Thursday, September 04, 2014

Is Penang Ok?

"Hooray! Forbes has listed Penang’s George Town in Malaysia as the No 3 budget living city to retire in the world.It also introduces Malaysia as having a pensionado programme called Malaysia My Second Home with some 40,000 plus  expats living in a city with “plenty of English-speaking locals”.That’s certainly good global news exposure for Penang and Malaysia!" by-Ng Kee Seng.-The Ant Daily.com.
There is little doubt that Penang is a good place to retire to for those looking for a cheaper retirement home and seeking to have a little adventure along with it before calling it quits, however i am not overly enthusiastic about the idea of selling off this island a piece at a time to those who simply seek a more convenient place to hang their coats after having spent their lives making money elsewhere and spending it there too and suddenly deciding that lets grab a space here where it looks like more fun than where we are to spend the rest of our days. Why, simply because we can surely afford it. Why not grab the opportunity and who knows we might even make a ;little profit on the deal by investing while we are at it. Georgetown is after all a Heritage City and there is so much it has to offer other than food. Most of the locals speak English and they love the White folks better than their own colored countrymen. 
But at the end of the day it is the dollar that matters and if you have it, it does not matter where you are from, you are welcome here and i hope you will not be disappointed when shit hits the fence and it is in the process of becoming a reality as the way things are happening of late. The Federal Government has no love for this Island even way back when it was under the Gerakan Rule. ( an almost defunct party today supportive of the ruling government.). Penang a predominantly Chinese state has always been the step child if not a pariah state of the Federal Government, a pain in the neck state that was only good for paying the taxes it owes. Today being run by the opposition party, the DAP, it has become much worse, it is almost a threat to the federal Government in everything that it decides to take action on.  But life is not too bad here and with the predominantly Chinese government it has its advantages, like it being run like a business. Everything is about how to make money,like reclaim more lands from the already shrinking channel and build unaffordable housings, who for, those who can afford mostly from Hong kong and Taiwan and Singapore, some Japanese and the Westerners. Why? because simply it make business sense and we can do it, so why not?
The local government is aware that not everyone is absolutely happy with the way things are here, especially the Malays who is under the impression that they have been sold out by the previous state government and now at the mercy of the present one. They feel like they are being squeezed out of their neighborhoods and enclaves by the ever growing need to develop by the developers who seems to see no end to development and often at the expense of the minority Malays and Indians. A whole lot of money has been spent for the purposes of maintaining the Heritage Image of the City of Georgetown, however in the process a whole lot of livelihood has been affected and most of these are the poor and displaced who has seen through the good times and bad times that this City has gone through and now with the coming of new faces with new ideas, these old folks and their ways are a sore to the eyes especially tourists eyes.

"Fast forward to today, the streets tell you a different story. It has now become infested with countless cafes serving the same cafe lattes in their done up pre-war heritage building. There are even blogs online which promote the so called “Cafe culture”, listing the top 10 cafes you must visit when you are in Penang. Hanging out at inner city cafes has now become Penang’s new cool. It’s the new shopping mall....Now, espressos are being brewed at every corner of every street. From what I ascertain from various blogs and my endless feed of coffee pictures from my facebook timeline, I’m kind of worried that it will be easier to find a latte and a bowl of pasta than a plate of Nasi Kandar.Has Penang suddenly gone through an Italian renaissance that I am unaware of? Or have we just sent too many of our kids overseas to Melbourne.?...It makes me wonder what is actually driving these new business owners in opening yet another heritage cafe. Are they really passionate about pushing coffee culture to Penang’s masses or is profit the only main motive here."


Perhaps i sound pessimistic about how the island i have been born and raised into has come to be, exploited and manipulated by the oligarchs and well intentioned politicians, the tourism departments and the police force, Penang is now a commodity in the open market being bought and sold like a piece of pie to the highest bidder and the money earned only trickles into the hands of the real locals who were born and raised on the Island. Then again i could be wrong about the whole thing, what does an artist knows about matters of the state? At least it is still my home the first and last i hope If Forbes magazine says so then being a Penangite I should not complain and hope for a share of the pie if and when it comes around. But if I am right in my shallow assessment then i should braise myself and keep my family in safe quarters before the shit really hits the fence as in the May 13th of 1969... 


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