be Melaka, which had once rejected his leadership in the state DAP, but Lim has since developed a fervent passion for his adopted state.

When asked how he feels connected to the people of Penang, he says: “Their CO N T I N U E S N E X T PAG E

It’s not something new. It is actually a corporate norm. CAT — competency, accountability, transparency. Th at should be the soul of every governing creed. I think that has helped to clean up Penang.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HARIS HASSAN

Op12

JAN 242011

I have every belief in Penang’s success. I’ll use the words ‘manifest destiny’. I think that Penang is destined for success as long as we get our numbers right and get our act together. To focus always on human talent. We have no natural resources, but we have human resource, so we must use it, maximise it, optimise it and always think about moving up to the next level.

very big on green. We are the fi rst state to start to reduce plastic bags and this year, we went one step further by hav-ing no free plastic bags throughout the year, every day of the week, every week of the month, every month of the year. Of course we are only doing it for the hypermarkets. As far as the hawkers and markets are concerned, not yet.

We are doing it and we are facing opposition. We are losing some of our popularity because of this but I tell my team that we have to practise what we preach. What’s important to remember is that we do not inherit the earth, we borrow it from our children. And it is our responsibility to return it back to our children in the same state or better state than how we received it. Even if we lose popularity, so be it. We have a duty to save the earth. After all, we’re asking people to sacrifice by being inconven-ienced; we have also got to sacrifice by losing popularity, right? Hopefully, not too much until we get thrown out!

Given the intertwining of business and politics in Malaysia, how would you describe your relations with the Malaysian corporate community?

I think the corporate community is begin-ning to understand me and I would like to believe that they have confi dence in me. Confi dence not in me personally but confi dence in my commitment to deliver excellence, especially in governance.

They need to get to know me. They know that I have a corporate back-ground. I speak their language … some-times I speak their language too well, they say … ‘wah, you number crunching ah’ [laughs].

What we’re looking for is a model based on PPP — private-public partner-ship — where we have a triple-win solu-tion. The government wins, the private entrepreneur wins, and society at large wins. We believe that we can work out a triple-win solution. Our emphasis must be people-centric; we’ve come up with 30 policies where we want to enable, empower and enrich the people.

People must have a stake. The people must feel that they also benefi t. At the same time, they must feel proud of a state where the leaders are clean and a government they can trust. We are trying to rebuild or revive people’s trust in the government because only with social capital will things work.

After years of being in the opposition, you are now sitting on the other side of the table in the state. What has been your biggest challenge, adapt-ing to this new role as chief of the state administration?Instead of outside looking in, it’s inside looking out. And of course practising what we preach. I’ll give you some fi gures. We started with over RM700 million in GDP in 1970. Now we are pushing at about RM47 billion GDP. So our per capita income is higher than the national average by around 50%; we are almost US$10,000. To hit US$15,000 by 2020, we need to dou-ble our GDP, from RM47 billion to RM95 billion. That’s a tall order. To do that, I must stress on high value-added, high technology, knowledge intensive, centred around training, retraining, retaining and attracting new human talent.

Is that your biggest challenge?Yes. I think that human talent is the oil of the 21st century. It is not easy, especially when you have aggressive recruiters like Singapore.

Singapore has expressed some inter-est in Penang. Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching came to Penang recently and she was here on a fi eld inspection trip. They’re thinking of coming in because they see the prospects here. I told her very plainly that we believe that Penang will prosper and it’ll be the best place for them to park their money and allow it to grow because we have a rules-based environment here today. You want to do any business here, you don’t need to know anybody, and you don’t need to go through a third party or a middleman. You don’t have to say to a civil servant, ‘I know Lim Guan Eng’. You only need to know the rules. You know the rules, you will get your transaction processed.

I will relate something a chairman of a Main Market company told me. He said he had wanted to contact me but he couldn’t get me and also over the years he never maintained any relations or contact with me as he never expected us to win. Since he could not get me, he thought, what the hell, just try it out on his own and he sent in his request as per the procedure and he was so surprised he got his matter processed very fast. He told me, ‘It’s incredible! This really impresses me. I never expected to see this happening in Malaysia, but it’s hap-pening. It blows my mind away.’

This is what I want to achieve. Per-sonal accolades, people saying you’re the best … for me that’s not important. If they can tell me this, that they don’t need to know anyone to get things done in Penang, I think that for me is the highest accolade.

In the short three years, what do you think have been your administra-tion’s biggest achievements?I’ll leave it to the people to decide what my achievements are. But I think, if you look at the record of surpluses, getting recognition from Transparency Inter-national, able to retain and attract new high-tech marquee names — Honeywell, National Instruments — to come and invest in Penang. I think these are some of our successes.

The other thing is greener and bright-er, and hopefully smarter Penang. We are

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So you see our no free plastic bag campaign. We have received some en-couraging success. Why? Because there is a degree of trust in this government. Our revenue has increased. Even in 2009, when there was a recession, revenues increased.

And when it comes to the corporate community, the other aspect that is very important and which we take very seri-ously is the team that you have. Okay, you may be competent, effi cient, profes-sional, you may be very good at what you do, but you are only as good as your team. Team members play a crucial part in a good administration. Without a good team you are doomed to failure.

So my team is very important. I want to build a strong team, the best team, people who are competent, people who can deliver. I’ve got that team and I’m slowly adding on to it.

Who are the stand-out corporate examples who are helping drive the Penang economy, local and foreign?We have housing developers who are doing extremely well here and have in-vested a lot as well. Everybody seems to be launching something, and I ask them, ‘Are you not encouraging a property bubble?’ One of them answered, ‘I don’t know — everything I launch seems to be sold out. I can’t wait to launch’.

People are lining up to buy homes. In fact, I think it is the hottest property market in the country. Prices keep on booming. We wonder where the buyers are coming from, but we suspect that they are coming from the other states. Again, it’s a question of confidence. Confi dence breeds money.

Do you think that the Unesco world heritage site status has redefi ned Penang? Yes. It has helped to put Penang on the map; that we are and we can be an in-ternational and intelligent city. It’s not just about attracting human talent, but it’s about building intelligence. When you talk about building intelligence, you talk about two aspects — hard and soft, hard power and soft power, hard intelligence and soft intelligence. When you talk about soft intelligence, it can be very, very eff ective … cultural assets — art, entertainment, heritage — you can use these to draw a lot of visitors, draw a lot of investments. Noted ar-chitects like Hijjas Kasturi are invest-ing money here, turning shophouses into beautiful boutique hotels. There’s Bon Ton. And then another individual Noeleen who sold off her properties in Melaka to move to Penang because she says the conservation eff orts in Melaka are going down the drain. Instead of heritage conservation, they are talking about craft commercialisation, whereas Penang, George Town, is the real thing. So come to George Town if you want to see real heritage.

How has the state helped to nudge it along and what are your plans to leverage the heritage brand?We have established our World Heritage Inc, the fi rst in Malaysia, just to monitor and look after heritage conservation. We have also worked with the private sector and NGOs and we have enforced guidelines — fi ve-storey height means

F R O M P R E V I O U S PAG E

Op13 JAN 242011

and inertia. We slept for 18 years, that’s too long. It’s not easy to shake the leth-argy off your body, warm up for the fi nal rush. We need people to help us do the job. It’s not easy to get them but it will happen because Penangites are the best and only when you choose the best can you be on top of the rest.

You are a fi rm believer in arts and culture as an important element of the development of a city. Why so?I’m a believer in arts, culture and herit-age. But I’m a greater believer, a more fervent believer in people. I believe in Joe [Sidek] and that’s why when I put him in charge of the George Town Festival, I said to him, ‘When I’m looking at this project, I’m looking at you. I believe in you and that’s why I commit myself to you.’ When you look at turning Penang into an international arts and cultural centre, it’s not just only about the infrastructure. It’s not just about the events that you are able to bring to Penang; it’s also about the people who make it happen. People like Joe, the creative talents.

It’s not just about arts, it’s also about science. I also want to establish Penang as a centre of excellence for science and technology. How do I do it? I established the Penang Science Council with my motto — just two words, two Is — Inspir-ing Innovation, which is what Penang is all about. And then two Is is also very good because it’s bilingual. You can use for English and Malay — Inspiring in-novation or Ilhamkan innovasi.

And we have all these pillars set up with the involvement of the private sec-tor, which is driving it also and getting things done, rekindling the children’s interest in science and technology, es-tablishing a Penang Tech Centre mod-elled after the San Jose Tech Centre, the only one in Malaysia.

What’s your emotional connection with Penang?The vision, the drive … you know, Pen-angites are famous for their three Es: energy, expertise and entrepreneurship — traits that I share and admire. I think that’s the close emotional connection I have with them, through these shared values. Maybe not personal one-to-one, but that spirit of expertise, energy and entrepreneurship is amazing. That’s why I have every belief in Penang’s success. I’ll use the words ‘manifest destiny’. I think that Penang is destined for suc-cess as long as we get our numbers right and get our act together. To focus always on human talent. We have no natural resources, but we have human resource, so we must use it, maximise it, optimise it and always think about moving up to the next level.

What is your ultimate hope for the people of Penang?International and intelligent city, where we are bonded by our pride in seeing Penang succeed. Then we can share the fruits of success and where we know that we, together, made it possible. And we see each other not as Malay, Chinese or Indian but as mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters, having similar problems and knowing that you need to work together to get these problems resolved. And where the fruits of success are assured, if we stay together.

fi ve-storey height. If we are forced to pay compensation, we will do it. And generally we have managed to convince developers that it is in their best interest to conserve heritage. The inner area of George Town used to be dying, gloomy, almost fi lled with despair. It is looking very pretty these days. So many places to see and go to now, including the new Logan Centre, restored and opened by OCBC on Beach Street. More such places will be sprouting soon.

At one time, Penang Hill used to be a very important component of tour-ism in Penang. However, today the allure of the hill has faded and many of the bungalows there are in a state of dilapidation. Have any plans been drawn up for Penang Hill?I’ve set up a Penang Hill corporation to get things moving. It is a tourist haven and I would like to see it turn into a unique hill resort. The biodiver-sity, the flora and fauna in that area is simply amazing and just below the hill there’s the Kek Lok Si Temple. The area is steeped in history and I do hope we will be able to turn return it to its old charm.

Penangites are known to be very loy-al. Wherever they are, they’re always very proud of the state. How have you tapped this hidden resource? By making them prouder. You must not only make them feel proud, you must make them feel prouder. I think, so far, we’ve got quite a good response. They feel proud about Penang now, whether it’s in terms of our cleaner, greener initiative, our good governance or in terms of the quality projects coming up …

In your interaction with local Pen-angites, how do you fi nd their reac-tion to you? So far, it’s been positive and warm. Of course there are some political detrac-tors, who have their own best interest at heart. So you’ve got to deal with them.

What do you think are the better attributes of the Penang people and what is it about them that infuri-ates you?Brain power. They are the brightest and most creative people in Malaysia. You go to a kampung in Balik Pulau, you see a pakcik wearing a sarung, you want to talk to him in Malay and suddenly he responds to you in perfect English with an excellent Cambridge accent — I tell you, it puts you to shame. And you probably would have thought this pakcik was illiterate. That is the level of residual intelligence that we have. We must tap into it. They are very supportive people. Look at the no plastic bag policy we have implemented — it can be inconvenient for them but they have been so supportive of the move. We are also a cosmopolitan city. We have 235 years of experience and that too we must tap into. What infuriates me? I just hope that one day they will stop parking their cars in illegal zones. You know, Penangites, they like to park their car close to the places they are going to and this creates traffi c chaos.

It happens everywhere, not just in Penang. In KL, it happens all the time.

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What does it mean for Penang to achieve ECA International and Eco-nomic Intelligence Unit (EIC) 2010 World’s Most Liveable Cities rank-ing? Three years back we were at No 10, now we’re at No 8. It’s simply great and we want to keep doing things right and also improve on them. I always say the three main problems that Penang faces — the 3Cs of crime, cleanliness and congestion — have to be dealt with fast and we are already working on that.

If the plan is to make Penang a vi-brant and dynamic enclave, what ingredients do you think need to be thrown into the mix to make this happen?Cleaner, greener, brighter, smarter. No 1 is good governance and of course, the biggest challenge is that you must ensure the civil service is committed and performs, and delivers. That is a very tough challenge, getting the civil serv-ants to support the initiatives. It’s a daily eff ort. And my success in transforming

Penang will be determined by my suc-cess in transforming the civil service. For Penang to be an intelligent and international city, the civil service must also be intelligent and international. You can’t go one without the other. Singapore is successful because their civil service is good. So it’s a daily eff ort and this I am doing through leadership by example, taking a catalystic approach and letting them see the big picture, the vision. That if Penang becomes an international city, you also will benefi t because you will enjoy international pay days.

No 2, again human talent — how to increase the talent pool, how to increase that intelligence. No 3, a culturally rich city. No 4, it must be clean, safe and green. And No 5, rule of law. You must have rule of law, as I mentioned just now.

You’ve been working very hard to return Penang to its origins as an international hub. How would you describe the rate of progress at this moment?It’s still a work in progress. But at least we’re moving in the right direction. It is not easy to work off 18 years of sloth

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What’s important to remember is that we do not inherit the earth, we borrow it from our children. And it is our responsibility to return it back in the same state or better state than how we received it. Even if we lose popularity, so be it.

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Op14 JAN 24

2011

Th e making of Greater George Town

It has not been an easy two-and-a-half years since George Town gained world heritage site status, but government agencies, at federal, state and local levels, have been working closely with civil society and private property owners, forging sustainable partnerships that will propel the rejuvenation of the city. Neil Khor takes a look at the various initiatives undertaken thus far.

Cities and city-regions are the pow-erhouses of development for the future. Come 2020, some 70% of

Malaysians will be living in urban areas. Preparations are already underway to make the best of talent and capital con-centrated in our cities. Under the 10th Malaysia Plan, cities are fi nally being given the attention they deserve.

In Penang, although eff orts to have George Town listed by Unesco as a world heritage site (WHS) began more than a decade ago, the city’s potential for becom-ing a cultural heritage tourist centre and an international brand is now slowly being realised.

Today, three years after Melaka and George Town were successfully listed as WHS, most Penangites are fi nally catch-ing up with foreign investors who have realised that the historic city is a gold-mine. In 2010, George Town managed to attract international attention after being listed as the world’s street-food capital and a destination of choice for interna-

tional travellers by The New York Times. Refl ecting the potential of Penang’s at-tractiveness to a new class of well-heeled visitors, Clove Hall, a boutique hotel just outside the world heritage site, has made it into the prestigious Conde Nast Travel-ler Hot List.

In fact, the last 12 months have proved to be a period of rapid adjustment for George Town. A lot of work has been done to help secure the city’s WHS status. A good example of the government working with civil society and the private sector is the drawing up of a special area plan for the historic city. This began with a baseline study involving a population census and land use survey carried out by the Department of Town & Country Planning (JPBD), the George Town World Heritage Incorporated, the Penang Island Municipal Council in coordination with Think City Sdn Bhd — a special purpose vehicle set up by Khazanah Nasional Bhd to encourage urban rejuvenation work in George Town.

Rejuvenating a hollowed-out cityWhile the special area plan is seen as an attempt to protect George Town’s past, it is in actual fact crucial to the city’s reju-venation. However, understanding George Town’s historical development is key to its future success. The city was built as a regional port serving imperial British trade. The living culture and architectural legacy that is now universally recognised as a WHS is a testimony to this unique development of trading ports in the Straits of Malacca, still the world’s busiest sea lane. However, in the last 30 years, espe-cially after the loss of its free port status, Penang turned its back on George Town. The manufacturing economy, based in Bayan Lepas and spreading across the Pen-ang channel to Seberang Prai, superseded the port economy. The result has been an urban sprawl dependent on cars and unsustainable development with severe consequences for the environment.

Since its WHS listing, George Town

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has had a new lease of life. From the baseline study, we know that there are some 4,000 buildings in the WHS, evenly distributed in the core and buff er zones. The study also reveals that 10,000 peo-ple live in the site with the population swelling to 25,000 during the day as people come into the city for work and recreation. However, there are clear chal-lenges that make rejuvenation work important if the city is to survive in the longer term: an ageing population, a predominantly male population con-trary to state and national trends and the fact that most of the residents are non-professionals.

This is very diff erent from the older composition as recorded in the McTag-gart Survey of 1964 in roughly the same geographical space. Then, there were twice as many residents from a much wider social spectrum.

Signs of decay, considered part of George Town’s charm by foreign visitors, are indications that the city is suff ering from neglect. Some 17% of the buildings in the WHS are vacant or dilapidated while it is estimated that at least 100 shophouses have been converted into swiftlet farms. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) like the Penang Heritage Trust estimate the number to be much higher.

There are also problems with the sew-erage system and drains that are clogged

PICTURES BY HARIS HASSAN/THE EDGE

Op15 JAN 242011

up. Also, as some 85% of the city is in private hands, there are obvious limits to what the government can do.

The key to unlocking George Town’s potential lies in the rejuvenation eff orts currently underway. It must be remem-bered that it was civil society action and community mobilisation that started the movement to list George Town as a WHS. If at one time, rent control froze investments to improve and maintain properties, the re-peal of the Rent Control Act in 2000 brought about serious new challenges. Soon after the WHS listing in 2008, house prices have shot up. The result is that the stock of aff ordable housing in George Town is in sharp decline, putting the city’s unique living heritage under pressure.

It has not been an easy two years but governmental agencies, at federal, state and local levels, have been working closely with civil society and private proper-ty owners. Realising the need to forge sustainable partnerships between the stakeholders in the city and to provide incentives for private property owners to invest in George Town, Think City initi-ated the George Town Grants Programme (GTGP), the fi rst of its kind in Malaysia. Based on the federal budget of 2009, the GTGP is designed to be a catalyst for urban rejuvenation, providing grants to private property owners and NGOs.

Think City also provides technical grants, working closely with the George Town World Heritage Incorporated and the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP). This collaboration is a new way of working where public-private partner-ships are forged on the basis of public good. This is not a new approach but what is refreshing is the process of community engagement. In the case of the pilot green-ing project in Carnarvon Street, a public survey and exhibition was conducted before the scheme was implemented, giv-

ing residents and stakeholders a chance to participate in the decision-making process. The trees and the design of the planting scheme plus the maintenance plan were funded by Khazanah Nasional as part of its corporate social responsibil-ity programme.

Th e George Town Business Improvement District Scheme (BIDS)No urban regeneration eff ort can succeed without the ability to forge sustainable partnerships. This involves a change of mindset in how cities are managed. In the French city of Lyon, another Unesco WHS, it took city managers three decades to get their act together. The same goes for Edin-burgh, where a heritage management plan was fi nally drawn up and implemented a good decade after the Unesco listing. The reality is that local governmental bureauc-racy the world over often operates on an urban planning paradigm. In our case,

city management follows the colonial template with very little consideration for cultural heritage and architectural legacy. Under the Government Transfor-mation Programme, consensus-building and the forging of partnerships between government, civil society and, in this case, property owners will help George Town become a more liveable place.

