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Fri, 03 Sep 2010
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 NEWS WITHOUT BORDERS :: Local News |
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State trying to keep traditional living cultures in heritage zone
by Himanshu Bhatt
GEORGE TOWN (June 16, 2009) : The Penang government is working on ways to arrest the decline of traditional trades and living cultures in the Unesco heritage zone of inner city George Town.
State Local Government Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said numerous traditional businesses and residents have moved out of the city following the repeal of the Rent Control Act in 2000.
Describing the people in the city as valuable intangible assets of its heritage, he said making them stay in the city was not as easy as preserving the buildings.
In the latest case, a traditional Chinese medicine business run by a family has announced it will leave the city and the Straits Eclectic building it has occupied for 120 years, by the end of the month.
The move prompted the Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) to intervene and induce the business to remain on the premises, by mediating between the tenant, property owner Cheah Kongsi and corporate sponsors.
“These living cultures are important intangible assets of the city's heritage,” Chow said during a visit to the building in China Street today.
“But the issue of them moving out is not easy to resolve, ” he said.
PHT manager Magdeline Ng said the Yin Oi Tong family business, which has its roots in China from 1795, was an example of Chinese investment in Penang during the early colonial period.
The business was instrumental in supplying traditional medications throughout the Malay peninsula, Singapore and Borneo, as well as to Medan during the past 120 years.
Yin Oi Tong manager Chong Yit Leong said the family had thought of moving out of the premises 15 years ago as they were not enjoying good business, but remained because of the family legacy and interest shown by tourists.
He said he was willing to donate his family’s artefacts if the Cheah Kongsi plans to convert part of the building into a gallery.
He said the family may consider maintaining its business on the ground floor, but lamented that the fewer residents in the city meant a declining business clientele.
Cheah Kongsi representative Cheah Swee Huat denied a news paper report that it had increased its rental and was forcing the tenant to move out.
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Updated: 05:17PM Tue, 16 Jun 2009
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