What would Penang be like if...

By Looi Sue-Chern | 0 comments

HAVE you wondered what things would be like if Penang had been developed differently? What if industrialisation happened on the mainland, where land is ample? What if more factories had been built in Seberang Prai, instead of Bayan Lepas. What if the international airport,Penang port and the railways were also on the mainland?

I was thinking about this when I was talking with a friend who lamented about Penang's overdevelopment.

My friend is no fan of unsustainable projects such as land reclamation and hill slope development. In fact, many Penangnites are similarly dissatisfied.

When the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu took over the state in 1969 as its second chief minister, he put Penang on "industrial overdrive" mode, rescuing the state from obscurity and elevating it into the "Silicon Valley of the East".

When he took office, Penang had one industrial area in Mak Mandin, Butterworth.

What if this industrial area was upgraded and expanded into a free trade zone, instead of a new one being built in Bayan Lepas? I believe Dr Lim could have achieved similar results on the mainland.

I don't think the mainland would be a bad choice, with it spanning across three districts.

If the international airport was built somewhere in Northern Seberang Prai, I believe Butterworth would have established itself as the northern region's transport hub.

Instead of dying mainland towns, they would be flourishing cities boasting skyscrapers and cashing in on new investments.

What would the island be left with? People will go to where the work is.

If today people living as far as Kulim and Sungai Petani in Kedah and mainland Penangites travel to the island for work five times a week, so it would be too if it were the other way round.

With the airport and factories out of the island, a lot of land in the south would be open to developments such as residential estates. With less land constraints, developments would be more sustainable.

We might not have to resort to land reclamation or cutting into hill slopes.

The old and the new can co-exist. Land prices and houses would be cheaper.

With the electronics, manufacturing and agro-based industries on the mainland, the island can focus on the services sector, and bank on its assets -- heritage, culture and tourism. Penang can be an island paradise, a city that reflects its colonial past, rich cultures and hawker delights. It would be like going home to a holiday island every day.