George Town is perhaps luckier than most other historic cities. As early as 1973, under the Central Area Planning Unit (CAPU) which gave rise to Komplex Tun Abdul Razak (Komtar), a conservation plan for George Town was formulated. Komtar, according to its architect Datuk Seri Lim Chong Keat, was supposed to be a “city within a city”. It was not only the tallest building in Southeast Asia when built in 1979 but was supposed to include a transport hub, roof gardens and even aff ordable housing. If George Town is to become an international city, the CAPU plan has to be revisited.

Today, some 40 years later, the Komtar project is fi nally complete, with the open-ing of Belleview’s retail outlet Avenue First. The Penang Development Corpora-tion (PDC) also announced that the land along Prangin Canal (Komtar Phase 5) will be landscaped and converted into an inner city park. Think City, working with the PDC, was able to bring together all the major property owners and stakeholders in the Komtar-Ivory Times Square area in order to revisit the original vision by CAPU. The stakeholders agreed that there must be better connectivity through green and covered walkways to link all their properties together. Two other im-mediate concerns included better security and cleanliness.

Led by Datuk Rosli Jaafar, general man-ager of the PDC, a protem committee com-prising key stakeholders has been set up to look at the possibility of introducing a business improvement district scheme (BIDS), which was introduced by Canada

and has achieved great success in the US and the UK. Better Bankside is a success-ful BIDS that features the Tate Modern museum and the Globe Theatre. A BIDS allows private property owners to work together to promote a common agenda. In this case, it is to make the Komtar-Ivory Times Square area better connected, greener, safer and cleaner.

In all these eff orts, the MPPP and the George Town World Heritage Incorporated are active participants. The main pur-pose of the BIDS initiative is to augment existing local council services. Like any other local council, the resources of the MPPP are severely stretched and public-private partnerships through the BIDS initiative bring to the table expertise and resources from the private sector. A shar-ing of resources will enable better traffi c management and better information for visitors. Few Penangites know that there are over 4,000 parking spaces available in the George Town BIDS area.

Waterfront potentialOther than new thinking in urban man-agement, one of the biggest boosters for the rejuvenation of port cities is the rehabili-tation of the waterfront. Many European and Asian cities that have successfully improved their living standards have found new uses for their waterfronts. In Mar-sailles, the old port area, not unlike George Town’s railway and passenger piers, has been converted into visitor attractions featuring cafes, restaurants and public performance venues. Sydney’s The Rocks is the Antipodean equivalent featuring artistic and crafts works. Closer to home, Singapore’s Clarke Quay and Boat Quay now have new uses that are generating new types of jobs for Singaporeans.

Over the years, George Town has lost its traditional seafacing orientation with most of its waterfront off -limits to the public. The stretch of coastline from the Esplanade to the Clan Jetties has tremen-dous potential but to be really successful, Penang must be ready to do something world class. The signs are positive. Already, a water taxi service will link Straits Quay in Tanjong Tokong to the E&O Hotel. This could be the fi rst step in George Town’s rejuvenation, with a waterfront that can be a tremendous economic driver and visi-tor attraction. More encouragingly, major property owners in Weld Quay, starting from the Boustead building all the way to Wisma Yeap Chor Ee, have decided to rehabilitate their buildings.

However, the biggest potential for the rejuvenation of George Town lies in the historic city’s connection with Butter-worth. The old ferry service, started at the turn of the 20th century by Beng Broth-ers, could potentially be the new nexus

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for Greater George Town. The latter is a potential urban hub comprising historical George Town and Butterworth new town. By 2015, Penang Sentral, the northern region’s transport hub very much like KL Sentral, will be built in Butterworth. This logistics hub will link Butterworth to the Klang Valley and even Singapore by high-speed rail. Much like the Hong Kong-Kowloon model, the historic city of George Town can be linked to the proposed Penang Sentral, forming a new municipal core. The economic impact of this type of improved connectivity should propel Pen-ang into the next stage of its development as the “international city” envisioned by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Penang as a regional hubIn December 2010, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Pen-ang will be made the preferred regional hub serving not only North Malaysia but also the wider Asean region. Moreover, the George Town conurbation (including Butterworth and Kulim) is the biggest urban agglomeration in the region. The prime minister also announced that the federal government is already investing in 10 infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the Penang airport, the Second Penang Bridge, improvements to Penang port and the creation of a multi-media super corridor in Penang.

But to achieve maximum effi ciency, Penang needs to synchronise its human capital, infrastructural development and match these with new global economic needs. If in the colonial period, Penang was a trading society, it was able to make the transition to a manufacturing economy in the 1970s, becoming one of the world’s largest electronic production centres two decades later.

In this next phase of Penang’s devel-opment, investments in infrastructure alone will not be enough. Both the state and federal governments need to work together to create a culture of excellence in the state. In this case, historic George Town has an important role to play not merely as an international brand that is on a par with other world heritage sites but also as a catalyst for the creation of better living standards. It can also be a premier educa-tion hub and a cultural heritage destina-tion. A more liveable city fi lled with new opportunities will be attractive to talent and can help stem the brain drain.

Penang has little choice but to suc-ceed and will need all the help it can get, especially from the Penang diaspora, if it is to diversify its economy to become more knowledge-centric. While we have achieved great success in our factories and hospitals (Penang constitutes 70% of all medical tourism in Malaysia), we need to improve our capacity to become more effi cient and productive through the application of new technologies and by encouraging talent to stay.

The George Town WHS stands as a re-minder of a time when Penang was truly a regional player and a leader in education, culture and ideas. It is now undergoing rapid change, with the Unesco listing as a catalyst for the making of a better city. With a much improved Komtar, a reju-venated waterfront and better links with Penang Sentral in Butterworth, Greater George Town is poised to become a bea-con for Penang’s ambition to become a “habitat of choice” for investors, talent and innovation.

Dr Neil Khor is grants programme director

at Th ink City Sdn Bhd

Many property

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E

EDGE

THE LURE OF Penang

Voted as one of Asia’s most liveable cities, Penang is fast becoming a destination of choice to live and invest in. Its distinct personality — a bustling metropolis where the old exists in perfect harmony with the new, a place steeped in history and tradition — has been a catalyst for its progress and development in recent years. Elaine Lau examines the allure of the Pearl of the Orient.

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Throughout the centuries, Pen-ang has been known by diff erent names: Pulo Pinaom, Prince of

Wales Island, Isle of the Areca Palm. But none encapsulates the essence of the is-land more aptly than the name the British colonials gave it: Pearl of the Orient.

The charming moniker referred as much to the lustre of the island’s pic-turesque beauty as it did to its strategic location for seafarers and traders. Long before Sir Francis Light of British East India Co established Penang as the fi rst trading post in the Far East in 1786, Pen-ang was already a well-established port of call for sailors from Arabia, China, Europe and India.

With the arrival of the British, Penang soon rose to prominence and became one of Asia’s foremost ports, trading rubber, nutmeg, clove, sugar, coconut and pep-per. Along with the goods and prosperity came people from Europe, China and In-dia, many of whom, seeing the bountiful opportunities that this new land off ered, decided to settle down here.

Through the years, Penang has con-

tinued to attract foreigners looking to make their nest in an idyllic location or to invest. The establishment of the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone in the 1970s by the second chief minister of Penang, the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu, saw a large number of multinational corpora-tions setting up shop here, earning it the moniker of “Silicon Valley of Malaysia”.

Penang enjoys a solid reputation over-seas not only as a world-class tourist destination, but also as a highly liveable city with one of the best standards of living in Malaysia. It is one of the top destinations for foreigners coming to live in the country through the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme, after Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. In 2010, ECA International, the world’s leader in the development and provision of solutions for the management and assignment of employees around the world, ranked George Town as the eighth most liveable city in Asia, and 62nd globally (in 2007, it was 10th and 74th respectively). The 2010 rankings placed George Town on a par with Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

Penang’s appealSo, what is it that makes Penang such a great place to live, work and play? What is it that attracts people — not just locals returning to the island but also foreign-ers from the world over — to come and reside here?

For one, it is so easy to be seduced by the romance of the place and the leisurely island life here, as anyone who has visited can attest to. Penang, in particular the Batu Ferringhi area, is a haven for sun-seekers and beach lovers, and also nature enthusiasts, surrounded as it is by rolling hills and lush greenery.

But what strikes you most of all is the distinct personality that Penang has, a bustling metropolis with the old George Town existing in perfect harmony with the new — a place full of history and tradition yet sparkling with progress and modernity.

George Town’s rich historical herit-age lies in both its buildings and culture — this trading town was forged as much from mercantile exchanges as it was from an exchange of Malay, Chinese,

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Indian and European cultures. It boasts a truly unique historical, architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia, and it is for this reason that George Town was recognised by Unesco as a World Heritage City in 2008 (as was Melaka).

George Town’s rich amalgamation of cultural and architectural infl uences can be seen in the shophouses, Chinese clan houses (kongsi), places of worship and colonial structures. More than that, when you walk down the streets that are steeped in history, you’ll encounter a vibrant, living town with people young and old residing here, new businesses (boutique hotels, F&B outlets, galleries and shops) that have sprung up, and also men and women perpetuating ancient crafts such as Chinese signboard engrav-ing, joss sticks or songkok making, and traditional goldsmithing, to name but a few. In other words, it’s not a museum-like preservation site, but very much a thriving, living, bustling city.

For these reasons and more, people are drawn to Penang. “When I fi rst came

here two years ago, I walked for hours and hours and thought, ‘This is kind of edgy’,” says Ann Marshall, who along with husband Greg, set up their retirement home in Penang last August. “There are civilised places where you can be very upscale should you choose, but also little, local mom and pop shops, and that makes it very attractive. And all of it within a small radius, so you’re not driving for hours, like in KL. Although we liked KL very much, there was absolutely no choice — it was Penang. We’re also interested in historic preservation, and it certainly has that here. And there’s the botanical garden, plus very good food.”

Former Hong Kong child star Fung Bo Bo, known at one time as the Shirley Temple of the east, chose Penang to write her memoirs, in a place that “overlooks the blue sea”. “I love Penang because there’s so much history here and the architecture is beautifully infl uenced by many cultures — it’s all very romantic,” she was quoted as saying last year. “When I write my memoirs, I want to be inspired in a quiet place and I think I’ve found it here.”

Indeed, Penang seems to be a place that inspires and engenders creative endeavours. Alison Fraser, one of the pro-prietors of Straits Collection Penang, calls it “an energy”. “It’s almost tangible,” she says. “If you have any form of creativeness about you, somewhere like this, it draws you. Coming into George Town for me has been an opportunity to feel this energy that is here, and to tag onto it and be a part of it, and contribute to it. You go to cafés and you always hear people talking about what they are doing …”

This last point is one of the aspects that artist and designer Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson resonates with. “The whole thing about George Town,” she says, “is when you wake up in the morning, you don’t quite know what’s going to happen — there’s something happening every day. I went for a hike up the hill on New Year’s morning and I parked near the

Indian temple, and there are parades of people walking, going up to the temple. So you can go somewhere and suddenly fi nd a procession happening, even things that are not so happy like funerals — there’s this whole ceremony taking place. That to me is the thing that is really special here. On any given day, you can walk around somewhere randomly and something’s happening. There’s a real living kind of spirit here … it’s like people do it not deliberately; it’s just part of their lives. That’s what makes it so special — that intangible, which nobody understands. I love it; it’s great.”

Businessman, performing arts prac-titioner and activist Joe Rosli Sidek de-scribes it as, “Penang has got a heart and soul, which is in the centre of George Town — it is raw, interesting, energised, gentrifi ed and real.”

He continues, “Penang will be the place for change — spiritually, politically, creatively … Here’s a place where people can put in ideas, can feel, can show and make changes without restrictions … It is quite unlike any place else in Ma-laysia. Penang is a place with a non-po-litical, non-biased way of living together, working together and producing things together and on a very clear canvas. For instance, I’ve done shows for a Chinese temple and I’m Muslim. I proposed sacred music for a church last year and no one batted an eyelid. You think if I did that anywhere else I wouldn’t be stoned?”

To be sure, Penang is a fertile ground for the arts and for investment and de-velopment by the locals, Penangites who have returned from elsewhere, and foreigners. On the one hand you have individuals, organisations and corpora-tions spearheading the restoration of heritage buildings and injecting new life into them with creative uses of the spaces, but on the other, companies are pouring money into transforming the island’s landscape via new property de-velopments.

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY HARIS HASSAN AND SUHAIMI YUSUF

When we sell a home, we’re selling a lifestyle product; we’re no longer selling just a roof over your head. People who buy from us are buying into a lifestyle that we promise we can deliver. — Chan

ing — Seri Tanjung Pinang has taken accommodation in this area to another level.”

Another resident, Jimmy Ng, echoes this thought: “Prior to this, the mindset of developers in Penang was to maximise profi t and build as many homes as they could. And these had almost the same design and everything. But E&O did it diff erently … it dared to do something new; it set the standard — it’s good.”

The luxury condominium at Seri Tanjung Pinang, called Quayside, gives

The massive Seri Tanjung Pinang in the Tanjung Tokong/Tanjung Bungah area by Eastern & Orien-

tal Bhd (E&O). Covering an expanse of reclaimed land amounting to 240 acres (the first phase), Seri Tanjung Pinang is conceptualised to celebrate the best facets of island living in Penang. It joins an elite list of world-class waterfront communities, including Australia’s Sovereign Islands and Sentosa Cove in Singapore.

More specifically, Seri Tanjung Pinang is an integrated development with luxury residential in straits-ec-lectic architecture (upscale terraced houses, semi-detached houses, villas, bungalows, serviced suites and con-dominiums), as well as a lifestyle des-tination in the seafront marina retail enclave of Straits Quay.

E&O, which is involved in F&B, hos-pitality and property development and investment, has made a name for itself in creating residential properties with a holistic approach and intelligent design, which combine lifestyle elements. Dua Residency in Kuala Lumpur is a prime example, as is the recently launched St Mary Residences in KL, both of which are connected to a retail annexe.

E&O is the first to introduce this new concept of luxury living to Penang,

which is about buying into a whole lifestyle experience and not merely a structure. Explains Eric Chan, executive director of E&O Bhd, “We pride ourselves on being a lifestyle developer. We are a developer involved in the lifestyle busi-ness: we own and run hotels, we own and run F&B outlets ... When we sell a home, we’re selling a lifestyle product; we’re no longer selling just a roof over your head. People who buy from us are buying into a lifestyle that we promise we can deliver.”

Seri Tanjung Pinang sets a new benchmark for property development in Penang. Observes resident Dr Tom Craig-Cameron, “This sets a new stand-ard for residential areas in Penang, in northern Malaysia too, both in style and quality of houses. The quality of finish-ing and layout is better here than what we’ve seen anywhere else; that’s what attracted us to buy. Also, the quality of the concept, of creating this kind of community in a green environment — the landscaping is done particularly well; that attracted me. Not just the promenade, but the layout of streets and even terraced houses and the cul-de-sacs. It’s pleasant to walk around because it’s so nicely landscaped ... In those two ways — quality of housing and quality of concept and landscap-

A new benchmark

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World-class developments and a rich melting pot of culture, history and heritage are the elements that contribute to the lure of Penang. It is an ideal lifestyle destination, one that is increasingly a top choice for foreigners and Malaysians. by Elaine Lau

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CO N T I N U E S O N PAG E 2 0

resort living a whole new definition. There are seven towers in total (two are seven storeys high while the others are between 25 and 28 storeys high) and the first phase comprises four towers, the first two of which were launched last February and August respectively. The next two will be launched depending on market conditions, followed by the remaining three towers in the second phase.

These towers sit on 21 acres of sea-front land and are surrounded by seven acres of tropical greenery and parks. There is a waterpark that covers 4.5 acres, boasting waterfalls, whirlpools, slides, a man-made beach, outdoor spa and a clubhouse that houses a gym and

theatrette, among other things. There is also a one-acre green park, a 1.5km jog-ging/cycling trail, a tennis court, BBQ area and children’s playground.

The units comprise one-bedroom suites, 1+1 bedroom suites, two-bedroom suites and three-bedroom suites that range from 1,100 to 2,500 sq ft in size. The units are outfitted with timber and marble flooring, luxury bathroom fit-tings, fully fitted kitchen cabinets and appliances, split air-conditioning units in the living, dining and bedrooms and hot water systems in all bathrooms. Design-wise, they are very well thought out. All the suites have powder rooms and private terraces while the two

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HARIS HASSAN AND SUHAIMI YUSUF

Located next to Quayside is Straits Quay, Penang’s first marina retail enclave, conceived as a lifestyle destination. It features an exciting mix of outlets and attractions, from a wide selection of boutiques and restaurants with al fresco dining to boat rides from the pier, a promenade and lighthouse.

“Instead of the regular stuff you see in major shopping malls, we hope to bring something unique, something fresh,” says Emily Teh, senior manager of Straits

Quay retail division. “Part of the reason is that our place is rather intimate in size — only 270,000 sq ft of lettable area with about 100-odd shops — and we aim to be a little bit more unique rather than compete in size.”

“Majestic” is one word to describe the architecture of Straits Quay, which is inspired by the island’s grand colonial heritage. Visitors enter through a grand skylight dome and the classical façade and spiral staircases are ornamented with

Many fi rsts in Straits Quay

and three-bedroom suites come with walk-in closets, and both wet and dry kitchens.

Chan talks about the approach to Quayside. “This is probably one of the last few prime locations in Malaysia, where you have a big area to develop a project. We thought, ‘let’s look at today’s lifestyle and market — what do they de-mand?’ People live in condos for security reasons and facilities like a pool — that’s how condos started a niche market for homebuyers. Over the years, this has evolved. Condo buyers not only demand better security with CCTV, lobby touch card and so on, but also more facilities — gym, Olympic-sized swimming pool, library, meeting rooms, a concierge wel-coming them. Condo living has evolved. We thought, ‘why don’t we bring that evolution to the next level?’”

This evolution, the inklings of which were seen in Malaysia in the various properties in Mont’Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, is on a par with worldwide trends in luxury condo living, adds Chan.

Aside from unrivalled facilities, pay-on-demand concierge services are also of-fered to all residents, a fi rst in Penang.

Mike Saxon, director of hospitality and lifestyle for E&O Bhd, elaborates: “We’re trying to go one step further by setting up concierge services, like an extension of the services of E&O Hotel off ered to the residents of Seri Tanjung Pinang. Residents can walk into our offi ce and request any services they need, such as housekeeping, help in renting out their unit, gardening, security. If they’re away, they can call us to settle their bills, ask us to set up the mini-bar, put some necessi-ties of groceries so when they arrive, it’s all set up for them. We can organise cock-tail parties, food from the outlets delivered to them — basically, anything the hotel off ers, we can off er the residents.”

“We can do anything as long as it’s legal,” he concludes.

