Paper of Lin Lee Loh-Lim

HONG KONG CONFERENCE ON HERITAGE CONSERVATION DECEMBER 2011 CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT - COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT Lin Lee Loh-Lim The Case for the George Town World Heritage Site and the Island of Penang. The entire conservation movement in Penang, going back 25 years, has been bottom-up and community driven. The limited amount of developable land, the island bound mentality, the increasing success story and attractions of Penang, have led to an ever growing awareness of the loss of the community’s past and the non-recognition of the community’s cultural assets. Necessitated through growing perceived threats to the historic nature of the townscape, the Penang Heritage Trust was formed in 1986, initially comprised of academics and the middle class. After 25 years, it has grown to encompass more than 600 members from all walks of life, all bound by the desire to conserve Penang’s heritage, both tangible and intangible, for future generations. Early Days , College General & the Penang Heritage Trust : Public advocacy and local community involvement in the struggle between conservation and development in Penang, saw the light of day for the first time in the early 1980’s. It met with resounding failure. College General, the region’s main training centre for the Catholic clergy, was sold by the Bishop of Penang to be turned into a shopping mall. Hushed concern, displeasure and subdued disapprovals from the Catholic community, while leading to a fledgling awareness of loss of heritage, proved to be an unqualified failure in putting a stop to any part of the demolition. In the next few years, the increasing frequency of disappearance of beloved landmarks began to cause disquiet and trepidation. Rumblings of discontent began to slowly emerge, articles started appearing in the press, small groups got together to discuss threats to their heritage, the Penang Heritage Trust was formed in 1986, the first conservation conference was held in Penang also in 1986, the first publication ‘Pulau Pinang’ that focused on local cultural assets and community involvement, appeared in 1987. The Penang Community against Development of its Hills : In 1989, a major threat presented itself and the power of community involvement was first experienced. The country’s first and most wide spread community driven protests took place against a massive development project which threatened the fragility of the hills of Penang, loved and treasured by the people. Public displeasure, government disregard for consultation and the overall community campaign, brought about the stunning electoral defeat in 1990 of the then Chief Minister of the State. This was a leader who had been instrumental for some of Penang’s greatest achievements such as its globally acknowledged silicon valley and its leading status in the nation, yet his vision had gone askew in wishing to develop the vulnerable hills of Penang. The incoming leaders were forced to put a stop to the development plans, commission an independent Environmental Impact Assessment and gazette a Local Plan for the hills which is in force to this day. The sacrificial loss of Metropole Hotel : In 1993 the public in Penang witnessed the illegal demolition of an iconic building in George Town, the Metropole Hotel, previously Asdang House which had important historic links with the Thai Royal family. It was yet one more demolition-before-approval action, what previously would have resulted in a mere smack on the wrist. The developer was confident of his political connections, he was ready to pay a token fine. Imagine the astonishment and disbelief at the widespread protests and demonstrations against the project. The conservation community was affronted, the Local Authority was compelled to bring the developer to court, rulings were made to re- build, there were fines, and public pressure forced the setting up of a Building Conservation Advisory Council comprised of civic groups and professional bodies. This eventually led to the formulation of a set of guidelines which have been incorporated into the Local Authority Guidelines, then translated into the Conservation Policies and Bylaws applied to this day. A small urban community against the State Religious Council: In the mid 90’s, a disheartened Malay urban community around the Mesjid Acheh mosque approached the Penang Heritage Trust to help them in saving their historic homes from demolition and their community from being disbanded. The community could neither adequately articulate their concerns and fears to the authorities nor conduct the historical research and presentation necessary to ‘persuade’ the land owners to scrap their proposals. And these were powerful landowners, the Muslim Religious Council of Penang. The community together with the Penang Heritage Trust and Badan Warisan Malaysia managed to ‘shame’ the council into respecting the wishes of the descendants of the original donors of the land and the development proposals were scuttled. The UNESCO Listing from ‘Bottom-Up’ : In 1997 NGO’s led by the Penang Heritage Trust, invited UNESCO Bangkok to Penang to view its