How do I feel about Penang Island today as an old man.

 I was interviewed by a group of people led by a  'social-cultural' researcher accompanied by two local cartoonists about the Penang Island and her development through the years through the eyes of the older folks. As I was not sure positively of what the objective was, whether it was about artists or about being a Penang born resident I answered as best I could to the questions as they were put to me. Early this morning at my witching hour of 3 am. I was awaken as usual and sat to contemplate over what had transpired yesterday afternoon and it dawned on me that I should address a few questions with my deeper feelings I truly have with regard to the question, how I feel about the Island and my experience having lived for seventy years of my life here off and on. I realize that the interview was not really focused on my being a local artist as much as me growing up and my personal take on ho the Island has evolved environmentally, economically and socially. Then again I could be mistaken.

Here I would like to add to the interview my feelings which more centered towards the Island and its people rather than me being an artist. The most important question asked was how I feel about the growth and development of the Island and the social welfare of the people.in short do I like how or what Penang has developed into and my answer was more or less ambivalent, both like and dislike, there's good and there's what could be better or better not. Environmentally speaking Penang like most major metropolis is headed for and environmental disaster if wanton development is not checked. Ideas like the construction of an undersea tunnel and man made islands off the coastal areas of the Island should be scrapped as a developer's pipe dream and so is the construction of luxury apartments that hardly a local can afford. The environmental impact this will have and is already happening will be a long term detriment to the well being of the environment in and around the island. The few rivers that feeds into the island are no doubt as polluted as to be among the worse in the country and one ask when was the real assessment of the staus of these rivers last done and what was the result. The effluents resulting from over construction of apartments all over the Georgetown alone is scary to imagine how much sewage and waste matter is being generated and thrown into the environment. The cleanest sea water that can be found unpolluted by man made I was told sometime in 1982 by a friend who worked at the aquarium which was then located in Hudini road area, was six miles offshore and that was way back when. It would not be impossible that largest landfill on the Island located adjacent to the Lim chong Eu Highway will reach the mainland. We cannot deny that leaching of pollutants from this site alone is detrimental to the marine life all around the coastal areas. the effects may not be apparent presently but only time will tell if it is not already as fishermen are finding lesser and lesser catch close to home. 

The levelling of hillsides all over the Island for more land to buid condominiums and various other highways and hotels is slowly eating away at the one natural and pristine landscape and those who can afford it would like to have a home perched on the highest site possible to overlook the rest of the Island. One of the question or statement I often got when I retur to the East Coast state of Terengganu where I grew up was,  " the Chinese have bought up all te Malay lands and my answer was always, "Yes, but it is not their fault that the Malays were selling them, however the Chinese are selling them off to foreign buyers who can afford to buy them. It's ll business investments, just money to be made." But what happen to the Malay Kampungs? They have become a part of history most of them their one time pristine kampung life has been converted into the urban  jungle that City of Georgetown is turning into. Most of the Malays have found their way to the Mainland where they can start new an updated kampungs. There is no doubt that Penang will one day become like Singapore or Hong Kong or a poorer version of it but with the loss of its natural beauty and social cultural wealth.

When I was asked the question of how I feel about Penang upon my return afters years of being away by the interviewer, this is my thoughts and feelings among many others that are more personal in nature. These I will get into in my later postings.