Good to be back....

World Heritage logo

Well, it has been a long long time since I've touched my PC. Was away for a job for almost 2 weeks. 2 weeks of living on board a ship..... bored to death!

Urmmm... just in case you guys are wondering, I've not joined a shipping company as a sailor or something. Just that my tour assignment brings me to a 6D5N Star Cruise tour on board of the Gemini. 2 consecutive tours... so almost 2 weeks of floating in the Straits of Malacca. Not hard work, just 5 meals a day ma..... just boredom for being alone. At least for my second tour, I've got KK as my companion.

Our cruise tour made a tour stop at Penang, Krabi and Phuket (Thailand) and Langkawi before back to Port Klang before disembarking. When in Penang, KK and I made a short tour on our own. Went for a walkabout in George Town; the World Heritage Site. It was an easy walk since all those fantastic sites were near each other. Then we stopped at PTGA and met up with Leow and had a simple lunch with him.

George Town is a pretty remarkable place and can only be truly appreciated when on foot. Exploring the place needs some walking but not taxing on the feet. If you're too tired or hungry, there's always a coffee shop near you as Penangites loves to eat!

Places of interest that really struck us are like the Khoo Kongsi (and there are quite a lot of Kongsi in Penang), Dr Sun's residence, Kwan Yin Temple etc... I can't imagine how much sweat and effort are being put in to build these magnificent buildings. Surely a world heritage.

How pity it is for Penang to lose its World Heritage Site because of some development dispute in the Heritage zones. While the current state government has pointed that the previous administration for approving the projects, fingers and accusation are now being pointed to everybody except oneself for the blunders.

As quoted from the Star Online:

State Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said yesterday the status could be revoked as a 23-storey hotel project in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah was approved without the knowledge of World Heritage Committee (WHC).

The former state Local Govern­ment Committee chairman said the Low Yat Group project was first appro­ved in 1995 but in 2005, the Barisan Nasional state government asked that the hotel be lowered to eight stories from 24, in accordance with the 18m height control set by the Penang Muni­cipal Council.

“Our decision incurred the wrath of group executive chairman Tan Sri Low Yow Chuan who threatened not to invest in the state any more.

“I am now questioning the current state government’s decision to fast-track the approval without the knowledge of the WHC. If we ever lose the heritage site status, it will be due to this project,” he said. So much for being in charge the last time. No wonder no one took them seriously when they are in power.

So it seems that big developers are holding their balls!? Succumbing to threats? It seems now Penang might have to fork out some compensation to the developers if the high rise buildings were indeed need to be scrapped or redesign to meet the WHC standards of below 18m. Current Penang Government might lose money but Penang might lose more because of the previous State Government error.

It will be a pity indeed.