Slant on the value of Heritage

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News Events & Activities 2010 Events & Activities 2009 Events & Activities 2008             News A New Slant on the Value of Heritage The recent article published in The Edge Financial Daily dated October 11, 2010 entitled "Holistic development needed for Penang" by Regina William most certainly painted one man's view and perception of the value of heritage conservation in our fair city of George Town, Penang. But while we as Penangites may have cause to rejoice and celebrate "winning the battle" by people like architect and heritage conservation advocate, Ar. Laurence Loh, the effects of the UNESCO World Heritage Listing are only beginning to be felt on the ground by the good people of Penang. Ar. Loh's assertion that stakeholders were initially unhappy with the City's World Heritage Listing cannot be further from the truth. What landowners and developers were and are still unhappy with are (a) the confusion and uncertainties surrounding the listing, (b) the lack of transparency and public accountability, (c) the high-handed way in which the involved people at the time had bulldozed through the application for listing while ignoring due processes of law for the gazetting of affected properties that lie both within and outside of the heritage zones, and (d) the way in which the then State Government had handed over almost the entire inner city of George Town to a small group of people to shape and mould according to their personal views with scant regard for the legal rights of stakeholders. It is hard to fathom how heritage has become the selling point for properties in Penang. Think about it. The entire inner city heritage and buffer zones are near enough off limits as far as development is concerned; a veritable development dead zone. As far as property developers are concerned development activities on the island of Penang are now confined to areas outside of the core and buffer heritage zones. In essence it is not development that you are seeing in the inner city of George Town today but rather personal labours of love by the well-heeled who can afford to indulge their passions in the restoration of their properties in the core and buffer heritage zones. It is a complete fallacy to suggest that the rising property prices in Penang are due almost exclusively to the listing of George Town as a World Heritage Site. Property prices in KL and other parts of the country had also risen sharply over the same period without similar benefits. The reasons for the cosmic jump in Malaysian property prices in recent times are many, e.g. soft loans, low interest rates, rising costs (material, energy, labour), changing social norms, and present Federal policy in allowing the liberal sale of properties to foreign buyers. While it is indeed heartening to see and hear of pre-war houses in the inner city heritage areas being off-loaded at between RM400 - RM800 psf, questions should be asked of the valuers and estate agents as to where they had promoted and to whom they had sold these properties. Chances are that many less than pristine pre-war properties are sold to foreign buyers who romanticize about dream dwellings in a time-warped, low-cost, exotic location. We hope these dreams will not turn into nightmares when they discover that their heritage homes and business establishments are unsupported by the 1st world infrastructure of their home countries to which they are more accustomed; some of which are, a reliable public transport, uncluttered streets and lanes, clean flowing drains, connected sewer systems, an adequate and uninterrupted electricity supply. After investing millions of ringgit into their heritage properties our foreign investors will also discover that the rental values of their properties generally are not commensurate with the level of investment. They will find that businesses established in these heritage premises cannot be supported by the small low-income local population. As such most of these heritage premises will tend to be owner occupied and "boutique business establishments" will tend to mushroom within the heritage zones of George Town in order to differentiate the level quality and service and thereby charge higher prices for the same to sustain these businesses. The cost of living and doing business will be high in the heritage districts. It should be noted that the core and buffer zones of the George Town World Heritage Site had long been classified as commercial zones under the Town and Country Planning Act. Yet Ar. Loh has hypothesized that investors are prepared to pay more for heritage buildings in their original (and presumably well-maintained) state as opposed to ones which are dilapidated or have been extensively renovated. It would be interesting to see how well his hypothesis holds up when these same investors start renovating premises to adapt them to modern living and business environment. Wouldn't a shrewd investor prefer to buy a less than pristine property at a much lower price knowing that he / she would want to renovate the premise for adaptive reuse? Regina William's report seems to suggest that owners of properties within the core and buffer heritage zones are in for a windfall. Even poorly maintained and dilapidated houses within these zones are likely to fetch prices as high as if not higher than that of new developments in the outskirts of the city. Riding on this euphoria as vindication of his hypothesis, Loh went on to suggest that conservation ought to be expanded beyond