ST : George Town is now Boom Town

Aug 14, 2010

memo from kl

George Town is now Boom Town

Restored shophouses giving Penang capital a new lease of life

By Carolyn Hong

GEORGE TOWN (PENANG): The row of 19th century shophouses in tiny Stewart Lane were crumbling into disrepair when Ms Narelle McMurtrie recognised their potential and bought them.

The Australian, who is famed for her boutique Bon Ton resort in Langkawi, painstakingly restored them to their former beauty.

The old coffee factory became the Kopi Cine cafe and the Reading Room, where visitors can browse its collection of books. Three shophouses were converted into guest residences. Four shophouses in Armenian Street, a five-minute walk away, were turned into a shop and more guestrooms.

Collectively called the Straits Collection, this stylish development caused a stir in Penang when it opened in December last year.

Many saw the new development as a tangible sign that George Town was finally emerging from years of shabbiness.

'There's definitely a spark. I feel a real energy downtown,' said Ms McMurtrie.

Opposite her cafe in Stewart Lane, hoardings shield another seven derelict shophouses, which will be transformed into a luxury boutique hotel.

Not far away, another much-awaited hotel project - owned by well-known Malaysian architect Hijjas Kasturi - will open by the end of this year.

Ms McMurtrie said that along the inner city's narrow lanes, many old shophouses were getting a new lease of life and new businesses were opening.

Agreeing, Mr Eric Fam, who manages the magnificent Cheong Fatt Tze mansion, said the feeling of rejuvenation was discernible everywhere, from the new buses plying the roads to cleaned-up tourist areas.

There are still problems, of course, but the activities and redevelopment taking place are creating a buzz.

The revival came after George Town was listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2008. It was a joint entry with Malacca, which is enjoying a boom of its own.

Dr Andrew Aeria, a Penang activist and university lecturer, said the listing had accelerated the pace of rejuvenation that began a decade ago with the repeal of a pre-war law which kept rents forcibly low.

As rents soared, tenants fled George Town initially. Properties fell into disrepair but in recent years many shophouses have been sold and restored.

Dr Aeria said a recent infusion of new capital, due to cheap global credit snapping up relatively cheap Penang properties, had also boosted prices.

'The listing highlighted the city as a new location for global living and heritage tourism,' he said.

The tourism sector has boomed. Penang received nearly six million tourists last year, up 20 per cent from the year before. Almost half the foreign tourists were from Singapore. It hopes to see 10 million tourists by 2014.

The rapid pace of redevelopment and rejuvenation has, nevertheless, sparked worries about the over-gentrification of George Town. There is also concern that people unable to keep up with the rising costs will be pushed out.

Mr Fam noted that property prices have risen steadily and that rundown shophouses these days command a lot more money than they did just a few years ago.

Some locals say many of the old shophouses have been snapped up by wealthy foreigners and Malaysians, and turned into playgrounds for the rich. Local businesses have been forced out, they say.

Dr Aeria said the government had focused too much on the physical re-development of heritage properties for quick returns and was not taking a real interest in the local communities and their daily lives.

'This flies in the face of the Unesco listing status,' he said.

Agreeing, Mr Fam said that while people have returned to live in the city as it becomes habitable again, some local communities are being displaced.

Ms McMurtrie, however, believes the city's rejuvenation is led mostly by local people, who have made it lively and have set up new businesses.

She cited a Chinese restaurant near her cafe which did so well it moved out of its makeshift premises and into two shophouses.

'The spark comes from the local people who live and work here. They are proud of their city as it's now a heritage site, and are investing in it,' she said.

Dr Aeria said the government should do more to control the pace and direction of private investments.

He noted that it has yet to tackle a roiling controversy over swiftlet farms being set up in old shophouses for the lucrative bird's nest industry. This has triggered complaints about pollution, and could threaten the heritage listing.

Both the federal and state governments have been at loggerheads since Penang fell to the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat in 2008.

The federal government has cut out the state government by funding projects directly, while the Penang government has not done enough to attract appropriate businesses to George Town, according to Dr Aeria.

'I wish both governments would learn how to work together. Unfortunately, both prefer to score political points and behave like squabbling children,' he said.

carolynh@sph.com.sg



This stylish development called the Straits Collection, boasting a cafe, reading room, shops and guesthouses, caused a stir when it opened last year. It had previously been a row of dilapidated 19th century shophouses before Ms Narelle McMurtrie bought them and restored them. -- PHOTO: THE STRAITS COLLECTION