Over and above raising the bar in the quality of property developments in Pen-ang, projects like Seri Tanjung Pinang and others that have been launched since Alila Horizon, Skyhome by the Beach and Springtide Residences have helped boost the property and tourism market in the island as well as foreign investment. For instance, people from 13 nations have bought into Quayside.

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We’re trying to go one step further by setting up concierge services, which is like an extension of the services of E&O Hotel off ered to the residents of Seri Tanjung Pinang — Saxon

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history of pewter in Malaysia as well as the brand, and it will include the School of Hard Knocks’ pewtersmithing workshop

On why the company chose Penang, and specifically Straits Quay, to open its second visitor centre in the country, Royal Selangor Marketing Sdn Bhd general manager Chen Tien Yue says: “Penang has always been an important market for Royal Selangor. With the new visitor centre, we will have four stores in Penang, and we believe there is still tremendous scope for growth in retail and tourism. Penang’s focus on heritage tourism helps differentiate the island as a tourist destination, and Royal Selangor is proud to be adding to the heritage attractions in Penang.

“The distinctive design, the wonderful seaside setting of a marina, and E&O’s commitment to make this location an icon give us the confidence that Straits Quay will become a major attraction. We want to be a part of this exciting project and we will work together with E&O to make this a success.”

Retail-wise, Versus — Versace’s diffusion line — has a store here, alongside local fashion designer Brendan Tan’s label Bran et Daguet. Tan makes dresses that are of simple, classic silhouettes but with unusual, beautiful fabrics, which he says he sources from all over the world. Another delightful store is Sugar, a baking goods and homeware store that holds sugar art workshops in the kitchen located at the back and where customers can come in to decorate their cakes, on their own or with assistance from store owner Ween Nee Tan. WAF Fine Art Gallery, which specialises in Latin American art, is also located here. — Elaine Lau

Pub, Melium Group’s Aseana Café and Delicious Café.

When asked about the decision to open Weissbräu in Straits Quay, director Wayne Yoon says, “Looking at the future, this will be the hot spot of Penang for many years to come.”

Other eateries include Hong Kong restaurant Cheeky Duck Chinese Restaurant, and establishments started by locals such as Agua, Mediterranean restaurant Blue Reef, a fish and chips joint and Italian restaurant Marina Aperitivo.

Other exciting attractions include Penang’s first full-fledged Performing Arts Centre, a joint venture with The Actors Studio in KL, as well as The Royal Selangor Visitor Centre, the company’s first outside of KL. The centre is designed to provide an environment where visitors can appreciate and experience the

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wrought-iron fi ligree work reminiscent of Penang’s iconic E&O Hotel. Inside, intricate marble tiles are arranged in classic geometric designs. Th e promenade and marina, with beautiful views of the sea, are perfect for a stroll in the evening.

Above the retail space are 217 serviced suites, all of which have been sold out. They are outfitted with kitchen cabinets, appliances like refrigerator, oven, hood and hob, as well as split air-conditioning units, ceiling fans and lights. Residents who live here are entitled to the pay-on-demand E&O concierge service.

As Straits Quay was launched only last November, only a handful of outlets have opened. A number of Klang Valley-centric F&B outlets opened their first branches outside of KL in Straits Quay, such as German bistro Weissbräu, Healy Mac’s Irish Bar & Restaurant, Finnegan’s Irish

Food — Berlin’s Bier Houz Fashion — Bran Et Daguet

Fun — Sugar, a baking store that holds sugar

art workshops

Instead of the regular stuff you see in major shopping malls, we hope to bring something unique, something fresh — Teh

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PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF

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Vision & Romance

Datuk Terry Tham Ka Hon’s love af-fair with Penang began one fi ne day in 1994, when he decided to

take a risk on a dilapidated establishment and restore it to its former glory. The Eastern & Oriental Hotel was a ramshackle property that came as part of the package when the director and managing director of Eastern & Oriental Bhd took over Jack Chia Enter-prise Bhd (later renamed after Penang’s grande dame), and while he could’ve easily dismissed it — tear it down and build anew or simply sell it off and let it be someone else’s problem — he didn’t. Instead, he embraced the project, throwing himself into it with vigour, to the point that he was scouring the streets of Penang and Melaka for furniture, tiling and fi xtures.

The restoration extended beyond the physical as Penang’s grande dame returned to her position as the island’s social nucleus and as the benchmark of luxury service. The passion project soon translated into profi t, lifestyle and hospitality was absorbed into E&O Bhd’s portfolio, and today, the E&O Hotel is recognised as one of the world’s best hotels.

In an earlier interview with Options, Tham had shared, “I did not acquire E&O Hotel simply to demonstrate that I possess foolish risk-taking bravado! From the out-set, I saw great potential in the E&O brand and believed that as Malaysian purchasers became increasingly affl uent and sophis-ticated, they would appreciate and accept good brand names.”

See, Tham was visionary, and knew, if he could return splendour to the E&O brand, he would be able to leverage that into something much bigger. The E&O Hotel laid the foundation for the group to expand into hospitality and lifestyle services. Through the 125-year-old grande dame, the values and quality codes that E&O Bhd adheres to are expressed and demonstrated, enabling many potential property buyers to understand what E&O and all its off erings across the board, from luxury properties to concept eateries, are all about. In most people’s eyes these days, the E&O signature is synonymous with elegance and exclusivity.

Tham’s extraordinary vision has led E&O Bhd to be a forerunner in bringing progressive change to Penang. Testament to this is the most ambitious project of all by the group, a fi rst in Malaysia — Seri Tanjung Pinang.

Seri Tanjung Pinang is a seafront devel-opment spanning over 980 acres. Situated at Tanjung Tokong, between the hustle and bustle of retail hub Gurney Drive and the laid back beach resorts of Batu Ferringhi, Seri Tanjung Pinang looks to change the landscape of Penang property and redefi ne the luxury lifestyle in Malaysia.

This masterplanned waterfront develop-ment takes its cue from other international lifestyle projects that have proven to be successful such as The Palm in Dubai and Sentosa Cove in Singapore. After all, histori-cally, the sea frontage was where Penang’s fortunes were built, and there is no reason why that can’t happen again.

Noted as the largest and only city-based international-class masterplanned sea-front development in Malaysia, the group brought together some of the world’s most highly-acclaimed architects and designers, including Seattle-based Wim-berly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG Seattle), landscape architects Geyer Coburn Hutch-ins (GCH, Seattle) and security experts GDSS Systems, to work with Malaysia’s own award-winning architectural fi rm GDP Architects to work on Seri Tanjung Pinang. What’s wonderful is that the architecture of the entire development, at one glance, refl ects Penang’s heritage and history, the most obvious treatment being the incorporation of the state’s iconic Straits-Eclectic style that features prominently in the George Town heritage zone, into the houses as well as the com-mercial structures.

A key property set within Seri Tanjung Pinang is the Straits Quay festive retail marina which aims to be the “must-visit” entertainment and recreation destination on Penang Island. In the same vein as Sydney’s Darling Harbour, the 12.4-acre retail enclave also off ers al fresco outlets and leisure activities centred around the marina. This marina will also be the home of the Penang Performing Arts Centre, in which E&O Bhd has invested RM7 million.

Above the marina complex are 217 units of luxuriously designed 1- and 2-bedroom serviced suites at Straits Quay, which will enjoy E&O’s hospitality management serv-ices. Residents may opt for a range of 5-star hotel-style, pay-on-demand services such as housekeeping and F&B delivery, 24-hour security and sports facilities reserved for the exclusive use for suite residents. An-

Datuk Terry Tham Ka Hon's sympathetic restoration, modernisation and extension of the famed E&O Hotel in

George Town has become an example of how maintaining the heritage of a building does not mean it must remain

mired in the past. The development by E&O Bhd of Seri Tanjung Pinang, the fi rst luxury waterfront development of its kind in the country, shows how much of a visionary

he is — creating a unique, thoroughly modern, luxury lifestyle enclave with a tipping of the hat to the unique

architecture that makes Penang so special. Surinder Jessy and Jacqueline Toyad talk to Tham about his vision for the

company, and for Penang island as a whole.

We want to progress. We don’t want to be recognised as being old-fashioned and preserving everything. We want to move forward, progress, in line with the rest of the world. At the same time we are conscious of the fact that retaining heritage, the old charm, is important.

other forthcoming property at Seri Tanjung Pinang is the development of a seven-acre parcel of land which will be leased to the major global retailer Tesco Stores for 20 years, due to be completed in the fi rst half of this year.

Tham says that hopefully, this develop-ment will put Penang on the world map. “We’d like to create a world-renowned resort destination and hope that it will also stimulate growth and focus on Penang’s seafront, something like Singapore’s Sen-tosa Cove,” says Tham.

In the meantime, the property that began it all, the E&O Hotel, now recog-nised as a Penang heritage landmark, is undergoing expansion. Since the Unesco declaration of George Town as a World

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Heritage Site, patronage at the hotel has been boosted in both suite stay revenue and F&B billings. Because of the heightened interest, expansion is underway. An adjacent block, to be called Victory Annexe, will off er a further 139 suites, complemented by new restaurants, a luxury retail emporium, a mini history museum and a new pool and spa. This ad-ditional complex will also house a bigger, more modern events hall and is targeted for completion late this year, with suites, retail and F&B out-lets starting operations. There will also be a pier dedicated to a water limousine service purely for guests to travel to Straits Quay. All of this

will come into fruition by the end of this year, if not early 2012.

Says Tham, “We want to progress. We don’t want to be recognised as being old-fashioned and preserving everything. We want to move forward, progress, in line with the rest of the world. At the same time we are con-scious of the fact that retaining herit-age, the old charm, is important.”

And that is why E&O Bhd main-tains its symbiosis with heritage by continuing to contribute towards the preservation of the heritage, culture and arts of the communities it operates in. In 2010 alone, the E&O Group spent approximately RM434,000 on a range of CSR-related activities, a large portion of which was allocated to heritage and cultural activities supporting George Town’s Unesco World Heritage Site list-ing. This included sponsoring several talks on Penang’s history, think-tank forums, seminars to promote the pres-ervation of Malaysia’s historic build-ings and fund raising events organised by the Penang Heritage Trust, Badan Warisan Malaysia and the Socio-Eco-nomic and Environmental Research Institute (SERI), for example.

We take a moment with Tham to talk about how E&O Bhd has been able to forge its future through heritage, bold moves and innovation.

Datuk Terry, E&O Bhd acquired the rights to reclaim the land in Tan-jung Tokong, Penang, from the then debt-ridden UEM/Renong group in 2002. Tell us about the genesis of the whole project. When and how did it all begin? In 2002, I was introduced to the rec-lamation specialist, Tidal Marine, the appointed contractor who under-took partial reclamation works on the project until was stalled due to the Asian fi nancial crisis. And it was around then that UEM announced its group restructuring plan, whereby the Tanjung Pinang project was identifi ed as a non-core asset pending divest-ment. We were invited to put in a bid for the concession rights to reclaim [the land] and we did do. In 2003, E&O’s successful bid enabled us to take over the reclamation and concession rights, and in so doing, revived a project which had been abandoned twice, once in 1998 and then 2000.

By May 2005, the reclamation of the 240 acres was completed and we engaged US-based award-winning consultants WATG to conceptualise the integrated master plan for Seri Tanjung Pinang. October 2005 saw E&O’s maid-en launch of Ariza courtyard homes at Seri Tanjung Pinang, which were handed over to purchasers ahead of schedule in December 2006.

When WATG came up with the en-tire master plan, did you already have in mind what you wanted or did it come up with the entire con-cept of Seri Tanjung Pinang?When we took over, there was already a set of plans that had been prepared when the project was still under UEM. We had a look at it and I would say we almost reversed the components of it. It was 70% to 80% commercial and I felt that it was very ambitious and maybe sort of too far ahead of the market that that time. We thought a

residential component would be more signifi cant or viable for the area and that’s how the concept developed. For phase 1, we thought we should not be overly adventurous so we started out slowly with about 97 units.

What elements were in place that you, primarily a KL-focused prop-erty developer, felt that Penang was ready for such an ambitious project, the fi rst of its kind in Malaysia?Historically, prime residential property prices in Penang island and Kuala Lumpur have been fairly on par, attrib-utable to the island’s scarcity of land as well as Penangites’ high savings rate. At Seri Tanjung Pinang, E&O was presented with the unique opportunity of developing a signifi cant master-planned community in an extremely prime seafront location in George Town, minutes from the city.

At that point in time, no one in Penang was building terrace or court-yard homes. It was all about condos, condos and more condos, especially along the beach stretch starting from Gurney Drive right up to Batu Fer-ringhi. So we felt there was a gap, and Penangites being very shrewd and intelligent speculators and investors would appreciate and accept some-thing diff erent. And because of the scarcity of land and thus the steep prices for landed property in Penang, we had to do something innovative — superior design and detailing within a well-planned environment — and we pegged the prices accordingly. We believed there was latent demand for innovative homes and sought to fulfi l that untapped niche. We tested the market with a small number of homes and I think we did it right. And we also know Penangites do have money in the bank [laughs].

Do you think that the E&O branding helped as well? For sure. Strong brand recognition of E&O in Penang, and our proven track record as a premier developer of prime properties in KL helped to lay the foundation for the positive market interest and buyer confi dence in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

How much of an impact did the 2004 tsunami and then the 2008/2009 fi nancial crises have on the project?In 2003, we were most fortunate in making the conscious decision, despite incurring substantial incremental costs, to reclaim land at Seri Tanjung Pinang to a level approximately two metres higher than that of surround-ing Tanjung Tokong. We could have levelled it to that of the surrounding area, but somehow we decided not to skimp and that was indeed one of the best decisions we made. When the tsunami hit, the waves reached one metre below the reclaimed land level and our site was also fully protected by the structurally engineered rock revet-ment wall so no damage was sustained. We must give credit to the engineers of the project. The rock revetment structure to contain the reclamation is quite an engineering feat. We took their advice and did it. And that saved the project.

In 2009, at the height of the global

fi nancial crisis and uncertainty, we were again extremely fortunate to have garnered a strong following, many of whom were repeat purchasers, for Seri Tanjung Pinang properties. In July 2009, all 32 units of Ariza seafront terraces were sold within hours of the launch, recording a new Penang aver-age price benchmark of RM1.1 million for terrace homes. Limited units that had direct sea frontage received a stag-gering 150 ballots, achieving a highest purchase price of RM2.8 million. Gen-erally, Penang buyers and investors were more nervous about the equity market at that time and they kind of felt that property investment was still the best investment.

Also, the fact that the sharehold-ers of the company demonstrated a confi dence in the company helped tremendously.We had a rights issue at that time, so shareholders actually put in their own money to demon-strate confi dence and that also gave confi dence to buyers that despite the crisis, this project was not going to be abandoned or aff ected. And if anything goes wrong, we would still complete it. All that helped us to go through and survive the fi nancial crisis.

The Seri Tanjung Pinang project is clearly not just about selling homes, it’s about a lifestyle. What is your personal vision of that all-encompassing luxury lifestyle that the E&O group is selling today?I think we started business in Penang by taking a very bold step of owning a dilapidated hotel called E&O. In my last interview with you, I remember telling you how my friends all thought I was a nut. Some of them still do [laughs]. We have managed to revive E&O and then of course, we have over the years built a strong team who all understand the concept of luxury lifestyle. It’s not just talk. We’ve shown what we can deliver.

Leveraging on that and building upon that, we are extending this think-ing, these standards to not just hotel guests but our house buyers as well. We have moved on to treat our house buyers the same way, by introducing hotel standard services. Buy a house or unit and you will also get concierge services, housekeeping … of course, you will have to pay for it. It’s a pay-on-demand concierge service for our residents, from those in the suites at Straits Quay to those in the Quayside condos. Nothing comes for free in life. We are really, in a way, redefi ning luxury living in Malaysia. We are able to off er it, and buyers believe that we are able to deliver it, with the E&O experience and fashion.

Do you think this will take off well?Yes. As buyers become more discern-ing, including Penangites, they want more out of life and living. They travel abroad a lot so they enjoy what they like overseas and they come back and will defi nitely buy into these sort of experiences.

What elements are you bringing to the Seri Tanjung Pinang develop-ment that refl ect Penang’s heritage and history?Our architect is the well-known Kamil

Merican, who sits on the E&O board and has been a personal friend for more than 30 years. He was born in Penang. There’s actually a street named after the family in Penang. We have been working with him very closely. He understands the Penang culture, heritage and style. WATG was more of the master planner, conceptualising the project. From there, the details of the homes are Kamil’s great work, which is consistent with the overall concept. Kamil really understands the Penang style and he has picked ele-ments from the heritage shophouses and introduced and blended them into the home designs. The courtyard ter-races are a very good example — they have a very open, airy feel with the whitewashed facade.You look at it and it’s reminiscent of Penang’s old style, but with modern fi xtures and fi nishes. It’s a blend of the old and new — the airwells, natural ventilation and light-ing — all that is very typical of the old Penang style.

Straits Quay has also borrowed dis-tinctive architectural features from E&O Hotel. Its colonial design and decorative wrought iron mirrors the heritage grande dame across the bay of Gurney Drive.

E&O Bhd has been a pioneer in luxury lifestyle in Penang. First it was luxury hospitality and now luxury development. What next in Penang? Is that not enough?

We are sure you have more invest-ment ideas planned out for Pen-ang?The Seri Tanjung Pinang was born amid the most testing of economic times. We had to tread very carefully in terms of planning. We had to be conservative and prudent in our ap-proach. We couldn’t aff ord to be in any way playful. As we were introducing bold, new products to the market, it had to be creative; but we couldn’t let ourselves go too freely. Also during the fi rst fi ve years, while developing Phase 1, we got feedback and learnt what we were doing right and what was wrong. We are not so perfect, you know. [laughs]

Going forward, we hope to consoli-date all our experiences and lessons learnt, including in the refurbishment and restoration of the E&O and Lone Pine Hotel, and further push bounda-ries by creating even bolder and more innovative, holistic concepts that will not only raise the quality of life in Penang, but make Penangites proud to call this state and island home.

What is your vision and hope for Penang? Drawing from what I said earlier on, we’d really like to put Penang on the world map, to create a world-re-nowned famous resort destination and will stimulate new growth, en-ergy and bring focus on the Penang seafront, as Sentosa Cove has done for Singapore.

A symbol of pride and progress, gaining worldwide publicity and pres-tige, attracting capital inflows and investment, generating employment and business opportunities, and com-

CO N T I N U E S N E X T PAG E

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HARIS HASSAN/THE EDGE

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JAN 242011

plementing other major projects that will transform Penang into a world-class city and an international property and tourism destination.