cultural assets. Conferences were held, the State Government was slowly but progressively convinced into taking up the cause. Obstacles in the form of political motives, were encountered from the Federal Government in nominating George Town to the Tentative List. These were eventually overcome with the brilliant strategy of nominating both Malacca and George Town as a single site, the Twin Cities of the Straits Settlements. The efforts of staunch conservationists continued to make inroads, landmark restoration projects such as the Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, set benchmark standards and bought time for conservation consciousness to be mainstream. The voice of public advocacy made strong impact amongst politicians and the community discovered their political leaders became instant supporters once they were convinced it was what the electorate wanted. And convincing politicians was easily achieved with support from an ever eager media. This has been the strategy used repeatedly and successfully to this day. The People Against the Penang Global City Centre : 2007 witnessed the strongest community driven protests against a massive development project in the heart of Penang Island called the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC). The project involved 260-acres, 38 40-storey tower blocks, 27,000 car- parks, 14,000,000 sq ft of commercial space and 6,933 residential units proposed within the existing recreational and green Penang Turf Club. The size of the project overshadowed KLCC (the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre) including the famous Petronas Twin Towers and Urban Park, it enticed the most acclaimed global architectural names from as far as New York and Paris, it lured prime international investors and it seduced every politician from the Prime Minister of Malaysia down to the political masters in Penang. The dismay amongst Penangites was so profound that despite great skepticism and a colossal sense of hopelessness of fighting this project, the Anti-PGCC Movement took off. It encompassed heritage NGO’s, nature conservationists, residents associations, human rights groups and advocacy sectors of society. The battle encountered for the first time, a total media black- out as the Malaysian media is owned by the ruling political parties so communities from all over the country as well as Malaysians abroad resorted to e-mails, flyers in mailboxes and on car windscreens, posters on trees and postcards and letters to the Chief Minister of Penang. Local input was garnered, public forums were held, presentations were made to all sectors of society. Eventually it contributed in no small way to the loss of the ruling political party at the 2008 General Elections – after 51 years – to the Opposition in Penang, who had actually undertaken to do away with the PGCC project in their election manifesto. Learning from Losses : The Conservation advocates of Penang have always been ready to take on both public and private sectors. The size of community involvement has allowed a certain weightage to be levied so that the press are attentive, the politicians are fearful and the developers become more cautious. However, there have been many losses in the last 20 years, not enough capacity, not enough focus, too much taking place, doing too little too late, but where the application has been single minded and the community has been united, the successes have been stunning. Losses have been used to provide lessons and viewed as sacrificial lambs providing cases for future prevention. As a case in point, in 2006, the Penang Heritage Trust was approached by a century-old jetty- dwelling community, the Koays, the last remaining intact Hui Chinese community with Muslim origins, after a diaspora from China in the 19thC. A highway planner from Kuala Lumpur had indifferently drawn a line through this coastal dwelling community in the State’s transport planning and had not bothered with cultural mapping. The State had awarded a tender and everything was signed and sealed when eviction orders were given to the residents. Only then did the community become aware of the threats facing it. Again, campaigns, press conferences, historical presentations, high ranking interventions, demonstrations were held, all too little too late. The legal and financial implications were overly massive, the community was disbanded, the jetty and homes were demolished, nesting grounds for protected night herons were destroyed. The State Government lambasted the NGO’s, ‘why didn’t you tell us earlier about this cultural asset?” The conservation advocates lamented the absence of transparency, stressing the critical need for cultural mapping before planning. Demolishing the inappropriate : More recently, in 2010, community involvement brought about a fundamental victory in pushing the need for consultation prior to development when dealing with historic issues. The Federal Ministry of Tourism had embarked upon large scale development projects in the Penang Botanic Gardens, the earliest botanic gardens developed in the Malay Peninsular by the British in the 19thC.

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