the heritage enclaves. Perhaps, but this should only be confined to buildings of proven historical and cultural significance and not merely at the whim and fancy of the select few who give no second thought to trampling the rights of the many, all in the name of heritage. On the ground, owners of many aged properties outside of the core and buffer zones are already busy challenging the State Government to have their properties de-listed or removed from the State List of Heritage Buildings to be conserved and preserved. They argue, and rightly so, that their buildings had been arbitrarily designated and listed at the behest of unknown individuals sanctioned by the previous State Government in a covert manner and without going through due process of law to gazette these properties. In some cases it is even determined that the basis on which some of these properties are designated and listed as heritage are flawed in that these buildings actually have NO HISTORICAL VALUE. Even till today, the State Government has not seen fit to divulge the contents of the State List of Heritage Buildings. The fact that Federal grants for conservation and restoration works are channeled to, managed by and given out by a private company (of which Ar. Loh is a director) is another sore point felt not only by the elected opposition State Government but the people of Penang. Federal grants should rightfully be channeled to State and Local Governments to manage and allocate not only for the purpose of heritage conservation and restoration but also for the improvement and upgrading of infrastructural facilities and social amenities within the inner city in support of heritage conservation. It is inconceivable that public funds can so easily be handed over to a private company or a group of individuals to manage and dispense with as they like. Where is the transparency and public accountability in that? The people of Penang are still at a loss as to the benefits to be derived from the much hyped heritage listing. Yes, it is indeed pleasing to see some stately old buildings being rehabilitated, but what of the displaced people and businesses which used to be the life and soul of these buildings? What will happen to our much touted living heritage and cultural diversity once traditional businesses and inner city communities are replaced almost overnight by foreigners and "boutique business establishments"? Ar. Loh's idea of heritage conservation may well sweep away the last remnants of the cultural heritage of old George Town for good, leaving the city of George Town devoid of a soul. Surely the objectives of heritage conservation cannot merely be confined to promoting tourism and the sale of inner city properties to foreign buyers. At least this was not the impression given to the Penang people when the Government dove headlong into the exercise of listing George Town as a heritage site. Whatever happened to the noble objectives of re-establishing a vibrant inner city community, rehabilitating premises and repopulating the city? To the dwindling inner city dwellers the issue is not about dispensing grants to individual homeowners to beautify their houses in the core & heritage zones. It is about upgrading a crumbling inner city infrastructure that had been neglected by successive State Governments since the independence of this country. It is about introducing modern amenities to bring about better living conditions in the inner city. It is about laying down a viable management blueprint which involves the people of Penang. It is about caring for the well being of our city dwellers and their livelihood. This is what holistic development is about. Until and unless these crucial points are met, should we even contemplate expanding our "no development zone" to the rest of Penang as advocated by this architect?  Datuk Jerry Chan: Many advanced   cities in the world are or are in the   midst of being equipped with WiFi service. THE Penang branch of the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia(Rehda) will continue to support the Penang Free WiFi project unless there is conclusive evidence that the wireless network poses a health hazard to the public. Its association chairman Datuk Jerry Chan said Penangites stood to benefit greatly from the wireless network which is made available to them at no cost. "Many advanced cities in the world are or are in the midst of being equipped with WiFi service. "Moreover, hotspots are already widely implemented in hotels, offices and other entertainment centres," he said in a press statement in George Town yesterday. Chan said the wireless network offers added convenience for business and the public at large. "Rehda is in agreement with the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) that the facility will be the envy of other states and that Penang is progressive in this Information Age," he said. On Oct 8, it was reported that FMM said unproven concerns raised about health risks posed by the electromagnetic transmission of the WiFi and WiMAX services should not impede or delay Penang Government's plans to introduce such free services in the state. In early September, the state launched the free WiFi service under its  Wireless@PENANG initiative which would eventually cover 750 hotspots in the state over the next 15 months. Last month, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the WiMAX service would be made available in stages from December. His announcement had caused the Consumers Association of Penang to voice its concern on possible health hazards posed.