Your love aff air with Penang began with the res-toration of two of the island’s heritage landmarks, E&O Hotel and the Lone Pine. Needless to say, these investments have paid off quite handsomely. Are you looking to make more of such investments? As an incurable romantic, I do hope this love aff air will continue! But seriously, going into this sort of investment may not make much sense to most businessmen and fi nancial wizards but there is an intangible value in investing in heritage. The satisfac-tion of restoring an old building to its former glory is something else. Being part of heritage restoration is something the group prides itself on — we champion and appreciate heritage. There are many individuals in Penang who appreciate heritage and building on this tangible value. Our association with heritage has been great for our branding and we defi nitely would not shy away from similar projects in the future … unless it will knock us off in terms of balance sheet. We won’t do something silly that would also aff ect our shareholders’ value and so on, but we do see great advantages in embarking on heritage projects.

The group has also invested RM7million in the Pen-ang Performing Arts Centre. Share with us why you think that investment in arts, culture and heritage make good business sense?In today’s environment, business sense should be bal-anced with civic duty. CSR is an important component of a company. It’s not all about profi t and loss only. And

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Overall, how much has the E&O Group invested in Penang over the last 10 years? A lot, a lot. With regard to our main high profi le projects,

namely, E&O Hotel, Lone Pine Hotel and the develop-ment components that make up Seri Tanjung Pinang, I estimate the total to be in excess of RM2 billion.

When you talk about our investment everybody will straightaway think of the hotels. They know we’ve spent a lot of money to a certain extent. Needless to say, STP was the main gamble. Altogether, our investment is no less than RM2 billion.

Somehow the E&O group has a fl air for picking up and creating projects others have abandoned or had to quit. What’s the secret?No, no, no. We are not tow-truck operators on a highway [laughs]. I wouldn’t say that. When we recognise an opportunity, we are prepared to do what others would not dare venture into. We’re not vultures. We don’t go to foreclosure auctions.

What has it been like working with the new Penang state administration?As a public listed company, the E&O Group maintains good working relationships with state and federal authorities at all times, ensuring that our business di-visions continue to benefi t stakeholders, shareholders and the community in which we operate. It’s part of our business life.

E&O has 350 acres of freehold land in Gertak Sang-gul, located on the south-western tip of Penang island. What development plans do you have for this area? It is after all the next growth area on the island, especially with its proximity to its key entry point — the Bayan Lepas international airport, which is undergoing a RM250 million expansion, and the approved Second Link Bridge.We have been kept very busy at Seri Tanjung Pinang. The E&O land parcel in Gertak Sanggul has great po-tential. It’s an elevated piece of land and it has got a fantastic view of the Penang Bridge and the surround-ing ocean. We are still in the conceptual planning stage for a low-density, boutique project. We have to respect the terrain there, so we still in the drawing and tearing up of paper stage. It’s a challenging task due to its location and so on. but we like the challenge. And rest assured, with E&O you can “Expect Nothing Ordinary”!

How do you see Penang in the next 10 years?Overall, I think it’s an exciting place to be. The sea breeze, the charming buildings, the beaches ... ah, it’s all so romantic. And of course the great good. But seriously, I think it will grow into a very popular re-sort city, and the best part is that it hasn’t lost its old charm. In fact, it is all coming back and the old and new of Penang will blend beautifully, as it already is. The growth is going to be exceptional and while it’s progressing, the char kuay teow man will still be frying in the open along the street. And that really is Penang’s greatest strength — its heritage, its people and the progress of the economy today. It is drawing from its past to build its future. And I dare say that E&O has been among those who have contributed to this progress and trend of blending the old with the new, and we will be a part of Penang’s progress.

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Voices of Penang

We were living in Shanghai two years ago, and Tommes was working as a head chef of a fi ne dining restaurant and I was working in the corporate world as a headhunter. We decided we wanted to stay in Asia – we’ve lived in the US, in Europe, and we decided, yeap, Asia was the future and that’s where we wanted to be. And so we were looking for somewhere to put down some roots, which meant buying a place to live. We settled on Malaysia for the usual reasons – the climate, the language, the legal system, the food, obviously – and Penang, we particularly fell in love with because it combines the island culture with a city life and has a wonderful past and heritage, it’s very cosmopolitan, and the people here are really, really nice, and laidback.

— Tommes and Louise, Malaysia My Second Home residents and owners of Th at Little Wine Bar

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Op25 JAN 242011

We still have a lot of visitors up here in Penang Hill, but it has become a little quieter after they stopped the train up. Less people are coming up, but they are still coming up because it’s just so beautiful and peaceful here. We are happy that the government is making an eff ort to do something with this beautiful place, to get more people up here. Th ey are doing renovations to the visitors’ centre and the train will start again… we are really happy and thrilled.” – Mary Maginidas, Penang Hill resident for 18 years and manager of Bellevue, the Penang Hill Hotel

On any given day, you can walk around somewhere randomly and something’s happening. Th ere’s a

real living kind of spirit here… It’s like people do it not deliberately; it’s just

part of their lives. Th at’s what makes it so special – that intangible, which

nobody understands. I love it; it’s great.”

– Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson, artist and designer

When I moved to Penang 30 years ago for work, it was very quiet then, and when you come from Kuala Lumpur with all those discos and things, at that age, you never would have thought about living in Penang. But now I’ve made it my home. It’s getting better. When you walk through the streets, so many things are happening, and there’s a lot of work going on too, such as the big cleanliness campaign to clean up George Town on Sundays…there’s still a lot to be done, George Town is a living museum.” — Teresa Pereira Capol, owner of Eidelweiss

restaurant and heritage tour guide

When I moved to Penang 30 ywork, it was very quiet then

After getting married, we thought of settling down in Berlin, but nothing is forever. And then I decided to come back to Malaysia, but where to? But then I realised, being married, I didn’t have to go back to my family or to my hometown, as Malaysia is big with still many more places to discover. And then we chose Penang, because we actually wanted the island or beach feel, but Langkawi was too ‘beachy’ for me. If you want to live there and make your life there, it’s going to be a bit too taxing, I think. We wanted a little bit of that city feel also, so Penang is a nice balance. Before we came back from Berlin, we knew we wanted that old feel and we knew that George Town has it. We took one month off two years ago, walked around as tourists, just to survey George Town, and we just fell in love with it.”

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Urban rejuvenationHamdan Abdul Majeed, Khazanah Nasional’s senior vice-president for research and investment strategy, brings Anandhi Gopinath up to speed on the George Town Grants Programme, an initiative put in place by the federal government’s investment arm to revitalise the world heritage site

When the Options team visited George Town in 2008 for our heritage is-sue, we made note of several old

shophouses in the heritage area that were in a sad state of decline. Ravaged by the passing of time and misuse, these majestic structures needed serious cosmetic changes so they could be returned to their former glory. As it turned out, these ageing buildings needed structural changes as well — leaking roofs and cracking fl oor panels were common complaints.

Upon our return recently, we were pleased to see that many of the buildings had been miraculously healed of their gaping wounds. Façades with peeling layers of lime wash and paint had been beautifully restored, roofs fi xed and changes made that assisted the process of making George Town a far more liveable city.

While some owners have been fi nancially able to do their own repairs and restoration, others have not. This is where the George Town Grants Programme (GTGP) comes in. A fi rst of its kind, the programme provides funding for pri-vately run heritage conservation activities.

The grants are disbursed by Think City Sdn Bhd, a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that is 100%-owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the investment arm of the federal government. It is one of many programmes that Khazanah has put in place to revitalise Penang — specifi cally George Town — to restore some of the fading lustre of the Pearl of the Orient.

In its heyday at the end of the 19th cen-tury, George Town boasted the earliest bank branches in the country, with key trading ties to countries all over the region. Even when the port lost its free-trade status, Penang’s economy successfully reinvented itself with the electronics industry.

But by the turn of the 21st century, even the electronics industry was under threat as much of Penang’s talent had left for richer shores. The question on everyone’s mind was how to zap Penang back to life and set it on a new course of development. The 2008 listing of George Town as a Unesco world heritage site helped, no doubt, but that surely could not revive Penang on its own.

As part of its overall policy direction in the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the federal government, together with Khazanah, put in place a regional development initiative for the Northern Cor-ridor Economic Region. Led by senior vice-president for research and investment strategy, Hamdan Abdul Majeed, Khazanah has been in Penang for the last 3½ years, actively participat-ing in Penang’s economy to stimulate growth and activity.

With a strong focus on reinventing the George Town conurbation — which includes the island of Penang, the mainland, parts of Kulim and Sungai Petani — Khazanah has worked with many sectors of the economy with a focus on urban regeneration.

“Khazanah’s role in Penang is focused on identifying investments and carrying out active precipitation work to ensure some of the initia-tives are moving forward,” Hamdan explains. “The approach is what we call an acupuncture approach — what are the right pressure points to stimulate activity? Our intent is to fi nd ways not to crowd out the private sector, but crowd in the private sector. We try to ensure we are more

of an economic agent that will support the gov-ernment’s eff ort in revitalising the region.”

Khazanah’s assessment is that Penang has moved from a low-cost operating environment to a middle-income region, which requires a completely diff erent approach to tackling the economy and the people who run it. There is also the matter of Penang’s rich history, which adds another layer to deciphering the best way forward.

“For Penang to move forward, it’s about the city, the people and the economy,” Hamdan observes. “These three cycles of activity need to be in sync if Penang wants to prosper. If either one doesn’t excel, Penang will operate at a sub-optimal level. In the factors of production, you have land, labour, capital, technology — all of them are porous and fl exible, and they fl ow to places and cities. If cities are liveable, they will attract and retain talent and that will help to build the economy.”

Making cities more vibrant and live able is one of the government’s initiatives under the 10th Malaysia Plan, which will in turn attract both investments and skilled talent. Hamdan concurs, saying, “Cities that are not liveable will lose investments because investments go to places that attract people. The challenge for Penang is how to become a liveable city, and in that process attract and retain talent, and set itself on a path to becoming a higher income region.”

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PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

Op27 JAN 242011

Going green: The greening of Lebuh CarnarvonMuch like the way the Unesco heritage sites in Kyoto, Japan, and Seville, Spain, are de-marcated by bamboo plants and lemon trees respectively, George Town’s is set to be marked by tall comforting trees. A joint venture be-tween Think City, Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP) and George Town World Herit-age Inc (GTWHI), this unique pilot project is set to green Carnarvon Street, which borders the buff er zone and is connected to the core area of the world heritage site.

According to GTWHI general manager Maimunah Mohd Sharif, the idea to mark the heritage zone of George Town with plants

and trees came from the Marking George Town competition held in 2009. GTWHI was keen to adopt the idea but as it lacked funds, it approached Think City for assistance. The solution that Think City came up with was to build a partnership between GTWHI, MPPP and the communities that live on Carnarvon Street.

An important fi rst step was getting Pen-ang-based think tank Socio-Economic Re-search Institute (Seri) to do a public survey to garner community feedback on the project that has greened the road divider, traffi c is-land and portions of the pavements on the street. Once the survey was completed, the results were tabulated and exhibited for the community to view.

“Everyone agreed that the city had become warmer, dustier and busier so they liked the idea of trees,” Maimunah says. “We also asked them what plants they wanted — they wanted big mature trees that were taller than the streetlights and not decorative plants which

were often stolen or vandalised. Landscape consultants in KL, Seksan Design, helped us choose the trees. They did it for free as we had met during the Marking George Town competition.”

The green spine that runs all the way down Carnarvon Street is planted with 60 trees from four diff erent species that were recommended by Seksan Design. The trunks of the trees each feature a bougainvillea plant in alternating colours. Work began in November last year and is scheduled to be completed at the end of this month — this includes the planting of all the trees and renovating the surrounding kerbs and walkways.

The funding for this project was split three

ways — Think City contributed RM7,300 for the survey, community engagement and the exhibition, Khazanah contributed RM124,480 for the purchase of the plants while MPPP put in RM71,775 for planting, supply of materials, labour and maintenance.

“We would like to document this proc-ess and see where we can improve on it,” Maimunah says proudly. “Also, the state gov-ernment has asked us if we can replicate this on another street. But we defi nitely want to use this concept of engaging the residents; it takes more time but we feel that it’s much better. We received so much help from the state government, from Seksan, from Think City, from the residents and also from private companies which stepped in to help us. It has become everybody’s eff ort; it’s only that GTWHI initiated the project.”

Other streets that will be similarly greened are expected to be Jalan Kampung Kolam, Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling (Pitt Street) and

City renewal projects

CO N T I N U E S N E X T PAG E

Hamdan fi rmly believes that in this gen-eration, it is the private sector that has the ability to make the biggest diff erence. “We believe the private sector has the energy, and the environment is appropriate. Some infrastructure updates should be done, there should be catalyst investments and there should be facilitation to encourage private sector participation. It is in that context that one of the key things we looked at was urban regeneration, establishing Think City to sup-port our initiatives.”

The grants programme that Think City runs supports projects that directly increase the liveability of George Town. They are cata-lytic, encourage partnership, developmental, inclusive and sustainable. The grant pro-gramme also hopes to protect and remove from the endangered list some of the trades, services and ways of life traditionally associ-ated with the George Town world heritage site.

Think City has also partnered with George Town World Heritage Inc (GTWHI), Jaba-tan Perancangan Bandar dan Desa Penang (JPBD) and Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang (MPPP) to conduct a survey of George Town. An obligation as part of the Unesco world heritage listing, the survey identifi ed com-munity needs, docu-mented and adver-tised businesses, and formed the basis of long-term planning for the area.

Although the sur-vey was completed last year, the grant programme is ongo-ing. As at December 2010, Think City had given out 57 grants of varying sizes and for very specifi c purposes in two separate cycles. Of the 57 projects, 32 are for the rehabilita-tion and restoration of private properties in George Town.

With over 100 buildings that need immediate atten-tion, it is estimated that George Town needs some RM200 mil-lion in private investments to restore its dilapidated buildings. The grant programme is therefore merely an incentive to encourage private property owners to take the initiative to restore their buildings based on proper conservation practices. The third cycle of

Think City grantees will be announced in the coming weeks.

“We saw a need to reinvent the city, and one of the things we saw was a need for a dedi-cated entity to support this eff ort,” Hamdan says. “One of our fi rst initiatives was to put in place a grant programme to support what we think is central to Penang — revitalising the world heritage site. Take it from where it is, enhance it, strengthen it, and protect it through a grant mechanism. This mechanism is about making the city a liveable place — cit-ies are not museums.”

There is a stringent process involved in applying for and receiving the grants, Ham-dan explains, as Think City is very focused on an approach based on partnerships. “The grantees enter into a contract because they have to be committed. And what we give them is a token sum, not the full amount — no one gets a free lunch here. It’s just making it sweeter for the eff orts they are already doing. It’s about helping those who can help themselves, but we also go all out to help those who cannot.”

In accelerating this natural process of change, Think City is also quite specific about establishing a sense of cohesion among all the grantees. “We have to ensure

what they are dong is not seen as their own challenge but a common challenge. This is not about Think City or Khaz-anah — it’s about the people of Penang realising their true potential. And only the people of Penang can make that dif-ference.”

Apart from the grant programme, Think City will also be working with the state government to restore and rehabili-tate public spaces. A pilot project, in col-laboration with GT-WHI and MPPP, was to green Carnarvon Street by planting

trees down the length of the road. More such collaborations are in the works, Hamdan promises, and will be announced as and when they occur.

Hamdan’s offi ce overlooks a vast area of George Town — apt indeed, considering the scope of Think City’s work — and he keeps looking out the window proudly. The native of George Town says what Think City is doing resonates deeply with him, personally and professionally. “It’s a lifetime opportunity to be able to do this; it’s certainly not an op-portunity that comes every day,” he admits with a smile. But he also realises that urban rejuvenation does not happen overnight, and that the will to continue comes from a blind belief in change rather than relying on any sort of empirical evidence.

While there have been some results from the grant programme — many recipients of the fi rst cycle have completed their restora-tion work — by and large, Hamdan concedes that the real benefi ts may not be reaped by this generation.

“One of the things we as a team are com-mitted to is the belief in change and to stay the course,” he states. “You plant a tree today, you will not see the results today. What we see in Penang now was built over two centuries. Some of these eff orts might only bear fruit after we are gone, but it’s important that what we have inherited will remain. I benefi ted from this, the environment shaped me and I hope it will shape many other generations who come from here.”

Maimunah: We would like to document this process and see where we can improve on it. It has

become everybody’s eff ort.

Th e greening of Lebuh

Carnarvon includes the road

divider, traffi c island and

portions of the pavements

Hamdan: One of our fi rst initiatives was to put

in place a grant programme to support what we

think is central to Penang — revitalising the world

heritage site

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Op28

JAN 242011

Jalan Padang Kota Lama. Apart from roads, GTWHI will also look at other open spaces — like the one at the end of Armenian Street — that can be greened.

Greening Penang will not be limited to planting trees. “We want to do something with George Town’s back lanes so cyclists can use them,” says Maimunah. “Cycling is coming back to the city. The back lanes will defi nitely be of use to them, so this is green-ing George Town in another way to reduce carbon emissions.”

Reliving history: Enhancing the value of Sun Yat Sen’s Penang basePenang’s Sun Yat Sen Base at 120 Armenian Street is the recipient of two diff erent kinds of grants from Think City — a RM100,000 grant given to the Penang Heritage Trust to further develop the Sun Yat Sen heritage trail in George Town and a RM138,250 grant to restore the roof, façade and front porch of the physical premises.

The building itself is owned and cared for by historian Khoo Salma Nasution, whose family owned the house in the years after Sun Yat Sen’s famed meeting to plan the second Gungzhou uprising in 1911. After acquiring the property from relatives in 1992, Khoo turned it into a museum in Sun Yat Sen’s honour. While Sun Yat Sen may not play a very important role in Malaysian history, this global revolutionary has a huge international following and his Penang base has put Malaysia on the map.

According to Khoo, the funds for the herit-age trail have been used for research, trans-lations, sourcing for materials, developing signage and training guides for the trail. “The trail has been in discussion since 2001, and we have done small tours without any signage. There has been very little infrastructure sup-port, but now we have it.”

So far, the physical restoration work has been limited to the porch and the façade. Fixing the roof will have to wait until the monsoon season is over. The façade includes a beautifully crafted series of tactile decora-tions on the roof panel, specially done by

F R O M P R E V I O U S PAG E

E

Spiritual resurgence: Restoring the Toishan Ningyang Wui KwonBuilt in 1833 on King Street, the Toishan Ningyang Wui Kwon is clan house for the Tois-hanese, who hail from the Canton province in China. Today, the kongsi boasts a membership of almost 5,000 Penangites. The temple next door is ruled by Kuan Kong, the lord of war, and is primarily worshipped for protection against all forms of danger and bad luck.

Over time, the 180-year-old building began to fall into decay — the front façade lost its lustre and the roof started to leak. A central beam between the two buildings was also in need of repair and restoration.

At the same time, as the damage came to light, Think City’s grant programme was launched and the clan house applied for one to make the necessary repairs. The building man-agement committee received RM98,560, which constituted 80% of the total cost of replacing a central wooden beam in the roof and the wooden carvings on the façade, restoring the outer walls of the temple, removing the paint from its original brick surface and repainting and also repairing roof leaks.

