Dear George Town,
What is the mad rush in joining the legion of "lost heritage souls" in your quest to reap profits in the guise of development?
We are barely getting over the fact that our beloved island is being reclaimed and plans seem to be in place for an undersea tunnel.
Call me nostalgic and perhaps stuck in a less-developed past.
It is bad enough that what was once our collective pride – the sea-fronting Gurney Drive – is but a shadow of its old self following reclamation, and where questions still remain unanswered about full plans for its supposed "development".
We have now come to news of the tearing down of invaluable heritage buildings in the middle of a heritage city to make way for a high-rise development.
Really?!
This just takes the proverbial cake for a state that has, since 2008, been proclaiming to the world it's United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) World Heritage Listing status.
Unesco's website states George Town was listed alongside Melaka on its global heritage map, as these former British Straits Settlement colonies "constitute a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere in East and Southeast Asia" – while being touted as a magnificent combination of the cultural heritage of the Malays, Chinese, Indians and that of the British.
Granted that the designated heritage site constitutes a 109.38ha core zone and 150.04ha buffer zone.
This area is said to contain over 5,013 buildings, including shophouses which are home to long-time residents, and places of worship that are still functioning as they were centuries ago.
The latest buzz now is how a cluster of charming pre-war houses – which once housed civil servants – is set to make way for redevelopment.
These properties lie nowhere within the heritage and buffer and core zones of the city but are, nevertheless, architectural gems which were only in need of tender loving care and a much needed refresh, teamed with a clever marketing strategy to provide handsome rentals.
Artist impressions circulating over social media suggest the potential emergence of yet another architectural eyesore.
At the heart of this ambitious redevelopment are beautiful private properties whose integrity and safety are in question and a quality of life which is about to alter greatly for its owners and tenants.
There is no point in paying lip service that it is vital to preserve all facets of Penang's heritage for current and future generations, if the city's planners are the very same people who have both hands involved in destroying it.
How long more George Town, are you going to be on the receiving end of endless development before not only losing your shine, but also buckling under the weight of pressure?
This open letter may not even make a dent against a battle taken on by some brave souls to guard their homes and prevent the destruction of yet another heritage-inspired suburb.
It is hoped that the plea to stop tearing out pages from this island state's history books will not fall entirely on deaf ears and serve as a wake-up call to our progressive leaders.
The writer is a heritage buff
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times