PENANG will continue to do its best to maintain George Town as a Unesco World Heritage Site so that its status will not be taken away, says Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
He revealed that for the past 14 years, the state government has allocated RM50 million for cultural heritage-related projects in George Town.
Chow was speaking at the launch of the George Town World Heritage Incorporated (GTWHI) Heritage Excellence Centre in Lebuh Armenian today.
A few hours earlier, he had flagged off the George Town Discovery Walk 2022 to mark the 14th anniversary of Melaka and George Town, two historic cities of the Straits of Melaka, being jointly inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008.
He said since the Unesco listing, a few hundred properties have been restored and injected with a new lease of life after restoration.
He said they were the results of more than 10 years of effort by the stakeholders, more importantly, the property owners, and the tenants of this World Heritage Site acknowledging and appreciating the value of a world heritage site.
“I believe we have been successful in getting and empowering our stakeholders to recognise and appreciate and want to maintain George Town as a world heritage site.
“And this is an achievement from the early days of application. We probably had received a lot of mixed responses and objections but after 14 years of hard work and engagement with the various government agencies and stakeholders, we can look into the future with much more confidence.
“That this site is under good hands, and we will not allow Unesco, if I can, to take us out of your list,” Chow said smilingly as he looked towards Unesco Office Jakarta director and representative Mohamed Djelid and Unesco Office Jakarta chief of culture Moe Chiba who were among those present at the launching ceremony.
Also present at the ceremony were state Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Yeoh Soon Hin, Komtar assemblyman and political secretary to the chief minister Teh Lai Heng, Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Daniel Gooi Zi Sen, Chief Minister Incorporated deputy general manager S. Bharathi, Malaysia National Commission for Unesco secretary-general Jasri Kasim, GTWHI general manager Dr Ang Ming Chee and Department of National Heritage assistant director B. Sanjai Kumar.
Chow continued: “George Town is exceptionally rich with history and culture in both tangible and intangible elements and is constantly evolving and adapting.
“We want to ensure that our Outstanding Universal Values remain sustainable and well maintained.
“I have confidence that GTWHI Heritage Excellence Centre will play a significant role in enhancing stakeholders’ collaborations in the protection and preservation of the built environment and cultural landscape, progressing towards sustainable development of the city.
“I want to encourage George Town World Heritage Incorporated, as the custodian of George Town Unesco World Heritage Site, to continue its visionary role in World Heritage Site Management and establish strong international collaborations with more than 1,000 World Heritage Sites in the world.
“Together with other site managers, you will rise above hiccups and challenges to explore practical, creative, and innovative approaches in managing the heritage sites together,” Chow said in his speech.
He congratulated the GTWHI team, the consultant, contractors, and various partners for successfully completing the repair and restoration work for the GTWHI office, which functions as the George Town Unesco World Heritage Site Management office.
Although it was a tedious process, he said it was a job well done with great sensitivity to the historical features and aesthetics of the building, and most importantly, within the allocated budget!
He added that he was glad that the restoration process has been documented in video, and the full version of such a restoration process would be shared with the public for education and awareness purposes by GTWHI.
“More importantly, the GTWHI Heritage Excellence Centre shall aspire to inspire the younger generations in heritage conservation and safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage.
“Focusing on students, and with support from the schools, this centre will provide the much-needed “extra-curricular” to shape our younger generations with the true Malaysian spirit and identity so that they will grow up with a great appreciation of the harmonious balance and mutual respect of our diversity despite our differences.
“The act to LovePenang is a call to action and there are many ways we can show our love and appreciation to our beloved state.
“The GTWHI team has answered that call to action and the GTWHI Heritage Excellence Centre is a testament to that.
“Shaping our younger generation to love and appreciate our cultures and heritage, so they may grow up proud of their backgrounds and together help propel the state forward,” Chow added.
Dr Ang said the GTWHI restoration project was initiated in November 2018, commenced in July 2020 and was fully completed in January 2022, with an all-in cost of about RM1.8 million.
She said the GTWHI Heritage Excellence Centre would be an ‘inspiring showroom’ for community empowerment, an ‘inspiring classroom’ to the younger generation, in particular to the schoolchildren, and a ‘game-changing hub’ for the heritage professionals, decision-makers and site managers to address important issues, in particular global warming, disaster risk reduction for cultural heritage, and effective governance.
“GTWHI office has been given a big facelift, with foundations strengthened, air well restored, and structure enhanced. This building was designed by the late Ar. Chew Eng Eam as the Universal Pharmacy in 1921 in Art Deco shophouse style.
“Since 2005, this building has served as the Penang Heritage Centre before it was used as our office from 2010 onwards.
“During the restoration process, we installed 29 vertical steel structures with 626 points of bakau piles, introduced the ring beam, implemented the universal design, overhauled the sewage system, introduced energy-efficient systems, installed floodgates and active fire-fighting facilities, and installed one fire hydrant at the pavement, among others,” Dr Ang said.
Mohamed Djelid praised GTWHI for its perseverance and creativity during the two years of the Covid-19 pandemic that has turned the world upside down and caused a lot of uncertainties.
He said George Town was one of the brave World Heritage cities, which Unesco has been proud to be associated with a number of its initiatives between 2020 and 2021.
They included massive surveys and data collection on the status of the traditional heritage practitioners and traditional business owners and community-capacity building in digital documentation and the production of self-promotional videos.
“GTWHI has been a critical UNESCO partner for several experimental community-based projects in the past five years, including disaster-risk reduction planning, intangible cultural heritage inventorying and developing heritage education and interpretation services.
“Indeed, the pandemic has not deterred you, but kept you moving and innovating further.
“We are excited to learn about this new GTWHI Heritage Excellence Centre to explore practical, sustainable, and affordable solutions for urban cultural heritage conservation and management.
“I am also informed that one of the key activities will be the educational tour for school children in small groups, with fun yet inspiring activities.
“Communication with the public, especially youth, is one of the key strategic objectives of the World Heritage Convention.
“We look forward to your new ideas on how to hand over the spirit of the Word Heritage Convention to the next generation,” said Mohamed Djelid, who also acknowledged the Japanese government’s funding support that allowed Unesco to contribute to the valuable exercise in George Town.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Ahmad Adil Mohamed
Video by Law Suun Ting