According to community member Chor Teik Heng, who is in charge of supervising the repairs and the restoration, the leaks were likely to have been caused by wear and tear and by foliage that had started to grow in the cracks. Additionally, the walls, façade and roof

experts from China, featuring fl owers, birds, mountains and water.

“The craftsmen have an idea of what to do, so we didn’t dictate too much to them — these images are in the tradition of Hokkien paint-ing and ceramic shard work,” Khoo explains. “We left the design up to them completely, but since this used to be a reading club, we asked them to incorporate a book and a scroll. That’s just symbolic of one of the uses of this build-ing, but the design is otherwise very typical of that genre of artwork. They work with a free hand, with no guidebooks or anything.”

The completed façade helps distinguish the building from its neighbours on the relatively quiet street, which includes ten-ants like glass artist Fuan Wong, a boutique hotel called Straits Collection, art gallery Seni Mutiara and other old-fashioned businesses like recycling.

“The grant money really helps; there is so much we want to do with the house that we haven’t been able to aff ord. We can’t do much until the roof is completed; once that is done we can full promote it. The Sun Yat Sen herit-age trail is a great cross-selling tool as well,” Khoo observes.

had been painted over 30 years ago by well-meaning members.

“Last time, there was no understanding of heritage, so they painted over-lah. They thought it looked nice,” Chor says. “I did a lot of research to fi nd out what the original colour was, but that is not easy because there is not much information available. I want to know what the actual colour of the roof was … how do I fi nd out? It’s not so easy. People must remember, old things you cannot make new, you can only restore it to its original.”

Finding out the correct colour of the roof caused some delay as historical accounts did not tally with the paint colour that Chor had identifi ed. After a few errors and false starts, a visiting heritage expert from Hong Kong fi nally provided Chor the information he needed and the correct colour of the roof was determined to be black and white. Chor, who is an antique dealer and a contractor by profession, summoned a team of four to begin work last June. Work on the building is scheduled to be completed by Jan 31.

While Chor is very pleased with the fi -nal results of the restoration, he reiterates that information on heritage is scarce and is something that needs to be addressed. “I have the money to fi x the roof, but I didn’t have the information on the right colour. Luckily, I found someone who helped me. What if I hadn’t?” he asks. “In Penang and in Malaysia, we need more information on heritage. We are a very young country and our heritage is very young, so we should have more records of it.”

Th e almost

completed

roof of the

Toishan

Ningyang Wui

Kwon

Sun Yat Sen’s Penang base (left) is

now a worthy tribute to the global

revolutionary, and has come a long

way since the above picture was

taken in 1938

Th e central beam that was replaced and restored

PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

Op29 SEPT 292009

JANUARY 24, 2011

Op30 JAN 24

2011

investors who have reaped the ultimate reward of investing in heritage — the per-sonal satisfaction of seeing George Town’s built history being brought back to life.

Angela Hijjas and Hijjas KasturiSome would say the buff er area of the con-servation zone is not quite as picturesque as the core zone, and on some levels that may be true. For example, Hutton Lane somehow lacks the manicured fi nish of Armenian Street and Stewart Lane. It is also far busier and off Penang Road.

World-renowned KL-based architect Hijjas Kasturi and his arts activist wife Angela are doing their bit to liven up this particular section of George Town with a new boutique hotel called Hotel Penaga. Located on Hutton Lane, Transfer Road and Clarke Street, this pre-war terrace of 15 shophouses has been beautifully restored into a boutique hotel that maintains the character of the heritage zone while meet-ing the highest modern expectations.

Building a hotel was never on the cards for the couple. Their initial idea was to start an arts residency programme as an extension of what they were already do-ing in Rimbun Dahan in Kuala Selangor, where the couple live as well. All the art-ists Angela had met and housed in her residency programme enjoyed Penang immensely, but her search for a suitable shophouse in George Town to begin her residency programme on the island ended in disappointment.

“It’s diffi cult to buy property in George Town because very often there are multiple owners. Because of rent control, houses are never sold and handed down from genera-tion to generation,” she says. “There are sev-eral names on the title and you can’t fi nd all of them. There is also a big culture in Penang on placing caveats on titles, which makes it very diffi cult to buy houses.”

The couple were about to give up their search when they came across a stretch of 15 shophouses that was being auctioned off by a bank in Singapore. They won the auction and paid a total of RM5 million for the property.

According to Angela, many of the sho-plots in the George Town area are owned by Singaporean investors, which reaffi rms the rising value of properties in George Town. Opposite Hotel Penaga is a row of shophouses that has been boarded up and left derelict, which Angela says is owned by speculators waiting for prices to rise

further. For genuine buyers like Angela and Hijjas, this can be very frustrating indeed. But Angela admits that it’s perfectly legal to speculate and that property values are worth speculating on.

Once Angela and Hijjas sealed the deal on their own property, the next step was to decide what to do with it. “I knew what I wanted to do with one lot,” Angela says, “but 15? Hijjas thought it would be a good project to start on — he could do a multi-storey building, which is his forte. But planning regulations dictated that you can’t do any-thing of the sort since this is the buff er zone of the conservation area. Obviously, it had to be a hotel, so we decided to create the kind of hotel where we would like to stay when we’re exploring George Town.”

Building a hotel and running it was not something they had done before, but the couple plunged into the new project, spending RM12 million on restoring the old buildings, reworking the damaged façade and equipping the property with top-of-the-line appliances and comfortable, stylish fi ttings. The 45 rooms are compli-mented by an all-day dining restaurant, a bar (which was at Hijjas’ insistence), hair salon, spa and swimming pool, which overlooks a small garden that used to be the back lane of the three roads.

As diffi cult as it was, Angela is glad that they took on the job of doing up the hotel themselves instead of turning it over to a management company. “As a boutique ho-tel, every space and every room is diff erent,” she points out. “The message we got from these companies was that if the showers needed replacing, they would replace eve-rything and do it to their standard.

“In the contract, it was also stated that they had the right to change anything they liked. That didn’t seem right to us because we wanted each room to be unique and we wanted to choose and arrange the furniture ourselves.”

So the couple picked out soft leather couches, unique throw rugs, Chinese chests of drawers, personally selected art pieces and Peranakan-style accents. Thus, the design varies from room to room depend-ing on the layout.

The fi ve-foot walkways and corridors have been given the same touch, featuring tiles with a distinctly Straits feel made in Jogjakarta. Switches are old-fashioned brass knobs made in Australia while the sculptures and woodcarvings are sourced from China. The property is quite magnifi -cent, giving a touch of elegance and beauty

Th e business of heritage

Since Unesco announced George Town a world heritage site, the city's past has proved to be a huge investment opportunity and a big boost to Penang’s economy. But for many, the ultimate reward of investing in George Town’s heritage is the personal satisfaction of seeing its built history being brought back to life. Anandhi Gopinath speaks to some of these savvy investors.

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A new kind of energy fills George Town these days. Penang’s elegant 19th century shoplots are buzzing

with life and activity outside of the usual. While joss stick maker Lee Beng Chuan still operates on Lorong Muda, songkok maker Haja Mohidin is still in King Street and Anthony Chan still deals in stamps at Pitt Street, newer businesses have sprung up all around them.

There has been renewed business inter-est in the area since George Town’s listing as a Unesco world heritage site two and a half years ago. Small-time entrepreneurs and more established investors alike are putting cash into conservation. Old herit-age houses and shoplots have been trans-formed into chic eateries, boutique hotels and charming homestays, among others.

A classic example exists on Stewart Lane. Where coff eemaker Ong Kok Weng used to operate Kim Guan Coff ee is now Kopi Cine, a delightful café serving Penang-

style coff ee as well as Italian cappucinos. But owner Narelle McMurtrie has left the old Kim Guan signboard outside the shop and kept the coff eemaker’s age-old machines intact. This is a new generation of investors who are not merely pumping funds into prime real estate, but doing so with a respect for heritage.

But while investing in a Unesco-listed area like George Town seems like an ex-cellent idea — and it is — it is no simple task. The dilapidated condition of many of George Town’s old shophouses calls for restoration and renovation costs that are often double the cost of the property itself. Yet that has not discouraged investors, comprising Penangites, Malaysians from other states as well as foreigners, from investing in heritage.

Three years into its heritage listing, George Town’s past is proving to be a huge investment opportunity and a big boost to Penang’s economy. Here are some savvy

Hotel Penaga’s

facade was built

to resemble the

original shophouse

Right: Th e hotel’s

library features a

pop of colour that

is a potent mix of

modernity and

tradition

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PICTURES BY HARIS HASSAN/THE EDGE

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to the extremely busy area it’s located in. For the couple, the hotel is not just a fi nancial

investment, but also one that puts their name on the line, so to speak.

“Just to renovate and restore, well, anyone can do it,” Hijjas observes. “The trouble is, I am one of the oldest architects in practice and the younger ones are watching me all the time. I can’t do ordinary things; I have to add value. How do you do that?”

The answer to that question is by giving things a personality and making them sustain-able at the same time. In fact, recycled materials were used wherever possible in the hotel’s res-toration and redevelopment while the plants in the garden are meant to reduce heat and glare, increase soil permeability and provide as much greenery as the space can accommodate. The swimming pool contains salt water to reduce the use of chemicals, every room has a choice of ceil-ing fan or inverter air-conditioning while water is heated by 99 solar photovoltaic panels.

“You know, I truly rediscovered architecture with this project,” comments Hijjas. “I usually know everything by heart, but in here, I’m re-learning so many things. We went to a factory in Jogja [Jogjakarta] where the tiles are made, and it was a totally diff erent technique. We had to order them four months in advance because that’s the time they need.”

“Financially, it’s been a very good investment for us because it happened during the fi nancial crisis,” Angela chips in. “This was an opportunity to buy a depressed property in a depressed area and add value to it with our own skills. I think it’s been a very good investment.”

“I hope this becomes a showcase not only for investors, but also architects on how to add value to old buildings so we can appreciate it better,” Hijjas adds.

Common areas

like corridors

and intimate

spaces in the

rooms have

been decorated

and restored

with the same

Straits-inspired

look and feel

Angela and Hijjas Kasturi

Op31 JAN 242011

Ocean TehOcean Teh’s decision to paint the façade of his restaurant, Sri Malaya, a bright yellow was an interesting one for him. While this made the restaurant stand out from its duller neighbours on Rope Walk Road, it aroused the ire of the conservation community which thought the colour should have been the more historically correct beige.

It’s hard to not appreciate the way Teh dealt with the situation. “I told them, ‘okay you pay lah, then I will paint it what colour you want. If I pay, then I paint it according to my wish la’.”

And so, the restaurant stayed yellow.A former resident of George Town, Teh

moved to Ayer Itam with his family as a 10-year-old but his love for old buildings and antiques never faded. While he graduated with a degree in Town Planning from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Teh has always had a passion for collecting antiques and harboured a dream of moving back into George Town one day.

Inspired by restoration projects by Christo-pher Ong and Narelle McMurtrie, Teh started actively looking for a property to purchase in George Town and chanced upon one on Rope Walk Road, which is in the buff er zone of the heritage area. A former karaoke lounge, the house was in a terrible state but Teh, who works in the construction industry, was well equipped to supervise its renovation and resto-ration. The shophouse now hosts Sri Malaya on the ground fl oor, with an intimate dining area and Teh’s personal living space upstairs.

“After the Unesco listing and looking at Kopi Cine and Christopher Ong’s projects, I felt like I could also do something for Penang,” he says. “I’ve also encouraged my friends to come back to live in George Town. This is not a museum; we have to maintain the culture of George Town by living here.”

After purchasing the shoplot, it occurred to Teh that he did not need that much space to live, so a friend’s inspired suggestion even-tually led to the idea of Sri Malaya. “A friend of mine from KL suggested we join forces to open an art deco restaurant,” he says. “Coin-cidentally, the antique furniture that I’d been collecting all the while, which is from the 1950s and 1960s, fi tted into the theme. We wanted to choose a name that related to that period so we picked Sri Malaya. The yellow colour is energetic and lively, and to me, it fi tted the theme and the name.”

The tables and chairs are all pieces from Teh’s antique collection, featuring classic and simple lines so they are modern yet have an old-school feel. An exposed brick wall lines the sun-drenched atrium in the centre of the restaurant while hanging plants cover a ce-ment wall in the outdoor dining area in the back. Teh’s living quarters upstairs feature a similarly modern feel, with touches of Pen-ang’s old history providing some visual appeal. The space includes modern facilities like an open-air shower and a live wall.

Teh’s minimalist take on the

art deco movement lends a

classy air to the interior of his

restaurant (above) and the lush

upper fl oor (top)

Right: A George Town boy, Teh

has invested wisely in his Sri

Malaya restaurant cum home

what I could and changed the rest.” Again, conservationists and historians

frowned on his choices. Rather than the more historically accurate terracotta fl ooring, Teh chose marble slabs — which worked better with his brown and yellow art deco theme. “Mine is a mix of modern and old. I have marble fl oors and the wall is yellow. In Penang, many of the cafés are sometimes dull, there is no surprise element anymore. I don’t want the restaurant to look like a museum, I want it to stand out.”

As the demand for Penang’s historic shop-houses rises and availability falls, Teh is sure to be approached by a potential buyer. But no matter what the price, Teh says he will not sell, for both personal and pragmatic reasons. “This is not like a condominium unit — if you sell one you can get another. You cannot get another shophouse easily. In George Town, only 20% of the houses can be sold, the others you cannot touch. Some belong to clan houses, some belong to old fami-lies, and they won’t sell it to you.”

Teh is prepared to wait at least two years to see any major fi nancial returns on his in-vestment, although personally, he has reaped rewards many times over. “The satisfaction of owning this place … ah cannot describe lah,” he grins. “I still cannot believe we came up with something so nice in Penang. It’s nice to be able to give something nice for the tourists and Penang people as well.”

Sri Malaya, which serves a mix of tradition-al and modern fare accompanied by a fairly comprehensive drinks menu, is the shared responsibility of Teh and his partner. Teh manages the décor, training and management while his partner takes care of the food.

Outside the core zone, property prices are far more manageable — Teh acquired the old house for RM450,000 and spent another RM300,000 on renovation and restoration. “It was in a terrible condition; we had to change the wiring, the timber fl ooring. I maintained

Corridors are given the same

Straits feel as the rooms

CO N T I N U E S N E X T PAG EAn open air dining area at the back features lush foliage, including a vertical garden

Op32 JAN 24

2011

NaA vtry,yearanTheshesonouttwoLan

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Ong’s three

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(clockwise from

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strictly preserve

the facade and

personality of the

original buildings

Christopher OngChristopher Ong was a successful invest-ment banker in Australia with a heritage restoration portfolio that included several projects in inner city Sydney and Melbourne as well as the Galle Fort Hotel in Sri Lanka. But as a fi fth generation Penangite Baba and a former resident of George Town, the call to return and do something for his home state eventually brought him back.

Once Ong gave up his lucrative career in fi nance to return to Penang, his fi rst project was to restore a shophouse on Muntri Street — where he grew up — to serve as his permanent residence. Since then, Ong has been involved in three separate restoration projects in and around George Town.

His fi rst commercial restoration project was in Clove Hall Road, where he restored a dilapidated colonial-style gentleman’s club into a six-room boutique hotel named after the quiet, picturesque street where it is located. Clove Hall is also Malaysia’s fi rst boutique homestay licensed by the Ministry of Tourism. Back in 2008, the purchase of the land and the restoration came up to RM5 million. “This was in 2008. The prices of property in George Town have gone up catastrophically since then,” Ong comments.

Also on Muntri Street is Muntri Mews, a row of old carriage houses from the 19th century that Ong is turning into short and long-term homestays. “Artists can stay there, we can have residency programmes … It’s basically about pro-moting local culture. It will feature art from Ch’ng Kiah Khien, who I feel is one of Penang’s most talented artists, and it will be a place for him to exhibit his work — all his pencil sketches and artwork on Penang,” Ong says.

Catering for flashpackers, Muntri Mews will operate on a unique concept of payment. “If people can do things for us, landscaping maybe, or do us some art, we can barter. It’s basically a fun place for people to hang out. It will be aff ordable, to suit the nature of the other backpacker places in the area. And anyone who comes with a horse carriage can stay for free,” Ong laughs.

He has invested RM3 million in buying, restoring and renovating Muntri Mews, which will be ready come March 1.

The original building was construct-ed in the 1890s as a traditional mews house for horse carriages with living quarters for the drivers upstairs. When motorcars were introduced in Penang in the 1920s, horse stables made way for garages, and the buildings were adapted for new usage.

After World War 2, however, the build-ings became slum dwellings. But in a new millennium fi lled with new dreams, Ong is giving these lovely, history-fi lled old buildings a new lease of life and new meaning.

His second project is called 7 Terraces Penang, which is set to be a luxury Per-anakan boutique hotel on Stewart Lane. The shophouses were allegedly torched by the previous owner and left to rot for almost 10 years. “When I took them over, there was hardly any roof or fl oor. The fl oor beams, granite, window frames and door frames were all stolen. Drug addicts used to live there and when I bought it, there were still people hiding out in it. It was in a terrible condition and needed a lot of work,” Ong says.

It cost him RM15 million to purchase the nine shophouses — which included an urban swiftlet farm that he bought out — and transform them into a 16-room hotel. For this project, Ong received a

RM178,108 grant from Think City Sdn Bhd, a special projects vehicle of Khazanah Nasional Berhad to spearhead urban re-generation exercises. The hotel is Ong’s biggest heritage investment to date.

But for Ong, the returns will not be of the fi nancial kind. “The investment return for me is the satisfaction of seeing a build-ing come back to life,” he smiles. “If you believe in the project, if you’re passionate about what you’re doing, the fi nancial rewards will come. But from a business point of view, these investments to me have been better than having money in the bank. And I have the satisfaction of restoring the building as well.”

While people like Ong make it look so easy, there are challenges that make the business of conservation a tough one. The biggest challenge for investors, Ong feels, is getting past the regulators.

“George Town is not a monument, it’s a living heritage, which means the properties have to be adapted so peo-ple can live, work and play here,” he explains. “Regulatory authorities must understand that these houses have to be changed on the inside, incorporating new building materials. My philosophy is to maintain the envelope of the build-ing, its scale and façade. But one must be able to adapt the inside for modern liv-ing standards. And the authorities must understand that and assist investors and residents in getting these approvals rather than putting up roadblocks.”

While Ong admits things have be-come more transparent in the state, the red tape is still a problem, caused essentially by an overload. “The council is staff ed by the same number of people that were there before the Unesco listing and when fewer people were interested in the inner city,” he remarks. “No one was renovating these houses before, but people are doing it now. Whether they are restoring for commercial use or to stay in, they are investing in George Town nonetheless.”

