Malaysian heritage site turns to millennials as tourism drives out residents

Thursday, May 23, 2019

The Malaysian port city of George Town became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2008, but since then an influx of tourists and rising rents have driven out the residents and the businesses that served them.

Since winning world heritage status, it has become one of Asia’s best-known tourist spots, attracting 3.8 million visitors in 2018 – more than double 2007 levels, official data show.
But as with other world heritage sites – from Venice to Vietnam’s Hoi An – there are fears the city could become a victim of its own success as the onslaught of tourists and exodus of residents threatens its unique character.

Once an important trading hub, George Town in the northern Malaysian state of Penang is a melting pot of Malaysia’s rich cultural diversity, where British colonial buildings sit alongside Chinese shop houses, mosques and Hindu shrines.

Eager to find ways of repopulating the city, the council is refurbishing six dilapidated pre-war shop houses, aiming to draw a new generation of residents – students and tech-savvy entrepreneurs – into the heart of the city. The new scheme is inspired by co-living spaces in crowded, expensive cities from London to Hong Kong, with tenants sharing a kitchen and living room.

George Town’s Mayor Yew Tung Seang, who is spearheading the pilot scheme, hopes it will boost affordability and help to attract young tenants who would not otherwise have been able to move to the city.

The population of George Town has been falling since 2000 when rent control laws were repealed, causing some rents to triple, according to a report by the government-linked Khazanah Research Institute.

The number of permanent residents in the city almost halved between 2007 and 2009 to just 10,000 as owners of heritage properties sold or renovated them to fetch higher rents, the report said.

The number of hotels in the city rose nearly 60 percent between 2009 and 2013.
No figure for the current population is available.

The scheme to repopulate George Town will also be tested on another row of 10 privately-owned shop houses, where 17 rooms are up for rent as commercial spaces for technology-related events such as coding boot camps.

But activists fighting to save George Town’s heritage were sceptical that such projects would draw people back into the city.

“It’s too little too late,” said Mark Lay, a New Zealander who has lived in the city since 2012 and co-founded the non-profit George Town Heritage Action Group.

He said the city was rapidly losing its intangible heritage – the traditional traders who have been forced out – while lax law enforcement meant heritage buildings were being demolished or renovated without adhering to conservation guidelines.

He said the government should prioritise existing residents struggling to live in the city due to high costs, including by improving public services and access to financial aid, as well as capping the number of hotels.

The transformation into a tourist town has also left visitors disappointed, according to Joann Khaw, a tour guide of over 25 years and a heritage conservation campaigner.

In recent years, Khaw has had to venture further away from the heritage area to cater to demand from tourists who ask to see the more authentic side of local life.

“If the government takes care of the locals, everything else will fit in. Tourists can see what the authorities are doing – this is just turning into a fake Disneyland,” added Mark Lay.

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