Ong’s beatifully

restored

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before embarking

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PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

PICTURE COURTESY OF CLOVE HALL

ASSAM GARAM

Narelle McMurtrieA veteran in the local hospitality indus-try, Narelle McMurtrie has spent many years in Malaysia investing in a wide range of F&B and hospitality projects. The Australian’s current projects, which she co-manages with her partner Ali-son Fraser, are an eclectic mix of retail outlets, restaurants and residences in two islands in Malaysia — Penang and Langkawi.

Heritage investing is clearly Mc-Murtrie’s cup of tea — even if she doesn’t quite articulate why — based on her record. Her portfolio includes two herit-age-style boutique hotels in Langkawi and two residences in George Town that are complimented by a café called Kopi Cine, two retail facilities called the Bon Ton Shop and China Joe’s as well as an arts space. McMurtrie’s George Town-based projects are located in the heart of Unesco’s core heritage zone and that too in beautifully restored shophouses.

The cost of acquiring the properties — fi ve shophouses in Stewart Lane and

Th e painstakingly

restored facade of

Duckett’s home

on China Street

Th e chic off erings of Kopi

Cine and Straits Collection

have been tailormade to

fi t the unique personality

of George Town’s historic

shophouses

Op33 JAN 242011

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Rebecca Duckett-WilkinsonArtist Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson travelled the world with her husband and three children before putting down permanent roots, and their fi rst and only choice for that was George Town. After restoring a beautiful and exceptionally large shophouse on China Street, Duckett and her husband had to buy the house next door as a buff er because it was occupied by an urban swift farm — the only thing that would chase it away was to buy it out.

With an extra property in hand, the next step was to figure out how to maximise their investment and serve George Town at the same time. “This is a big question for anyone investing in George Town — what are you going to do with your property? The obvious thing is a hotel, but is George Town going to generate enough tourists to fill these hotels?” Duckett asks.

As an artist, she has chosen to utilise the space as a gallery — both for her own art and to host other exhibitions — as well as beautifully decorated home-stays on the upper fl oors called China Tiger. “The

homestays are paying off , but it has taken time. Gen-erally, Penang attracts low-end tourists; historically, that’s been what it is. But there is a change — with the Unesco listing, you see older people on holiday who have more money to spend. They don’t want hostels but they don’t want fancy hotels either, so there is this new market to cater for.”

Duckett spent RM680,000 on the shophouse her gallery is in, but the restoration and renovation work was minimal and came up to RM45,000. “We came in here before the property prices shot up again, so this same price doesn’t hold water anymore. This has defi nitely been an excellent investment for us, even though I don’t think we’ll be selling it anytime soon.

“You’ve also got young locals opening small en-terprises like juice bars — these are some of the investments that should be encouraged around here,” Duckett says. “Art for me is potentially a huge earner here. Creative stuff like this that appeals to the local population will really work here, both for the people who live here and for the kind of place that George Town is.”

four on Armenian Street — came up to RM2.4 million, but McMurtrie has de-liberately not calculated the restoration cost. “The shophouses were in a terrible, terrible state when we took over them; they needed so much renovation. I’m sure I must have gone several times over my budget with the work that had to be done, which is why I’ve blocked it all out. I’d probably have a heart attack if I knew exactly how much it was,” she smiles.

This makes it diffi cult to calculate the returns on her investment, but fi nancial returns are not McMurtrie’s priority. “I think everyone feels that the investment is appreciation of the heritage; there’s not a lot of business to be made,” she observes. “The problem in Penang, in-vestment-wise, is that hotel rates are too low, so it’s not easy to make good returns here. In Langkawi, the investment is half but the returns are double. Which is why people here have to rely on appreciation of the heritage.”

E

29 Th e Gallery

Th e interior of a

Straits Collection

shophouse on

Armenian Street

Kopi Cine’s interior

includes old

coff ee-making

machinery left

behind by its

previous owner

EDGE

PICTURES COURTESY OF STRAITS COLLECTION

Op34 JAN 24

2011

Creativeendeavours

Penang lacks a thriving arts scene although it has an abundance of cultural shows and religious festivals. But the winds of change are defi nitely blowing across the state, thanks to the eff orts of some performing arts practitioners and artists, writes Elaine Lau.

The performing arts in Penang is largely defi ned by a cultural bent. Cultural performances and reli-

gious festivals are held throughout the year, be it on the old streets of George Town, the town hall, the Esplanade or at clan houses. These festivals include Thaipusam, Chingay, tributes to the Nine Emperor Gods and Goddess of Mercy, as well as Chinese opera, street puppet shows, Japanese and Korean festivals.

While cultural shows and religious festivals are in abundance, there isn’t a thriving arts scene in Penang. There needs to be a vibrant and dynamic arts movement for the city to move forward as a society. An exciting arts scene will play a big part in inspiring ideas and cultivat-ing innovation, which will be a boost to Penang’s economy.

“I for one believe that art and culture allows our minds to grow and soar by making our beings bright, interested and alive,” said Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng in his speech at a signing ceremony at the Penang Performing Arts Centre in October last year. “It will also, I fi rmly believe, improve our creativity, a crucial component of competitiveness in the global knowledge economy.”

Narelle McMurtrie, one of the proprie-tors of Straits Collection Penang, sees it as adding another dimension to tourism. She comments, “Penang needs to have something else besides heritage. I think it’s got to be a lot more arts-based, because when people come there’s only so many old buildings they can look at. So the other thing that can be quite easy to do in George Town is art. It’s small enough; it’s easy for Penang to become arts-based. It’s too spread out in KL, whereas Penang has a very small core so it can be done.”

There are numerous reasons as to why there isn’t an active arts scene there. A crucial one is a lack of arts education in schools, which has to do with inadequate infrastructure.

Performing arts practitioner Chee Sek Thim, a Penangite who recently returned to the island and has plans to start an arts space, elaborates: “The infrastructure for the arts is not in place. When I talk about infrastructure I don’t just mean physical infrastructure, but also human resources. If you look at the components that go into the value chain that make the arts a signifi cant entity, all these ele-ments are not in place or are very weak: artists, creators, producers, writers, critics, audience. If you want to do anything, and these elements are not in place, it’s very diffi cult to sustain your activity.

“For example, suppose an actor wants to give a performance, but there’s not enough production support, it will be very diffi cult to continue working. Or even if there is enough production support, but if you don’t have an audience large enough to sustain an extended perform-ance timetable, then it’s also not workable. At the same time, if you don’t have people writing about it, an audience who knows what you’re doing and are aware of what’s going on, and therefore able to look at the kind of work you’re doing, then it’s also a bit diffi cult. You’ll be doing work for en-tertainment most of the time. So there’s

no feedback into the loop that will make this thing spiral upwards. The big issue is sustainability.

“So the question then is, if I want to come back here and do things, how do I move on? Part of the problem is you have to recognise that you have to put in the resources to begin putting these building blocks in place — putting in infrastruc-ture. It may be that in my lifetime I’m never going to be able to do whatever I want to do, but that’s what you need to recognise.”

In the case of visual arts, it’s a slightly diff erent picture. Designer and artist Re-becca Duckett-Wilkinson says, “There are tons of young artists here, like hundreds and thousands — it is amazing. But the problem with a lot of them is there’s no exposure to other things. There’s not enough of a lively art scene here for peo-ple to get inspired by diff erent things. Often what they do is rely on what the older Penang artists have done as their inspiration. So there’s a lot of people doing scenes of shophouses — nothing wrong with that, but everyone seems to be the same. They haven’t done enough to really make it their own image. Even in colleges, they seem to promote that.

“Everywhere you look, the work you see, loads of artists who have really good technique are painting shophouses and street scenes. But how many can you do without really standing out? There has to be something there that will make you an individual. They’re very young, and there aren’t enough older artists to infl uence them. Art history to me is basic — an artist should always study art history. If they don’t do that and if they don’t do it

enough, then you don’t see a whole range of things and you don’t get inspiration. When you’re young, you should take in-spiration. It doesn’t matter if you end up looking like Dali or Picasso or somebody else, so long as later you grow and you fi nd all those infl uences and make something of your own. I don’t think there’s enough of that going on at the moment.

She continues, “The art scene is young. There are a lot of galleries who carry older artists. A few more galleries are starting to open, and hopefully will change the market a little. You’re still getting a whole lot of paintings from Bali or China com-ing in, and a lot are copies of old masters and they all tend to look the same. You’re not buying an artist; you’re buying an image. Unlike KL, there are so many gal-leries that promote all the local guys from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and so on. We don’t have that here. Until that develops, young artists will not be able to be inspired except by what’s here in Penang, which is your heritage. But that is changing, which is good.”

Yes, the winds of change are defi nitely in the air. This is what busi-nessman, performing arts practitioner and activist Joe Rosli Sidek describes as a renaissance. “The last few years have been very interesting. A lot of peo-ple have moved to George Town and I see it all as pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Like an armada, everyone is sailing a ship, a boat, a

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sampan, a junk, and we are all sailing in a direction that we can see and feel. Naralle and her project, the galleries that have come up, music composer Johan Othman coming back to Penang to work — it’s like the universe is planning the picture for George Town. It’s like a renaissance of the earth’s energy here.”

He adds, “Unbeknownst to everyone, we’re all sailing, putting in the jigsaw pieces, whether it’s architecture, works, energy, people, food. One day you’ll see … the big picture I feel is coming together without any major orchestration.”

Indeed, the pieces seem to be coming together, bit by bit. Chee’s upcoming arts space on Malay Street is one, and also Studio (run by McMurtrie) and 29 The Gallery, Duckett’s outfit. There is also the upcoming Penang Performing Arts Centre in Straits Quay, and happenings like the inaugural George Town Festival last year. These are but the beginnings of rumblings that augur well for the creation of an arts scene here.

“In creating an arts scene, it’s fabulous we’re all doing different things,” says Chee. “We cannot just put all our eff orts into one channel or take one approach; we have to take a multi-pronged approach. You have high-end spaces that will bring in big shows from KL, Singapore, wherever, and then you have Anak-Anak Kota, who work with people on a very educational level, and people like me who are inter-ested in smaller projects — a bit rougher, more experimental. So if all these things are happening at the same time, and if we all last and can stay the course, after a while you create enough momentum and things start moving.”

Joe: Like an armada,

everyone is sailing

a ship, a boat, a

sampan, a junk, and

we are all sailing in a

direction that we can

see and feel

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Op35 JAN 242011

Here’s a look at some of the recently opened spaces and events happening on the island

PENANG PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE,

STRAITS QUAY, SERI TANJUNG PINANG

Slated for opening in the last quarter of 2011, Penang’s fi rst ever performing arts centre will be managed by Th e Actors Studio (TAS), helmed by champions of performing arts in Malaysia, Joe Hasham and Datuk Faridah Merican.

Th e 22,000 sq ft centre will feature two theatres — a proscenium theatre that will be able to seat 304, as well as an experimental theatre with a 150-seat capacity. Th ere will also be a number of studios for classes, rehearsals and practice sessions, as well as a foyer, ticketing offi ce and back-of-stage facilities.

Th e space will allow TAS to bring in international acts, and also those produced at Th e Actors Studio and the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, as well as encourage a calendar of locally produced events, in addition to nurturing a love for and knowledge of the rich world of performing arts among Penangites.

“We would like to be able to do what a performing arts centre should be doing: nurturing, training, creating more and more groups,” says Faridah. “We did that a long time ago when TAS was in Plaza Putra — little groups started to blossom. We hope this will happen with the Penang Performing Arts Centre, and not just from Penang, but also the northern parts of the country — Perlis, Kedah, northern Perak — it can cater for all these.

Th at would be the way to go because groups

cannot start up if there is no place for them to rehearse and do the things they need to do apart from performing.”

CHEE SEK THIM’S UPCOMING ARTS SPACE,

MALAY STREET

Th e space will occupy the downstairs portion of the shophouse, and upstairs will be a bed and breakfast. “Th e idea is to have the bed and breakfast generate income to fund the activities downstairs,” says Chee. “Th e space is going to a multi-purpose art space … My intention is to engage in the arts across the board. Th ere will be performances, visual art exhibitions, readings — the idea is to provide a space that acts like an incubator to support new works, small productions, things that introduce ideas, experimental works, people who want to test out visual art or even performance ideas.”

STUDIO, 86 ARMENIAN STREET

Located above Bon Ton Th e Shop is an arts space that opened last December, which models itself after Th e Annexe Gallery in KL, which anyone

can rent to put up shows, exhibitions and so on. McMurtrie manages the space, and there is currently an art show by Core Design Gallery from Subang Jaya called Beautiful People on view.

29 THE GALLERY, 25 CHINA STREET

Opened by Duckett in November 2009, this art gallery began by promoting the works of local

artists, “not necessarily full-time artists, but people who were doing things and wanted to show”. Th is year, however, Duckett wants to focus on building up her own body of work, and will only do two or three exhibitions at the gallery. As far as her artwork is concerned, she says she’s “still very much about fl ora and fauna, fi sh images, and patterns. But I’m doing a little bit more collage work now, and I want to play around with that a little on canvas and paper. I want to make it a bit more tactile, using mixed media.”

GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL 2011

Last year, throughout the whole month of July, the Penang government held the inaugural George Town Festival in celebration of its listing as a Unesco World Heritage Site. Th e historical streets and heritage buildings of George Town came alive with song and dance performances, music, theatre, art exhibitions and fi lm screenings. Th e festival will return this July, again for a full month, and with Joe as festival director.

“Everything is George Town-centric,” he says. “It’s about the people, spaces, streets and history of George Town.” It’s about understanding and showing the town’s “collection of buildings, spaces, people, history, smells, sounds and music”. Th e aim is to “get other people to come and understand the beauty of George Town”.

Th e line-up for the festival is still being fi nalised, but Joe promises it will be an exciting one. Like last year, it will comprise art exhibitions, opera shows, music, theatre, dance and fi lm, such as One is Th e Women, a multi-faceted showcase of the lives of seven interesting women connected to Penang: No 7, Cheong Fatt Tze’s favourite wife; Fatimah Nachiar Merican, a Muslim saint; former national badminton player Eddy Choong’s mother, a Peranakan woman with an

impressive jewellery collection; Martina Rozells, Sir Francis Light’s common law wife; and striptease queen Rose Chan.

Th ere will also be an exhibition of photographs taken by the late French photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson, who apparently came to Penang in January 1950 and took 13 rolls of fi lm. Another exhibition focuses on the work of pioneering Scottish photographer John Th omson, who took pictures of Penang in 1860.

Joe also wants to do a living museum, where the residents

will be paid to open up their homes to visitors and with their consent, have old photos from their family albums hung on the walls.

An outdoor performance piece to be staged at the Botanical Gardens will involve Ghaff ar Pourazar (pictured), a proponent of Beijing opera, while another project explores the idea of 1Malaysia and looks at how “we were already blended in blood in Penang since the 1700s”.

One thousand portraits of Malays, Chinese and Indians will be put on display, and “when you stand in the middle of the room you realise there is no compartmentalisation of any race; we are blended in blood”, says Joe.

Th e project called I Am is about taking ownership of the word, Malay. “Th is is a unity project, I’m doing to discover who we are. “I want to invite a mixed group of Malays: Farish A Noor, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Dinah Zaman, Malay transsexuals, and rocket scientists to talk about being Malay. It’s not politically bent; it’s about taking ownership of the word Malay, that it doesn’t belong to Pas, Umno, Keadilan or any political group, it belongs to us individuals.”

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Op36

JAN 242011

Culinary haven

Long known as the food capital of Malaysia for its wide and varied selection of luscious hawker food, Penang now boasts another layer as it were of dining delights, writes Jacqueline Toyad. Somewhere in between the street food and the mass market fast food chains are the new mom and pop bistros and cafés popping up everywhere in George Town's city centre, off ering everything from their own take on local favourites to casual Western dining.

A real test of a true cosmopolitan city is in its culinary off erings and Penang passes with amaz-

ing culinary colours. The spice trade, immigration patterns, colonialism, war, invasions … all of these have played a part in Penang’s rich and colourful food culture.

If there is any one thing that Malay-sians can agree on, it is that Penang is the top foodie destination in the region.

Penang’s rich cosmopolitan history has infi ltrated into the lifestyle of the people, most evidently in the way they prepare and fl avour their food. What can one expect from what used to be an important port on the ancient spice trade route? There is an endless list to what you can fi nd in this food lover’s paradise, from pasembur and assam laksa to nasi kandar, Hainanese chicken chop and char kuay teow. What’s amazing is that although almost everyone is delving into the same pot of ingredients, each style of cuisine has its own identity. Unlike today’s globalisation — which has resulted in a huge wave of amorphous fusion fi ne cuisine which, wherever you go around the world, tastes the same and is relatively unexciting — the food trail in Penang is about searching for the best, and the best rarely means fi ne dining, with highly conceptualised interior decoration and a fancy name that begins with a “Le”. Most of the time, it’s seven people standing around a hawker trolley watching a man or woman sweating over a sizzling, smoky wok or grill.

Yes, even into the 21st century, street fare still rules the palates of Penangites. Some would like to joke that it’s because

Penangites are “kiam siap”, or stingy, but truly, it’s where the best fl avours are. I’d like to think that part of what makes the dish taste good is the atmosphere it’s prepared in, with a dash of street je ne sais quoi. Evident in how hard it is to please the palate of a Penangite is in

the cleaning up of Swatow Lane. When an old abandoned theme park was con-verted into a polished food court called New World Park, the iconic Swatow Lane hawkers were made to move there and enjoy facilities that would raise their hygiene benchmark. The Penangites,

tasted and decided those hawkers had lost their “it” factor.

Back to the frugality of Penangites, it’s time to dismiss that urban legend. Sure, back in the old, old days, they may have been a little tight-fi sted, but today, Hard Rock Café (where a burger is no less than

Th e café culture is starting to pick up in Penang. However, instead of global commercial coff ee house chains, locals and tourists alike are being drawn to the nouveau concept cafes that have carved out their own little niche on the heritage streets of inner city George Town.

Here are few we recommend you try:

KOPI CINE55 Stewart LaneTel: (04) 263 7299

Having taken over what used to be a little coff ee factory, this establishment focuses on both old-style Penang coff ee as well as Italian blends. Food is Mediterranean. Very art house — with movie screenings in the late evenings.

SOUL KITCHEN TRATTORIA102 Lebuh MuntriTel: (04) 261 3118Very groovy café, done up in brown and orange, where it’s all about “food ‘n’ music refreshing your soul”. Owned and run by husband-and-wife team Michele Yim and Tonio Neuhaus, the fare is simple European served with smooth grooves and funk, courtesy of the couple’s rich media library.

SRI MALAYA1 Rope WalkTel: (04) 261 3763Th e décor is a throwback to pre-Merdeka Penang plus air-conditioning. Highly recommended is the Mixed Seafood Curry Laksa and Ocean Seafood Platter (that may or may not be named for owner Ocean Teh). Pretty much an east-meets-west themed menu.

EDELWEISS38 Armenian StreetTel: (04) 261 8935Owned by Teresa Pereira and her husband Urs Capol, this café and bar serves authentic Swiss cuisine, from rosti and

Bauem Schueblig to Swiss curry and sausages. Much charm is added by Teresa’s collection of antiques and the quirky fi xtures sculpted from broken metal antiques by Urs, who is a designer and technical director with OE Fine Jewellery.

AMELIE CAFÉ 6 Armenian StreetTel: (012) 496 7838

Husband-and-wife Loh Choon Kueng and Khor Gaik Ee have come up with a darling concept that epitomises “less is more”. Th ey have converted a small nook within a row of pre-war shoplots into a charming four-table café equipped with furniture and decorations made from recycled materials. Even the drinks come in former honey and jam jars. Th e menu is small and changes every day, depending on what’s fresh at the market.

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Op37 JAN 242011

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1. CHAR KOAY TEOWTh ere’s no char koay teow like Penang Char Koay Teow. Seriously. Th e stall at Ho Ping Café, on the corner of Lebuh Keng Kwee and Penang Road, serves it up the best. It’s the best venue as well for Penang Laksa and Cendol.

2. PENANG LAKSAAlso known as Assam Laksa, this is Penang’s signature dish. It’s a spicy hot-sour fi sh and noodle soup, with the added crunch of shredded cucumber, onion and chopped pineapple. Head to Kafe Lok Pin on Jalan Anson. Open 9am to 6pm.

3. HOKKIEN MEE Outside of Penang, we know this as Prawn Mee. For a comforting bowl of spicy, prawny goodness, try the New Cathay Coff ee Shop, 425E Jalan Burmah.

4. CENDOL Th is sweet and icy treat will cool you down from the heat and humidity of the island sun. You must have it at the Penang Road Famous Teochew Chendul, a mobile stall parked on Lebuh Keng Kwee, off Penang Road.

5. POH PIAH Spring rolls make good appetisers. Penangites pack it into a full meal. Popular poh piah can be found at Padang Brown Hawker Centre on Jalan Anson, from 1pm to 6.30pm.

6. HO CHIEN Shellfi sh fans will surely love this oyster omelette, made with a mixture of light tapioca fl our, egg, chilli and garnished with spring onion. Enjoy it at Kedai Kopi Seng Th or, 160 Lebuh Carnavon — the home of the “famous Carnavon Street ho chien”.

7. NASI KANDAR When you talk about Nasi Kandar, people will defi nitely mention Line Clear, located in an alleyway next to 177 Jalan Penang. However, let us steer you next door to Kedai Kopi Yasmin where the tandoori rocks and the nasi kandar off erings are much better. Th e Edge photographers Haris Hassan and Mohd Suhaimi Mohd Yusof were caught dining there three nights in a row while on assignment for this issue. Other recommendations from Penangites include the 24-hour Kassim Nasi Kandar at 14 & 21 Jalan Gurdwara and Restoran Tajuddin Hussain at 49 & 51 Lebuh Queen.

8. CHICKEN RICE Yes, chicken rice is everywhere, but enjoy it Penang style at Sky restaurant, at the base of the bright blue Sky Hotel on the corner of Lebuh Chulia and Jalan Masjid. Th e chicken rice here is legendary, with a great selection of roast meats. Stall opens at 11am.

9. PASEMBURTh is is kind of like rojak. It’s a Malaysian Indian salad with a mix of julienned fresh cucumber, turnip and what not with prawn fritters, tauhu, bean sprouts and some seafood. Th e secret is in the sweet and spicy nutty sauce. Try it at Kompleks Makanan Medan Renong, Jalan Padang Kota Lama. Opens 9am to 6pm.

10. APAM BALIKTh ere are two places one can go to enjoy this awesome peanut pancake that off ers a blend of sweet and salty, gooey and crunchy in one bite. Th ere’s a stall at the Pulau Tikus Market, B1-12B Jalan Pasar (open 6.30am to noon) and a roadside stall on Jalan Anson, usually parked in front of Lok Pin Coff ee Shop (open 10am to 5pm).

HARD ROCK CAFÉ PENANGJalan Batu Ferringhi, PenangTel: (04) 881 1711

THE SIRE MUSEUM RESTAURANT4 King Street, PenangTel: (04) 264 5088

THAT LITTLE WINE BAR54 Jalan Chow Th ye, Penangwww.thatlittlewinebar.com

THE WINE SHOP15 Lintang Burma, PenangTel: (04) 226 1824

RM20) is popular, and so is Starbucks, well, kind of.

Since the revival of George Town’s inner city, a new trend has emerged. With prices between those of olden day kopitiams and Starbucks or Hard Rock Café are the new café/bistros that have been set up in restored heritage shoplots by highly enterprising individuals who’ve combined their love for heritage and food. Most of them have chosen to go the other way — rather than compete with the legendary local fare, each one has chosen a diff erent repertoire to showcase, going with Swiss cuisine, or Italian, or Medi-terrannean and so on, while some off er renewed expressions of old favourites. A few have chosen to go both ways with a local meets western menu.

A sure sign that Penang’s dining scene is on the up is the entry of concept diner Delicious, the signature chain of E&O

Bhd’s The Delicious Group. It is the res-taurant’s fi rst outlet outside of the Klang Valley, where mainly fast food chains like McDonald’s with mass off erings have opened in Penang. Delicious is set to open end-March at Seri Tanjung Pinang’s Straits Quay retail marina.

Speaking of concept dining, another indication of Penang’s growing apprecia-tion for the fi ner (and therefore slightly more expensive) things in life is boutique establishments such as The Sire Museum Restaurant. Located on King Street, it is housed in the former residence of Pen-ang tycoon Yeap Chor Ee, restored and renovated as a museum featuring the Yeap family heirlooms and off ers local delicacies with some western fusion in an Old Penang setting.

With any burgeoning dining scene comes a growing interest in wine. Tom-mes and Louise (they won’t divulge their surnames) have cashed in on this and opened That Little Wine Bar. Penang resi-dents under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme, the couple fi rst restored an old colonial house on Jalan Chow Thye, off Jalan Burmah, as their home before deciding to do the same with a shoplot across the street and open a business. The main focus here is wine and the bar off ers only alcohol procured from grapes — champagne, cognac, wines — while food, although a priority, is secondary. But don’t dismiss the menu as Tommes was formerly an haute cuisine chef, who’s decided to tone it down a notch and off er fi nely prepared food in a casual setting. The success of That Little Wine Bar has led to the emergence of doppelganger establishments dotted around the Jalan Burma area.

With these new hot spots emerging around town, Penang’s culinary cornu-copia is certainly enriched even further. What remains is that it all boils down to fl avour and comfort, honouring the local ingredients and drawing many across the nation to head north and break their diets with phenomenal pal-ate-pleasers.

10 must-eat hawker’s delights

E

EDGE

Concept cafésChic, boutique and clever, these eateries appeal to those looking for a something a little more upmarket

Post-colonial bar setting,drink list & sinful finger foods,all made per fect for the

drinking environment.

All walks of life with a soulor souls are welcome at

BISTRO 7.Fine Drinks Fine Food Fine Cigars

Bistro 7,Opp. Tippolivilla, Along Victoria Station Medan Damansara,Below Sri Ayutthaya Tel: +603-2094-9078, OPEN: 16:00 - 01:00 Daily

Happy Hours:16:00-21:00 DailyCarlsberg Draft.

* *

Op38

JAN 242011

Th e splendour of the ocean

The sea constitutes a big part of Penang’s personality and the view of the island from the water is nothing less than majestic. However, not many people have enjoyed the coastline from the sea due to the lack of nautical facilities around the island. Anandhi Gopinath looks at the huge potential of marine tourism in Penang that needs to be tapped.

There’s a reason Australians cherish their summer months so much. It means, after several months of cold

weather, they can fi nally spend as much waking time as possible by the seaside. Truly, our friends Down Under really have done a wonderful job of maximising the seaside experience, be it with leisurely activities like swimming or more sophis-ticated activities like sunset cruises. In the summer, beaches and waterfront areas are even crowded at night, as there are enough facilities to assure that much can be done by the sea well after the sun has set.

Malaysia has the benefit of sun-drenched summer months all year round, and we are able to enjoy the sea as much as we want to. But sometimes it feels like we take that unlimited access for granted — are we really doing enough with this gift? Yes, we do mandi laut when we can, and yes, we are good at marketing our beautiful white sandy beaches. But when it comes to developing our lush coastlines into something that can really enhance the seaside experience, there are shining examples from other countries we should be adopting.

For example, Cardiff Bay in England is Europe’s largest waterfront development and it has a wealth of leisure activities available both on and off the water, includ-ing a history and arts centre and a muse-um. Singapore also has done a good job of developing its seaside into hubs of activity — Clarke Quay is where all the happening clubs and restaurants are and East Coast Park is a lovely place for families to enjoy the seaside in a safe environment. Closer to home, Kota Kinabalu in Sabah has also developed its water frontage area really well, lining it with seafood restaurants and quaint craft boutiques.

Another state in Malaysia that has a great deal of potential in milking the waterfront development trend is Penang, considering it is an island and the sea con-stitutes a big part of its personality. And of course, the island’s historical relevance as a port only adds to the possibilities.

The port’s importance diminished in 1969, when it lost its free-trade status, but Penang’s relationship with the sea

has never changed. Oceanic traffi c has always been heavy, with people going back and forth from the island and the mainland via ferry, which began opera-tions in 1920. Although the Penang Bridge was completed in 1985 — which made Penang the fi rst and only island in Ma-laysia to be connected to the mainland through land transport — the ferry has remained popular.

If you’ve taken the ferry at least once, you’ll understand why. Not only is the very idea of a boat ride incredibly exciting for most of us land-locked Malaysians, the old-fashioned nature of the ferry is also appealing. Cars are parked on lower deck, and everyone enjoys the ride from an up-per deck that provides a magnifi cent view of the coastline as the ferry approaches Penang. And since it’s a strait, as opposed to the open sea, the waters are especially calm and relaxing.

We were fortunate enough to be able to enjoy Penang’s coastline from a yacht as it cruised past George Town, right un-der the majestic Penang Bridge. Within the short span of three hours, we got a chance to view the coastline all the way from the Tanjong City Marina in George Town right up to the Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Ferringhi, with a double loop under the Penang Bridge — mostly to satisfy the shutterbugs among us.

At sunset, the view from the Penang Channel is quite extraordinary — as the shining gold sun sets over a calm, green sea, twinkling lights begin to dot the beaches as hotels and bars along the coast begin their after-dark activities. Penang Hill looms elegantly a little further back; on a clear evening the view of the hill is even more majestic.

Fishermen intensely at work in their boats make for interesting viewing. Eagles laconically glide overhead, searching for food as they take a break from nesting on the untouched islands that dot the channel in between Penang Island and the mainland.

Sailing under the Penang Bridge re-veals a complex grid of wiring that sup-plies the island with electricity; to say that the bridge is the island’s main artery

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is quite appropriate. Again, the visual impact of going under it is amazing, and really gives you an idea of how impressive — and on some level, underrated — the Penang Bridge really is. Some may say the cargo ships and barges at the port are unsightly, but there is a unique beauty to be found in the way these magnifi cent, large creatures of the sea fi nd their space in the Penang Channel.

With this sort of experience in the offi ng, it really goes to show that marine tourism in Penang is something that off ers a great deal of potential, and that needs to be tapped.

Currently, two of Penang’s best and big-gest tourism exports — food and heritage — have dwarfed marine tourism. Simply because everyone who comes to the island comes to eat the food and absorb the herit-age and history, Penang’s lustre as far as its glittering sea frontage is concerned has been somewhat lost.

The water that surrounds Penang has the potential to support various kinds of marine tourism — watersports like jet skis and parasailing, recreational fi shing and angling, sports and adventure tourism like regattas and boating and luxury marine tourism like cruising. Marine eco-tourism activities like diving and snorkelling have barely been promoted — nearby Pulau

Kendi is a stunning gem of nature sur-rounded by crystal clear water, and Pulau Aman is a charming fi shing village that is well suited for relaxing day trips.

Not that Penang has done nothing and sat on its laurels all this time; the Tanjong City Marina is a lovely inner-city port that connects marine and heritage tourism as it’s located within the boundaries of Unesco’s world heritage zoning of George Town.

Formerly known as the Church Street Pier, the Tanjong City Marina is part of a RM210 million project by the federal government aimed at giving a facelift to the island’s waterfront. The nearby Swettenham Pier can accommodate large luxury liners, and one can often be seen parked at the end of the 450m-long T-shaped berth while its eager guests ex-plore George Town.

The potential for marine tourism is clearly there, it just needs the infrastruc-ture to be explored and developed further. A former ship commander who has made Penang his home, John Ferguson, agrees. He is especially hopeful about sports and adventure tourism opportunities, saying that the way Langkawi has established itself as a port of call for regattas is some-thing Penang can emulate.

“Something like the Monsoon Cup [held annually in Terengganu] is defi -nitely possible here in Penang,” Fergu-son observes. “All they’ve done in Pulau Duyong is build grandstands along the sandbank and have the boats run around that small circuit. You can do the same thing here, for sure.”

Currently, there is one regatta he has his eyes on for Penang. The Raja Muda Selangor International Regatta begins at Port Klang and fi nishes at Langkawi. Racing aside, the off -shore activities for this regatta have been interesting enough in their own right. “In Port Klang, we have a very good programme sponsored by Rolls-Royce,” he says. “A couple of kampung children learnt how to sail, and they didn’t have to pay a dime. They came, had fun, got a T-shirt and went sailing — they loved it.”

There are several reasons why Penang would make an excellent addition to this

Ferguson: I want

to get the charter

companies to come

here and look at the

island. Th at would

add a lot of value to

Penang as well.

PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

Op39 JAN 242011

regatta — not only is it along the course, but the possibilities for off -shore activi-ties are simply endless.

Ferguson has been tasked by luxury lifestyle developers Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) to develop and manage a ma-rina at their seafront development, Straits Quay, in Tanjong Tokong. Although the marina is still under construction, plans are already underway to connect it with two other E&O properties in Penang via water limousines — the historic Eastern & Oriental Hotel in George Town and Lone Pine hotel on Batu Ferringhi beach.

The Tanjong City Marina will be an im-portant connection point as well, bring-ing residents of Straits Quay and hotel guests from Lone Pine and the Eastern & Oriental hotel to this historic point of entry for Penang.

In 2009, the federal government ap-proved plans for water taxi services that would connect various jetties on the island and the mainland. Although the idea was originally mooted to alleviate traffi c conditions, it’s defi nitely a novel idea that tourists will enjoy using as well, especially if the jetties are located in tour-ist-centric areas. This is almost like the gondolas in Venice — it’s an important mode of transport for locals, and it is also a tourist attraction.

There is a cruising tourist market as well. “Certainly, this is a very good location for cruising tourists — they can step off their boats and they are in town,” Fergu-son observes. Right off the bat, the possi-

bilities are incredibly exciting — imagine stepping off a cruise, and heading straight to the lush beaches of Batu Ferringhi, then enjoying a day in George Town before your cruise liner moves on.

Ferguson says that alongside the boats potentially owned by residents of Straits Quay, there are other privately owned boats moored along Penang’s coast that will benefi t hugely from a better devel-

oped waterfront. Currently, apart from the basic facilities provided by the Tanjong City Marina, there is no major reason to take a boat into the city. Should there be a waterfront development designed along the lines of Sydney’s Darling Harbour, perhaps, it would create more reason for boat-owners to ply the sea route between the beach areas and the city.

“One of the things I’m looking at devel-oping further is charter boats,” Ferguson says. “I’m going to Phuket soon to look at the options — they have a relationship

with marinas in Langkawi so people can pick up their boats in Phuket, sail south and dock in Langkawi and vice versa. I want to see if this can be done here, and I want to get the charter companies to come here and look at the island. That would add a lot of value to Penang as well. You’d think that this only appeals to the overseas tourists, but Malaysians charter boats too.”

Developing the marine tourism sector in Penang is almost a two-pronged eff ort — providing the necessary infrastructure for growth and continuing to ensure envi-ronmental concerns are addressed.

An important next step is for the Tan-jong Port Marina to make some neces-sary adjustments to the facility, which was damaged in a storm last June. Once issues like storm surges, waves and ma-rine safety in general are addressed, the marina can be positioned as an anchor for marine tourism in Penang. According E

to Ferguson, there was a passing regatta last November that wanted to stop by, but couldn’t make their way into the marina due to the damage.

Developing more of the coastline into intelligently planned, well-executed water-front facilities will come next, so it enhances Penang’s sea frontage while respecting the historical ties with it. There are possibilities of developing the areas around the clan jet-ties near Weld Quay, but will need a careful eye for detail and a sensitive touch — these jetties have been there for generations, the idea would be to celebrate the traditions they uphold while allowing development and increased public access.

Penang’s beaches, which have been eroding of late, also need to be nourished and extended so there are longer stretches of beach for people to enjoy. The state government has indicated it is identifying coastal sites to be gazetted for planting of mangroves, and for special reclama-tion in an eff ort to protect the island’s eroding shoreline and restore the natural hydro-fl ow of coastal waters. More of these projects need to be done to ensure beaches remain beautiful, broad and safe.

The environmental concerns that plague Penang’s waters are equally seri-ous. The impact of dredging and reclama-tion — although important for develop-ment purposes — need to be neutralised so the seas remain safe.

Hotels and other commercial proper-ties along the coast also have to continue their waste management strategies so less effl uvium is channelled into the sea. Hotels in Langkawi — whose reliance on the beaches serves a huge economic need — have been quicker to adopt these practices, and Penang-based hotels must do the same. No one will get into the water if it’s dirty and polluted, so there needs to be a concerted eff ort to keep it clean.

Anyone who grew up in Penang in the 1960s and 1970s will remember the sea as a huge part of their day-to-day lives, whether it was as a mode of trans-port to the mainland or a place to spend weekends, learning how to swim and picnicking. The sea was not the blind spot it is to some Penangites today, who have forgotten the possibilities that ex-ist in the body of water that surrounds their island.

Developing marine tourism in a place like Penang is not the gargantuan task it might seem to be, as the island’s historical connections to the sea and the growing trend of marine tourism are not irrecon-cilable ideals. Rather than reinventing the wheel, it’s just getting it to turn in another — albeit familiar — direction.

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Op40

JAN 242011

Life’s a beachHow Batu Ferringhi is getting its groove back. by Kulwant Grewal

A day at the seaside was a common past-time back in the old days. Families would gather excitedly

whenever the school holidays came round and head off for the sandy beaches with a basket of food lovingly prepared at dawn. Such simple pleasures brought volumes of pure joy to all — elders lounging on their woven mats under a tree and children running about and dipping in the sea. Nature’s bounty was luxury itself — spar-kling blue seas, marble-specked beaches, the whispering breeze and silent serenity was at the disposal of one and all.

Family-run motels and restaurants were along the beach stretch, and of course, there were the hawker stalls selling Penang favourites such as pis-ang goreng, ais kacang, fried kuey teow, mamak mee and so on.

Penang Island, blessed with a beauti-ful coastline that attracts attention to this day, started out with one small hotel along its beaches in Batu Ferringhi six decades ago, and slowly with moderni-sation, a new concept of holiday luxury came about — resort hotels. Holiday-makers turned out to be a capricious lot. In keeping with that, the tides of change overcame the accessibility of those simpler pleasures.

Today, the coastline at the northern part of the island is dotted with premier resort hotels and luxury condominiums. The physical transformation has been truly reflective of the vast potential that the coast has had to offer from the beginning.

The process of evolution saw many changes. 1973 saw the emergence of a new calibre of hotels with the opening

of The Rasa Sayang along Batu Fer-ingghi, which served as a catalyst, at-tracting hotels of a similar standard to emerge there. Once again, to sustain the whimsical tastes of the tourist and to keep up with other island destina-tions — and after a somewhat jaded existence in the last decade of the last millennium — this hotel spearheaded an innovative reinvention. 2006 saw the emergence of a transformed Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa after being shut down for almost two years. A new business model set the precedent for more luxurious and exclusive set-ups. Since then, Penang’s beach hotels have seen exciting redevelopment. With the subsequent opening of the Hard Rock Hotel and the recently rejuvenated Lone Pine Hotel (turn to Page 42 for the story), Penang Island’s coastline is set to dazzle again.

Meanwhile, with all the attention on structural development, the beach front which had seen happier days, began to suffer a lacklustre reputation. While the bigger establishments were able to keep the conditions of the beaches polished, framing the perimeter in front of their hotels, there was a flurry of commercial activity slowly appearing

along that stretch. The day-trippers soon found that their routes to the seaside were limited, and when they did get to the beach, it was overcrowded with illegal beach touts. With horses and beach buggies vying for attention, the impact on the public beaches did not go unnoticed.

Further compounded by mishaps in-volving guests at the hotels, the present state government has, through its Local Government and Traffic Management Committee, decided to take positive action. Thus, while there has been no blanket ban on all commercial aquatic sports, there was an announcement to ban horse riding and beach buggy activities from December 2010, with instructions to the Penang Municipal Council’s (MPPP) enforcement officers to implement that decision effectively. To regulate water scooting and paras-ailing, designated zones have been set. There are ongoing reviews to monitor and determine the effectiveness of the regulations and their implementation. It is heartening to note the state’s bid to clean up that tarnished part of the popular beach. It looks like Batu Fer-ringhi will shine again, just as surely as the sun rises over it every morning.

Today, the coastline

at the northern

part of the island

is dotted with

premier resort

hotels and luxury

condominiums

E

PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

Op41 SEPT 292009

JANUARY 24, 2011

Op42

JAN 242011

Revisiting the Lone Pine

Prepare to return to the charm of yesteryear at the newly renovated Lone Pine, writes Kulwant Grewal. Penang’s fi rst hotel along the famed Batu Ferringhi beach has been given a new lease of life, building on its rich history and legacy of hospitality.

Looking bright and breezy as a sapling in the morning dew, the Lone Pine Hotel in Batu Ferringhi

is ready to draw her ardent devotees and newcomers looking for a nostalgic expe-rience back into her embrace. Closed for a good two years, the hotel’s new owners reopened her doors on Nov 1, 2010.

Pursuing a penchant for purchasing hotels with a history, Eastern and Orien-tal Bhd bought over the Lone Pine Hotel in 2008. The owners of the illustrious heritage landmark in Penang, Eastern and Oriental Hotel have injected a new lease of life into the Lone Pine, allowing her to hopefully reach the pinnacles of her old charms, as surely as the E&O Hotel is today basking in and reliving the airs and graces of her distinguished past. With a new master, the renewed Lone Pine may now happily share the stage with her blue-blooded sister.

The Lone Pine can boast of being the first hotel to open along the famed Batu Ferringhi beach in Penang. Operated by a local Chinese family who had leased the bungalow, as it was then, the hotel was known for its Hainanese cuisine and was the perfect idyllic family geta-way. That was in 1948. Sixty years later, that ambient air still remains and you will not fail to be enraptured by her old charms as you breeze into the green oasis of swaying casuarinas trees facing the seafront.

Generations who grew up in or visited Penang in its earlier days would defi nitely have cherished memories of the hotel and its surroundings. Many a happy memory must be inscribed into the barks of the old trees!

For my siblings and me, going for a pic-nic or spending a day at the beach would invariably mean an afternoon frolicking under the shade of the “pine” trees while dad enjoyed his cold beers at the al fresco setting. On a recent visit to the “new” Lone Pine, I found myself wondering where those tables and chairs had gone. In their place, however, are delightful hammocks to while away the sultry days timelessly, swinging to and fro, almost becoming one with the ebb and fl ow of the tide. Perfectly relaxed, you might fi nd yourself drifting off to sleep.

Tucked away from the busy coastal thoroughfare, the rejuvenated Lone Pine peeks almost coyly at prospective visitors. But once you are up the driveway, this modesty gives way to an unabashedly modern and breezy setting. Defi nitely up to date, the hotel now boasts 90 rooms, all of which share a view of the seafront. In keeping with latest trends, Batubar lounge greets guests with the its reper-toire of beverages amidst waves of music. Housed in a open concept wing opposite the reception area, the bar is linked by a contemporary passage of high pillars and clear perspex, and is open past midnight every night.

Sitting above the bar is Matsu, a Japa-nese restaurant which is set to open later this month.

To give credence to the adage “old is gold” and for a taste of nostalgia, the commanding The Bungalow off ers au-thentic Penang and Hainanese cuisine,

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• Forget time and bury yourself in a good read, cocooned in a tepee of your own by

the poolside. Treat yourself to a sampling of cocktails at the Batubar.

• Th e Bungalow is famous for its fried spring rolls and serves mouthwatering

Inchekabin fried chicken, asam kari ikan and baked crabs. Don’t deprive your

taste buds.

• Lull your cares away in a hammock under the canopy of casuarinas.

• Cosy up in an acquatic cabana at the spa for one of several treatments. From

facials to body scrubs or wraps and full body massages, there are a host of

therapeutic services to choose from.

• Th e hotel is located close to the Batu Feringghi night market. Splurge on local

and regional curios and casuals. Or book a vehicle at the front desk for a tour of

the Unesco world heritage site of George Town. While there, enjoy a respite from

the heat at the E&O Hotel for a spot of English high tea and scones.

• Or, just kick off your slippers and scamper onto the sandy beach. Let your

spirits soar!

Some must-dos while at the Lone Pine Hotel

All Lone Pine rooms have the same beautiful views of nodding

casuarina trees and the Andaman Sea

along with Western and continental favourites.

Walking to the new block which fac-es the seafront, you may be fooled into thinking that it is a restored structure. But the building you see is completely rebuilt from the foundations up. It has been so meticulously designed and fash-ioned after the old structure that it simply blends into the old world setting, as if it was always there. This wing houses new facilities such as the Angsana Room which is suitable for hosting a variety of events. Smaller boardroom meetings can be held in the Areca Room. The in-door gymnasium is a dash away and the Pure Energy Spa, which is nestled in its own tranquil corner, off ers a luxurious pampering of weary muscles and revi-talisation of the spirit with meditation cabanas set in the middle of a pristine pool of water.

You will pass a transition point as

you make your way from the reception to the seafronting block. This is the Lepak Corner and if you’re there and suddenly feel a wave of nostalgia, don’t fret. This is the original reception and entrance of Lone Pine, which has been cleverly retained and integrated into the new hotel. It is these touches that give the feeling of going back in time, even as you are surrounded by all of today’s comforts and conveniences.

The rooms in itself have delightful features and this does not refer to the complimentary broadband services or the flat screen television or DVD player which are in place in all rooms. Depend-ing on whether you opt for the Deluxe, Premier Garden or first floor rooms, each has its own terrace, balcony or private courtyard to invite the outdoors into your chamber, with the soft breeze off the Andaman sea wafting over. The generously sized ensuite is flanked by

Lone Pine Hotel 97, Batu Ferringhi,

11100 Penang. Tel: +(04) 8868686.

Email: infor@lonepinehotel.com

Website: www.lonepinehotel.com

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Th e fi rst hotel to operate along the Batu Ferringhi beachfront in Penang was originally the home of Dr Albert McKern, a physician and surgeon practising in George Town.

Born in Australia in 1885, McKern graduated from the University of Sydney, Australia, with a degree in Th eology. Deciding decided that preaching was not his forte due to a lack of skill in public speaking, he went on to Yale University in the US where he obtained a Master’s in Engineering. He eventually enrolled in the University of Edinburgh in the UK and earned a medical degree in 1917.

He then moved to Penang to practise. According to McKern’s grandson, Bill, “he built up both a successful medical practice and real estate holdings, mainly vacant beachfront lots of about three to fi ve acres each. On one lot he built his home. He also bought land in the middle of George Town, where the big shopping centre is”.

In the 1930s, Dr McKern built a private residence on Tanjung Bungah road which created enough attention to appear in an article in Th e Straits Times on Sept 19, 1935, with a detailed description of the “house with a supreme site”. Condominiums on the compelling site dominate the scene today. Interestingly, according to author Raymond Flower in a dialogue in his book View over the Bay, local legend has it that there was an empty mansion by the beach along Tanjung Bungah road that was built by a British doctor named McKern, “reputed to be haunted. It’s even more interesting because the McKerns were rich and their treasure — a valuable collection of Oriental antiques, as well as Mrs McKern’s jewellery — is thought to have been hidden in the house”. However, the fact remains that due to the foresight and magnanimity of the pre-eminent physician, the universities of Sydney, Yale and Edinburgh today stand as the benefi ciaries of a multimillion- dollar legacy to be utilised purely for medical research.

Th e fate of McKern’s real estate and his fortune was largely dictated by Wordl War II. To escape the Japanese invasion of Malaya and the bombing of Penang as the Japanese army advanced in December 1941, McKern fl ed for Singapore aboard the SS Mata Hari in February 1942. Th e ship was captured by the Japanese in Indonesia and he was taken prisoner at Belalau. It was in the internment camp that McKern composed the terms of his will with the help of fellow prisoners. Shortly thereafter, he died, in June 1945, from dysentery.

While he provided very well for his wife and children during their lifetimes, McKern stipulated that his vacant land should be developed and other properties renovated and let out. Ten years after the death of his last child, the family’s holdings were to be sold and the proceeds bequeathed to the three universities he attended. McKern’s last surviving child died in December 1997. A decade later, the trust was terminated and in accordance to McKern’s wishes, the proceeds were distributed to be used “for the sole and special purpose of establishing medical research scholarships for investigation into the causes, prevention and treatment of mental and physical pain and distress during pregnancy, labour and the puerperium (the period following childbirth)”.

Sixty-three years after the prisoner of war died, his story was revived and his wishes fulfi lled. It is gratifying to note that Penang formed the base of McKern’s property empire, with a value inconceivable in the 1930s, which will now benefi t medical research to help women in the future. Penang and Edinburgh also have in common the fact that both are Unesco world heritage sites. Edinburgh was declared a heritage site in 1995, and George Town in 2008.

Th e Lone Pine Hotel began as one of the many properties belonging to the good doctor. In 1948, it was leased to a Chinese family to operate the fi rst hotel along Batu Ferringhi beach. Th ere was then a solitary casuarina tree, which was mistaken for a species of pine, hence the hotel’s name. What began as an early “boutique” hotel with some 10 rooms has today evolved into a modern haven which has retained its charm of old.

Th e House that Dr Albert McKern owned

two separate dressing areas with van-ity tops. The bathrooms are completely modern with an old-world touch — look out for the water receptacle of yesteryear Asian bathrooms. It hangs from the wall of the shower enclosure complete with a coconut shell dipper.

Open the wardrobe and you’ll be greet-ed by a familiar scent and sitting in the corner is a waxed paper umbrella straight out of an earlier era to shelter you from the rains as you stroll around the lush gardens of the hotel.

So really, even if this is your fi rst visit to the Lone Pine, prepare to be tugged into a mood of reminiscence. Such is the charm and legacy of the Lone Pine Hotel. E

Above: Don’t deprive

your tastebuds of

the Hainanese dining

experience at Th e

Bungalow (peeking

out from behind the

tepee)

Op43 JAN 242011

PICTURES BY SUHAIMI YUSUF/THE EDGE

Left: Tuck into a good

book while relaxing

by the pool or nap

to the soothing

music of the waves

crashing on the

beach

Op44 JAN 24

2011

Even with the convenience of the bridge, the Penang ferry remains a popular mode of transport between the island and the mainland, and has been for almost a century

Youth vs Experience — who wins this twillight game of draughts? A familiar sight on

Penang Road

It takes patience and perseverance to master the technique of making

melt-in-your-mouth love letters, a traditional Peranakan cookie

A true Penang postcard moment — two elderly Penangites

contemplating life as we know it over a cuppa

Upper Penang Road comes alive on the weekends, drawing locals and tourists alike, both

the young and the young at heart

Th is charming scene of traditional fi shing boats juxtaposed against modern high-

rises is a fi ne example of the harmonious way in which the old co-exists with the

new in Penang

Street food still rules this culinary paradise. Topping the list of must-eats is

nasi kandar, available 24 hours.

Op45 JAN 242011

Despite the emergence of fancy shopping malls, Penangites still do patronise the mom-and-pop shops for their groceries

Not just a tourist trap, George Town’s trishaws are common mode of

transport and a great way to beat the rush-hour traffi c

Breads, buns and biscuits — before vending machines and 7Eleven there

was the neighbourhood breadman, who’s still a part of George Town’s

vibrant cityscape

Op46 JAN 24

2011

Dear Kam,I’m going to Penang. I’m not from there, is there anything I should see?City Boy

I like Penang a lot. I live in KL but Penang is my favourite Malaysian city. I can’t say I know it very well because it’s large enough to always maintain secrets. For instance, as a non-Penangite, the food is a bit of a mystery. I always get the feeling that the locals know where the best stuff is and they’re not going to tell. It could be down that road or around that corner. It’s one of the very, very few places in Asia where you can fi nd not just hints of the past but the actual past, still working and living. Th e streets of George Town still buzz with life, it hasn’t been developed to death, or tragically disembowelled like Melaka. When you walk around George Town, you don’t just fi nd a small area that has been set aside as a heritage zone, you’ll fi nd an entire city that is much as it was 100 years ago. But it’s still working and living, still doing business and making money, which is what it was built to do.

Even though I’ve been there many times I still can’t honestly say I know Penang that well but I have two favourite places. One is Bangkok Lane, a row of astonishingly beautiful houses that are all really well maintained (with an excellent Mamak restaurant nearby). My other favourite place is a lot quieter. It’s a small but very old graveyard. It’s opposite the E&O Hotel and behind a long, tall wall and it’s where the British were buried. Francis Light, the man who invented Penang, is buried there along with less famous people and several infants that succumbed to tropical diseases. It’s a glimpse into Penang’s and Malaysia’s past under the shade of frangipani trees.

Unlike some Malaysians, I don’t feel the need to hate the British and Malaysia’s colonial past. My mother’s British and I grew up amongst them. My father really didn’t like them and wanted them out immediately, but it didn’t stop

the boss. A KPI is a bit like the fi ve-year plans that Stalin used to have in the old Soviet Union. He once set a KPI that the Soviet Union must double its output of glass windows and thanks to the eff orts of the Soviet workers they achieved this. Unfortunately they had managed to double the output by making the glass 50% thinner, and they all broke. Th at didn’t matter because Stalin was able to tell the world that the Soviet Union had hit its KPI.

KPIs are generally set for one month, six months, maybe a year into the future. Th ey are merely short term. What about the long term? Who is looking into the long-term future of the company? I looked at a list of the world’s oldest companies. Th e oldest continuously operating company in the world is an inn in Japan called Hoshi. It was opened in 718 and it has been run by the same family for 46 generations. How many KPIs did they set in order to make sure the inn has operated for 1,293 years? At some point in its history the family must have decided that they were in it for the long term. After, say, 200 years? How many of our companies imagine they will last that long? If they take an honest look at their accounts, how long do they think their company will last? Ten years? Don’t worry, set a KPI for six months and then retire. It will be somebody else’s problem then. Besides, the company has a mission statement with the word “Aspire” in it. Th at should take care of the future.

Hoshi is now the oldest company in the world because the Japanese construction company Kongo Gumi was absorbed into another company in 2006. Kongo Gumi was over 1,400 years old. Everything comes to an end.

TalkingEdgeA living heritage city, too many acronyms IMHO

HARIS HASSAN/THE EDGE

Penang is one of

the very few places

in Asia where you

can fi nd not just

hints of the past

but the actual past,

still working and

living

BURNING QUESTIONS ON MODERN MALAYSIAN ETIQUETTE, DILEMMAS AND ISSUES OF THE DAY

by Kam Raslan

Malaysian guru Kam Raslan imparts his wisdom to readers every week.

Converse with confi dence!

Please send all questions to feedback@bizedge.com or fax (03) 7721 8018.

We reserve the right to edit questions and submissions for clarity and brevity.

him from marrying one. I have many British friends and they’re okay, but not one of them has ever heard of Francis Light. Francis Light and all the others who were here are not really part of British history, but they are an integral part of Malaysian history. I don’t feel the need to demonise and obliterate that phase. As far as I’m concerned the colonial period is a historical fact. It happened, get over it. Penang was established as a place for trade and business. What’s changed?

Dear Kam,Could you please help us know what all the acronyms stand for: KPI, NKRA, NPE, GRO, etc, etc.4T Something & Gr8

Not a lot of people know this but modern science has proved that human brains can only remember

a small number of acronyms before they explode. Malaysia has always had lots of acronyms and so far we’ve been able to cope, but in recent years the number has increased enormously and now I’m worried that we’re going to start seeing people’s brains exploding all over the place. Th e increase in acronyms is because nowadays, we all want to show that we’re really, really business-savvy so that nobody will notice that nothing has actually changed and it’s still business as usual. Nowadays all the really cool kids want to be able to say a complete sentence using only acronyms. For instance, “BTW, the KPI for KRU is 4U2C.” “Er, OK.”

I’m not sure if I can help you with the acronyms you’ve listed. We all know GRO, and it’s easy to remember because it rhymes with CEO. I think the NPE is a road that has something to do with Pantai, but I don’t know where it is or where it goes. Th e problem with all these new road names is that nobody really knows where anywhere is. Where exactly is Pantai? If I could fi nd the NPE, would it take me to Pantai Medical Centre, or Pantai Heights, or Pantairamaville, or any of the other places east of Sumatra that calls itself Pantai these days? Probably not. So where exactly is Pantai? If a highway were called something like Motorola Exit to Rothmans Roundabout Expressway, then I would know.

I really don’t know what NKRA means. North Korean Red Army? I don’t know what KPI stands for but I do know that all the really cool kids are saying it a lot these days. I think a KPI is a short-term goal, which is often, by sheer coincidence, timed to fi t the contract of

Op47 JAN 242011

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Op48SEPT 29

2009

JANUARY 24, 2011